Ireland day 0913. Friday 29 March 2024- Flat walk *

Ireland day 0913. Friday 29 March 2024- Flat walk

Today’s summary	Val was working at the Museum today, so I decided to use a clear day to walk down the coast to Howth. Very enjoyable despite occasional showers and a cold headwind. Got the DART and bus back then had a relaxing evening watching TV with a nice glass of red wine
Today’s weather	Quite bright with some sunny intervals but also occasional cold showers. Moderate to strong south easterly wind. Appx 10c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Flat Good Friday walk to Howth

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It was back to work today for Val, so I was left to my own devices for a few hours. I decided to use the time gainfully, so I pulled together packed lunches, then once Val had gone, I got my walking shoes on, packed my waterproof jacket, and headed for the hills.

Well I didn’t head for the hills exactly, because today’s walk was more or less perfectly flat. I actually headed for the coast with the intention of following it right the way to Howth. It’s an easy walk, and one of my favourites not least because there are several cafés along the way where you can pick up refreshments if you suddenly run out of energy. Or more to the point – if it starts to rain and you need somewhere to shelter.

It did indeed start to rain a couple of times while I was walking. But it didn’t amount to much so I ignored it and just ploughed on. I had meant to stop to enjoy my sandwiches en route, but I couldn’t find anywhere out of the persistent cold headwind – so I just ploughed on. Eventually, almost before I knew it, I was in Sutton where I discovered that the tide, once again, was completely wrong so I had to follow an inland road to complete the final stretch to Howth.

I extended my excursion to the far end of the East Pier where I eventually found enough shelter behind the old lighthouse finally to pause and enjoy a late lunch.

It was a straightforward DART and bus journey back to Malahide, but I had to wait longer than usual for both, so it took the best part of an hour. Val was just back from work when I returned, but she dashed more or less straight out to go on another run. Then when we were both eventually settled, the rest of the evening was spent watching a Netflix documentary about golf, enjoying a relatively light dinner of smoked mackerel with Caponata (home made by Val) and having a nice glass of Malbec.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


These are the new houses being built at Seamount (and which have until recently been blocking the path over to Seapark). According to the agent’s website, 1 bed apartments start at €450,000. The builder has a dubious reputation in the UK – don’t know if they do better here.	Brent geese in Malahide estuary – they haven’t taken flight yet, evidently

A flock in monochrome!	Level crossing just beyond Sutton station

At the new lighthouse at the end of the walk – with Ireland’s Eye behind	Howth Harbour. It was buzzing, as always

A sort of suburban Monarch of the Glen adorning the Baldoyle Greenway