Ireland - Dublin - The Quick Tour

We basically had 1 solid day in Dublin, so we hit most of the sites with the exception of the Guiness Storehouse in that one day.  Dublin is a beautiful old city filled with history and all of the major sites are situated on a big traffic loop serviced by a tourist "Hop On/Hop Off" bus.  We purchased a 2 day pass, which we used for the time we were there.












Our first stop that morning was St. Patrick's Cathedral.If we were to visit one church on this trip, this was the one to see.  It is a beautiful atmospheric cathedral housing the remains of Dublin's favorite son, Jonathan Swift, who was Dean at the cathedral for many years.












From there we visited the Kilmainham Gaol, but after that we needed some libations, so we stopped in to try out the national drink of Ireland, Irish Whiskey, at the old Jameson's Distillery.

Tony was selected to be a whiskey taster, and sampled whiskeys from Scotland, America, and Ireland.  He learned to recognize the difference, and surprise, surprise, he liked the Irish Whiskey from Jamesons best.   I discovered that I liked a Whiskey London style, which is Whiskey and Gingerale.  Very tasty.

I learned how to make an Irish Coffee, which involves placing some sugar in the base of a cup adding some hot coffee to dissolve the sugar, then add a bit of Irish Whiskey, then floating a layer of fresh cream on top.  It resembles a glass of Guiness.  It was a perfect drink to have on a cold wet Irish afternoon.

For our last evening in Dublin, we went to a dinner at the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head, where they were having an evening of Irish History and Storytelling.  It was a great evening where I had a chance to learn a bit more about the Irish, the Potato Famine, and Fairies.  I'd highly recommend it to everyone.

I had the chance to try the national dish, Irish Stew, which was very basic and good.  As they explained that evening, the Irish have never been known for culinary flare, but they do have a history for homey stews.