A day of walking, having lunch in a playground and making mistakes. Welcome to today’s update post!
Morning
As per usual, I woke up about an hour before my alarm would have gone off because of my rowdy roommates. As soon as my bunkmate found out that I was awake because of her friend’s alarm, she came down to ask me to borrow my charger and adapter. I would later find out that that wasn’t actually my smartest decision ever (but more on that later).
My morning was pretty much the same as yesterday: I took a shower, headed down for breakfast and came back up to get ready for my plans of the day. Today’s schedule: Kilmainham Gaol and Guinness Storehouse. And also stressing out because I had never taken the tram before (at least not abroad).
Early noon
Stress!
According to my schedule, I had all morning to do the tour in Kilmainham Gaol. While planning my trip, I thought this was a bit much, but it turned out that I actually needed it after all. Not because the tour took that long, but because I had been very stupid; I forgot to buy my tickets online.
Now I have no idea how this happened, because I even sent some e-mails to the staff about photography permits and student price reductions. I must have thought I had booked my tour as well, but when I actually got there, I realized I didn’t have a reservation for this place in my little folder with printed reservations. I started looking through my e-mails, only to realize that I hadn’t actually made one.
Panic started kicking in. Employees told me that there were no spots left on any tour until 2:30 and there was no way they could squeeze me in anywhere. The staff at reception told me I could go check out the free museum, which I did. It was okay, but there was nothing spectacular in there. That is, until I heard a girl from Belgium tell her friends there was going to be an extra highlight tour at 10:30, which would take about 30 minutes.
The actual tour
The tour that I thought I was supposed to be at started at 9:30, and by now it was 10:20. So I rushed to reception and asked if there were any spots left on that tour. I was extremely happy when the clerk told me there was one more spot. So I bought a ticket, and I got what I wanted in the end.
The tour itself was really nice, even though we only got to see the highlights. Our tour guide was interesting and funny (and his accent wasn’t half as bad as about everyone else here).
Lunch and afternoon
On my way from Kilmainham Gaol to the Guinness Storehouse, I passed a supermarket, where I decided to buy a sandwich and a drink. Having done this, I started looking for a place to eat lunch. I quickly found one: a more or less deserted playground in a residential area. The swing looked like as good a place as any to eat, so I sat down and got right to it.
Following this adventurous lunch was my tour in the Guinness Storehouse. You know, the place where they make (well, used to make) the bitter, dark brown beer all Irishmen and -women seem to love. Luckily, I didn’t forget to book and print my tickets for this one, because there was a substantial queue for at-the-door tickets.
The tour consisted of a number of parts: some general information about the brewing process, a tasting experience, a Guinness advertisement history, a bar at the top floor (with a cool 360° view) and a merchandise shop.
General information
This was the part of the tour you’d probably most imagine when someone tells you about a tour in a beer brewery. There were videos, panels with information, pictures and even some interactive bits. There’s really not that much to tell about this part of the tour, so let’s just move on.
Tasting experience
This is what you might imagine when you hear stories about guided tours, and at the same time it’s really not. Having ascended to the second floor of the building, the staff had us queue for about ten minutes before being allowed into a special tasting room. At the end of a corridor lit with red striplights, there was a white room with four pillars around the room. Each of the pillars let out a vapour of one of the four main ingredients in beer.
After some explanation on how to taste Guinness (“You have to use your whole tongue; the tip for the sweetness, the middle and sides for the bitterness and the back for something else”), they led us into the next, less lit room. We all received about a shot glass’ worth of Guinness to put our new tasting knowledge to the test. I honestly tried very hard, but I couldn’t manage to taste anything other than what I had tasted the day before in the pub.
Advertisement history
This was without a doubt the most thought-invoking, funniest part of the whole tour. Before getting to the third floor, I thought the main part of this would be about how Guinness advertised their brand in the past and update said marketing strategy – and the majority of this floor was like that. But there was one corner where visitors could find the most hilarious and weird-looking constructions, one of them being a man-sized fish riding on a bicycle.
Along with this mechanical weirdness was a quote: “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” I guess that the fish makes sense when you think this quote was right there, but still. WHAT HAS ANY OF THAT GOT TO DO WITH GUINNESS?
Beside this amusing fish, there was another thing that at first sight had nothing to do with it. It was a construction of an oyster, that had supposedly come to life, that whistled. Once again, both hilarious and terrifying. However, this one did seem to have a little bit of a backstory behind it. Apparently, back in the early days of Guinness, they found out that stout and seafood was a great combination. So, they started advertising for this combination. The whistling oyster was a part of that.
Top floor bar
Of course, you can’t just come take the brewery tour and then not drink a pint of beautifully crafted and tapped Guinness. Luckily, there was a complimentary pint for everyone over eighteen, so everyone went to the bar on the top floor and enjoyed a cold beer. The views were quite impressive, but I couldn’t get my phone camera to focus decently so I just took a picture of my Guinness.
Update: I’m still not sure whether I like the taste of Guinness or not. It has something really bittersweet to it, and I don’t know if I like that. The actual experience of drinking Guinness is nice, though. It has a really soft feel to it. It’s hard to explain.
Late afternoon and evening
After these two tours, I decided to head back to my hostel. My plan was to work on my travel video and blog updates for a while. This was when I found out that my roommate had been a bit of a sly fox. As I told you in the introduction, I lent her my phone charger and adapter. When I got back, only my charger was lying on my bed. I thought the adapter might have fallen somewhere. I looked on the floor, between my sheets and even under my mattress, but I couldn’t find it.
She took it back with her to Colombia. At least, that’s what I’m assuming. Either way, I had to go buy a new adapter at reception. Now that I have it, though, everything is okay again.
My place for dinner was The Brazen Head. They pride themselves in being the oldest pub of Ireland, serving customers since 1198 according to their website. Anyway, I had some trouble finding a table that was free, as I didn’t actually get a reservation. You see, exciting and beautiful as the website may be, I couldn’t manage to find where to actually make a reservation online.
So, I decided to hang out at the bar for a little while until a table cleared up. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait very long, and eventually I was able to settle down next to a travelling couple from Catalonia. I ordered the beef chili and boy, was I glad that the order included some mild sauce to soothe the senses. It was very spicy, but very tasty as well.
Update: it’s 11:24 and I’m lying on my bed. About half an hour ago, I found out that I wasn’t going to be alone tonight after all. (all my roommates from yesterday left) A Norwegian guy named Bruno just came in and told me about himself. He’s a nice guy looking for work in Dublin.
Anyway, thank you for reading this daily update! I hope you enjoyed.
-S
