poolbeg lighthouse

Happy Tuesday! Did your week get off to a decent start? I know times are still weird right now. Are you taking time to check-in with yourself and give yourself the care, love, and attention you need? If not, it’s perfectly okay to set aside time for yourself to do whatever you want/need to do during ‘me time.’ Maybe it’s yoga, meditation, running, reading, tending to a pallet garden you built, sewing some pillowcases for your home decor, making a dress to match your homemade mask, or even playing animal crossing with family and friends. Whatever you want to do during your assigned ‘me time,’ make sure you’re doing it and giving yourself a break.

If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “every girl likes a bad boy” - you can click right here to catch up on the time I saw Richard III at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Also, if you didn’t get the chance to cast your free daily vote for me to be the next #MaximCoverGirl, you can click here to vote or click here to read about why it’s important to me (and then vote!). You can vote once every twenty-four hours for free, and I am so grateful for your support! Voting for round 5 ends this coming Thursday night July 2nd, and I need to be in first place in order to advance to the quarterfinals, so I’d love your support to make it through to the next round! Thank you for everything so far!! If you’re all caught up on the adventures thus far and Maxim Cover Girl voting, then buckle up! Let’s continue our adventures with some more time in Dublin, outside of the City Centre!

I’ve written before about the Dublin Half Marathon and a couple of my highlight running routes in Dublin, but one that I haven’t mentioned yet but that is close to Sandymount Strand was my running route out to Poolbeg Lighthouse. From where I lived in Rathmines, it was a 7 mile run out to the lighthouse and a 7 mile run back, totaling 14 miles (including an optional nature trail that reminded me of the woods back home, so obviously I opted in for the nature trail!). I ran it a few times while living in Dublin based on my marathon training schedules. Obviously you needn’t run out to Poolbeg Lighthouse in order to enjoy it; it’s also a really lovely walk clocking in at 4 km (2.5 miles) from the parking lot on Pigeon House Road to the actual lighthouse. The journey can be incredibly windy since you end up 4 km into Dublin Bay, as well as involve some slippery surfaces since the massive stone walkway out to the lighthouse can be pretty slick.

But once you make it the 4 km out to Poolbeg Lighthouse and are able to look out at the coast from where you are on Dublin Bay, it’s totally worth it. The first time I completed the run, I was really nervous given how slippery the stone path of the Great South Wall was on the day I ran, but over time I became able to account for it and factor it into my times. Regardless of weather, there are always a few other people enjoying the walk with their dogs or fishing off the side of the wall since it’s so easily accessible to Dublin, but when the weather is nice and the sun is shining, Dublin Bay becomes a shimmering kaleidoscope of varying shades of blue. It's breathtaking and surreal and a wonderful place to take in not only the beauty of Dublin Bay surrounding you, but also the Dublin coastline and the peace and quiet of your immediate surroundings. It's definitely a breath of fresh air from the hustle and bustle of city life in more ways than one.

Are you someone who also loves lighthouses or seeing things off the beaten (and sometimes slippery) path? Let me know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been receiving a lot of really incredible stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe! Other people’s stories that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM, etc. recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about whatever stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have any restaurants/eateries/pubs/coffee shops/ice cream joints/theatres you would recommend in other countries or even in your current home town or city, I'm absolutely 100% all ears!! I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

And please, if you have 10-15 seconds to spare, I would really appreciate your daily vote for me to be Maxim Cover Girl 2020. Click here to vote! Voting for round five ends this coming Thursday July 2nd, and I need to be in first place by the time voting is over in order to advance to the quarterfinals!! I would really appreciate your help and support as I continue to try and become the next #MaximCoverGirl by moving ahead into round 6/the quarterfinals of the competition! Thanks for your support! Click here or on the photo above to vote!

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):

1. Won't you join me?

2. grateful for starbucks and sandymount strand

3. Once Upon a December in the National Gallery

4. plant a smooch for that gift of gab

5. may the 4th be with you: Dingle style

6. cinco de mayo: the best Mexican food in Dublin

7. pizza in roma

8. mussolini’s window and the philosophers’ metro stop

9. father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife

10. it's the vatican, not the vatican't

11. spoiler alert: i did not lose my hand

12. more pizza and gelato and Neptune, oh my