God's Country

We went to Howth today, three of my roommates and I. Howth (pronounced Hoath, with a long "o") is what appears to be a large island at the northern tip of Dublin Bay, but it's actually a very round peninsula. It's gorgeous. Really, I have no words to describe it.

And, miracle of miracles, we had the most perfect day today, weather-wise.

We were supposed to go tomorrow, but decided to push it back a day since we had already planned to go downtown for Mass and we could just hop on the train afterwards. Thank goodness, too, because yesterday was miserable and it just poured all day, and today was like taking a walk in the Garden of Eden. Easily the best day we've had since I arrived: warm, bright, golden sunshine all day long. Not only did I not need my sweatshirt, but I ended up taking off my outer shirt as well to walk around in my t-shirt. I haven't worn only a t-shirt since I was in Canada last month. In fact, the sun was so bright and golden that many of my pictures don't capture the colors, the intense greens, blues, teals, and even browns.

Can brown be an intense color? It was today.

We walked around the northern side of Howth, along the cliff walk. It was hundreds of miles above the sea, and if you tripped off the trail there was absolutely nothing to break your fall between the trail and the ocean. The land went steeply up and down on both sides. It was a bit muddy, and my sneakers are pretty wrecked, but it was so worth it. I have to get new sneakers anyway. The view were breathtaking; I can't even describe them. And the photos can't capture the dramatic drops of looking hundreds of feet down into the water below.

There was also a cute little town where the train arrived, with a pier where we ate lunch, and a zillion sailing boats in the harbor. Between the palm trees (which are everywhere here), the aqua sea, and the style of the villas, I had to keep reminding myself that I was in Ireland and not the Greek Islands somewhere.

Oh my goodness, what a glorious day.

One side of my face is sunburned from walking all in the same direction, and my legs are killing me from walking over 3 hours today. But it was such a wonderful day. And I can go happily back to the library tomorrow.