Dublin Day 2: Guinness and beyond

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Geo: 53.3441, -6.26749

Blessedly, there were no false fire alarms last night (after a few in the early evening) and we got a pretty decent night's rest. We trooped downstairs for breakfast and I remembered just how much I love vacationing in tea-drinking nations. There was a pot of piping hot tea at my side with a plate of toast very quickly. Josh bellied up to the buffet and proclaimed the Irish bacon the best he'd ever tasted.
Josh: I woke up this morning about 8 and listened to Eldest on my iPod until mom woke up. Then we went downstairs and had breakfast at the hotel. I quite liked their big haunches of bacon which are much bigger than the ones we have at home in Virginia. We left and hopped on a bus, rode to the city center and got on one of the green tour buses that go all around to the major tourist attractions of the city. We were going to ride to the gaol, but we decided to stop at the Guinness Factory first, so we wouldn't have to do the whole loop again later.
We went inside. First thing we stopped at the gift shop to buy a bar towel for dad. That being done, we went off on a self-guided tour. First they showed us the ingredients: hops, barley (some of which I smuggled out) and water. We saw videos and signs that showed the fermentation process and the roasting of the barley and the other steps that go into the making of Guinness Stout. We liked the story about the Guinness owner getting a 9,000 year lease on his land for 45 pounds per year. The last stop was the 7th floor of the factory, known as the Gravity Bar. They give you a free drink with your ticket; we got Sprites. It has a panoramic view of the city including "the spike," also known as the Millenium Spire, my favorite attraction in Dublin.
We got back on the tour bus and went to Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced "Jail"😉. When we got to the Gaol we had to wait for our tour so we walked into the village for something to eat and went to a pub called the Black Lion that was established in 1734. I had the ham and cheese and chips. Mom had mushroom soup, brown bread and tea. Then we headed back for our tour.
I was pronounced prison guard by the tour leader. I got keys and a radio that I never got to use. The jail is about 300 years old and it held leaders from several of the revolutions and uprisings that Ireland has had (which is quite a lot). We learned that you don't want the big room with the fireplace because that means you are going to die soon. They gave you a pretty good review of Irish history. Children didn't get any special treatment. During the famine there were kids younger than 10 in the Gaol.
After Gaol we thought we would go to the Writer's museum, but it was close to closing time, so we stopped at the Zoo in Phoenix park instead. Mom stopped me from buying a plush badger which I felt the urge to purchase. Most of the animals were either hiding or eating dinner. The lion looked like it had recently been shot. Caliber would have been ashamed. Caliber was the lion at the Dublin Zoo who was filmed roaring for the opening of MGM films. There was a sign we really liked.
We headed back into town (the Temple Bar area) for dinner. We walked around a bit, stopped in a bookstore to look for something for Aunt Kathy (we found two fairy tale books, but no Maeve book yet) and I got a book on armored vehicles, a copy of Gulliver's Travels and a tin whistle for Alex. We found a fresh, hot donut shop on the street. She made them in front of us with quick, sure movements. The were lightly dusted with regular sugar (not powdered).
We picked a place called Sherries for dinner. I had sushi and caviar, Just kidding. I had a bacon, cheese, chicken sandwich with chips (the potato chip kind, not the French fry kind). Mom had a wrap with duck and hoison sauce and some greens.
And now I will complain about the buses. It took a long time to find the 16 A stop and then we had to wait and wait, but then it came and we hopped on and headed back to the hotel, where we are now.

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Photos

A sign worth copying
I would like to replace "the animals" with "your siblings" at the end and post this at home

East wing of Kilmainham Gaol
This is the largest unoccupied jail in Europe and gets used for lots of movies. It's featured heavily in Season 3 of The Tudors, apparently.

Watching the Guinness cascade down
The pourers there are true professionals and can make a shamrock on top.