We woke up real early (there's a theme on this trip of us waking up around 8 every morning) and hopped on the commuter train from Park West (where we were) to Dublin. It was only a 10 minute or so train but we weren't able to walk. We stopped in the train station every morning for scones, coffee and yogurt, the breakfast of champions. Our first stop on the tour was the Guiness factory. I'll have to admit I was not a huge Guiness fan before I came on this trip. The Guiness factory was pretty amazing actually. It's a self guided (I wasn't a huge fan of that) tour, but it was really informative, gave the history of the brewery and all that jazz. It had a few interactive stations, you could try the grains and such before it actually got brewed. There were two stops that actually had people in them, the first being the tasting room. Everyone gets a small glass of fresh brewed Guiness, and there is a guide that instructs you on how to properly drink it and discover all of its flavors. After the tour of learning about hops, yeast, mineral water, barley and all that jazz you end up at whats called the gravity bar. It's a 360* bar 6 or 7 stories up on the building, and you're able to see the entire city of Dublin from it. It was a wonderful view, you could see mountains, the river running through the city, the works. They give you a pint (you've already paid for it, they aren't that generous) and you get to enjoy it while overlooking the city. As I said before I wasn't a huge fan before, but that Guiness was amazing. It was poured correctly, was fresh and ice cold. I loved it. I guess your tastes change. We stayed there for a while taking pictures and enjoying our truly monumental beer and then we all headed out to our next adventure. We headed out to the Jamison factory for our second tourist attraction. The Jamison factory was much smaller and was actually a guided tour. I'll have to admit, I liked it a lot. It was cool to see the entire process of how something goes from a grain to a liquid. The tour guide was pretty funny as well. At the end of the tour they give you some Jamison (much like Guiness) to enjoy. I had a Jamison and gingerale with a lime in the bottom. It was actually really good! Afterwards we headed out to meet up with Grace and Eliza at a place called Temple Bar. It's not a single bar as I soon figured out but more of a district. It's very touristy, there are markets everywhere a few live music venues and of course pubs. Grace and Eliza had some friends in town that they were going to a concert with later in the evening and we went and sat with them, while watching the Ireland, Wales rugby match. Naturally Ireland destroyed them and was a cause for celebration among the city. Seriously, every pub you walked by was crammed and screamed much like Athens on gameday. Reminded me of the good Fall days in Athens. We sat in the bar for a while, and the guys headed out. The trains don't run past 10:30 to Park West, so we had to retire a bit early. We headed back and watched movies (in english!). We watched K19: Widowmaker, She's the man, and Troy. What's She's the Man, Sean? It's an Amanda Bynes flick where she wants to join the mens soccer team but can't because she's a girl so she disguises herself as a man. Sounds like a stupid chick flick Sean. It might be...but when you have 3 comedians watching the movie and making jokes after every line, it easily becomes one of the funniest movie situations I've ever been in. We made so many jokes that stuck with us for the rest of the trip. It was a bit of an early night, but a fun day.
Pics! Gravity Bar Pic, Best Guiness I've ever Had, and Jamison Tour
We woke up real early (there's a theme on this trip of us waking up around 8 every morning) and hopped on the commuter train from Park West (where we were) to Dublin. It was only a 10 minute or so train but we weren't able to walk. We stopped in the train station every morning for scones, coffee and yogurt, the breakfast of champions. Our first stop on the tour was the Guiness factory. I'll have to admit I was not a huge Guiness fan before I came on this trip. The Guiness factory was pretty amazing actually. It's a self guided (I wasn't a huge fan of that) tour, but it was really informative, gave the history of the brewery and all that jazz. It had a few interactive stations, you could try the grains and such before it actually got brewed. There were two stops that actually had people in them, the first being the tasting room. Everyone gets a small glass of fresh brewed Guiness, and there is a guide that instructs you on how to properly drink it and discover all of its flavors. After the tour of learning about hops, yeast, mineral water, barley and all that jazz you end up at whats called the gravity bar. It's a 360* bar 6 or 7 stories up on the building, and you're able to see the entire city of Dublin from it. It was a wonderful view, you could see mountains, the river running through the city, the works. They give you a pint (you've already paid for it, they aren't that generous) and you get to enjoy it while overlooking the city. As I said before I wasn't a huge fan before, but that Guiness was amazing. It was poured correctly, was fresh and ice cold. I loved it. I guess your tastes change. We stayed there for a while taking pictures and enjoying our truly monumental beer and then we all headed out to our next adventure. We headed out to the Jamison factory for our second tourist attraction. The Jamison factory was much smaller and was actually a guided tour. I'll have to admit, I liked it a lot. It was cool to see the entire process of how something goes from a grain to a liquid. The tour guide was pretty funny as well. At the end of the tour they give you some Jamison (much like Guiness) to enjoy. I had a Jamison and gingerale with a lime in the bottom. It was actually really good! Afterwards we headed out to meet up with Grace and Eliza at a place called Temple Bar. It's not a single bar as I soon figured out but more of a district. It's very touristy, there are markets everywhere a few live music venues and of course pubs. Grace and Eliza had some friends in town that they were going to a concert with later in the evening and we went and sat with them, while watching the Ireland, Wales rugby match. Naturally Ireland destroyed them and was a cause for celebration among the city. Seriously, every pub you walked by was crammed and screamed much like Athens on gameday. Reminded me of the good Fall days in Athens. We sat in the bar for a while, and the guys headed out. The trains don't run past 10:30 to Park West, so we had to retire a bit early. We headed back and watched movies (in english!). We watched K19: Widowmaker, She's the man, and Troy. What's She's the Man, Sean? It's an Amanda Bynes flick where she wants to join the mens soccer team but can't because she's a girl so she disguises herself as a man. Sounds like a stupid chick flick Sean. It might be...but when you have 3 comedians watching the movie and making jokes after every line, it easily becomes one of the funniest movie situations I've ever been in. We made so many jokes that stuck with us for the rest of the trip. It was a bit of an early night, but a fun day.
Pics!
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