Dublin

Having a grand old time here in Dublin!  Got in yesterday at 5:30 - Ashley met us at the hotel around 2 and we were off.  There's a nice pub next door to our hotel - The Bleeding Horse.  We walked over and had lunch - corned beef, mashed potatoes and a brew .... yummm.  Then we wandered around Dublin, walking down to Trinity College, the oldest university in Dublin.  We stopped off in several pubs around town.  I have discovered one thing about Ireland so far .... there is no worry of getting thirsty!  On each city block, there is at least one or two pubs.  I've never seen anything like it.  I'm not a big beer drinker but I do enjoy hard cider and it is on tap at each pub.  Don't want to think about how much weight I'm putting on.  But, we are walking a lot so that will help! 

Today we got on a "hop on hop off" bus and saw the sights around town.  We an took individual tour of Kilmainham Gaol which is a jail that was built in the late 1700s.  Quite impressive!  Then it was on to a tour of the Old Jameson Distillery.  The actual distillery has moved out of the city but again, the building was built in the 1700s.  The tour was interesting taking you through the entire production process.  And at the end, there was a tasting room.  I have a good friend that loves Jameson (hi, Sharon!) but I have tried to drink it and never was a fan.  Ashley and I both had it with cranberry juice and it wasn't bad.  But the best thing is Ashley and I are both Certified Irish Whiskey Tasters!  They asked for volunteers from the group and at the end, we performed a taste test with Jameson, Johnny Walker Black Scotch (yuck!) and Jack Daniels Black.  After the taste test, we were given certificates with our names on them. Our next tour was at the Guiness Brewery - Sonny's favorite!  After a tour of 7 stories, we ended up in the Gravity Bar for our free pint where we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the city as the sun was setting.  Arthur Guiness was a smart man - he signed a 9,000 year lease for the property in the late 1760s!!  The brewery covers 55 acres!

We visited several really old pubs and had lunch at a beautiful Victorian pub, Ryans.  It even had an authentic snug in the restaurant which was an enclosed area so women could go in the pubs and have a beverage.  Several more pubs later, we ended up back in our hotel around 10 pm although Sonny is still roaming the pubs! 

Tomorrow we pick up our car at the Dublin airport and Sonny has to figure out how to drive on the "wrong" side of the road ... just a little scary!  We begin our tour of southern Ireland.  I tried to download some pictures but keep getting an error.