After a particularly snowy and dreary day, my brother Alex and I were talking about the virtue of a crisp cool day, and how a grey sky could set the tone for a cozy day.
This got me thinking about our recent trip to Ireland, where the sky seemed persistently overcast, yet it almost never rained during our ten day stay. After a particularly hot August, Ireland’s cooler fall weather was entirely refreshing. Since we are in the midst of planning our next trip(s), I thought I would update my travel blog sooner than later.
Whenever I told anyone I was going to Ireland, the response was either “So cool! I’ve always wanted to go” OR “Why?” One could group askers of these questions into a) those that have seen Game of Thrones and b) Those who have not (most of Game of Thrones’ beautiful Westeros scenery is captured in Northern Ireland). In all seriousness though, since I learned of my familial roots in Ireland, I have felt drawn to it. Every time I saw a picture of the rolling green hills, I craved to see them with my own eyes. Every time I read the words of my Irish literary heroes, I felt the urge to visit them at their graves. I had just finished my MA, and I wanted to reward myself with a trip to mark the occasion. And thus I was (once again) on a plane days after finishing my degree.
Once we arrived in Dublin, we dropped our bags off at the Ashfield House Hostel where we had reservations. While Ashfield house had personality, was in a decent location, and was generally pleasant, I would not recommend it—just because I later found someplace even BETTER (I’ll get to that in the next few posts, and provide links).
After we changed out of our travel clothes (ew, stale plane air + red eye = the feeling of 1” of grime on your skin), we went for a wander along the river Liffey.
This meander, which lasted only 47 minutes yet felt like 47 hours, sufficiently exhausted us. We succumbed to the jet lag and had a nap.
After resting up, we decided to journey over to the Guinness Distillery. It was a rather long walk from central Dublin, but we have a rule of avoiding public transportation when we travel. Seeing a city by walking its streets is, to me, a much more preferable way to travel.
Outside the golden gates. Okay, they’re not gold, but the type is.
If you are in Dublin, the Guinness tour was one of my favourite attractions. It walks you through every step of the Guinness brewing process, starting with the water that is used (you will be relieved to learn that it does not come from Dublin’s river Liffey).
The tour was extremely interactive, including a portion where participants smell test each ingredient of the beer.
A taste test was also mandatory.
Also included in the tour was the history of Guinness marketing and advertisements. Pat looks a bit like a tool here, but he was mimicking the actual poster, so lets forgive him?
Alex looks a bit more like a natural born model, the jerk.
On the final two upper floors of the building were my favourite aspects of the tour. You could trade in a drink ticket (included in the admission price) for either a lesson in precisely how to pour Guinness from the tap, or for a pint in the rooftop 360 bar. I used mine for the pouring lesson, which is actually far trickier than it sounds. I did alright though:
The boys traded in their tickets for the 360 bar, which was the cherry on top of an awesome day. The bar boasted the best views of Dublin by far.
On our way back to the hostel, we somewhat drunkenly got distracted by the opportunity for more beer. We stopped in at one of Dublin’s more famed pubs (albeit outside of the famed Temple Bar District)—y’know, just to erm, break up our long walk home. Give us some… sustenance.
We sat on the patio of the Brazen Head pub and continued to soak in the Irish culture via the food and drink.
We rehydrated ourselves after our arduous, long 1 kilometer walk from Guinness. After all, we earnt our beer after a long travel day.
Stay tuned over the next week or so as I continue to post about our (fairly) recent trip to Ireland.
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