An Irish 8K to Start the Day
Day 5 of our Ireland Trip
We left County Cavan for Clontarf, a harbor town near Dublin, at 6:30 a.m. so our 17-year-old son Wesley and 15-year-old daughter Sabrina could get registered for the Clontarf 5-mile (8K) Race.
Wesley was bummed that he was missing our local July 4th 5k so we signed him up before leaving the United States for one in Ireland. Sabrina had been running with Wesley, too, so she decided to join in the 8k.
The setting was a park. There were blue skies and sun, enough to stay warm despite a nippy breeze.
Half-marathoners ran first, then the 5-mile was on. Wesley came in 12th and Sabrina 223, out of 706 who finished. Not bad for their first 5-mile. My husband and I were so proud of them! Wesley said it felt “weird” to run an 8k. He had an exciting finish. As he sprinted, the announcer pointed out the “man who was flying to the finish.” It probably didn’t hurt that they were running today at nearly sea level and cool temps. and they’re used to high altitude and heat.
After the race, as if on cue, rain showers came. Then 20 minutes later, sun. We hurried and went in two cars (one driven by my husband, one by my sister) to Howth, a down-to-earth little fishing town. At an open-air market, we bought Turkish Delight, dates, and artisan bread. For lunch, we bought some food from a vendor cart: clam chowder, fish & chips, and fried prawns.
Newgrange
With our picnic lunch over, we drove to Newgrange, which is a cool ancient burial site that looks like a grassy spaceship. Our taciturn but knowledgeable guide, Frank Seehy, pointed out that for such an “ancient” civilization, they were so advanced in terms of building and astronomy.
Once a year, Newgrange picks 20 random winners in a lottery to determine who’d get to experience the solstice coming in through the top of the front entrance. That would be so neat! Though he stressed there are no warranties against a misty day.
Trim Castle
Next, we went to Trim Castle. The grounds were closed, but it was impressive enough to the kids that we will attempt another visit sometime next week. Compared to the other ruins we saw along the way in places, it had survived the centuries fairly intact and appeared well-maintained. And Mel Gibson filmed Braveheart here!
Along the castle street I saw more window boxes of flowers! And colorful doors!
Shopping at Lidl’s
At day’s end, my sister and I shopped for groceries at Lidl’s.
It’s a charming store with helpful employees, but I couldn’t find a lot of staples that I take for granted in America, like tortilla chips, blue cheese dressing, and taco shells. But they had lots of chocolate and cheese. This country knows its priorities! Seriously, next time I shop in the U.S., I’ll be grateful for all the products I could buy.
After the late-night grocery run, my awesome sister made chicken madras which is a very yummy dish with exotic spices, just a titch spicy.
Probably my most favorite thing about today was spending so much time riding shotgun with my sister (she drove her car in convoy because our car rental only had 5 seat belts). We laughed and reminisced about our high school days, then played a mutual favorite, the theme song from the movie Boy in the Bubble on repeat track over and over and over. We giggled and chatted and got caught up on a lot of mutual friends. On life.
This is a 9-day series through Ireland. Here are Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4. Thank you for reading!
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