Friday...

Today we had our final day of touring around Dublin. We went on an adventure via the local Dart commuter train. It was a surprisingly easy way to get around the outlying areas of Dublin. We headed north to Howth (say 'Howth' like 'growth') in the morning and then took another train to Malahide Castle.

This is Malahide Castle.... it was in the same family for 800 yrs! It was filled with mostly 17th and 18th century furniture and antiques. The formal dining room had a table which seated 28 comfortably and a music loft where musicians would perform for guests as they dinned.

This entrance to the castle is empty of other people because we were the last ones to tour it. They locked the doors as we left. Unfortunately the gift shop and local craft shop were closed as well. My one hope for finding yarn!! I never did see any for sale anywhere. Apparently knitting is not popular in Dublin city.

...Howth...Howth is on a tear shaped peninsula at the North end of Dublin Bay. After arriving at the train station in the harbor area, we climbed the cliffs to get a view of the coastline. It was quite a vista! We were unable to make it all the way around the cliffs due to lack of time, so we missed the views of Dublin Bay.

Howth harbor...full of seafood markets, restaurants, pubs, and a lighthouse at the opening of the harbor. With the city-life of Dublin, we found Howth to be a refreshing break.
It was our favorite place that we visited!

We headed back to the hotel on the Dart train, packed our bags, had a quick dinner, and got a good nights sleep before we had to make the 16hr trek back to Portland.