Monday, July 1, 2013 @ 6:27 PM in 2013 Europe
Day 5
Last night I passed out around 9pm and didn't get up until 8am this morning. I really needed that sleep to catch up from the last several nights. I woke up feeling much better, ate, and then headed out to the Guinness Storehouse to take the tour and have my pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar.
The Guinness Storehouse tour cost over 16 euros making it pretty pricey but it was fun to learn about the history of Guinness and how the beer used to be produced vs how it's produced now. The tour is self guided and at the end of it you head up to the Gravity Bar at the top fo the storehouse for a complimentary beer. The views from up there are really nice. You can see pretty much the entire city of Dublin and the surrounding areas. The pint up there was good as well (it was my first Guinness in Dublin!)
After the pint I went and got some ham and cheese to go with an extra baguette I brought with me. I ate near the Dublin Heuston train station then headed over to the Irish National War Memorial Gardens. The gardens were really nice to walk around and had some big flower gardens and statues.
Since Phoenix Park was fairly close by I ended up walking over there. The park is absolutely giant so I walked around quite a bit of it. While walking around I saw deer all over the place. There were also some huge herds of deer wandering around. They were so used to people that I saw some eating bread out of the hands of kids.
During some of my research into Dublin I saw the mention of an Oyster Stout at a microbrewery called The Porterhouse Temple Bar. I went over there and ordered a pint to see what it was like. It didn't have any oyster taste or smell but it was a decent stout. Apparently they shuck oysters into the conditioning tank to add some extra sweetness.
While at the Porterhouse I started looking for a good fish and chip shop nearby. I hadn't had any yet and figured it was about time to get some authentic fish and chips. I found a place called Leo Burdock's that wasn't too far away. I got there and ordered the cod and chips and went over to the Christ Church Cathedral to eat them (the chippery didn't have any seating there). I was actually a little disappointed with the fish and chips. There wasn't really much flavor and the breading was a little soggy. Oh well, I'm sure I'll have another chance to try it before I leave Ireland / UK.
The 3 swiss guys that showed up to meet with my other 2 swiss bunkmates left today. So far I don't have any new bunkmates but we'll see if any show up before the night's over. I'm not sure if Monday nights are big arrival dates.
Tomorrow I check out of the hostel and then catch a bus down to Kilkenny. It's about a 2 and a half hour ride which should get me into the town around 1:30pm. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tonight. I might go buy a cider from a grocery and relax here in the hostel. It definitely won't be another late night tonight!
Teaser photos:
Tags: daily journal, ireland, dublin
Posted from: Ireland