G is for Guinness

Hey I finally posted pictures on Facebook! Sorry for not being more stalk-able. I’m working on it.

So this weekend I went on my first trip outside of Edinburgh to Dublin! The way my class schedule works, I can only go on super short weekend trips, but it’s worth it. I was in Dublin for maybe 34 hours, and I loved every minute of it.

I arrived at Dublin airport at 7:30am on Saturday, snagged the bus, and met my friend Anna (hi Anna!) at the hostel where we were staying. After figuring out some directions to a couple major tourist destinations, we set out. Both of us were used to navigating Edinburgh, which is pretty easy, even if you’ve just arrived. Dublin was bigger than either of us expected, and we got turned around quite a few times. Thanks to Anna’s navigation abilities, we found ourselves at Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and Christ Church, and along the way, Temple Bar (a downtown area with lots of pubs and restaurants) and the market near Temple Bar.

America I want more pretty churches like this one get on that

About mid afternoon, the adrenaline-and-caffeine mix I had been running on since 4am wore off, and we took a break for naps and homework. That night, we went on a highly recommended literary pub crawl and saw a bit of Dublin nightlife with some middle-aged literature enthusiasts. It was crazy. I had an Irish coffee and we called it a night.

Sunday morning, we had planned in advance not to go to church, but to go instead to the number one tourist attraction in Dublin – the Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse is a mix between a history museum, an educational museum, and a shrine. Seriously. The main building is shaped like a pint.

a possibly overblown description of the experience

This might have been the highlight of the trip for me, as romanticized as everything was. Local beer, when I can get it, has become my drink of choice, but I’m still woefully ignorant about beer in general, and I want to know how to appreciate good beer while I’m, you know, studying in Scotland. The first couple of stories of the storehouse are dedicated to the process of how beer is made, so now I know to say stuff like “oh yeah you can really taste the hops” when in the right kind of company.

After some videos of actors memorializing Arthur Guinness (founder) as a god among men and a tasting room where we learned how to properly taste-test Guinness, we moved on to the Gravity Bar, which boasts of 360 degree views of Dublin City. Here, you can trade in your entry ticket stub for a free (or €13, depending on how you look at it) pint of Guinness. Which of course, was delicious.

mmmm

I’ve been told if a pint of Guinness is poured well, you can draw a smiley face in the foam and it will stay. And when you have an excuse to draw a smiley face in the head of your pint…

Pictured: subtle ways of expressing that you don’t like Guinness

Option 2

Afterwards, we got some lunch and headed back to the airport.

Dublin is a fantastic city. I miss it already. I’ll probably be back.