Dublin Once Again

   We packed up and reluctantly left our Castle for the drive across Ireland. We took some back roads (on purpose) before finally getting on the “M” highways into Dublin. Dublin traffic wasn’t nearly as overwhelming after a week of driving throughout the country. We keyed in the GPS and headed for the Guinness Storehouse Brewery. Here is the home of Guinness brew that I have been enjoying all across the country. The tour is amazing. You start on the second floor and work your way up to the Bar on the eighth floor. One of the first things that you come across is the lease, signed by Arthur Guinness in 1759. What makes it unique is the length of the lease. Not 20 years, or 50 years, or even 100 years but a 9,000 year lease for this property!!! How’s that for confidence?

    You learn about the history of the brew and a lot about the ingredients that go into it. As you work your way upstairs, you eventually come to the pouring bar. Here you learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. It takes exactly 119.52 seconds to properly do it. I now have the certificate to prove my successful accomplishment of the task. And yes, you do get to drink the pint after pouring it. 

    After quite a while at the Storehouse, we headed back to the Croke Hotel and checked in for our last night in Ireland. If you remember from a few blogs back, we had been promised an evening of Irish music and dancing due to a miscommunication with the Dublin City Tour company. Well, we were picked up from our hotel and transported to the Merry Ploughboy Pub in the suburbs of Dublin. Along the way, we stopped at several different hotels in town and picked up others who were going to the show. We had a great conversation with the bus driver and, at one stop, we picked up one of the Merry Ploughboys himself. He provided us with a very spirited running conversation and description of the areas we were driving through. He also answered our questions about everyday life in Ireland. By the end of the trip, we had a new friend. 

So, this is a sweet deal. They own the pub, provide the meals, and the entertainment. There were probably 50-75 people in the pub. Countries like Russia, Norway, Germany, Turkey, and France were all represented by tourists in the crowd. I think Barb and I were the only Americans present. We were led to our table that was front row just off to the right of the stage. Dinner was fantastic and the show began. The boys played rousing Irish folksongs, ballads, and jigs. 

    During intermission, Owen (the bandmember that had ridden the bus with us), came over and chatted with us. He wanted to make sure that we were having a good time (we were). We had a great conversation. It was like we were the only ones in the Pub. After the brief intermission, we were treated to a local step dancing troupe (you know, like Riverdance). What can I say about that, it amazes me to watch them. 

    Then it was time for audience participation and, yes, I was nabbed. Here is my one (and ONLY) public Step Dancing. 

    The Ploughboys came back for a final set and the evening ended all too soon. This was a fantastic evening of traditional Irish music and dancing. I can’t think of a better way to end our trip and it left us with many great memories. In the long run, it was good fortune that we missed our Dublin City tour. This was something we would never have known about and are glad that we didn’t miss it.