Taste of Dublin

Of Course while I was in Dublin I had to visit the Jameson Distillery and the Guinness Factory. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the day! We had a tour of the distillery and then a complimentary drink afterwards. It's known in Gaelic as "Uisea Beatha" (pronounced "ishka baha"), meaning "Water of Life" and it was smooth! I could've drank it all day... in fact I kind of did. That and delicious Guinness. I've never actually liked Guinness but heard it was much better in Dublin so of course I had to try it. Plus I was around a bunch if Irish guys all weekend who wouldn't have let me leave with out at least trying it.  And it was delicious!

James chillaxin before our tour ( I use chillax as a joke because Ryan Air uses it before we take off- They tell you to chillax. I couldn't believe it and now it makes me laugh everytime)

The tour is in the old distillery. You can actually see parts of the old one underground. The current one is now in the south part of the country, but it's all made in 1 place.

 They have these little displays in each room to show you how the process works. Even almost 300 years later the process is still the same. They are very specific about the types of barrels they use and how the grain is processed. 

After the tour they asked for volunteers to do a little taste test. Of course I raised my hand! We had to taste Jameson, a Scotch Whiskey, and Jack Daniels. Jameson was by far the best and easiest to drink straight, but I really liked the Scotch Whiskey too.... I'll probably be tasting quite a bit of it in Scotland this wknd. The Jack Daniels was rough and the only one I couldn't finish.... I may never go back!

I got a certificate for passing the taste test :)

 The Liffy!! This is the river that runs through Dublin and what made the city so important when the Vikings landed. They used to trade a lot up and down the river. It was really beautiful and really added to the make up of the city. We also played golf in the Liffy Valley on our last day. It was very lush and green.

 Just a short walk later we were at the Guinness Factory. This is the main entrance gate.

 The Rugby finals were on that day so I felt this was a fitting picture. James and I watched it in a pub and I learned A LOT about rugby. He was probably a little annoyed by all my questions, but it was worth it.

One way to get around the city- A horse and buggy!

We didn't actually go in the factory since we had already done 2 tours back to back and it was kind of expensive. We had a lot to fit in and all we really wanted to do was get a pint, but the only bar was upstairs. There's no way it could've beat the Jameson Distillery anyway. Plus I had plenty of chances to have a pint that weekend.