It’s a beautiful day out, as forecasted — mostly sunny skies, highs in mid 60s F / high 10s C, warm enough for me to wear shorts although quite blustery. My walking buddy CJ and I meet up in the afternoon for our planned outing to the Poolbeg Lighthouse. There are no good public transportation options to get there, so I reserve a nearby GoCar pay-as-you go car. I haven’t driven since early January, when I drove out to the Dublin airport for a drive-thru COVID test after my trip to France for New Year’s. Driving on the left isn’t that bad, I just have to remember to pay extra attention when I’m making turns so I don’t veer into oncoming traffic.
CJ helps navigate us to the winding road through the Poolbeg peninsula, a maze of large industrial yards with stacked shipping containers unloaded from the Dublin port. There’s a parking lot at a small beach head, and I’m relieved that there are still parking spots open. A good number of people are out… families with young children playing in the sand, older couples out for a walk, school age boys on bikes (spring break is this week to coincide with Easter). Some people are even taking dips into the ocean. A long stone seawall leads out to the lighthouse… I can only imagine the waves breaking against it during stormy conditions. We clock in almost 9,000 steps round trip just from the parking lot to the end and back.
The North Bull Lighthouse, one of the other lighthouses that help guide shipping into the Liffey and the Port of Dublin (there are 4 lighthouses in total):
A ferry christened the “W.B. Yeats,” which I later look up online — apparently she sails the route between Dublin and Cherbourg, France 4 times each week, taking 18 hours 30 minutes each way:
View looking back at the Poolbeg chimneys:
Back in city centre, the Liffey has dropped dramatically at low tide, with one of Dublin’s underground streams/rivers visibly emptying into the river from a tunnel:
Until next time….
