We knew that we wanted to visit Heather and her adopted town of London, but we weren't sure what, if anything, we were going to do in Europe besides that. Paris, Ireland and Scotland were suggested. Ireland made the cut.
In Ireland's favor? I'm part Irish. St. Patrick's Day fell during our trip. Others had said that it was awesome and that we should go. It was close. It wouldn't be too expensive to visit.
So to Ireland we went. The island is pretty small, but our time there would be very short. We would arrive on Wednesday afternoon and depart on Saturday morning. That would be two full and two half days on the Emerald Isle. There would be no time for lazing about.
Luckily, lazing wasn't on our itinerary. Wednesday morning found us up at 5am and out the door just in time for a 35 minute wait for the bus. No matter - we had factored that fudge anyway and made our train in time. The actual route was bus downtown, couple stops on the tube, switch trains, few more stops on the tube, train from London to Chester, train from Chester to Holyhead, ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and bus from Dublin ferry terminal to the city center.
The weather was gray and cloudy but North Wales managed to look awesome nonetheless. It's on my list for a more in-depth visit in the future.
The ferry ride was gray also, but it did offer a chance to get some warm food and relax for a bit. A calm before the storm that seeing an entire nation in 3 days was bound to be.
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| Irish-style breakfast on the ferry |
We landed in Dublin, cleared immigration (Heather was very insistent that I discontinue my habit of conflating "customs" and "immigration") and bussed to the city center without event. We had the beginnings of a plan but neither the middles nor the endings, so first stop was a pub with wi-fi and beer. The beer was important to some (me) and the wi-fi to others (me and Chris). We found a cellular shop for Chris to get his smartphone connected to the Irish internets, plotted out some possible hostels for our evening stay and planned our time in Dublin.
First on the list was Guinness. The walk from where we were to where it was allowed us to see the river and some of the old viking section of town. It was quite a walk. We had all of our luggage and a full day of traveling behind us so it took quite a while, but it was worth it.
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| First view of the River Liffey |
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| A site for sore feet |
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| Getting ready for the tour |
The factory tour was pretty neat as they go. Way more built up than Sam Adam's in Boston, though that was pretty awesome in its own right. It was more of a museum/tourist thing than a tour really, as the brewery was no longer in operation there. There was plenty to see, do and learn and of course plenty of Guinness on tap.
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| They had a whole floor basically dedicated to the old construction techniques for beer barrels. |
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| Makes me wish that beer still came this way. Far nicer-looking than a keg. |
There were two things that you could do with your tour ticket: pour (and drink) a "perfect pint" at the taps located at the midpoint of the tour, or drink a pint on the roof-top observation deck. Melissa and Heather chose to spend their tickets on the perfect pint, while Chris and I saved ours for the observation deck. At the end of the day, I probably drank somewhere around 3 of the 4 beers anyway, so I have no complaints. =)
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| Melch and Heather with their instructor. Serious business! |
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| Fill it to the harp, then let it sit |
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| This requires complete focused attention. |
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| Sharing the "perfect pint" |
While Heather and Melch poured, Chris and I took the time to relax in some conveniently provided easy chairs near the taps. The ladies joined us and we all shared in the beerish goodness.
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| Slainte! |
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| Not that bad! |
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| Aww... |
They had a restaurant near the top of the building, but we were there too late and it was already closed. No matter though - it was the observation deck that we were really after...
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| Pretty nice-looking bar that they've got there. |
It had been a long trip and a long day, but I watched the sun set over Dublin from the Guinness observation deck with a cold pint in my hands.
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| Tastes like victory. |
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| Dublin Sunset |
After more walking in the pursuit of a hostel for the evening, we got our rooms, dropped off our gear, and made tracks for the Brazen Head Pub which had been recommended by my aunt.
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| This pub was as old-school as they come. |
If there's any way that pub could have been a better ending for that day, I don't know what it might be. Neat atmosphere, champions league football on the television outside, and live music on the inside. That didn't just hit the spot, it hit all the spots. If you're the kind of person who likes really bad camera work, check out the videos below. In my defense, it was late, I was tired, I wasn't trying to be all conspicuous about it, it was just a humble cell phone, I ran out of gas, had a flat tire, didn't have money for a cab, tux didn't come back from the cleaners, an old friend came in from out of town, someone stole my car, there was an earthquake, a terrible flood... and locusts...
It was a pretty cool place. Heather and Chris went back to bed before the band came on, but Melch and I had to at least stay for the first set before heading back to bed. Honestly, I would have stayed until closing time if I didn't know that the next day would be just as busy as the last. We paid our tab and walked back to the hostel, stopping to snap a few shots of an old church along the way.
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| The best I could do with my fancy camera back at the hostel |
Once again, there are more photos from this adventure on line than made this post. You can see them
here.
Love the short depth of field on the barrel shot!
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