Dublin, Ireland

I had to take a break from posting as we met up with friends in Dublin and we really had no down time for stuff like writing blog posts.  We have now been home for two weeks so I figured it was time to wrap up the trip!

First a quick traveler warning.  We dropped our car off at Dublin airport, and the Europcar staff there decided to try and pull a scam on us by claiming we had damaged the car.  He pointed to a spot that was smaller than a dime and claimed it was new damage, and I had to pay for it.  While we were still at the rental site I overheard him pulling the same BS with another couple.  I’m still fighting with them and will likely have to include Chase, my credit card provider, to get this resolved, but bottom line, make sure you video the exterior of your rental car before driving off the lot.  I have used Europcar several times in the past, but this will likely be the last.  Stay tuned!

On to happy thoughts!  The main reason we ended up on this trip to Ireland and Scotland was our friends William and Myra had been planning this for years to celebrate William’s 50th Birthday.  Myra’s birthday was just 3 days after Williams.  Happy birthday guys!

We connected with them at the hotel and headed across the street to St. Stephen’s Green.  Here is a shot of the entire group.

On the left is William’s Aunt Sande.  On the right is William’s sister Sharilyn.  This would be our touring group for the next 10 days.  Yes, those poor people had to put up with me for over a week!!  To lessen the pain we had to find a pub.  Here are the ladies as we walked through the Temple Bar area of town.

The most famous pub in Dublin is “The” Temple Bar, located in the Temple Bar area.  Confused yet?  It’s no wonder these people drink heavily!

The place was JAM PACKED so we found a different bar for our “Welcome to Dublin” pint.  It’s worth noting the band inside was playing Sweet Caroline to the large drunk crowd.  William and I came back by later to pick up some whiskey next door, and they were playing the same song, although likely to a different drunk crowd.  I had no idea Neil Diamond was Irish!

While on a bus tour we saw these two buildings that are built right into each other.  There has to be some interesting history on the construction here!

The next morning we decided to take a road trip to Howth, on the east coast of Ireland.  They have a pretty efficient train system heading there…the hardest part is finding the train station!  First we visited Howth Castle, which appears to need some major refurbishment.

I’m a sucker for neolithic sites, so we we stopped at Howth Dolmen nearby, and I’ve got to say for dolmens it’s pretty impressive!

We then made our way to the coast for a short hike along the waterfront.  We couldn’t stay long as we had a train to catch back to Dublin.

The sun even made a brief appearance!

Heading back down the path towards Howth.

Back in Dublin we had a scheduled tour of Jameson Distillery.

This was one of the better tours, as the tour guide was engaging and funny.  We had another distillery tour where the tour guide THOUGHT she was funny…but that’s another story.

Part of the tour is educating you on the aromas of the various components going into the whiskey.

This display depicts how much color the whiskey takes on as it ages.  All of the color in whiskey comes from the barrels they are aged in.  I have to admit I didn’t know this going in, but then I’m not much of a whiskey drinker.

On to the most important part, the tasting.

Whiskey is still not my thing, but if I had to choose one the Crested was the best of the bunch.

William shows off his selfie skills on a regular basis.  This is in the bar after the tour, drinking our complimentary Jameson cocktails.

Here is the sunset over the River Liffy.  Myra’s photo turned out way better than mine.

That night we hit a pub and William made some new friends, who were feeling no pain.

I’m just glad I didn’t partake in the shots!

The next morning we headed over to Guiness…so I was even happier I hadn’t done shots the night prior!

One of the Guiness stories is that Arthur Guiness signed a contract in 1759 for an old dilapidated brewery.  He somehow persuaded the owner to lease him the property for 45 pounds a month… for 9000 years.  There were no provisions for rent increases, so Guiness, which still brews on the property, still pays 45 pounds a month in rent…to the obviously pissed off heirs of the original owner!  The contract is on display at the start of the tour.

They spared no expense on the tour experience…likely from all those years of such cheap rent!  The below is supposed to depict the importance of water in the beer.

The iconic harp has changed slightly over the years.

This reminder that everybody is Irish on March 17th.  Kim had to take a shot of me, as that’s my birthday, which makes me even more Irish!

The tour ends on the top floor of the building, at what they call the Gravity Bar.  This was definitely an excellent spot for a pint!

We saw this spot on the way back to the hotel.

On the last night at the hotel we discovered that everything in the hotels mini bar was free.  A note said one item was complimentary, but one of the staff said that it was everything in the mini bar.  Here are the results.

Next up, we head to Scotland!