On our off day, we took a trip to the quaint little harbor town of Howth. Talk about blue skies, chilly winds, and good seafood! After strolling around the outdoor market for a bit, we made our way to Crabby Jo’s restaurant (try their delicious prawn tacos!) and explored the docks. It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Ireland!

Enjoying Howth was one thing, getting there was completely different. We took the city bus to the Dublin rail, where we then got on the Dart and road out to the coast. It made me wonder, if I didn’t have our advisors there telling us where to go, would I be able to navigate my way to Howth by myself? I think the answer is yes. Between my phone and common sense, figuring out the schedules for both the bus and the Dart shouldn’t have been too hard. In addition, I’m becoming more familiar with the city and how to make my way around, so traveling alone would not make me too nervous as long as I knew where I was going.

Of course, as we learned in Charlotte, there are always unexpected bumps in the road when one travels. I think the best way to deal with the unforeseen is to take a minute to regroup, figure out a game plan, and move on- at least that would be my game plan if anything were to go wrong in Dublin. That’s the tactic we used in Charlotte, and everything worked out- this smart but go-with-the-flow attitude is something that I will definitely be applying to any travel issues I have in the future.

And, although I wasn’t completely by myself, I was able to go and explore Dublin on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. This further acclimated me to the city and gave me some confidence when it comes to navigating maps, bus schedules and directions without any advisors.

Exploring Howth was the perfect breather before jumping right back into work and site visits. Tomorrow is a day packed with class and company tours, so stay tuned!