Last weekend we had a three-day weekend, so I planned a trip to Dublin, Ireland and my friend Pete came along too. Friday after work, we took the train from Wiesbaden to the Frankfurt airport and flew to Dublin. We got to the hotel around 9 or 10 and immediately headed out for our first Guinness. We were lucky enough to find a pub that had both Guinness and live music, which seemed, for the most part to be Irish, so I was thrilled. The guys were really good and they were selling CDs, so after their last song, we went up to talk to them. They told us some good places to go and told us that on Sunday they'd be playing at the bar across the street, which happened to be their favorite bar. We went to watch them play for a bit on Sunday too.
Live music our first night in Dublin.
The next day, our first order of business was to go to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and a pint. It was a bit outside the city center, but the walk was good. Once there, we walked around the museum they had of the brewery, which included how the beer was made, its history, advertising, etc.
At the end, the ticket into the Guinness Storehouse included a pint, which you could learn to pour yourself or have one poured for you. I opted for learning to pour one myself. Once you had your beer, you could enjoy the views of Dublin from the 360 degree bar overlooking the city.
My certificate after pouring the "perfect pint."
We also visited the Kilmainham Gaol (jail) after the Guinness factory. I know nothing about Irish history, but taking the tour through the jail was really interesting and sad. Kilmainham is where many of the Irish rebellion leaders, to include the leaders of the 1916 uprising, were held and executed there.
Saturday night, we took a musical pub crawl. We went to two pubs and listened to two men talk about Irish music, its history, and a little bit of the musical history of Dublin. They played traditional songs and some different instruments. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who goes.
We were there for 3 days, because we left on Monday, but in my opinion, that was too much and I could have seen all that I wanted to see in 2 days. I suppose the weather probably played a big role.
