Sandymount Strand/Irishtown Nature Park/The Poolbeg Flasher
Hallelujah, Hallelujah - the sight of the sea and the breath of the salty seaweed and coastal air does the heart good, no matter how jaded you get over the state of a lockdown. The sand and the sky and the water shimmering in the sunshine will work wonders for the spirits of a downcast drunk, embellished by the crated elixir he lugs along in his satchel. One may see seabirds galore - the herons fishing and the cormorants spreading their wings and the terns and the Barnacle geese and the winkle pickers and the quacking ducks - hooded crows are numerous too, dropping molluscs from a great height that they may smash the shell on the rocks and eat of the flesh within. If you're unlucky, you'll also likely see a fat rat wadding along by the waterside, scuttling between the rocks and disappearing in the Nature Park's maze of bushes.
The cans you consume will shorten the long walk along the pier towards the celebrated Poolbeg Flasher, that lurid red lighthouse made immortal by song and story, where you may rub shoulders with the Chinese fishermen and watch them haul in their Sunday supper's morsel of mackerel - and disgustedly avert one's eyes as their kiddies piss and their grannies pull up their britches. The sunset is a wonder and the moon and starlight on a clear night is inspiring. If the tide is out, you may take a tin or two on the vast expanse of sandy shore itself - but be warned, it can be deceptive - some passages are far more waterlogged than others, and would be glad to lap you up in their squishy embraces, cans and bags and all. Gawd bless this seaside patch of paradise! (Even if the Bull and Dollymount have a claim to be the more spectacular...)
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