wet walk in Howth

Tags

Dublin, hiking, Howth, Ireland, photography, photos, walking

Last week I took my cousin and her daughter to Howth, the beautiful peninsula just outside of Dublin. And even though it was windy and wet we had an enjoyable afternoon walking up the cliff, down the harbour and into a cosy cafe!

rained in

Tags

Dublin, Howth, Ireland, miscellaneous, nature, photography, quote, random, sunset, walk, william faulkner

I should really know better than to plan, but since I have my friend’s car (yes the one I broke  two weeks ago) I wanted to drive out into the countryside and spend the day frolicking and taking photos.

Sadly the weather has decided that rain is the flavour of the day, so I am stuck indoors listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops playing drums on my window panes. But then maybe it’s a good thing that I get to stay home today, after all I’ve had a busy week and a bit of ‘staying-in-time”. Time to sit back, relax, watch a movie and just be.

But since I did go out for an evening stroll yesterday I think I will just share the photos in the fading daylight I took of Howth, my favorite place in Dublin, possibly the world. So while I put on the kettle I leave you with my photos and this beautiful quote by the great Pulitzer prize and Noble prize winner William Faulkner:

The scattered tea goes with the leaves and every day sunset dies

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“Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry”

Tags

autumn walk, claude debussy, cold autumn, Dublin, Geometry, Howth, photography, photos, quotes, random, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry

I went on an evening stroll around my favourite place in Dublin, Howth. And I decided to see what shape I came across. So here are my “geometry” shots, just random images I spotted on my cold autumn walk.

Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light

 Quote by French composer Claude Debussy

something I stepped on

between the cracks

stepping stones

looking up

in the gutter

fish and chips

Tags

Dublin, dublin bay, friends, Howth, miscellaneous, nature, outdoors, photography, photos, random, safe havens, special places, thoughts, walk

I took my visiting friend out to Howth last night and was thrilled that she enjoyed it so much. For me Howth, its cliff-walk and the little harbour, is one of the nicest places in Dublin to go.

Howth is only about half an hour out from the city center, really easy to get to and when the sun is shining you just have to stay longer than you planned. It dates back to when those big burly Norsemen used it as a harbour as since it is situated on a  peninsular it was easy to defend and maintain. After the vikings moved on Howth use to be a tiny fishing village but beauty and calm have turned it into a picturesque town.

We first when up to the look-out point overlooking the lighthouse and the whole of Dublin Bay. We wandered down a little to see the lighthouse and let the wind make our hair dance and walked for a bit. Due to my unpractical shoes and the tugging wind we quite quickly decided to go back and get so food.

As we sat in the car and drove down to the harbour I couldn’t help but think about how important it is to have special places to go to that never fail to make you happy. Places where you can maybe sit and think, go for walks, be surrounded by nature and sometimes even people. But these special places are filled with happy memories and good times so they make you feel save, happy and give you space to breath.

For me Howth is very high up on the list, but I have a few like St Anne’s Park that I wrote about in May, I love the beach, any beach really and there is the Gresham Hotel in Dublin that is my go to place on a rainy afternoon and I want to treat myself to some reading and people watching. These places are more than just a pretty sight,  a lovely walk or comfy squashy sofas they all have something about them that speaks to something inside of me. And even if these safe havens are open to all and no secret when I share them with someone I always hope they see more than just a beautiful view.

So as we sat on the pier, munching on fish and chips and watched the sun slowly sink down towards the sea a few big seagulls started to eye us up hoping for some left overs. But as we licked our greasy fingers clean and wiped them in our jeans the gulls had to admit defeat and we took a last little stroll around the harbour enjoying the fresh wind and salty air. And as the wind blew away the cobwebs in my mind and even the hay-fever from my eyes I was happy.

just a boat

all dressed up nowhere to go

Tags

bamberg germany, Dublin, friends, hay fever, hayfever, health, Howth, Ireland, irish evening, sneezing

I’m all dressed up and have nowhere to go, well that is not really true, I did have somewhere to go but my hay-fever had other ideas. This morning I was meant to go to my monthly Sex and the City brunch with some girl-friends of mine but when I woke up this morning and tried to open my eyes I was left in darkness and had to pry them open with a combination of warm water, cotton wool and a lot of giving out.

So while my friends sat and chatted, ate, drank and laughed, I muttered, sneezed, blew my nose and dabbed my eyes until I finally gave in and swallowed  a pill. Now my eyes are slowly clearing up, my nose has stopped running and has slowed down to a steady dribble, but sadly it is now the afternoon and it’s too late for breakfast, brunch or even lunch.

But all is not lost as I will meet up with a friend later and we will enjoy some evening sightseeing and catching up. She is here visiting from Memphis, the city of Elvis and Rock ‘n Roll, but she is German and I met her many, many, many moons ago at University in Bamberg, Germany. We where both part of the drama group, I was on the boards and she was all around them, doing everything to make the production work. I just hope the weather will clear up and we can enjoy a beautiful Irish evening in Howth.

So while the pile of tissues steadily grows my patience with hay-fever is declining at a  a rapid rate. Sadly although it is  only a small protrusion on my face it has the power to render all my other extremities nonfunctional as the pill is kicking in and making me dopy so i think it’s time for a nap … or at least curl up and watch a movie with a cup of tea and a new box of Kleenex.