Dublin - Days 14-16

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Ah, Dublin. Home to Guinness...and many other wonderful sights, I'm sure. Unfortunately, in three days in Dublin I really didn't manage to do much sightseeing at all. I came down with a cold (first, and surely not the last of the trip) that managed to dictate my activities pretty well: Eat. Rest. Eat. Rest...

So, what did I manage to do in Dublin besides eating and sleeping? Well, I couldn't bring myself to skip seeing the Guinness Storehouse, and to taste the finest Guinness in all the land -- at the source. Yes, the Guinness really is better here, and the question of whether the 14 euro entry is worth it really depends on how much you like Guinness, and how many free pints you manage to get.

Let me start from the beginning. I went to the Storehouse along with Ken (met him and his cold in Belfast) and an Aussie from Tasmania. We handed over our euros got our free pint tickets and began the self-guided tour. You don't actually get to see the brewery at all, it's basically a museum. However, most people are just there for the Guinness at the end anyway -- you just walk through the museum because you want to get your money's worth. So, eventually we worked our way up to the point where you had the opportunity to pour your own pint of Guinness (and using your free pint ticket in the process). We got in line and just as we got to the front, they told us that the gas had broken. Well, we weren't going to stand around waiting for them to fix it, so we went up to the Gravity Bar and got some absolutely fantastic pints. As we were finishing them, the Aussie came up with the idea of walking back down and trying to get another pint at the pour-your-own. I said it couldn't hurt, and down we went. Well, I explained to the woman running the show that we had been told to come back later and pour our own (mostly true). She of course asked for our tickets, and I insisted we were told to come back. She was having none of it. Plus, her english was somewhat lacking. "Ticket?" "No..." "Ticket?" ... you get the idea. Anyway, in the end she relented -- so it must have been my charms or something. So we got 2 pints out of our 14 euro, and as we all know, 2 is better than 1.

I'm not so sure that I should have been doing any drinking at all considering the cold meds I was on, but hey I'm still here so I guess it was ok. Sorry mom.

Aside from the Guinness tour, I met up with Sue, who I had met on my trip to Kilimanjaro a few months ago. We went out to a cool tapas bar, and had a great time. Of course, I drank some more, and I think I was getting just a little bit wacky with the cold meds (sorry Sue!) but it was a fun time.

Other than that, I pretty much stayed in and rested, so I didn't give Dublin a fair shot because it looks like it's a pretty sweet city.

Stay tuned for Cork and the west coast.

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Photos

The perfect pint
I even got a certificate to prove it...

Learning to pour
It's not rocket science, but fun nonetheless

Choo-Choo
It's a Guinness train...just had to climb in

Comments

[deleted_23747]

Read the directions on your cold meds. You're supposed to drink beer while taking them, they make the beer more potent.