Miller Time in London: Irish Whiskey & Guinness

I had a great four day trip to Dublin last week. Dublin is not my favorite city, but I did enjoy it. I just didn't get that "wow" feeling that I have had with other cities. It is definitely a great place to visit and is a very walkable city. It's not spread out too much. I took a day trip to the west coast and preferred that part of the country. The weather was great the whole time I was in Ireland. It only rained a couple times and I was inside at the time. It was cool, but the sun was out most of the time.

I spent a couple days walking all over Dublin checking out O'Connell Street, the Temple Bar area, Grafton Street, Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Dublin Castle. I toured the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery, the Guinness Storehouse and St. James' Gate Brewery, and the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail). I definitely enjoyed the food in Dublin - Steak & Guinness pie, Irish stew, fish & chips (on the west coast), and Bailey's Cheesecake.

I really enjoyed the Jameson Distillery tour. At the beginning they asked for volunteers and I went for it. It turns out I volunteered to do a tasting at the end of the tour. I got to compare Scotch Whisky, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Jack Daniel's American Whiskey. I had tried Scotch Whisky (Scotch Whisky does not have an "e" in it) when I went to Scotland and didn't really care for it. It burned. I couldn't finish the small amount they gave us. In the tasting this time, I tried the Jameson Whiskey first and actually liked it. It was smooth. Then I tried the Scotch and again it burned. And sorry to any of you JD fans, but the American Whiskey was actually the worst of the three. The Irish Whiskey is the only one I would drink by itself. There was another American girl Amy who had also volunteered for the tasting and we enjoyed our complimentary glass of whiskey and cranberry juice together. You had a choice of mixing your whiskey with coke, ginger ale, or cranberry juice. I would have never thought to mix whiskey with cranberry juice so I decided to try it. It was really good!

Another highlight was the Guinness tour. Guinness is HUGE in Dublin. The tour itself wasn't that great. You don't get to see the actual brewery. It's more like a museum where they show you how Guinness is made. You also learn how to taste it and how to pour it. One interesting fact is that when Arthur Guinness started brewing in 1759 he signed a lease to pay only £45 a year for 9,000 years. The highlight was the pint of Guinness at the top. You get your complimentary pint while enjoying amazing views of the city. I didn't think I really liked beer very much, especially dark beer. Corona is about the only beer I ever drink. I prefer wine. But this pint of Guinness was seriously so good!

The Kilmainham Gaol was also an interesting tour. A lot of the stories were very sad, but also important in Irish history. In the 1800's people were imprisoned for stealing food and clothing to survive. Many Irish nationalists were executed there.

Another positive out of my trip was that I met a few other people travelling alone in Dublin and hung out with them a bit. There were a couple guys staying at my B&B that were each there alone working and we went out to dinner my first night there. I met the girl Amy from Minnesota on the Jameson tour who was in Dublin for a few days on vacation. We ended up meeting up for drinks and dinner that night with one of the American guys staying at my B&B. Then on Saturday we ended up on the same tour of the jail without even planning it. So we spent the rest of the day walking around together.

O'Connell Street

The spire is 120m high

General Post Office on O'Connell Street, sight of many 1916 protests

James Joyce Statue on O'Connell Street

The River Liffey running through Dublin

Phoenix Park, one of the largest parks in the world.

I only got to see it from a bus and it was beautiful. I couldn't capture a good picture.

Jameson Whiskey Distillery

Jameson was definitely my favorite

Ha'penny Bridge

Named for the fact that it used to cost half a penny to cross.

Guinness Storehouse and St. James Gate Brewery

Pint at the top

Yep, I finished it and it was GOOD!

View from the Gravity Bar at the top

Trinity College

Oliver St. John Gogarty's

Traditional Irish music in Gogarty's

Should I mention that the first song they played was John Denver?!?!

Amy and I enjoying Irish Coffee after dinner

Kilmainham Gaol

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The flowers at St. Patrick's Cathedral were beautiful.

Christ Church Cathedral

Dublin Castle

Bailey's Cheesecake with a gooseberry on top

For my day trip out of Dublin, I went with a group to the west coast. We took a train from Dublin to Limerick and then a bus to Bunratty Castle and Folk Village. The village is supposed to be a reconstruction of how Irish life was over 100 years ago. The castle and village were interesting, but not overly exciting. We then took the bus to a small coastal village Doolin for lunch. After lunch and a little exploring in Doolin we went to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are absolutely amazing! They stretch along eight miles and reach up to 700 feet at their highest point. After the Cliffs we enjoyed a beautiful drive north along the coast to Galway to catch our train back to Dublin.