Day 3

 

Day 3 – Coastal villages to the south

This morning we decided to visit four costal villages to the south of Dublin: Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey, Killiney and Bray. We debated about the order, but decided to do it from the farthest to the closest. We took the DART train to Bray first. Years ago it was a fashionable resort town, but now it’s gone downhill. We didn’t quite know where to go so we walked to the center of the village, which was not very impressive. Then we walked back to the ocean and the beach, and our impression improved. There are beautiful old Georgian buildings along the beach, a green belt and a lovely pebbly beach. To the south there is a big hill with a cross on top, from where supposedly there is a magnificent view. We didn’t climb the hill, though. We asked a local for restaurant recommendation for lunch, but when we went there, they were not serving lunch until noon (it was 11:30) so we decided to take the train to the next village – Killiney hoping to grab lunch there. When we got off the train, we met a couple who advised us to go to the next town – Dalkey – if we wanted good food. There is a beautiful path that goes over hills along the ocean from Killiney to Dalkey, but it takes 45 minutes and Al didn’t want to walk so we just went to look at the beach, and got on the train to Dalkey. This place was upscale and wealthy, with many fine restaurants. Supposedly it one of the wealthiest suburbs of Dublin and members of U2 live there.   We ate at DeVille, a French restaurant the couple recommended. It was good, but not great. We walked all around the village admiring the houses and the views. We got so tired walking that decided to leave Dun Laoghaire for another time and just took train to the hotel. Al tried to book dinner at Hawksmoor (a steakhouse recommended to us) online but the reply was -  no tables available.  Waited till 5 pm (when they opened) and called the restaurant directly and got a table for dinner at seven.  On the way there (by bus #7),  all of a suddem the traffic stopped completely, nobody knew why. After sitting on the stopped bus for a few minutes, we (together with most people) got off and walked the rest of the way. The line of busses in fron and behind our bus was neverending…  In the center, we stopped in an Irish wool shop and bought a wool sweater for Al.  The restaurant was beautiful, in an old historic bank with a large dome and beautifully restored interior. It was packed and the food was outstanding.  We should mention that the weather so far has been cooperative – no rain! Today the sun came out at 7 pm and shone until the sunset, which here is around 10 pm. Our walking mileage was 8.5 miles.

 

One of the impressive things about Dublin is the public transportation.  There are  over 1,000 buses across 125 Routes in the city. Every bus stop has a small digital display listing the buses it serves and their expected arrival time. Each  bus has free WiFi and a USB port in each row.  The same for the trains.

Our hotel is located in the area called Ballsbridge, which is a lovely, upscale area with shady streets and its own little restaurant row. The bus stop is less than 5 minutes on foot and 2 buses go to the center ( 4 and 7). It’s normally a 10-15-minute ride, unless the traffic is awful. Our DART train station is called Sandymount and is also a 5-minute walk. The trains go every 4 minutes in both directions – north to the city, Howth and beyond, and south to Bray and beyond. The hotel location and transportation options are great.