Guinness is Good for...someone.

Guess where we were today?

We got a very late start today. All of us slept in until 11 am.  Even starting so late I feel like we did a lot.  Yesterday we picked up some sausage rolls to cook for breakfast this morning.  This meant I had to figure out how to use the oven.  Setting the temperature, not a problem.  Figuring out what the other knob did...well I took a guess and was rewarded with the oven turning on and 15 minutes later I had the necessary bribes to get the boys out of their beds.

I bought post cards yesterday so first order of business was getting them into the mail.  Luckily for us the General Post Office is just few blocks away.  The General Post office is where Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of Irish Independence in 1916.  It was also the rebel headquarters, and the sight of a bloody 5 day siege. The building is grand, I'll need to get a picture from across the road to capture all of it..  Here are the ones I did take though, you can see the bullet holes in the columns.


Front window of General Post Office

Bullet holes for the siege in 1916

Lobby of the GPO

Beautiful original wood postal box.

Because of all the walking we did yesterday, we thought it would be a good idea to take the bus to the Guinness Storehouse.  They are double decker just like in England, so you get a really great view while they careen around town.  I am of the opinion that you have to be crazy to drive around here.  People pay no attention to crosswalk signals and the drivers barely pay attention to the traffic lights.  All the street signs are on the buildings and most of them you can barely read, even when you are right on top of them.  There is no way someone unfamiliar with Dublin would be able to navigate with any ease.

On the bus we passed Christ Church Cathedral, where we saw that they were filming a movie.  No star sightings though.  Oh well.

The Guinness Storehouse is very underwhelming on the outside.  It's tucked into a neighborhood with the main entrance accessed by a small alley like road.  Like everything we've found in Dublin, it doesn't put on airs. It presents it's self to the world as it is, a nearly 250 year old brewery who sits comfortably with it's neighbors and welcomes you with a smile.

During the tour I think Jeff took a picture of everything in the building.  He was entranced by all the old tools and machines.  He even recorded the video on how the barrels were made. He may not like beer but he likes the process of making it.  I am only uploading a few of the photos to give you a taste of what we saw.  Haha, get it?  A taste of the brewery.  I crack myself up.

After the tour you go to a tasting room and are given a small glass of Guinness.  We drank ours...barely.  We just aren't beer people.  Jeff did better then I did, I could barely choke down the second half of my glass.

 

 

We washed away the bitter brew with some Irish stew on the 5th floor.  William found some odd Elderflower soda that he had to try.

 

He enjoys odd drinks, yesterday he found a soda called Lilt which is Pineapple and Grapefruit.  On the way home this evening he bought banana milk.  I am glad his stomach is stronger than mine.   I guess this is why he isn't that adventurous with food, you can only gamble with half your meal.   He's wisely chosen the half that won't leave him starving if he makes a bad selection.

 

From the bar at the top of the Storehouse you have a panoramic view of Dublin.  I wish the weather was better so we could see a bit further. I also wish I could figure out why I can't put captions on any of the photos from our camera.  Photos from our phones I can caption but nothing else.  Stupid Google software.

Looking NW at the Wellington Obelisk  and Phoenix Park

 Looking North, I can't remember what church that is in the distance.

 Looking NE, the spire is the Millennium Spire, but I've heard people call it The Stiffy on The Liffey.

 Looking East toward Trinity College.

Guinness storage silos to the south.  I think these ones hold barley.

 

After we left, we caught a horse drawn buggy and went to the Kilmainham Goal, but unfortunately we missed the last tour of the day.  I think since the weather is suppose to turn nasty tomorrow we'll  

 try again.  It's on my must do list and it's a good inside activity.

 

On the home front, I think I just heard the washer/drier shut off.  I hope it worked this time.  The first time I ran it today, I don't know what it did.  Maybe just the spin cycle because the clothes were dry, cold and well aired.  I tried it again before we left for dinner and this time made sure water was actually being used.  When we got home an hour later it was still running.  And it's been running for the two hours since then.  The knobs like the ones on the stove are written in some kind of secret code that I will decipher, so help me Buddha.  But it will have to wait for later.  It's past midnight and I have to get some sleep.

 

Good night everyone.