We visited some new places that we hadn't been to before so I won't repeat any museums from last year's post. You can click here to read all about it. However, I have not written a post about one of my previous trips which was to Northern Ireland so I will just quickly recommend some of my favorite places.
The first would be Belfast. I took a day trip to Belfast and enjoyed it so much that I took another day trip the following day. It is a very user-friendly city and I was able to go alone and not get lost and I tend to get lost very easily! I took the train and walking distance from the train station is a visitor information building where they have real live human people giving you information about things to see and do and handing out free maps. That's where I found out about the black taxi tour.
I went on the Political tour of the city where we drove around and my driver explained all of the murals, we visited the prison, the cemetery, and the Europa hotel-also known as Europe's most bombed hotel. It wasn't the most cheerful activity but I think it is important in terms of learning about Irish history. In Belfast, it's very hard to ignore the history with the murals on all of the buildings.
You can also visit the City Hall and take a tour, the Titanic Memorial, or visit many art galleries and museums.
The first would be Belfast. I took a day trip to Belfast and enjoyed it so much that I took another day trip the following day. It is a very user-friendly city and I was able to go alone and not get lost and I tend to get lost very easily! I took the train and walking distance from the train station is a visitor information building where they have real live human people giving you information about things to see and do and handing out free maps. That's where I found out about the black taxi tour.
I went on the Political tour of the city where we drove around and my driver explained all of the murals, we visited the prison, the cemetery, and the Europa hotel-also known as Europe's most bombed hotel. It wasn't the most cheerful activity but I think it is important in terms of learning about Irish history. In Belfast, it's very hard to ignore the history with the murals on all of the buildings.
You can also visit the City Hall and take a tour, the Titanic Memorial, or visit many art galleries and museums.
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| Belfast City Hall |
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| Giants Causeway |
This year we were back in County Wexford again for our niece's christening. There was much excitement going on in Wexford as the girl's Camogie team won the All Ireland Finals for the third year in a row. I think it's great that a girls sports team received so much support and television coverage. They even got a big parade. If it were America, I bet no one would even know that there was a women's Camogie team. And I'm willing to bet that my non-Irish readers are googling "Camogie" right now. Camogie is women's hurling. Don't ask me why they just don't call it women's hurling. I've asked my Irish relatives this question and no one seems to know. Now you're googling "Hurling". Hurling is an Irish sport that's sort of a cross between lacrosse, rugby, and field hockey. What it looks like to an American who's never seen it before is a bunch of lunatics wearing no padding and beating each other with sticks.
I also learned some great new Irish phrases on this trip such as "A storm in a teacup" which means "a little thing" in Irish English or "no big deal" in my American translation. I don't know why they don't just say "a little thing" but I'm going to steal this one because it makes me laugh every time. I have to admit their overly embellished version of English does sound a lot nicer. For example, when the wheels on my friend's shopping cart were buckling, instead of telling her the wheels were crooked, Darren (if this is your first time reading my blog, Darren is my Irish born and raised husband) told her "the wheels on your trolley are buckling like a baby calf's legs" or when we were in Florida, Darren said to my brother, "There's a fair amount of heat in that sun." To which my brother agreed, "Yeah. It's hot." Even his complaints about the heat sound nicer.
I also learned some great new Irish phrases on this trip such as "A storm in a teacup" which means "a little thing" in Irish English or "no big deal" in my American translation. I don't know why they don't just say "a little thing" but I'm going to steal this one because it makes me laugh every time. I have to admit their overly embellished version of English does sound a lot nicer. For example, when the wheels on my friend's shopping cart were buckling, instead of telling her the wheels were crooked, Darren (if this is your first time reading my blog, Darren is my Irish born and raised husband) told her "the wheels on your trolley are buckling like a baby calf's legs" or when we were in Florida, Darren said to my brother, "There's a fair amount of heat in that sun." To which my brother agreed, "Yeah. It's hot." Even his complaints about the heat sound nicer.
The other big excitement was the National Ploughing Championship which was going to be held in Wexford this year. To my extreme disappointment, the championships started the day we left. I would have really liked to see this. I had so many questions. I asked my relatives again how one wins the plowing championship. No one really seemed to know for sure but they think the plow that makes the straightest line is the winner.
