Today we had a city tour on an amphibious vehicle also known as the Viking Splash Tour; similar to the Duck Bus that goes around Boston. Thank God I don't know anyone in this city!
Actually our driver/guide was quite animated and had us shout a "Viking Roar" at unsuspecting folks as we traversed the city.
When we pulled up to the river and were handed yellow life jackets I was terrified.
I wasn't sure this thing had passed any safety tests; it surely would never pass the smog test in LA. So down into the river we went (yikes) seeing the sites along the waterfront, including Bono's recording studio, a very understated stucco building. It is said that Bono is Ireland's 2nd patron saint and that he walks on water across the river from his zillion dollar apartment to the studio.
On to the Jeannie Johnston Ship to hear about the Irish emigration to the states and the standards, or sub standards of the voyages of most of our ancestors. Very sad stories indeed. They left Ireland because of the famine and chanced cholera, storms and the like for a better life. The Jeannie Johnston could boast that it didn't lose a single life, unlike most of the other ships whose voyages took the lives of, on average, half the passengers.
After we were sufficiently depressed, we needed our 'spirits' lifted and there is no better way than a trip to the Guinness Storehouse.
Honestly, I thought I was in DisneyLand! Today was a slow day we were told. Some days upward of 9,000 people are there at any given time. We were served lunch in a private dining room and our own tour guide took us through the many floors of Guinness and the process of creation. We were given a voucher and could choose from several options on how to use it. Dom & I chose to learn how to pour our Guinness from a tap. Who knew after the pour, the beer must rest for 86 seconds so that the oxygen rises up the glass and turns it an almost black color.
The proper way to drink the beer is actually the way one enjoys a good wine...first the sniff, then the taste which you will roll around in your mouth so that all your taste buds can spring into action, followed finally by the swallow. I really didn't think I would like such a dark beer but it made a convert out of me! At the end of the tour, much like a Disney ride, the gift shop appears and you know you can't leave empty handed.
Back to the hotel for a much needed nap while Dom watched the semi final Gaelic Irish football match between rival counties. It ended in a "draw"...much like kissing your sister the boys used to say about a tie. The game will be replayed next Saturday and each side obviously hopes for victory.
Dinner on our own was a lovely grilled black sole similar to our white sole. We walked through the Temple Bar area which is pedestrian only and it's a good thing. Of the 500,000 people in Dublin proper, 50% of them are under 25 years old. So you can imagine on any given night how crowded the Temple Bar area is. Like London, the patrons spill out into the street to drink their beers and often, smoke as restaurants are No Smoking Zones, thankfully.
We hurried back to the hotel in time to pick up the "Literary Pub Crawl" which would take us to 3 pubs all the while being entertained by two of the most animated young men (actors). They regaled us with skits and stories of poets and writers; the usual guys like James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde and those I never heard of . What fun! And I can now say that I am an Irish Coffee virgin no more!
Tomorrow Tinkerbell will pick up our bags at 7am. What am I, on a cruise???
On to Killarney by way of the Irish National Stud farm.
Now that you've got the Guinness done right how about some Irish whiskey?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pretty awesome day...i would've loved the Literary Pub crawl, as well as the Guinness house....
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