Eli had scheduled vacation for this past Thursday and Friday. I asked him if we could visit the sea on one of those days, and he was in very enthusiastic agreement.
We planned our trip for Thursday, thinking it might be less crowded. We haven't been here long enough to see if people take many three-day weekends but if they do, we figured we'd be safer going out on a day other than Friday.
Miraculously, Bus 7 was on time and soon we were on our way toward Killiney Beach. We passed a playground along the route, and I noticed they had a merry-go-round there. It brought me back to the days of riding on a contraption like that as a kid, holding tightly to the bar while my impish cousin tried to spin it so fast that the riders would be dislodged and flung off. This playground also had a merry-go-round for one - it looked like one of those papasan chairs that seemed to be all the rage back in the 70s.
After a 15-20 minute ride, we got out in Dun Laoghaire and walked a few blocks to get to the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) platform. Unlike the sleek, silver, needle-nosed LUAS trams, the DART train is boxy and square-faced. It was my first time on the DART, and I enjoyed it. The seats were more comfortable - seemed larger and the seat backs were taller - and the ride was quiet.
The third stop let us out at Killiney Beach, right next to the water. I wanted to visit a restroom before we went down to the beach, and Google Maps told me there was a public restroom close-by. At the entrance to the car park, there was a sign with a bathroom symbol that pointed to the right so off we started down the sidewalk.
After walking for quite some time, we started to get into a residential area, and I began to think we weren't in the correct spot. Eli pulled up Google Maps on his phone, and we figured out the bathrooms....were located in the car park.
Back we went toward the car park. But it wasn't a total waste. I got some extra steps in and I noticed one of the mileage signs along the DART track said 9 3/4 (for Harry Potter fans, you'll remember that Platform 9 3/4 was how you got to the Hogwarts Express train).
The restroom itself posed another conundrum. There was no wording on the doors - just these medieval-looking woodcut plaques (these are not my photos - I grabbed them off the internet):
This church - St. Michael's - was right across the street from the bus stop. I liked the look of the tower, so I snapped a photo.
We assumed the image with the longer hair pointed to the women's restroom, so in I went. And it was pretty gross so I stayed only as long as necessary.
We crossed the street and walked down some stairs, finally on the beach. Our stretch of beach was pretty rocky - lots of small stones and not many patches of sand. It made walking challenging since the terrain was rough and shifting.
I stood and took a deep breath. The scent was fresh rather than being briny or fishy. A handful of people were in the water, but more were simply sitting on the beach, enjoying the bright blue sky and strong sun. One woman was slinging a ball into the water, much to the delight of her spaniel dog. A small child who was walking slightly ahead of us was amusing himself by grabbing a handful of small stones and half-spinning like a discus thrower before opening his hand to release them toward the sea. I walked carefully around the boy, on the off-chance his hand didn't open at the correct time and we had to dodge any incoming rocks. I had fully expected it to be quite windy by the water, but there wasn't much wind at all.
We drew closer to the water and began our stroll, waves rushing in and out, making that wonderful shoosh sound as the water dragged over rocks and sand. (Sound on to hear the sea.)
I was kissed by the sea. Or at least, my right foot was. An aggressive wave snuck up on me, and with the slope, the wet rocks, and the wet sand beneath, I wasn't able to scramble back before the water sluiced over my shoe.
We stopped in an area that didn't have many people around, put our light jackets on the rocky ground, and planted ourselves.
I had fully expected that being by the water would make me cry, but it didn't. I don't know if I weren't allowing myself to tap into my emotions, fearing a floodgate would open and I'd be sobbing on the beach. Or if I just didn't feel connected. Being near Lake Superior in Minnesota never failed to bring tears to my eyes and uncap wells of deep-seated feelings. Maybe it's because Minnesota was home to me (still is, in some respects), and this place just hasn't sunk into my bones yet. It was still pleasant being by the water, but it didn't have the emotional pull that I had expected.
As the waves began encroaching on our location, Eli and I got up and walked farther down the beach. We encountered beached kelp, beautiful rocks, and I found a shell. We also saw a crab leg and a pile of white feathers, signifying a bad end for a sea bird. If I had my ruthers, I would've weighed down my backpack with all of the pretty stones I found but, as Eli said, it's better to just take memories/photos than objects. I did, however, steal a small heart-shaped rock. I felt like it was a sign telling me Lissa was near.
By this time, it was nearing lunchtime and we were hungry, so it was back aboard the DART to head for Dun Laoghaire. Not knowing what restaurants were in the area, we started walking along the main drag. We had passed a Nando's not long after getting off the train but, as we had been to Nando's once before, I thought we should perhaps try a new place.
Eventually, after many blocks, we decided to return to Nando's as nothing else looked promising. At Nando's, you can either go up to the counter to place your order OR scan a QR code with your phone and do it online. Eli entered our order on his phone, and we settled in to wait. We had both requested pop - they have a soft drink station where you get your own drink, but you have to wait for a server to bring you a glass.
After a good 10 or 15 minutes, I finally got up and approached a server. She apologized that no one had brought glasses to us yet and went to retrieve one for each of us. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. At one point, a server came over to let us know they were out of broccoli so Eli had to select a different side.
After what seemed like a weirdly elongated period of time, our food arrived. I had ordered the butterfly chicken with medium-heat peri-peri spice, as well as peri-seasoned fries and garlic bread. I was grateful that I'd only went with the medium heat because as it was, my lips were tingling from the spice.
Lunch complete, we walked up the street to the bus stop. There was an ice cream shop just a few doors down from the stop, and I was tempted to get a cone. They had soft-serve that looked just like Dairy Queen. But our bus was only 10 minutes away, and you're not supposed to have food/drink on public transit (but people do) so I passed, not wanting to have to bolt down an ice cream cone.
The birds in the urban areas are fairly fearless. They equate humans with food and, because humans are messy pigs, their reasoning is sound. There were a couple pigeons strutting near us, looking for scraps. They had just discovered a small piece of bread but before they could enjoy it, this large fellow swooped down and took it away, swallowing it in one gulp.
Our bus was right on time again. Between our recent jaunt to Stillorgan and this trip, I had the best bus-luck since I've been here. [Sidenote: That luck ran out yesterday when we were trying to get to the grocery store in Ballybrack and our bus was delayed to the point of never showing up at all.] The lower level of the bus was packed so we moved up the stairs to the second deck. I had never been up on the second level, and it was harrowing to navigate the narrow stairwell and walk to a seat while the bus was in motion, especially when it made a turn while I was just getting to the top of the steps.
It was an interesting perspective to be so high above street level, eyesight even with the signage on stores and such.
After an unremarkable and quiet ride, we were home. I'm sure we'll visit the sea again in the near future.
And I'm getting ice cream next time.
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