Europe 2007: Day 4 (Dublin)
We took the Dart to Pearse St and picked up the hop on/off bus tour. We've found this is a really great way to get acquainted with any new city and this tour didn't disappoint. We rode the bus until we reached the Kilmainham Gaol (jail). Timing was perfect as a tour was leaving just as we arrived. We really lucked out on that because we didn't realize that you couldn't really see anything if you weren't on a tour. The tour itself wasn't the most flashy presentation but it was very well-explained and appropriate to the circumstances. The jail was the site of retention for a lot of uprisers during various rebellions and many executions took place there.
After we left the Gaol, we had a really subpar lunch at a pub. It was the first time since landing I had really felt well enough to eat so it was a letdown. The General Post Office, site of the Proclamation of the Irish republic, was nearby so we stopped there before heading to what must be the #1 Dublin attraction: Guinness Storehouse. The Storehouse has a really great display explaining how Guinness is made, the history of the brand and its place in Irish culture. My favorite section was the history of advertising. "Guinness for Strength"! After the self-guided tour, you redeem your token for a free pint upstairs at the Gravity Bar. This is also a great vantage point for seeing Dublin as the bar is a 360 glass enclosure.
We finished out the day with a musical pub crawl that Mike had booked in advance. Reviews were good though I had no idea what to expect. We started upstairs at 7:30 in a pub called Oliver St. John Gogarty's. Our tour leaders, Anthony and Eugene, then led us to private rooms in two other pubs (Ha'Penny Bridge Inn and the Bankers), playing music and telling us about the history of Irish music over the course of the evening. We finished up around 10pm.
This was a really great day and I highly recommend all of these things to anyone visiting Dublin.
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