Picture this: You arrive at a small pier in a tiny harbor and a guy with a boat picks you up. He drops you off ten minutes later on an uninhabited island and goes back to the harbor, leaving you alone on the island. Yep, that’s how I spent my morning today on Dalkey Island. I wasn’t alone the whole time. About an hour after I arrived, more visitors were dropped off, but for one glorious hour. I was alone on an uninhabited island in the Irish Sea.
If you’re looking for an exciting Sunday blog post today, you’re going to be disappointed. My intention was to take another day trip out of the city but I wasn’t feeling motivated, so I spent the day in Dublin instead, where I walked a lot and ate a lot.
Welcome to the United Kingdom! Today I learned about the political history of Northern Ireland (or the “north of Ireland”, as the Irish prefer to call it) on a black taxi tour and visited the iconic Giant’s Causeway, both included on my full-day bus tour with Wild Rover Tours.
Howth, Ireland is located a mere 12 miles from Dublin on a peninsula just north of the city, but it feels worlds away. Howth is most known for its seaside Cliff Walk and piers which are home to the many fishmongers who call Howth their home port. Howth was my destination for the day and was perfect for a half-day trip outside of Dublin.
I spent the day today in Dublin, learning about scholars and prisoners, and of course doing a lot of walking and sightseeing along the way.
Welcome to Ireland! This is both my second trip to the Emerald Isle and a rather spontaneous trip, having only booked my flights about three weeks ago. I didn’t have time to plan a big trip this summer, nor did I really feel like that this year. Since I’ve been to Ireland before and done a road trip around the country, I knew the pressure would be off to try to see and do everything. I am staying in Dublin for six nights and plan a couple of days in the city and a few day trips out of the city.
Today started with a sunrise walk around Florence, included a visit to a walled Tuscan hill town, and ended with a delicious dinner and sunset walk.
Today I was off to explore the Chianti region of Tuscany, specifically a little town called Greve-in-Chianti. This was one of the days I was most looking forward to on this trip. Not Greve itself, but the little borgo of Montefioralle, about 2 kilometers away, up in the hills above Greve.
Fiesole is a small town just 5 miles outside of Florence, located in the hills above the city. Comprising a couple of churches, a central piazza, and an archaeological area (along with a couple of more commercial streets), it makes a perfect half-day trip outside the city. Despite the dreary weather and overcast skies, this was the type of day I was picturing in my mind. Less busy, plenty of opportunities for walking off the beaten path, and views of the rolling hills of Tuscany.
I had to leave my hotel by 8AM to head to the airport this morning, but I was out of bed and up at Miradouro de Santa Catarina for sunrise at 7:20AM. It’s not the prettiest viewpoint, but it was close to my hotel (straight up several flights of stairs) and gave me a chance to spend a few minutes reflecting on my time in Lisbon before heading home.
Traveling with Laura 