Visit to Howth and Irish Music

At 11am we met two of our students for the walk to bus 31, to take us to Howth. After about an hour we arrived not only at Howth, but at the summit of the seaside town. When we got off the bus we decided to stop at the Summit Inn for tea and scones. When we left the Inn we walked uphill to the very top of Howth. From there we had a wonderful view of a lighthouse at the point, and of course the ocean as far as you could see. We followed a muddy trail along the coast line, high up from the water, and finally ended up down in the town of Howth. The wind was so fierce that when we were walking down from the summit the head wind hurt my eyes! We ended up walking the entire length of the jetty and were faced with a wicked cross wind. It was fierce enough to blow you over and walking was a challenge. We braved the wind and went to the very end before turning back. It was worth it as we caught a glimp of a seal. We then walked through a number of outdoor vendors selling everything from fruit to scarfs to crepes. After being out in the cold and wind for a few hours we decided to have dinner at a wonderful seafood place called the Oarsman. I had the best crab cakes and seafood chowder ever! It was grand. For our return back to city center we decided to take the train (Dart) instead of the bus. It arrived to the city quicker, but involved a longer walk to the flat. Even so, the entire return trip with the train and the walk was about an hour. It was so worth the trip. Howth was a wonderful little place. When I download my pictures I will be sure to post a few.

We had about thirty minutes upon our return before we had to meet John, his friend Lydia, and the Dean and his wife for an evening concert of live Irish music. We walked to the small venue called the Button Factory. The concert started with two older gentleman, one on the guitar and one on the fiddle, playing wonderful Irish music for about 45 minutes. Apparently they were quite the legends in their time and they were very good. Next came a group of 6 musicians (1 woman) who played such lively and fun music the place was hopping. It was just grand!

Tomorrow is an early day. We will meet the Dean at 7:55 to make the 8:25 bus (15B) to the first of four schools that he will visit over the next two days. He is anxious to see the schools and we are excited to show him around.