Today is our 2 year anniversary! It is appropriate that we should spend it in Ireland, as we spent our 1 year anniversary in Spain last year. My paternal relatives were from Ireland, and David's paternal ancestors lived in Spain.
We enjoyed a breakfast of pastries on the beach in Killiney. Ireland is so much colder than all the other European cities we have visited on this trip; even David has been chilly on the beach! I have taken my warmer clothing out of the bottom of my backpack (David's still in shorts). Today, though, was unusually warm and sunny; the Irish clouds parted to reveal a brilliant sun on our anniversary.
Our original plan was to rent bikes locally and ride around Killiney, though once again we had to resort to Plan B. We could not reach anyone at the local bike shop, so we had to go into Dublin to rent bikes. It was an interesting language and cultural exchange at the bike rental garage, due to the fact that the guys working there were Italian and spoke no English. I got a brand new silver bike from the rental shop, necessary for the novice rider. David sought the advice of the bike shop owner of where to ride our bikes (glad he didn't listen to me). Based on the recommendation, we made our destination coastal Howth.
Getting there was the challenge. Dublin professes to be a cyclist-friendly city, with cycling lanes in the heart of the city. However, I don't think anyone informed the buses and taxis that they are there. The buses came within inches of me, and David swears one bus brushed his sleeve. This freaked me out since I, unlike David, have never been riding in inner city traffic. David, on the other hand, regularly rides to work and in Manhattan. I eventually found my cycling legs, though, and trusted David, my bike, and most importantly, myself.
We rode out to Howth (guided by GPS). There was a really picturesque park there that reminded us of the Hudson Greenway in our Washington Heights neighborhood. Best of all, it has a BIKE path! So I got out of traffic and felt a lot happier. We followed the bike path along the water out to a pier. Despite the fact that it had a sign showing a line through a little cyclist, we followed a few cyclists out onto the pier. We saw a cute little beach area, religious statue, lighthouse, as well as mountains rising in the distant sea. We rested a little at a bench on the end of the pier, and then it was back on the bikes.
From the pier we headed further North, where David spotted a park. We decided to stop there, and were so thrilled we did. The park is named St. Anne's Rose Garden, for the gorgeous roses that fill it. This was the most incredible rose garden David and I have ever seen...beyond beautiful. Miniature roses, red roses, tall roses, yellow roses, rose trellises...every type you can imagine. This hidden gem did not appear in any of our guidebooks...glad we were out on the bicycles and discovered it!
Eventually we cycled back to Dublin and returned the bikes. For dinner we got veggie takeout from Juice, a veggie restaurant in the trendy Temple Bar district. We had a mini-picnic in St. Stephen's Green, under sunny skies. We sampled many different veggie dishes, including Indian veggie kebabs and veggie sushi. David's favorite part of the meal was the 1.5 liter Orange Fanta! Our vegetarianism brought us together originally at Columbia, and now, as we each celebrate a decade of being vegetarian, we continue to share so many things (vegetarianism among them) in common. Including our love of backpacking!
No comments:
Post a Comment