Monday the 4th to Tuesday the 5th June, 2012.
Picking up where Greg left off….
Right so after a full day of family history in Clane, we walked into the city and had dinner, then collapsed into bed. We had Tante Zoe’s for dinner – which is in the Temple Bar district of Dublin (sort of like our Northbridge – according to the Irish car rental guy). It was good Cajun style food, but possibly a little overpriced. It was still tasty though. Greg had a gumbo which was not too bad and I’ve forgotten what I had! (Greg informs me some kind of meatloaf…hmm, rings a bell)
The B&B we stayed at (Leeson Bridge Guest House) was lovely, but a good ten to twenty minute stroll from town…depending how long you stop to look at baby swans that is 😉 It meant a daily walk through St Stephens Green, which is lovely! It was a public holiday and there were quite a few people getting out and merry. There had been women’s marathon on and the gals were all out celebrating.
If you have tricked the local pigeons, you are doing something right – although he could have had birdseed in his hand 😉
The next day (Tuesday) we planned to hit up a few different things in Dublin Central – namely the Guinness Factory. We walked past and admired Dublin Castle along the way, but didn’t go in. It’s fairly hard to walk/drive anywhere in Ireland so far without going past some kind of castle/ruins/old church etc! Having the hire car has been a luxury and making our own schedule has been great. We have a GPS on board (her name is Bessie) to assist navigating the country side – although it is sign posted pretty well!
Wet and windy Dublin..
Dublin Castle
Anyhoo, the Guinness factory is also fairly easy to find without a GPS, lots of signs to point the way. Tickets are around 14 Euro and you get a taste here and there and a free pint of the good stuff. The factory is quite large, it takes you through the history of Guinness and the brewing process, all with lots of fancy digital displays and old bits of equipment. The top level is the bar, where you enjoy your free pint and 360 degree views of the city while you are there. Lots of tourists here, but lots of room to avoid them as well. We also had some Guinness themed foods for lunch – Irish stew and mash for me, Shepard’s Pie for Greg. Gut busting and delish!
Rolling away after lunch, we checked out a newish attraction known as the Leprechaun Museum in Dublin central. Aside from presenting some cool info about the little people, it also manages to shrink you down to the size of one during the process 😉 We played in the Giant’s room and then had a few Irish tales told to us in the fairy kingdom. This is one for the kids in all of us 😉 Better to bring a few along if you can. I know some that would have loved it. The place is new – I think they need to work on the decor a bit, you could do a lot more with the concept. (hello, where were the giant tea cups!)
It took a few jumps to get up on this chair – so I have to include this gumby photo!
We tucked ourselves into bed after a fairly long city walking day. Hooray. One of the things I like about Dublin city are the colourful doors – all shades and they make the similar style houses look a lot more cheerful. One day, I would love to have a pink front door!
mmmmm guinness factory