After the slowest ferry yet (Holy Head, Wales to Dublin, Ireland with Irish Ferries) we were finally getting close to the Holy Grail; Guinness! It took about 3 hours on the ferry to travel the distance we could see from Mt Snowden in Wales!? The on board cinema and extensive range of shops should have suggested it would take a while! Found many 'souvenirs' on the boat bearing Irish names of friends at home; O'Grady, O'Shea, O'Brien, Gallagher and Fitzgerald come to mind quickly! Hadn't really considered you all Irish!
Back tracking now to an hour before the ferry...
A quick trip to see Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, close to Holy Head northern Wales, was where Manda's ever reliable point and shoot camera went belly up! It now takes a headache inducing purple wriggly photo! Clearly the trip took its toll on it; namely the 8000 photos, wet musty walks, beaches/sand/salt mist, occasional drops and more recently the loss of it's case on the Cinque Terre ferry. It served us well.
While here at the castle Manda also decided my red eyes needed attention so bought some Golden Eye Ointment (does actually exist here - contains 1% chloramphenicol surprise surprise!) but other than gum my eyelashes up it's done nothing. In my desperation to have her stop inflicting gummy lashes morning and night I've been more diligent with the lubricant drops and hey presto I've got clear comfortable eyes again!
Didnt see Kate or William despite being on watch throughout Anglesea much to our (or at least Manda's) disappointment.
Back to Ireland where our adventure adopted Mum and Dad for 8 nights (after their time in Iceland).
Dublin centre was surprisingly quiet and a little less vibrant than I'd expected initially but after digging a bit deeper and exploring the temple bar and trinity college areas it brightened and livened up (wet weather mightn't have helped either?). They also had some really nice parks with some amazing trees which clearly grow much faster/bigger than at home with the more optimal climate here!
A visit to the Guinness Store House was self guided but quite informative, tasty and unexpectedly long.
May have been faster but for the fact that drinking it was offered more than once; initially in the form of a 'taste' then they went all out and let you pour your own pint (Manda and Dad did this and have certificates to prove it! Funny as it was, the lady teaching them how to pour the perfect pint felt Manda's came up a bit short! It's in the genes!). The last chance for a complimentary pint was at the rooftop bar. The Guinness here certainly deserves the title of best Guinness world wide to date for me! Not to mention that it gets better by the pint; 2 pints + family dregs consumed in quick time to ensure we made it to the Jameson whiskey Factory Tour and it was going down real well! Thankfully Arthur Guinness had the foresight to sign the land lease for 9000 years, so for the time being Guinness production is looking safe in Dublin! Oh 1 interesting fact; here in Ireland what Guinness they produce in a week Irishmen and women consume in 9 days!?! Impressive...
Jameson interesting also but could hardly compete with the gianormaty of Guinness.
Funny young Irish chap took tour and was happier to see us drinking than walking around the no longer used distillery (set up to loosely resemble old factory - now in Cork). The calling for volunteers as usual saw Manda prompt me to offer and this time I was doing a whiskey tasting; Jameson, Johnny Walker (scotch) and Jack Daniels (American). Did enjoy the smokey scotch whiskey and smooth Irish whiskey but the American stuff was a little hard to swallow!!! The use of peat in the roasting of the barley for scotch whiskey and its double distillation certainly impart upon it a distinctive and pleasant flavour! The Irish use a non smoke producing fuel to roast their barley then triple distill it to make it nice and smooth. Overall an interesting and mind altering experience!
The other new experience was buying a replacement camera from Argos in Dublin! Argos appears normal enough from the outside (bright attractive signage and window displays) but once inside resembles more of a catalogue (both electronic and paper) browsing space with a few small displays of their merchandise. From the catalogue, which was like a big version of the Yellowpages and too heavy to lift, you found what you wanted eventually, then wrote the code down and took it to the checkout where you paid for it. They then disappeared out the back into a space that must be larger than Gringots Bank, retrieved the item and moments later you were on your way! It was a real magical Harry Potter like experience but on a budget with no frills!
Manda an Mum had a look in the Christchurch Cathedral (abc) in the Viking part of town and learnt that there the story about the cat that chased the rat all the way down into an organ pipe only for them both to become stuck and preserved while the men sorted out the new camera with good success! Interesting fact: new camera batteries do have a small amount of charge so they can be used upon purchase or for in store demonstration.
Dublin Gaol was less successful; walked for kms and with time quickly running out we turned back deciding against a visitors pass to the prison. Perhaps another time!
Irish Museum was quite interesting with great examples of 'bog men' found in peat digs! Incredible to think hair, skin, bones and internal organs can be so well preserved in peat for so many years! Also on display were interesting examples of tools, clothes, shoes, jewelry, treasures they'd either tossed into the bog or intentionally buried there which had been preserved almost perfectly. Amazingly there was a felt like broad brimmed hat (like a witches hat) which was in near new condition; not bad for something 1000's of years old!
