Ireland: Part 4 Dublin (for the second time)

All the Guiness bottles over the years

View from the top of the Guinness Brewery

Liffey River in Dublin

Bonnie on Easter Sunday

The Oldest Pub in Dublin

Bonnie participating in the Jameson Challenge 

Umm... I don't like whiskey that much...

Streets of Dublin

Dublin Castle Grounds

Temple Bar area

We had head out early from Galway to Dublin because we wanted to make sure we got to visit the Guinness Storehouse Brewery, which had been highly recommended by many.  It indeed was interested, but sooo crowded and very poorly organized, so it was hard to learn anything.  And actually, the free Guinness we had at the top was actually the worst Guinness we had tasted in Ireland... it was very bitter.  Maybe the brewery was having a bad day?  I don't know.  None of us could finish the free beers, but the view was nice.  The area around the brewery was really shady though.  Dublin was kind of a sad city in general.  Evidently, Ireland is one of the top countries for having a heroin problem.  In all of the public bathrooms, even in our hostel, there were black lights so that you couldn't see your veins... uggghhhh.  It is obvious from walking around that the crisis has hit Ireland pretty hard and therefore has produced a lot of alcoholics, drunks, druggies, etc.  Anyways, we walked around some more and looked at she shops and then ate in the Temple Bar area, where I had some vegetable curry.  Curry is actually very popular in Ireland and is offered at most pubs and restaurants.  The next day Alex had his flight back to Spain but Bonnie and I still had another day.  It was Easter so Bonnie and I went to Christ Church for the service which was interesting.  We went afterwards to the Brazen Head Pub which is the 2nd oldest pub in Ireland, but the oldest in Dublin.  It was probably my favorite pub we had been in.  We then went to the Jameson Distillery.  It was much more organized, less crowded, and more educational and fun.  However, turns out I'm not much of a whiskey fan, though I do prefer it to scotch.  Bonnie got selected to be part of a taste test.  We walked around to walk off the alcohol and stumbled upon Dublin Castle that had the Chester Beatty Library where we saw a very interesting video about how leather bound handmade books were made in the Middle East.  It was really cool. We had some dinner at another pub and then caught a bus to the Hilton where we got a great deal for the night by the airport.  It was a lovely way to end the trip.  I really enjoyed Ireland, but honestly it was the most expensive week of my life, so if you are going to go there, prepare yourself!