Saturday – 04/09/2016

We took the DART (train) at the station near our house and got off at Portmarnock, a small town that is less than an hour by train from Dublin (see price and schedule details here). We chose to go down on it and not straight on Malahide, the city famous for its castle, because we wanted to visit a house to buy and take the opportunity to walk along the city's waterfront. Some friends did it by car and thought it was cool, but since the day was beautiful and we didn't rent a car, we did it on foot.

The entire route is less than 5km and the views are beautiful, especially if the sun is shining (we were lucky!!!). Google Maps says it takes 50 minutes, but since we stopped to take lots of photos and were in no rush, I think we did it in about 2 or 3 hours. There are lots of people walking, running, walking their dogs and even people in parked cars just enjoying the view.

Look how cute the city is Portmarnock:

Now some photos of the route shown on the map above:

Did you notice the photo of the person swimming right up there? That's right. When he saw this person, Celo told me that he even felt like swimming, but look at the photo on the side to see how he was dressed for the walk. Temperature of 10/15 degrees outside the water and much colder inside... Any chance of actually going in? 🙂

Having lunch in Malahide

Well, after this good walk, we arrived at Malahide hungry and we chose the restaurant Bon Appetit Malahide, because it was well rated in Trip Advisor and there was no line. We ordered the 23 euro menu per person with starter + main course and loved the food and service. I recommend it! Some photos of the lunch:

Strolling in Malahide

We left there ready to explore Malahide and we walked towards the castle. We walked along the main street, which is GREAT, and took the opportunity to get to know the St Sylvester's Church, which is very simple inside.

Discovering the famous Malahide Castle

We crossed the city's DART (train) station and next to it was the Malahide Castle, one of the oldest in Ireland (1175). The grounds are HUGE and a large part of them are free parks open to the public, which is where people spend their free time, especially if the weather is nice. We didn't want to go inside the castle because it was a really beautiful day (and you can't waste that when you live in Ireland), but there are 45-minute guided tours that cost less than 15 euros.

The cutest detail of our trip: the cute kids playing Gaelic football! I was so touched by the parents cheering them on… Will I be the one cheering one day? 🙂

We left the castle and just walked to the DART station to go back home. It was an easy trip, right? We really enjoyed it and we'll try to do it again in other small towns nearby.

To finish the post Well, here's a picture to warm up anyone in Ireland. Let's have hope!!! <3