Monday, April 11, 2011

Lovely Day for a Guinness

Heya lads and lassies! Just finished a fun weekend in Dublin with my friend Lisa who came to visit from CT.   She really lucked out - we had gorgeous weather.  It was a great excuse to do some of the touristy things around town too...

Guinness Storehouse was cool - Lisa wanted to go there "just to get some pint glasses," however, since they wouldn't let us just go in the gift shop we were forced to buy tickets and drink some beer and get brainwashed...



poetry, really?  isn't that kind of a stretch?




city view from the gravity bar at the top 



Next stop was Kilmainham Gaol (jail) - pretty interesting tour.  We learned all about the Irish fight for independence from the English, and this is where many Irish political prisoners were executed.



center of the jail



memorial outside the jail to the 14 irish leaders who were executed for fighting for irish freedom. Streets, train stations, bridges, and buildings all over the city are named after these guys. 


guinness trucks are a pretty common sight in Dublin.  They look like oil tankers to me - always get a laugh when i see several drive by at a time. 



We went to Johnnie Fox's pub for some dinner / entertainment at their famous "Hooley Night" show.  Apparently it's the highest pub in Ireland, and you have to take a shuttle bus about 30 minutes through winding roads up a mountain in the countryside to get there.  It was a pretty great crowd - and lots of singing on the bus on the way back home at the end of the night... :)  


 the inside of this place was all decked out in antiques, old pictures, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling - really cute place.  you could probably hang out here for hours just looking at all the decorations!




the two loveliest ladies in the pub 

 here's some pics / videos of the band and the irish dancing - they were actually really good!














I taught the bartenders there how to make my famous green minty drink - i wonder if it'll end up on their list of cocktails... the bus ride home was really fun too - everyone was singing "nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey...goodbye" everytime someone got off the bus at a different stop!  I'm sure the bus driver was relieved to be done with his shift once everyone had been dropped off.

Sunday was another gorgeous day - perfect for just relaxing and walking around town.  We spent a few hours looking at artwork all around Merrion Square (out every Sunday), and I actually ended up buying some beautiful paintings for my apartment - so now my place finally feels cozy like home.  :)

After 4 nights in Dublin I think Lisa will sleep very well when she gets home to her hubbie. :)  Yet another amazing weekend here in Ireland - and now back to the grindstone until the next one.

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