Ireland is a very beautiful place. I loved staying in Dublin and exploring the busy town each day. I enjoyed learning the history of the town through the many tours we took, and I enjoyed exploring Dublin with my friends most evenings. Visiting Belfast, which is a much calmer and quieter town, was very interesting too. It was nice to learn the other side of the history we had learned about in Dublin. But my favorite place in Ireland would have to be Howth. Howth is a small town on the ocean about thirty minutes outside of Dublin. It is known for its scenery, like trails near the ocean and the beautiful lighthouse. One evening I took the train with some friends because we wanted to see the Irish Sea. The train system was quite confusing for us, we almost boarded the wrong train twice, but we eventually made it. Once we got to Howth we saw that there were many cute shops and seafood restaurants, but since it was later in the day most of the shops were closed. In Howth, the view of the lighthouse and the Island, called Ireland’s Eye, next to it was incredible. We decided not to walk on the boardwalk to the lighthouse because there were too many people, and instead enjoyed the view from a more remote area. We spent about half of our time in Howth sitting on a ledge looking at the lighthouse and watching the birds fly, there were a lot because Ireland’s Eye Island is a bird sanctuary. We relaxed, ate snacks, and took pictures of the water. The birds here were a lot more aggressive than they are back home. I was even able to feed a bird a pretzel out of my hand! After I was warned that we should not feed the birds because they have been known to attack people. After a while, we walked around the town before going to the nearby sand bar. The view from the beach was amazing, there were little streams trickling through the sand heading to the ocean. In one direction there were sweeping views of the ocean stretching on for miles. In the other direction was the lighthouse and the cute downtown. Dogs were playing and running on the beach which added to the experience. We waded into the ocean and I found many interesting purple shells. The water was very nice, we were all tempted to try and swim to the island. The only downside of being on the beach was that we didn’t realize how wet the sand was and we didn’t take off our shoes. By the time we noticed, our shoes were quite wet. Off in the distance in the sea was a log formation that looked like the Lochness Monster. We were able to maneuver a little closer to the formation so we could get good pictures, but once closer it lost the effect. We didn’t have time to eat in Howth, but some of my friends went again did try a restaurant. They said that the seafood was amazing, and I regret not eating there, but the experience of wading in the ocean and taking in the beauty was enough. I think I enjoyed Howth so much because of the amazing peaceful views and being on the ocean. Being in nature after living in the middle of a busy capitol city was very refreshing.
