Seals and Guinness in a Single Afternoon

Today was undoubtedly the best day of the trip so far.

I woke up bright and early (i.e. 9) to check out of my hostel, which had no room for me tonight, and moved to a cheaper, grimier hostel down the street. Much as I had wanted to squeeze in a visit to Cork, Galway or Kilkenny, there was still much to see in Dublin itself and it would have been too much.

I did, however, manage to sneak out of the city on the DART (something in between a subway and a commuter train) to Howth, the last stop on the line. Howth is a small, historic fishing village that has gradually transformed into a suburb (it's less than 30 minutes from central Dublin). It's harbor is lined with small cliffs, and there are two large islands in the middle of the bay. It may not be the cliffs near Galway, but it was something special to take in. I walked through the central village and got a lunch of fresh crab spread, where an elderly Irish couple celebrating the Mrs.'s 82nd birthday sat next to me making fun of the crowd of tourists across the street who were seemingly taking pictures of the hill beyond the slip over and over again. When I finished my meal, I crossed the street to see it from their vantage point and saw their real object of affection: a pack of seals was literally just frollicking around the water directly beneat me. Just legit hanging there like a bunch of bros. (Which makes sense; they must have been drunk to be relaxing in the oil runoff from the fishing boats).

After the seal adventure, I walked up a nearby hill to Martello Tower, which turned out to be a "vintage radio museum" that charged €5 for entry. There was an old Irishman hanging out in a beach chair by the door intently reading a paper; he told me I could just walk around the outside for free. I could see all the way back into Dublin, and the cliffs, the water, the village, harbor, and islands. Literally one of the best views of my life.

But not even the best of the day. I got back to the city early enough to finally check out the Guinness Storehouse, probably the first super-touristy thing I've done. It was completely worth it; the tour was interesting, and a nice followup to my last post. Two interesting facts stuck out: 1) the Guinness family was part of the Irish Protestant aristocracy and opposed home rule, but all the decades of sectarian strife never broke the island's attachment to their beer, and 2) 2/3 of all the barley grown in Ireland is purchased by Guinness for their brewery at St. James' Gate; a Guinness bankruptcy really would devastate the local economy.

But the best part of the storehouse is the gravity bar at its top. It offers a complimentary pint of the black stuff and - far better - a 360 degree panoramic view of the city and its surroundings, with no buildings close by to block any of it off. Not only could I see the entire city, but I could also see the Wicklow Mountains, rolling green fields, and the Irish Channel. At various points on the glass are quotes from James Joyce's work that allude to sections of the city (which was nice since I've been reading Dubliners since I got here).

I topped the day off with a plate of fish and chips and a pint of Guinness (the tour made me come around) before calling it a night. There's a long month ahead of me and Amsterdam beckons tomorrow; people tell me I should conserve my energy for that city. I'm going to try to see the Book of Kells before the airport tomorrow, where I'll be flying Ryan Air for the very first time. Should be interesting.

P.S. My hostel has two toilets for about 100 people on my floor, and the water supply is messed up. Many of the girls here are displeased.

P.P.S. I saw some Irish kids playing basketball today. There are hoops everywhere and on the surface the game seems popular enough here, but there is no mention anywhere of the Finals, and judging by the game I saw today the Irish won't be watching one of their own vie for a title for some time to come.