This morning we woke up early and quickly made breakfast. We then walked to the train and rode for an hour before making it to Howth. We then met our hike tour guides before being given a small safety spiel. We then were off. We hiked up the hill in the town square and stopped at this old Montessori and cemetery. This is the Abby Montessori which is one of the first in Ireland built in the 1700s. Ireland was not affected by the Roman Empire so when the empire collapsed it became a safe haven for people to move to. Thus a big expansion of the Montessori was needed. In the background of the Montessori, you can see where the first Vikings landed at the sailboats. Also, you can see the island of the Ireland eye. We then continued our very long hike. We saw lots of different flora. Our hike was 6.5 miles long. We went uphill and then worked our way down from the highest point toward the coast. We took several pictures on top. On the way, we saw a rugby and hurling field. On the top of the mountain, you can see in one picture the sailboats which is where we started.
We left the top of the mountain and began our trip down towards the coast line. The left side of the map, is the side we walked. We also stopped for ice cream, that was sooo good. I’ve added pictures of the Ireland cliffs and lighthouse in the background. There is also a pictures of devils rock included. We made it back to our starting point, and departed from our tour guides before getting back on the train.
Once we got back from our very long hike, we hurried to clean up and change clothes. We said goodbye to our teachers for the day and met downstairs in the lobby. We then walked to the bus and rode until we arrived close to the Guinness storehouse. When we started the self-guided tour, each floor went through the process and history of how Guinness was made. We then had a tasting room and three smell pots to smell what the older Guinness would have been like. After leaving the tasting we walked through the advertising section before making it to the top where they had a bar. We had gotten drinks with our ticket but the only option was Guinness or Lodger. I got a sprite because I didn’t like anything else. We stayed and socialized for quite a while before we departed and went out separate ways for our dinner assignment.
We finished the day with our dinner assignment. We had to go to a restaurant that serves specific food in a certain area of Dublin. We drew Smithfield area, and had to eat Italian/Mediterranean. Our meal also had to cost as close to 25 euros as possible as the school was paying for it. I got cheese dough balls and chicken pesto pasta. We then walked back toward the hotel and went over the bridge which gave a pretty view of the Liffey River.