Dublin, city of Jameson, Guinness, cathedrals, and very narrow streets that the seven seater people mover had to navigate. Our rental is at the end of a narrow lane and frankly I have no idea how the van is getting out of where I parked it. I made this bed and now I must drive out of it.
We learned that if you have exactly five tie fighters, those are forbidden on city streets during weekdays.
Fortunately, we left our five tie fighters at home. We’re in Dublin for two full days – our ABB is located less than a mile from almost everything we want to see. Good job, us!
The first thing we did on Friday was set out for Trinity College to see the library. It’s home to the Book of Kells and its related exhibition, and to the Long Room (a long, beautiful library room filled with books!).
Unfortunately, we were lazy with our research and not willing to wait in a line to get in, and we had to table this excursion for tomorrow. Oh well – at least the university grounds were manicured and beautiful.
And hey – it was sunny! St Stephens Green was nearby, so we headed over to the park. The Irish Citizens Army took up residence there in 1916 during the Easter Rising as they were fighting back against British rule. The park was dotted with commemorative placards and statues dedicated to the Irish folks who stood their ground.
Entry arch 
Statue dedicated to the insurgents 
Fall is coming.
And no city center park is truly complete without corpulent birds!
Next on our docket: a whiskey blending class at the Jameson distillery. As a person who is not a whiskey drinker and definitely doesn’t know anything about whiskey, I wasn’t sure if this would be my jam, but I’m willing to try almost anything one time.
The Jameson Distillery is trendy and has a happenin’ bar in the lobby which serves up tasty blended drinks before or after your tour. I can get behind a whiskey sour.
The class is set up like a chemistry class, with a plethora of glassware on the table to make our perfect little blends. To me, whiskey burns generally, unless it’s that Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey stuff – which I learned was technically NOT whiskey since it’s been flavored.
Well, I’ve done been had.
Our instructor warned those of us who don’t frequently drink whiskey that we should make sure to stay hydrated and be aware that it is, of course, an extremely strong spirit.
He took us through the various techniques Jameson uses to produce whiskey, as well as how the taste of the whiskey changes the longer it stays in the casks. More importantly, he taught us how to properly savor and taste whiskey so it does NOT taste like jet fuel. Neat!
I ended up with what I thought was a pretty good mix in the end. As a bonus, I learned that a buttload is technically 500 liters.
To round out the tour, we got to sample some whiskey straight out of the cask (it comes out of a bung hole!). It was about 120 proof. I’m not used to drinking whiskey, so even the pretty small amount I’ve had by now has me feeling pretty sauced.
I spent slightly too much money at the store before skipping merrily down the road to the Temple Bar district to wander the streets and catch some dinner.
We rounded out the evening with a tour of Dublin in a spooky ghost bus. The tour was truly excellent – both of the guides were animated and knew their spooky Dublin history. We learned about the progression of the plague through the city, of ghost stories and mysterious murders, and the gruesome fate of those who were kept in the Dublin jail. Our final stop of the night was at a cemetery on the north side of Dublin, where we learned about grave robbing and had a drink!
Forgot our shovels 
Our gravedigger guide!
Our second day in Dublin started with Trinity College (and sunshine!) again, but doing it right this time – we had purchased advance tickets! Good job, us. Now we can see the Book of Kells and the long room
The Book of Kells was authored around the 800s on vellum made from calves. Calves! That sounds like something only a super villain would write on – “yes, bring me pages and pages of paper, but I want it made from adorable baby cows!”
That’s a great start to our day of learning!
The Book of Kells is a recording of the new testament, and alternates between illustrations and text. It was kept in the Kells Monastery for many years before being handed to the college for safekeeping, hence the name. Since it’s the new testament, many of the illustrations feature Jesus – he looked like Tyrion Lannister. My favorite was of a frowny and pear-shaped saint.
Once you wander through the exhibition, you get to filter into the Long Room with about 100 of your closest foreign tourist friends.
The Long Room is truly a wonder to behold, containing thousands of old books lining tall shelves the length of the room. Every section had a rolling ladder and it felt like a fantasy library from a video game (if you ignore the 200 people taking photos of the whole room on selfie sticks).
The books were beautiful!
The Long Room displays two other pieces of Irish cultural significance – a gaelic harp (which is the symbol of Ireland), and an original copy of the proclamation of independence. I don’t have a picture of the harp – the case was very fingerprinty and reflecty 🙁
After the library, we stopped at nearby Dublin Castle for an hourlong guided tour. Didn’t have to reserve that tour far in advance – hah, take that, vacation gods of poor planning and nonexistent research.
It turns out Dublin Castle still operates as part of the Irish department of state. Presidents are sworn in here, they still host parties and meetings in the building, and it was long ago the seat of power of the English viceroys. Cool!
As part of the guided tour, you can see the original base of the castle, complete with a still-existing moat that they need to continually drain. Dublin was originally settled by vikings and you can still see the foundation of the viking castle in some areas. The English built on top of it when they took over the town.
One of the things I wanted to see was the chapel – it’s a gothic revival chapel that looks like it’s stone, but it’s actually wood. They did this to keep it from sinking into the river like other things tended to do.
Stained glass imported from France 
Incredulous Moses 
Now these some pipes!
From the chapel, we went into the castle itself, which is filled with ornate meeting spaces, parlors, and dining rooms. The halls are lined with portraits of past viceroys and rulers and fancy ladies. There were several mirrors to make sure you look fine at every angle, and that your ankles were also properly concealed!
Cool ceilings abound 
One thicc throne 
Fancy stairs! 
Mural depicting how awesome it was to be in the UK
It was popular back in the day to make sure you were a pasty, pale lady – so women used a lead-based white powder to appear as white as possible. As we know today, lead is in fact Very Bad For You, and this practice lead to adverse side-effects (pun definitely intended).
Oftentimes, ladies would lose their eyebrows. Enterprising women would have their servants catch and skin mice so they could put eyebrows made of mouse fur on their faces. You could say their eyebrow game was on squeak.
I’m so happy I know this fact, and now you know it, too.
After the castle, we headed into the nearby Chester Beatty library on the recommendation of our ABB host. It had some pretty impressive displays of South and Southeast Asian art. The part of me that loves Japan was pleased. Chester Beatty: my new BFF.
A big ol’ scroll 
Hiroshige book 
The view from the top of the Chester Beatty was beautiful, too! It overlooked a lawn with a Celtic knot pattern in it (other theory, it was made by aliens).
Last but not least, we were off to the Guinness brewery! We simply followed the hordes of obnoxious young men to our destination. Guinness: the one place dudes take selfies, I guess.
With your ticket, you can get a free beer flight or a free drink in the Gravity Bar, which is up on the 7th floor of the building and offers lovely views around the whole city. Dublin isn’t a tall city, but you can still see church steeples and a few other monuments poking out above the other buildings.
View from the Gravity Bar
When in Rome… 
Bro selfie city (and horses!) 
Naturally, the harp is everywhere 
It us.
The Guinness Brewery is a marketing masterpiece that has become a tourist mecca. The five floors take you through the beer-making process and the history of Guinness advertisement. In fact, when the new republic of Ireland was born, the state had to choose a mirror image of the harp to make sure they wouldn’t conflict with Guinness’ claim to the irish harp. I’m sure their marketing team is all high-fives for a job well done all day, every day.
Snark aside, the brewery was a pretty cool building.
Barrels o’ fun 
Tomorrow, we are depositing half our crew at the airport, and then we’re off to southern Ireland in a much smaller car! You will be missed, seven seater people mover.