Apparently still not 100% over driving in Europe as twice in Dublin I found myself gingerly turning right into roads toward oncoming traffic (thankfully both times while it was stopped at traffic lights... And no, not after Guinness or whiskey). Will have to sort this out soon I think before we have another unwanted experience like the one on the motorbike! Wish us luck!
Back tracking now to an hour before the ferry...
A quick trip to see Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, close to Holy Head northern Wales, was where Manda's ever reliable point and shoot camera went belly up! It now takes a headache inducing purple wriggly photo! Clearly the trip took its toll on it; namely the 8000 photos, wet musty walks, beaches/sand/salt mist, occasional drops and more recently the loss of it's case on the Cinque Terre ferry. It served us well.
 |
| Pretty castle with lovely lady |
 |
| Boats at low tide! |
Didnt see Kate or William despite being on watch throughout Anglesea much to our (or at least Manda's) disappointment.
Back to Ireland where our adventure adopted Mum and Dad for 8 nights (after their time in Iceland).
Dublin centre was surprisingly quiet and a little less vibrant than I'd expected initially but after digging a bit deeper and exploring the temple bar and trinity college areas it brightened and livened up (wet weather mightn't have helped either?). They also had some really nice parks with some amazing trees which clearly grow much faster/bigger than at home with the more optimal climate here!
 |
| View over Guinness Factory |
May have been faster but for the fact that drinking it was offered more than once; initially in the form of a 'taste' then they went all out and let you pour your own pint (Manda and Dad did this and have certificates to prove it! Funny as it was, the lady teaching them how to pour the perfect pint felt Manda's came up a bit short! It's in the genes!). The last chance for a complimentary pint was at the rooftop bar. The Guinness here certainly deserves the title of best Guinness world wide to date for me! Not to mention that it gets better by the pint; 2 pints + family dregs consumed in quick time to ensure we made it to the Jameson whiskey Factory Tour and it was going down real well! Thankfully Arthur Guinness had the foresight to sign the land lease for 9000 years, so for the time being Guinness production is looking safe in Dublin! Oh 1 interesting fact; here in Ireland what Guinness they produce in a week Irishmen and women consume in 9 days!?! Impressive...
 |
| So good.... |
Funny young Irish chap took tour and was happier to see us drinking than walking around the no longer used distillery (set up to loosely resemble old factory - now in Cork). The calling for volunteers as usual saw Manda prompt me to offer and this time I was doing a whiskey tasting; Jameson, Johnny Walker (scotch) and Jack Daniels (American). Did enjoy the smokey scotch whiskey and smooth Irish whiskey but the American stuff was a little hard to swallow!!! The use of peat in the roasting of the barley for scotch whiskey and its double distillation certainly impart upon it a distinctive and pleasant flavour! The Irish use a non smoke producing fuel to roast their barley then triple distill it to make it nice and smooth. Overall an interesting and mind altering experience!
The other new experience was buying a replacement camera from Argos in Dublin! Argos appears normal enough from the outside (bright attractive signage and window displays) but once inside resembles more of a catalogue (both electronic and paper) browsing space with a few small displays of their merchandise. From the catalogue, which was like a big version of the Yellowpages and too heavy to lift, you found what you wanted eventually, then wrote the code down and took it to the checkout where you paid for it. They then disappeared out the back into a space that must be larger than Gringots Bank, retrieved the item and moments later you were on your way! It was a real magical Harry Potter like experience but on a budget with no frills!
Manda an Mum had a look in the Christchurch Cathedral (abc) in the Viking part of town and learnt that there the story about the cat that chased the rat all the way down into an organ pipe only for them both to become stuck and preserved while the men sorted out the new camera with good success! Interesting fact: new camera batteries do have a small amount of charge so they can be used upon purchase or for in store demonstration.
 |
| Christchurch Cathedral Dublin |
Irish Museum was quite interesting with great examples of 'bog men' found in peat digs! Incredible to think hair, skin, bones and internal organs can be so well preserved in peat for so many years! Also on display were interesting examples of tools, clothes, shoes, jewelry, treasures they'd either tossed into the bog or intentionally buried there which had been preserved almost perfectly. Amazingly there was a felt like broad brimmed hat (like a witches hat) which was in near new condition; not bad for something 1000's of years old!
Apparently still not 100% over driving in Europe as twice in Dublin I found myself gingerly turning right into roads toward oncoming traffic (thankfully both times while it was stopped at traffic lights... And no, not after Guinness or whiskey). Will have to sort this out soon I think before we have another unwanted experience like the one on the motorbike! Wish us luck!
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