Dublin (II)

Sunday morning w got up early (for us), had breakfast and planned our day. Then we headed out into the gray day. After a bit of a walk (but without getting lost) we arrived at our first destination: the Old Jameson Distillery. In case you're wondering, it's the original place they made Jameson whiskey, actually until somewhat recently. They take you through on a guided tour that tells all about the history and how it's made. Then at the end you get a glass of Jameson either straight or with something (I chose ginger ale = not bad). But not everyone got a glass because they chose six people to do a whiskey tasting, and Dee volunteered. So these six people sat down at a table with a placemat that had spots for six shot glasses. On the bottom three were Irish whiskeys: Paddy's, Jameson and Power's Gold. They had to try all three and then put their favorite one in the center top spot. The other two spots were for the best-selling whiskeys in the world from Scotland and the States. I don't remember the Scottish one, but can you guess the American? Jack Daniel's. Then they had to try those two and compare it with their favorite Irish one. After they chose our tour guide told us he would be right back, and he wanted all of their shots gone by the time he did. He came back with certificates for all of the tasters saying that they are official whiskey tasters, and a small glass of straight Jameson. Needless to say Dee was a little more than tipsy by the time she finished. We were going to buy some souvenir, but it was only 11h45, and you can't buy alcohol before 1230 on Sunday in Dublin. So we wasted some time and tried to sober up a little in the café.

Our next stop of the day was the Guinness Storehouse. It took forever to get there, and we ended up walking around an entire block, which we believe contains the actual factory. While going back up one street, our eyes caught a sign for the storehouse, and five more minutes of following huge signs (which should've been at the tram stop), we made it into the storehouse. It was a self-guided tour, and there were seven floors. Not that bad for a museum about beer. At one point they give you a little cup to taste it, and on the 7th floor you get a free pint. The 7th floor is the 'gravity bar'. It's just a circular room with a bar in the middle. All of the walls are windows, which means you get a 360° view of Dublin. While the city itself holds no beauty from above, it's nice to see Dublin is hugged by green hills on side. And I'll admit in the confines of this blog of a crime I committed: theft. On the bottom floor there's a big tub with barely grains, the same kind that's used to make the actual Guinness! Well, I grabbed a handful and put it in my bag... later I sent it to the states. Hopefully customs doesn't think I'm trying to grow a terrorist plant or something. (Later note: they didn't, my package made it home) Dee and I could only finish half of our pints... too much bitter frothiness for me... aside from the fact that I really don't like beer.

All that morning alcohol made us quite hungry so we walked towards the zoo and found a little place to eat. This is where we committed our second crime of the day. First there's something you all should understand: European service is not like American where the people rely on tips. All of the little things we do in restaurants to get the servers attention, or let them know you're done, don't work. At this place we tried several: staring the waitresses down, pushing our plates away from us, and then stacking them and putting them on the edge of the table... and we got no service. Dee hadn't even eaten hers because it was gross...so we decided to go back downstairs to see if we should pay there. There was no one there, so Dee walked right out and I was forced to follow. So that saved us 11€. But karma did bi us in the ass and by the time we got to the zoo (around 4pm) it was just closing. Instead of attempting to do anything else we took a double-decker bus back to the city center and made the not really short haul back to our hostel to nap.

That night we went in search of a true Irish pub experience. This of course included wandering around a lot and wondering where exactly we were and in which direction we were headed. Guess what we found... Captain America's restaurant, as well as three BK's and McD's within ten minutes of each other, and a TGI Fridays. Feels like home. After changing directions in the same square about four times we finally agreed on a street to take, just to whip out our map and admit we were tourists. After quelques minutes, someone came over to ask if we were lost. Nope, just looking for a good pub. He recommended heading over to Temple Bar, which is actually a quartier, but there is an actual bar with that name inside. To this suggestion Dee replied, ' oh no., that's where you send all the tourists.' So he told us about the bar that his brother owns, and at which there would be live music that night. Well then, off we go! But wait! On our way, (in fact about three buildings down) we had to stop, for we had come across a pub named "The Hairy Lemon". Cozy little place with some great American tunes on the radio. We only stayed for a one expensive pint of Stella before starting our search again. Amazingly we found the place without getting lost. Well, the one time we took out the map we looked across the street and there it was. There was a bouncer, so we got carded, but he was funny. After discovering our true nationality he raised his hand and said to me, 'high five!' As I went in for it he pulled his back and said, ' oh, what am I American?' Dee fell for the same thing on the way out.

Inside, the music hadn't start yet, so with a Jameson and ginger and a beer at our table, we commenced a game of connect four. But first we had to play 'rock, paper, scissors' to see who would go first. We were going for best two out of three, but the bitch of it was, we pulled the same thing five times in a row. However I kicked her ass about 3/4 of the time. We stayed for two drinks each and the first musician. As we were leaving the bouncer informed us that the next guy was really good and we should stay for at least one song. With a rum and coke to share, we listened to four or five because he was actually pretty good.

And so ends the Sabbath in Dublin.