Dublin

Welcome to Guinness, home of the 'Stoutie'!

I don't know what this building was but it looked cool

The proper way to drink your Guinness...

Our trip to Ireland has come to an end. Once again Julie has orchestrated a well organized vacation through the COVID-19 processes of multiple countries and kept us where we needed to be when we needed to be there. Can’t wait for Thailand this fall.

Took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Free beer what?

So we left Kansas City yesterday around 8am, lost 6 hours flying East, arrived at Dublin at 5:30am with no sleep. Couldn't check in until 3pm so we left our bags at the hotel, walked to the Dublin Castle, then walked to the Guinness Storehouse and had Guinness beers. All of that with no sleep. These are there eyes of a beaten man. Ready for a shower, a12 hour coma and more Irish fun tomorrow.

Of course we had to stop by the Harley-Davidson shop lol

The Bank of Ireland. I think this is one of the "Big Four" banks of Ireland.

Parliament House. A lot of these old buildings are in the same location.

Had to visit the sweet Molly Malone statue. Some free entertainment while we were there. Okay not free I donated.

Took a nice little wander through St Stephen's Green to get the juices flowing this morning...

I might have read that wrong. Anyone have bail money?

Took a tour of the Jameson distillery today. We loved the tour and our guide Wesley was so entertaining! Grabbed a couple of drinks and a couple of bottles to take home. Fyi, we took the Bow Street tour and learned more than we thought about whiskey. The presentation was well done and the drinks were delicious afterwards. Great stop.

When you're eating in The Church in Dublin and you find out Arthur Guinness was married in this church before it became a pub/restaurant you kind of have to pay tribute to that. So James Spare and I found the best tribute we could make would be to drink a fantastic Guinness stout. Sláinte Arthur Guinness! Well done brother!

Fantastic dinner and entertainment at The Church in Dublin tonight. Arthur Guinness was actually married in this when it was an operating church. The Irish music and dancers set the stage for a wonderful evening. So glad we went. Good thing Lynn remembered our cab drivers recommendation and suggested it tonight.

Okay. True story time. Julie, Lynn, James and I are eating at The Church in Dublin. As we're leaving I need to hit the Johnny before we leave. So I go in the restroom in the basement and step in front of the urinal on the right. There are two other gentlemen washing their hands. As we're partaking of our business a guy walks in and says very loudly in a thick Irish accent walking quickly to the urinals "Oh my God I'm fooking drunk! Who's going to help me manage me pecker?" I say pretty loudly "I've got my own hands full at the moment. It's between those two at the sinks!". At which time one of those gentlemen leaves promptly. The other finishes and leaves. Just then another guy comes out of a stall laughing and our protagonist stated "Oh look, we have another contender!". I escaped only having to handle my own.

Ireland is too much lol.

Pretty entrance but we didn't go in. Across the street from the prison we were touring.

The Kilmainham Gaol was our first stop for the day. Opened in 1796 and was in service for the County of Dublin until 1924. Early in the history of the museum it was often a holding prison to transport inmates to Australia. The prison held common criminals up to murders and was involved holding many prisoners of several rebellions. During the famine, the prison became overcrowded by petty thieves stealing bread and other foods to survive as it was illegal to also be a beggar on the streets. It eventually turned into a prison that held only political prisoners and executed many involved in the Easter Rising of 1916.

The new part of the prison was modeled in the Victorian style and used the panopticon method for guards to be able to oversee the prisoners from one vantage point. It was also felt that light was good for the prisoners and would make it easier for them to repent. Many movies have since been filmed there including In the Name of the Father with Daniel Day Lewis.

Tickets come available a couple of weeks in advance and are snatched up quickly. The tour is only 8 euros and definitely worth it!!! https://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/

The second half of the tour to the Kilmainham Gaol was a fantastic museum. The museum is set up in 2 sections: pre and post political prisoner eras. The upper floor was the political prisoner section and very educational and informative. There was a special room set up with mementos from the prisoners who were executed for the part in the Easter Rising in 1916. Some of the mementos included personal letters to family, a wedding ring from one of the last executed who was allowed to marry his fiancé the night before his death, and a copy of the proclamation that Ireland was to be free.

I feel like someone is trying to tell me something...

Tonight's dinner rendezvous was at the suggestion of the marketing guru Noel at our hotel (Maldron). Hit the nail on the head. Merchants Arch had great food and ambiance with the fantastic but subtle music. And you have to cap off the evening with Jameson Irish whiskey. Sláinte!

Dinner the last night we were here was a little bit of a struggle. A lot of Dublin pubs don't serve food do we did a lot of walking in, checking it out and leaving to find another. We ended up at Dakota. The menu looked good. Good food and hung out for a last bit with Holly before saying goodbye. Not a bad last dinner in Dublin.

Pretty cool street art in front of a pub.