The Brewery is designed in the shape of a pint glass that if it was filled would hole 14.3 million pints of Guinness! The storehouse was really neat, we went through the process of making it, and saw old equipment they used to use. It was very well thought-out and designed.
There was a part of one of the floors that taught you how to pour a pint, which takes 119 seconds to pour!
There was a tasting lab where they gave you a little bit to taste, then we moved on to learn about Arthur Guinness. Then there was a history section, it's been 250 years since Arthur signed the lease.
After that was the advertising floor, I learned how the Toucan came to be a part of Guinness. It started with a pelican, and then turned into a toucan when a woman was hired to write a rhyme for Guinness. That floor was really neat, it had a bunch of old bottles that they used to use and labels, I liked it!!!
Then the Gravity Bar, it's the highest bar in Ireland. It has windows all around it so you can see 360 degrees! There you get your free (11 Euro) beer! (The tickets cost 11 euros). You can see all the way to the Irish Sea on the east coast, and really far south to the Wicklow Mountains, where they get their water from to produce Guinness! Not the River Liffey like most think!
Me and my delicious free Guinness!
We took a picture with our Guinness staches...took us a few tries to get this one, even though you still can't see them very well!
After the storehouse some of the girls went back to the apartments to get ready but Katie and I went into the city to eat. We ate at this local pub called The Plough, some girls went there the first night they were here and said it was a lot of fun. This time it was a lot more mellow but more my style. We sat at the bar and she had a tuna sandwich and I had a burger along with another pint of Guinness! It was delicious!
We sat and talked to the two bartenders, Mary and some weird guy name and the Bossman (ha thats how they said it, Bossman) was named Damien! They joked with us the entire time we were there. I asked a bunch of questions and talked about beer. I tried a new beer called Hoegaarden (pronouced Hoe-Garden, ha just how it's spelled) it was more fruity, kinda had a lime taste in it. I liked it! Ha but didn't know until the Bossman told us that it has more alcohol in it, and it's a little more than a pint! ha I felt a little good after leaving there!
After that I just kinda hung out with the girls then headed home early, I was tired.
Today I woke up a little later and wanted to explore the city, so I went by myself (ha felt like a big girl!) and explored!
I went down to O'Connell Street and just walked, ended up in a shopping area that reminded me of pearl street mall or the 16th street mall.
There were people playing music for tips and men pretending to be statues it was neat. There was one guy who acted like he was walking but didn't move, but his clothes looked like he was walking!
I tried to find this book that the storyteller at the Brazen Head was talking about but couldn't. Then I ended up is St. Stephens Green, a lovely public park. I walked around it, 22 acres, one of the largest parks in Dublin! There were fountains and birds, a TON of people and lots of trees and grass! There was a park for the little kiddies and shelters that I think bands play in sometimes and a bunch of walking paths! I very much enjoyed this walk alone, I was listening to my ipod while I did this and moon river by Frank Sinatra came on, ah perfect song to listen to while walking through that park!
I wanted to walk by the Library and the Museum, they are giant old buildings on the map so I thought it would be neat, and it was!!! They were surrounded by a big black gate with police guards in the front but were gorgeous old buildings with wonderful pillars that had little monkeys and leaves on them! ha not sure why but they were grand! I would have gone in but I'm pretty sure the museum cost money and I didn't want to spend any at that time, I'll go before I leave though!
So everyday I see the locals walking around eating ice cream cones, I love it! Not like we do in the US, like legit cones, plain vanilla and a rice cone! I kept seeing them today since it was such a nice day, so I told myself if I pass an ice cream shop on the way back to the bus I'll get one...but I never did! ha kinda sad but probably a good thing! I'll get one eventually though, have to fit in at some point! :)
The rest of my day is spent doing the first loads of 3 euro laundry, yes thats 3 to wash and 3 to dry, so thats about $7.50 to wash and dry my laundry, not counting the extra 3 euro I had to spend to re-dry one load since the stupid washer didn't go on spin mode and my clothes were soaked! Oh well, but tomorrow is the first day of work! YAY
Until then thanks for reading this looong post! :)
I loved reading your long post!! Keep them coming! The Guiness factory looks really interesting - did you buy a postcard showing the building? Dad would love that! You are my big girl - adventuring out by yourself! That's how you learn more, in my opinion. It was good talking to you this morning (afternoon for you!). I love you, Mum
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