O' great Guinness day

good ol fish n chips
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To add a bit of spice and culture to what was blatantly a weekend of frivolity, our day was started with what can only be described as a sumptuously banquet put on by our wonderful host and Nia...it is testament to the host that our Vegatarian would cook us up enough meat to re-build a boar, but she did and we were gratified with Sausages, Bacon, beans, eggs, black pudding, breads, cheeses, hams, mushroom and tomatoes! did i miss anything from the Full Irish? haha...

For further history, culture and absorption of all things Dublin, we were "whisked" on a double-decker, identical to the ones back home, to the centre of Dublin, where after a brief 15 minute dry patch, we surged to Christ Church cathedral for some shelter from the drizzle.  This newly re-casted grey building had some lovely architecture to it and i snapped at it from many angles and the inside had a nice incorporation of its central position in the history of the town, seeing the comings and goings of different regimes...out and across the road, darting through some wet rain, we entered a quality interactive history museum, the Dublinia, with its delightful array of essentially random facts and artefacts of Dublin's history from conception to modern day sprawl.  There were even some displays involving vikings and throwing balls at a prisoner, market places and Lord of the Rings...must see :) The tour is not complete without walking the energy-sapping stairs to the viewing tower, which really isnt as grand as it might seem, though we got our bearings on the city, and exactly how to get to the next stop - the Guinness factory!

guinness guinness guinness guinness...

st james gate loaded wtih merchandise
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Before that though, we enjoyed some traditional Fish n' chips from Leo Burdocks, which is regarded as the finest in town, and we rather struggled with the portion whilst perched on the surrounding wall of the Cathedral! i kept mine for later whilst yet again Marco tried to pawn his off to everyone!!!

Our walk to the Guinness factory was punctuated with rain showers which then just continued to rain when we first smelt the distinctive aroma of hops as we need St James Gate. Our entry was only halted by Nia taken an obligatory picture of some random guy with a horse and cart, which was made less authentic when we subsequently discovered that he was a) Welsh and b) a millionaire. nevertheless, never one to be impolite, Nia parted with 2 Euro for the privilege.

gravity bar; watch the sun shine out of Marco's @*%?
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Once inside, i was instantly impressed with how modern the interior was and just how well oiled this attraction was and indeed the size of the gift shop that i was certain to check out and buy stuff. And i guess it was not surprising as it was hands down the most popular attraction in town and after visiting it, it was certainly one of the most enjoyable...I wont describe every step we took, but the journey through the brewery involved an indoor waterfall, audio/video commentaries, various tastings, pulling a perfect pint, a gravity bar, relishing my first guinness and then stealing 2 guinness glasses!! the guinness was delightfully smooth. yum.

johnnie fox's, back on the black stuff...
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Hailing a taxi soon after leaving, we got back to the house to quickly freshen up and for me to put on my new guinness sweatshirt, and we were back in another taxi to take us to Johnnie Fox's a great venue acclaimed as the highest pub in Ireland. Though, most Dubliners would dispute that.  Nonetheless, it is really in the middle of nowhere and had an excellent local feeling with some really bizarre decor with rakes on the ceiling, a converted-bed-table and wood shavings everywhere.  We were soon on the guinness again, and as a renowned sea-food specialist, i was not going to miss out, chosing a scallop dish, which was simply the best piece of sea-food i have ever tasted. hands down! the portion was not small and this day became one of huge consumption!!

the jolly jiggin band
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after dinner, as we reclined with a really strong Irish Coffee (anything preceded with 'Irish' usually means there is alcohol in it) a traditional Irish Jig band played some awesome Irish tunes which most of the locals such as Elaine were able to sing along and clap their hands too. Their mid-song banter was hilarious and focussed alot on Norwegians and weird chinese festivals, but nevertheless funny and good hearted. I even got a request of Danny Boy sang for me, which was just amazing as we drank and laughed somemore. A memorable evening indeed!

cool cathedral
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However, this was not the end...after a nauseating taxi grand prix through dark Dublin country roads, we settled down in the living room for a weird but heated debate about random stuff, including no less relationships and the ladder theory, which, describing the essential 'truth' about relationships, always usually causes an argument ( www.laddertheory.com )... somehow out of this, we discovered that one member of our group has nice feet and another has a foot fettish, and when we asked Marco for a most-inciteful insight into the discussion, he replied with only a single audible contribution describing his sudden puzzlement on how flies could stick to the ceiling!!! oh, you could hear the cogs turn in the nonethingless the evening had settled in our fair German's mind.  Attempts to hide and sleep behind a cushion were in vain, as Lia proceeded to attack him with other cushions and eye lash tweezers, demanding proper answers!