Sunday, September 28, 2010

We had to wait until 10:30 for the Dublin Pass office to open so we headed downtown for breakfast. We found a pub that had just opened for breakfast – just kitty corner from the Molly Malone statue. I ordered oatmeal – I got a huge bowl of it with nuts and bananas on top.

We did a quick trip down one of the streets in the Temple Bar area and, once we got our passes, we were off to Trinity College to see the Library and the Book of Kells. We were misled into thinking our pass gave us special access, but we only waited about 15 minutes to get in.

Next stop was Christ Church Cathedral. Their gift shop was down in the crypt and I couldn’t help but wonder if all those bones were disturbed by the commerce going on around them. We stopped for awhile and enjoyed an organ recital before carrying on.

It was time for a drink so we headed over to the Guinness Storehouse. It is quite a modern building and the tour takes you through all the steps in their brewing process. The bonus at the end of the tour is a pint in the Gravity Bar, with it’s circular view over Dublin. Pat got his directions sorted out and we were off again.

We had to wait about half an hour for our Jameson Distillery tour but the Irish coffee we ordered helped pass the time. I enjoyed the tour here more than the Guinness Storehouse – could have been the extra booze we had consumed by the time we arrived! Pat volunteered for the tastings; I enjoyed a Jameson cocktail!

It was getting a bit late to make it through St. Patrick’s Cathedral so we headed back to the Temple Bar area looking for some live music. On the way we passed St. Audoen’s arch and part of the medieval walls of Dublin. We found pubs with music, but all the places were packed.

We ended our day in The Church Restaurant where I had a pint of Galway Hooker IPA with a Beef and Guinness stew.