After all the chaos at Heathrow, Ida broke her consecutive wordle streak after 375 days. Bummer so the new streak starts today but at least she solved it in 2 goes. We can see the hills surrounding Dublin from our hotel which is just off St. Stephen’s Green. The hotel key card very thoughtfully has a small map on back. That in combination with Apple’s Find my Friends feature should help keep the group intact or at least make it easier to track down anyone who gets lost. I’ve left Ed on my list as that way I can be sure he’s always there.
The group was a bit slow to start but everyone slept well. Ida had mapped out a tight walking tour schedule starting at The Castle, then Christ Church Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, The Guinness Storehouse (tour, Guinness Academy, dinner) and ending with a pub crawl. We kicked off the morning at a local grocer/deli Fallon & Byrne for a bit of late breakfast.
The Castle was the seat of British power in Ireland for over 700 years. The current structure dates back to the 1700s and has been used for inaugurations, housing foreign visitors (JFK) and entertaining. The collection of paintings includes George III who we gave a good drubbing to in 1776. A statue of Michael Collins and pictures of those executed after the Easter Uprising are on display. Ida found a photo of the Irish President who visited her when she was on the trading floor at the Chicago Merc.
Christ Church Cathedral is over 1,000 years old making it one of the oldest buildings in Dublin. The Medieval Crypt runs under the entire length of the building and is the largest in Ireland. At one point there were 4 taverns located there which caused a lot of problems when services were being held in the upstairs church.
Jonathon Swift was a preacher at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and known for sermons that ran 4 hours or longer. He had a specially constructed movable pulpit which allowed him to seek out anyone sleeping during his sermon and rouse them up. The well where St. Patrick baptized the first Irish Catholics is located just outside the cathedral.
The Guinness Storehouse tour was a great way to learn about the national drink of Ireland. The Irish Dancers on floor 3 were amazing. After the self guided tour, we went to the Guinness Academy where we were instructed on the proper process for pulling a pint. We then headed upstairs for another pint at The Gravity Bar which is a circular glass enclosed space at the top of the factory. The views of the mountains and Dublin skyline are amazing.
The Pub Crawl started at Ireland’s oldest pub, The Brazen Head. We started there as this same group had previously been escorted out of New York’s oldest bar, McSorley’s. As it was a big bank holiday weekend, there were a lot of groups in town celebrating birthdays and hen/stag parties (aka bachelorette/bachelor). We joined in the singing competitions and the hen parties. One group was toting around a blowup doll of the groom. Another group was a joint hen/stag with a cowboy theme including boots, hats and leather Johnny Cash jackets. Fortunately for us, the Irish are a lot more lax on behaviors and we were not escorted out of any. We managed to keep the entire group together for all the pub stops and the return walk to the hotel. All in all it was a perfect full day to kick off the tour.
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