Ireland has less than 30 native tree species but its climate allows trees from all over the world to thrive there so the Arboretum showcases approximately 4,500 species and varieties of trees, plants, shrubs, climbing plants and woody ground clover.
The site was chosen because it allegedly lies just 5 km from Kennedy's ancestral home. The homestead is open to visitors so we followed the signs which said it was just another 3 km up the road. Then we got to another sign that said it was another 3 km away...and so on and so on. We drove for about half an hour before we found it and found a sign on the gate that said it was closed for renovations. So here are some pictures of the outside.
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| Kennedy Homestead |
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| Enniscorthy Castle |
We had access to the entire castle, including the dungeon where prisoners were kept as well as the roof where we could view the entire town and Vinegar Hill.
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| A prisoner painted this on the dungeon wall |
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| View of Enniscorthy and Vinegar Hill from the roof of the castle |
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| Vinegar Hill |
I'll take you briefly through all seven floors. The lower level ground floor is where you are welcomed into the storehouse and purchase your tickets. There are some artifacts from the building's history as a fermentation house which opened in 1904. On the ground floor, a staff member will greet you and give you an introduction to the museum. Located in the heart of the museum is a copy of the famous lease signed by Arthur Guinness on December 31st, 1759. Guinness begins with four natural ingredients (barley, hops, yeast, and water) so in the ground floor displays, you will learn about how these ingredients are harvested and used.
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| I can't think of a better way to stress the importance of water to the Guinness recipe than a giant waterfall in the middle of the museum |
On Floor one, you will find a video interactive in which a Master Brewer will guide you through the brewing process. You will also explore various transport methods used by Guinness for centuries. In this part of the museum, you will find models of Guinness boats, planes, and trains.
Also on this floor were my two most favorite parts of the museum, the Taste Experience where you can sample the finished product and the Cooperage exhibit where you will learn about the fascinating time-honored craft of cask making. I think this was a favorite for many other visitors as well since it was the most crowded part of the entire museum aside from the pub on the top floor! There were stacks of old wooden casks piled up and inside them were monitors playing looping black and white footage of a Cooper making a cask. The entire process was painstaking and done completely by eye. It truly is an amazing skill and lost art. I wonder if the Guinness in the wooden cask tastes any different from our modern metal casks.
On the third floor, you can use a computer kiosk to trace your Guinness roots and find out if any of your family members ever worked in the Guinness Brewery and what role they might have played. Other kiosks give quizzes about your "Drink IQ" where you can learn about socially responsible drinking. Then there is another room in which you can learn about all of the sporting and music events sponsored by Guinness.
On the fourth floor, you can attend the Guinness Academy and learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I earned my certificate here and made my Irish relatives very proud!
By the time you've reached the next floor, you will probably be very hungry and very thirsty! On floor five you will find Gilroy's waiter-style bistro with traditional Irish food and the informal Brewer's Dining Hall where you can grab a quick bite of cafeteria-style food. There is also Arthur's Bar which is a traditional Irish pub.
The top floor is floor seven. The museum actually skips over the sixth floor and jumps from five to seven. I'm not sure if they are counting the lower level ground floor as the sixth floor but it is a bit confusing. I'm looking at the map I was given and on the page showing floor five, it says, "Toilets are available on the sixth floor," yet the restroom icons on the map are located on floor five. I can't recall one hundred percent but I think floors five and six were partial floors split by an escalator. It's a little odd but I'm sure it's just a storm in a teacup!
Getting back to my description of floor seven, here you will find the Gravity Bar. It's a busy bar where the bartenders were pulling pints two at a time. The room is large and circular with windows all around providing a 360-degree view of Dublin. On this particular day, we had a typical Irish view of pouring rain. As my relatives would say, "It was lashin' out of the heavens." My only negative comment about the whole experience (besides the oddly disappearing sixth floor) is that much like Enniscorthy Castle, they fall short on the top floor with blasting music by the Backstreet Boys. I think in this setting, visitors would want their Irish pub experience in the Guinness factory in the heart of Dublin, Ireland to fill their ears with traditional Irish music but in this case, any Irish music would do.
Overall I'd give the Guinness Storehouse a lovely. No make that a double lovely and an absolutely brilliant!
