I Went to Ireland...
...and all I brought back was this gormless photo of me drinking a pint of Guinness.
I know I promised photos, but I didn't find the city photographically inspiring. Who needs to see another picture of the Molly Malone statue!?
We had a good time though and could have done with an extra day or two to take in more culture. Instead we squeezed it all in to half a day with a bus tour of the city. Well worth it as the Dublism Tourism Office must source these guys off the local comedy circuit. We only got off to see the Book of Kells (highlight for me was the Long Room) and (naturally) to visit the Guiness factory.
My approach to travel is "When in Rome". Meaning that I have to do something like eat Pizza in Rome and drink coffee outside Parisian cafés. In Dublin I just had to have some Guinness. They say it doesn't travel, so, it follows, the best pint will be at the brewery itself. I can report that it was indeed the best pint I've ever had.
If you find yourself at the brewery wanting a pint of the black stuff here's my tip - don't pay. You can either queue for ages and pay 14euros each to take a tour, which culminates in a free pint in the Gravity Bar, or you could simply skip the queue and take the lift straight to the bar. This way you skip the boring bit and still get a free pint. If they ask for a token just play dumb like I did. Either way I would recommend a visit to the Gravity Bar. Probably better at night.
The one thing that really stuck out about Dublin for me was the smoke-free bars. I only hope it's simply a matter of time before we follow suit.
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Sounds like you had a good time Jake.
I can;t agree with you enough about the smoke free bars. I worked in Dublin for a few weeks and really noticed the difference after a night on the pop! The complete opposite to going to France or Spain where people smoke whilst they are eating!
I don;t think the pub economy in Dublin has suffered for it either. People said there was a concern that to get into pubs, you would have to walk through a smoke coated group of 30/40 people, but it doesn;t seem to have happened that way.
Hey mate, I've yet to go to Ireland at all - really should. I'm not a Guinness fan in general but I'm very intrigued at how it can taste that much different over there... Someone told me the other day that Guinness isn't actually Irish (Welsh recipe apparently?) Is this true?! The same guy told me that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish either?! What is the world coming to?!
Mike. I did notice each pub had a group of smokers outside and there *was* a cloud to get through at each door. Rather that than a cloud inside though.
Jono. Not sure about Guinness, but St Patrick isn't Irish. Don't know if anybody's 100% sure where he's from though.
It has been 8 years since I had that pint of Guiness at the brewery and I can still remember how good it was. In some ways it spoiled Guiness for me everywhere else.
I'm hoping for smoke free bars here in England - the non-smoking section is always hidden away in the corner... and more often than not you get a group of smokers right next to it which makes it pointless anyway.
On the Guiness front, my boss went to Ireland a while ago and also mentioned that the Guiness over there was much nicer than the stuff he drank back here.
Smoking should definitely be banned in pubs over here - specially those that sell food, it's pretty grim breathing in cigerette/cigar smoke while you're trying to enjoy a nice steak or whatever! urrgh.
We have a no-smoking pub/bar that we frequent and it's just so refreshing to get back home after a nice few pints without smelling like an ash tray...
Columbus went smoke free last year, and I find I have come to appreciate it. I can go to the nicer restaraunts in the arena district and not need to ask for non-smoking seating. Most pubs took to setting up covered (and in winter, heated) smoking secitons outside with tents and canopies, which is fine with me. The anti-smoking group has the signatures to get statewide legislation in Ohio, but have asked that the legislature hold off tiil they have enough to put it on the ballot and let the general public make the call. I expect it will fail at that point, as Columbus is our most contemporary city (in my mind) for culture, while most outlying areas are still back in the '90s.
Jake, did the Gravity bar still have tho moving clouds projected on the cieling? 5 years ago you could log on to a website and manipulate the clouds through their website. A webcam was across the street looking up at the wrap-around window so you could see the ceiling at night from outside as, supposedly, someone on the street would.
Jerry. Didn't see anything like that. We went during the day though, which might make it harder to spot.
Hello from Manhattan...we've had smoke free bars here for the past two years...lot's of grumbles at first, but I feel it has made it more pleasant to go out...also at first, pub owners said they'd go out of business, but nightlife seems as active as ever.
Hi Jono
Apparently Guiness was originally from North Wales (Anglesey I think - how true this is I don't know).
Also, St Patrick was originally from Wales, or, according to some sources, part of Cumbria (which was sort of part of Wales back then anyway). He was captured by pirates or something and taken to Ireland and settled there (and developed a serious wolf complex). Again, not sure how much of this is based on fact or myth. However, I think it is 'supposed' to be true. In fact, St David is supposed to be the only patron saint who was born in their respective country.
JT
On the Guinness front, I used to work with a guy who had worked in quality control for Guinness at Runcorn.
He informed me that Guinness in Ireland is exactly the same as the stuff that used to be made in London and straight of the line you wouldn’t be able to taste the difference.
What he did say is that In Ireland it is served colder and at a different pressure, add the care that most Guinness is served with in Ireland and you get the superior quality product that is so often spoken about.
On a similar note going back to my childhood when Guinness only came in a bottle, I can remember calling into the brewery tap (these were the days before the grand tour that now exists) one Sunday morning while waiting for the ferry back to the UK ,anyway there were rucks of glasses on the bar, each one being topped up slowly from a big jug.
My Dad wasn’t allowed to have one until they had all been filled, then along with what seemed like half of Dublin who had turned up in the meantime, they vanished in seconds.
I think I had a coke! (I was only about 8 at the time)
On a business trip to Cork a few years ago I was amazed at how much better the lager (it was draft Budweiser I think) is in the pubs there too, compared to what we get in the UK. It's not just the Guinness!
I just love Dublin, and Ireland for that matter. Have been there several times myself.
I remember, with some difficulty, that I was at a bar not far from Stag's Head. At closing time, the barkeeper locked the door and the band kept playing and the Guinness kept flowing.
My wife and I had some sense to quit while we could still walk and left. That was when the barkeeper came over to our friends and asked: "Will they be allright, now?"
Now that is caring about your customers.