Dublin

We left Limerick early Monday morning and arrived at the Trinity Capital Hotel in Dublin before 11 AM. We said our goodbyes to Paul and our driver, Padraig, and were handed off to Marie Carew, our Dublin-based hospitality representative. After we settled into our rooms, Marie took us on a brief tour of the areas near our hotel. After catching a bite to eat, I headed over to Trinity College for a tour, followed by a visit to the Book of Kells exhibition -- fascinating!

I checked out a music store, then found a local brewery/restaurant, the Porterhouse, where I enjoyed a red ale. Then I went over to explore the Temple Bar area. That evening I had dinner at Oliver St. John Gogarty restaurant in Temple Bar, and caught a music session in the restaurant's pub after dinner.


On Tuesday, we used our hop-on, hop-off bus tickets to explore a few of the areas in town that were a little more remote from our hotel. The weather was great that day! Our first stop was as Kilmainham Gaol, the former prison, now a museum. Excellent tour and great museum.

We jumped back on the (double-decker) bus, and next disembarked at the Jameson Distillery. I headed over to the distillery for a guided tour, and the ladies decided instead to walk over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I enjoyed the tour, which wrapped up with a small sample.


Fortified and inspired, I walked the 10 blocks over to the Guinness Storehouse. I took the self-guided tour, which I enjoyed. The tour wrapped up with a lesson in how to "pull a perfect pint"; with practice, I mastered the skill. I then enjoyed the fruit of my labors in the Gravity Bar, on the 7th floor of the Storehouse, where we had a 360-degree panoramic view of Dublin.


I jumped back on the bus and returned to the hotel to rest before dinner. Re-energized, I took advantage of the great weather to stroll over to St. Stephen's Green for some exploration and people-watching.

I went for dinner at the Porterhouse, enjoying some lamb stew and couple of the featured stouts. That evening, I checked out one of Paul's recommendations for music: the Arlington Hotel. As expected, another great call (I returned the following night).

Our last day in Dublin was somewhat moist (though it turned very nice by late afternoon). In the morning, we went to the William Butler Yeats exhibition at the National Library, and then over to the National Museum - Archaeology & History and the National Gallery. The Yeats exhibition was the best of these. I stepped out of the rain for a pub lunch of seafood chowder & Guinness. Then I headed across the River Liffey up O'Connell Street


to the Garden of Remembrance.


Adding the Dublin post-tour extension was a good call for me. As elsewhere, people were very kind and welcoming. It's a great walking town, and its history is compelling. And besides, it would have been heretical for me to spend two weeks in Ireland without making the pilgrimage to the Guinness Storehouse.