Welcome to Dublin, Where "Crack is Mighty!"

After a long, but easy day of traveling I arrive in Dublin, Ireland at 1:00 AM local time (3:00 AM Greece time). I slept briefly at an airport hotel, then headed back to the airport to catch a tour shuttle to our first hotel. The shuttle wasn't scheduled to arrive for another 1.5 hours though, so I got a cab instead. The cab driver was incredibly friendly and made me feel right at home. Driving into the city, I noticed the color and calmness the most: everything truly is green (especially in contrast to the burnt shrubbery of Greece) and the roads aren't bustling with cars honking their horns. The driver gave me some pointers about what to do with my day and pointed out important monuments, parks and buildings; he also taught my that "crack" here means "fun," and in Ireland, "crack is mighty!" :)

Checking into my hotel was a breeze and in no time at all I was out exploring.

Grand Canal, Dublin

I walked to and wandered around Steven's Green, a park right down the road from my hotel, then caught a hop-on, hop-off Dublin tour bus to see the city. I love the various architecture interspersed throughout the city: while excitingly diverse, it all manages to fit well together. I snapped a bunch of photos from the open top deck of the bus but I don't remember the names and history of everything we drove by--there's so much!

Christ Church Cathedral

I had originally planned on riding the bus for the duration of the tour in order to decide which locations I wanted to get off at, but was getting antsy and hopped off at Kilmainham Gaol, which the cab driver had highly recommended. They had a museum as well as a guided tour that took you through the jail to see the cells and various other rooms. The building was architectural inspiration for many 19th century Victorian jails.

Panopticon, Kilmainham Gaol

Afterwards, I went to the Guinness Storehouse where I learned all about making, advertising and drinking Guinness. The storehouse was HUGE--the atrium is a giant pint glass (so I guess it's not really a pint at all)...which, if filled, could hold 14.3 million pints of Guinness (world's largest pint glass). Not only was the tour, etc. awesome but I had an excellent lunch there as well (the first time I've had butternut squash in more than 3 months!!!!).

Lunch

My favorite part was the advertising section--I enjoyed watching the old Guinness commercials and seeing all their slogans like "Guinness for strength" and "A Guinness a day."

Guinness Ad

On the top floor of the storehouse is The Gravity Bar where you can get a full, 360 degree view of Dublin. A pint of Guinness is included with admission, and I got to pour it myself! The woman who taught me was actually a Korean Canadian...but she knew what she was doing, and now I do too!

Guinness, Settling

Topping off my Guinness

6 steps to the perfect pint

After more than 2 hours of beer touring, I started walking back towards my hotel. I walked through the area I had driven by earlier in the day in order to get a better feel for the neighborhoods, people and sites. Plenty of people smiled at me as I past and while I thought it would be weird being in an English-speaking country again, I've found I hardly notice a difference--maybe that's just because I can't understand Irish accents, though.

Photos of the Day

Wolverines are everywhere...

GO BLUE!

My new home...

Cottage, Steven's Green


Lampost

Lesson(s) of the Day

• They drive on the left side of the road here. These street markings are very helpful.

Life Savers

• Storehouse does not mean factory tour.
  
  
• Guinness is not to be sipped: drink it in gulps so you get the full spread of flavors in your mouth...bitterness of hops in the back, rich roasted barley in the middle and the sweetness of the malt in the front.

• What many people call a barrel is a cask. A barrel is a size of a cask, as is a firkin, a butt, or a a kilderkin.

Cooperage

The Count

Flights taken: 7

Pints of Guinness drinken: 1.25

Photos taken: 5196

(yes, I did take 333 photos today)

Tomorrow

• Yellow fever shot!
• The rest of the hop-on, hop-off tour and a stop at The National Museum.
• Guided tour of modern and ancient Dublin
• Tour of Dublin Castle
• "Welcome drink" with my tour group
• The Burlington Cabaret: a show of traditional Irish songs and step-dancing.

Should be another action-packed and exciting day!