On Friday the 12th, we continued with our visits into Dublin. Our task this time was to develop eight questions and interview eight people. I had Marek and Paulina with me, and each of them interviewed four people, one each from Nigeria, England, Germany and Saudi Arabia, and two each from Croatia and Ireland. All agreed to also be videotaped, except for the man from Saudi Arabia. I was going to post some of the videos here, but Blogspot limits video uploads to 100 megs and all of these were longer.
On Saturday the 13th, for a real change of pace, our city games adventure was to visit the town of Howth and find five things there. While we could have taken a bus and then a train, the three Polish members of my team (Sylvia, Paulina and Ewa) thought it would be worthwhile to spend some of our own money and take a 40 minute taxi ride there. Along the way, our driver stopped so we could take some photos of Dublin harbor, barely visible in the distance.
We took the taxi a bit further to the Summit Inn, appropriately named for being on the summit of the highest point in Howth.
We walked the short distance up the hill and found the trail system that would take us to Bailey Lighthouse, one of the items on our list.
Bailey Lighthouse is in the distance in the next photo, barely visible - we decided not to walk out that far.
We returned to the main trail that headed very gradually downhill towards the center of town. The flora was colorful and lined the trail.
As we came around the corner, we spied the Irish Eye in the distance - it is the split in the rock from the island just off of Howth. It was the second item on our list of things to find.
We also saw some nice estates along the trail.
Here is a better view of the Irish Eye as we got closer.
Another item on our list was Martello Towers. Here is what Wikipedia says about them:
Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts.
They stand up to 40 feet (12 m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse, and hence fire over, a complete 360° circle. A few towers had moats or other batteries and works attached for extra defence.
The Martello towers were used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments.
The next photo shows the Martello Tower in Howth, as we passed by on our way into town.
There are two lighthouses in Howth, the Bailey Lighthouse on the south side and seen above, and the Howth Lighthouse in the harbor on the north side of the city center.
We were also supposed to find the Howth Castle and the Cromlech, but never got that far. One of Paulina's cousins was coming to pick her up at 6:00, so we stayed in the center of town waiting for the cousin's arrival. After that, Sylvia, Ewa and I wanted to have seafood for dinner and decided to eat at King Cidric's restaurant - our taxi driver had recommended it.
The three of us shared a seafood platter designed for two people to share, plus salad and beer. The platter had oysters, lobster, prawns, crab legs, crab salad, a crab cake, smoked salmon and Irish brown bread. It was a very good decision to stay and eat here.
Not only did our taxi driver recommend King Cidric, but Michelin Guide also recognized the restaurant.
After dinner we walked to the local BART train station and rode the train into Dublin Center, where we joined another team (Dara, Izabella and Veronika) and walked for a bit to a pub that was not a tourist pub. Dara lives in Dublin and instead took us west of the Spire on O'Connell St. near the Smithfield Plaza, where we all enjoyed some traditional Irish pub music and a beer.
On my morning walks, as I wondered the neighborhoods around the University, I often came across some very nicely landscaped yards and gardens. Here is one I found to the west of campus in a neighborhood called Johnstown Park.
On Saturday the 13th, for a real change of pace, our city games adventure was to visit the town of Howth and find five things there. While we could have taken a bus and then a train, the three Polish members of my team (Sylvia, Paulina and Ewa) thought it would be worthwhile to spend some of our own money and take a 40 minute taxi ride there. Along the way, our driver stopped so we could take some photos of Dublin harbor, barely visible in the distance.
We took the taxi a bit further to the Summit Inn, appropriately named for being on the summit of the highest point in Howth.
We walked the short distance up the hill and found the trail system that would take us to Bailey Lighthouse, one of the items on our list.
Bailey Lighthouse is in the distance in the next photo, barely visible - we decided not to walk out that far.
We returned to the main trail that headed very gradually downhill towards the center of town. The flora was colorful and lined the trail.
As we came around the corner, we spied the Irish Eye in the distance - it is the split in the rock from the island just off of Howth. It was the second item on our list of things to find.
We also saw some nice estates along the trail.
Here is a better view of the Irish Eye as we got closer.
Another item on our list was Martello Towers. Here is what Wikipedia says about them:
Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts.
They stand up to 40 feet (12 m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse, and hence fire over, a complete 360° circle. A few towers had moats or other batteries and works attached for extra defence.
The Martello towers were used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments.
The next photo shows the Martello Tower in Howth, as we passed by on our way into town.
There are two lighthouses in Howth, the Bailey Lighthouse on the south side and seen above, and the Howth Lighthouse in the harbor on the north side of the city center.
We were also supposed to find the Howth Castle and the Cromlech, but never got that far. One of Paulina's cousins was coming to pick her up at 6:00, so we stayed in the center of town waiting for the cousin's arrival. After that, Sylvia, Ewa and I wanted to have seafood for dinner and decided to eat at King Cidric's restaurant - our taxi driver had recommended it.
The three of us shared a seafood platter designed for two people to share, plus salad and beer. The platter had oysters, lobster, prawns, crab legs, crab salad, a crab cake, smoked salmon and Irish brown bread. It was a very good decision to stay and eat here.
Not only did our taxi driver recommend King Cidric, but Michelin Guide also recognized the restaurant.
After dinner we walked to the local BART train station and rode the train into Dublin Center, where we joined another team (Dara, Izabella and Veronika) and walked for a bit to a pub that was not a tourist pub. Dara lives in Dublin and instead took us west of the Spire on O'Connell St. near the Smithfield Plaza, where we all enjoyed some traditional Irish pub music and a beer.
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