Guinness Mother-load

The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin has the mother-load of gift shops for Guinness “stuff”. And yes, yes we did partake.

Final Call

I wish I could have bottled up the complete and utter Irishness of the taxi cab driver this morning from the hotel to airport. Could have listened to him all day. Just lovely. I’d like that voice and lilt to be the voice of my GPS. Would be so much fun. We’re at the airport, ready to do. I miss my own beds and pillows, clean clothes, and especially our kitty cats. Sounds like it has been very warm back home.

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Day 17 Photos -Dublin

It was a whirlwind, single day in Dublin, but what a great city.

Buses, People, and Pints! Oh, my!

Dave and I left Belfast early this morning by train to Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. For those of you who don’t understand what that means, it means the island of Ireland is actually two countries: Northern Ireland, which is actually a part of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland, which is independently ruled with it’s own government. We’ve spent the last week and a half in Northern Ireland, which include Belfast and today we crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland which includes Dublin. Got it? If not…Google it! 🙂

Now that we’re clear on that, Dave’s and I have enjoyed train travel in Europe so much before, we booked first class tickets for this short, two- hour ride to Dublin. We also got an awesome breakfast on the train and I was able to catch up on my blog from the previous day. Duncan also came out for a visit.

Still an overcast kind of day, but it wasn’t raining when arrived in Dublin and the taxi driver found our hotel for the night at the Albany House. We were able to check in early to freshen up then we took the hop-on-hop-off bus around the city, which has kind of become our “thing to do” in each big city we’ve visited to get a lay of the land and layout of the city.

Our first observations are that Dublin truly exemplifies the words “bustling city” and then some. THIS is a thriving, alive city with many shops and restaurants and a LOT of energetic, young people. There are also a LOT of bicycles.

After going through every stop, we finally got off the bus at the Guinness Storehouse. You’re greeted inside the doors with the 9,000 year lease Arthur Guinness signed. There was a wax seal by his signature. The lease is inside a sunken area of the floor covered in glass.

THEN there are 7 floors of wonderfulness explaining everything about Guinness from the temperature the barley is roasted at, to the advertising designs they have used over the years.

It’s all a self-guided tour and there were a LOT of people there so getting around from floor to floor proved a hassle at times. We did a great beef sandwich at one of their restaurants and then a free pint on the top floor at the Gravity a Bar overlooking the city. I loved it, but we were both tuckered out. Old and out of shape!!

Overall we loved Dublin even though we did’t get to experience much of it. I’d visit again for sure.

Guinness is good!

It’s the last day of our vacation as we fly out tomorrow (Thursday)

You Call that Irish?2

We made it safely to Dublin, Ireland, but we’re only visiting the airport for the moment as we catch our connecting flight to Scotland.

The flight was uneventful, but I was shocked…shocked, I tell you, that Aer Lingus had NO TEA! You call this an Irish airline and have no tea to offer passengers? The travesty of it all. And I REALLY was looking forward to a nice cuppa on this chilly plane.

Oh, well. Dublin provided a wonderfully, strong Irish Breakfast brew and threw in two complimentary chocolates to boot!

The flight above the clouds offered a beautiful view out the window and I watched the movie BROOKLYN to help pass the time.

Dublin is quite foggy this morning, but not raining.

Next stop? SCOTLAND!

Dublin for A Day

Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, wasn’t on our original itinerary, but due to flight times and dates, we’re ending up spending a day there before flying out the next day.

As a Guinness lover, I am VERY excited about this! We’ll tour Dublin and stop in at the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and dinner and hopefully enjoy a pint…or two. One HAS to believe enjoying a Guinness at Guinness and IN Ireland would taste better.