Howth

Upon my arrival in Dublin, I was surprised by how urban it was. Everyone's always told me it's a small city, and maybe so in area, but to me it seems huge -- about 10 times bigger than my college city, Albany. As a country girl I wondered if I would be okay living in a place like this for four months.

Then our group went to Howth for a day. We got on a train at Connolly Station just down the street. Thirty minutes and less than 5 Euro later, we were in a small, quaint fishing village. Right on the water, Howth has beautiful hills and cliffs, serene and peaceful, yet is buzzing with energy down in the streets.

It was great to know that if Dublin life does get to me, I'll always have somewhere like this to go to take a deep breath of salty sea air.