Guinness anyone?

Cheers from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness brewery!

We made it to Dublin and despite our being a bit tired, we hit the ground running! We found Dublin to be another charming city. I've always loved Irish music and step dancing, but I soon began to realize that I didn't know a whole lot about this country. As we toured the local sights, I began to understand more about Ireland's rich culture and stirring history, including the recent struggle for independence and tragic civil war.

We found the weather to be warmer than Scotland and the sun even came out briefly! We were staying right near St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park that we had to walk through to get to all the sites. Dublin actually is full of great parks and open areas and the people here certainly take advantage of the sunshine while it's out! The parks and streets were full of people, which made for quite a festive atmosphere.

Our one and only night in town, after a traditional Irish dinner, we met up with a couple girls from "GenevaOnline", the group we are involved with back home in Switzerland. We ended up at a place in the Temple Bar area with live music. There was a cover band that was belting out 80's rock and people were absolutely crazy for it! It was the first time I had ever heard a cover of Bon Jovi's "Livin’ on a Prayer", classic! On our way back to the hotel, we popped into a local bar with a band playing traditional Irish music! It made out late night even later, but it was well worth it!

In the morning, we decided that a nice walk would do us good. So instead of catching the bus out to the other end of town, where Kilmainham Goal (the historic jail) and Guinness are, we instead walked. I knew exactly were we were going (of course), which is why we got completely lost and ended up walking around in huge circles in some slightly shady neighborhoods. In spite of our very frustrating (and long) morning walk, we eventually found what we were looking for and even got to see some parts of town most tourists don't!

After a tour of the prison, we had finally made it to the Guinness brewery, which no trip to Dublin is complete without! Now, to some, Guinness is just a beer, but for me a visit to their brewery was a pilgrimage.

It's my favorite beer and not only did we get a free one with our (paid) visit, we also learned some interesting facts: Guinness has been brewed for almost 250 years, the largest vats hold up to 90,000 gallons (or 720,000 pints) of beer, The Guinness Book of World Record's was dreamed up here, and "Guinness is Good For You!", at least that's what an ad campaign in 1929 claimed!

The ad stated: "Guinness builds strong muscles. It feeds exhausted nerves. It enriches the blood. Doctors affirm that Guinness is a valuable restorative after Influenza and other weakening illnesses." Fantastic! Who knew?

Before we headed back to the airport, we had time for one last meal. The food was delicious and the traditional atmosphere was great! It was a nice end to such a wonderful weekend.


In front of the Guinness St. James's Gate Brewery.


??? I'm still trying to figure this one out!


We found sun at our neighborhood park, St. Stephen's Green.


We enjoyed the nice weather at Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells (and the Berkeley Library!)


"Temple Bar" in the Temple Bar neighborhood


"GenevaOnline" in Dublin


Rocking out to Bon Jovi