Huh. They serve Guinness here. Who knew?!
Downtown Dublin. Check out the wall on the building in the background.
Lunch at O'Neill's. A Christmas Cracker sandwich on brown bread (fresh bread with herbs, and all crumbly), with cranberry, Brie, lettuce and turkey. As I stood in line, I learned from the ladies ahead of me how to order: order "brown bread", then say what you want on it. Oh yeah, I had a Guinness.
Doris liked this place, since she's a banker. Hmmm, the "Banker's Lounge". What a concept!
I'm guessin' they serve Guinness here, too.
At the Guinness Storehouse. This pic cracks me up every time I look at it. I was really happy.
At the end of the tour in the warehouse, there is Guinness memorabilia everywhere! It's been popular there since its inception in 1759! Ya think?! Lobsters love Guinness?!
The cute Irish boy with a talent for pouring. They have it down to a science, pouring and waiting 2-3 minutes before topping it off. I found it pretty fascinating! I ended up with a beautiful shamrock on mine!
On a side note, this is Blarney again. Jack has mentioned numerous times in the past year that I reallyyyy didn't need to kiss the stone, but I did, anyway! (Ps. I kissed it twice, no joke!) Now he can kiss...me! Then he can talk as much as I do!!!
The Red Fox Inn, in Ballincleave, Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry. They like Guinness there, too. I felt so at home here, go figure!
The next day, I sat at the bar with my new friend, Edwin, our driver, in Fossa, and ordered dinner. THIS is corned beef and cabbage! Edwin was the boss; he had four grown kids, and one son was a musician on the Queen Victoria II. He told me that 90% of southern Ireland is Catholic, even though our tour director led us to believe otherwise. Ed was the finest fellow, even though his beer of choice is Heineken!
Potatoes & veggies came on the side. Too bad they don't like butter ; ) Really, though, I think this was the hotel's version of corned beef & cabbage, rather than the authentic Irish version.
I learned so much about Ireland in the few days we spent there! I'm proud to be of Gallagher (Gal-a-her) decent (from Donegal), thanks to my Grandma's parents. I know that horse racing, sheep, potatoes and good ole fashioned drinking are an integral part of who I am, and I embrace them all!
So Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!
Sláinte! (pronounced "slonja"; Edwin taught me that!)
