The last two weeks here have been the craziest, most memorable, and draining weeks of my life. No, I have not fallen off the London bridge into the Thames or disappeared into the European oblivion, I've just been so unbelievably busy that I haven't been able to update this thing. So, instead of boring you all with one long blog about all my adventures, I'm going to do this in parts, so that my ADD friends out there will actually pay attention long enough to keep interested in all of my stories. So, here it goes...
Part 1: Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick's Day "Everyone is Irish on March 17th"
The last time I wrote on this I was filled with anxiety and excitement on the ideas of seeing green for three days straight. I packed light, thinking I was probably going to wear my green beer day shirt the whole time I was there. Brendan and I headed off to London Gatwick airport at around 730am Monday morning and had amazing sights of Dublin on the way in. We met up with Jamie and Ellen at the Dublin airport and proceeded to Brendan's friend Matt's apartment where we graciously stayed for free the whole time we were there. We didn't hang around long, because it was really our only day of sight seeing while we were there. So, we headed off around Dublin with our first stop being the one and only Guinness Storehouse. To my surprise the lines to the Storehouse were relatively small considering it was the day before St. Patrick's day. The overwhelming voices of Americans there didn't surprise me, considering most of my European co-workers had never even heard of St. Patrick's day before. The Guinness Storehouse is actually a really fascinating site. First off, 2009 is Guinness' 250th birthday so visiting there is just that more interesting. Second, you come to realize as you climb the layers that the actual Storehouse is shaped like a Guinness pint. Your first level teaches you about how Guinness is made and has actual barrels dating back to the beginning of the factory there. The History of the factory and beer are told through the eyes of Arthur Guinness, the man who started it all. Then you get to what really counts, the tasting lab, where they just put a third of a pint of Guinness out on the table to try. You tend to notice the people who are awkwardly hanging around that room to get more of their fair share of a "taste" of the Guinness. From there you move along the levels to see how they store the Guinness, where it is sold around the world (we obviously took a picture in front of Ohio), how to drink responsibly (ha), and maybe one of my favorite stops, their advertising. The advertising section ranged from all of the old pints used to hold Guinness, to the old Toucan mascot, to the actual prints they used (which could be a lil racist at times..considering there was one with a Native American holding up a canoe saying "Guinness-Him Strong" which I couldn't help but laugh at). My favorite advertising scheme though was the "Guinness is good for you" ad. It was supposedly one of their first ad ideas for Guinness because when advertising agents went around to Dublin pubs to ask why people drink Guinness one guy replied, "Because Guinness is good for me." I guess at the time some doctors would actually prescribe Guinness to patients because it increased appetite and made them "think cheerfully". Too bad they don't think like that anymore...
Another story we came across was that of the Guinness book of records which inevitably began in a Dublin pub. Supposedly one of the directors of the Guinness factory was a big bird hunter and one night out at a pub him and his friends were arguing about which bird was the fastest. The argument was never settled that night and the next time he was at a pub (which was probably 2 hours later considering it he was Irish) he heard a similar argument amongst a couple of locals. So, he decided there should be some kind of book that states all of the best of things...and there began the Guinness book of Records...in a Dublin pub over a drunk argument. :)
After that, we took a look at the Perfect Pint Pour part, where people test out their talents in bartending to see if they can pour a perfect pint, which as some of you may know is somewhat of an art. Saving the best for last, we ventured up to the top of the Storehouse known as the Gravity bar where we received our free pint of Guinness and amazing panoramic views of Dublin. The bartender even made little four leaf clovers on the foam of the pint..which I of course was amazed by. We were lucky enough after that to get a seat right in front of one of the windows as we looked out over the beautiful city. It seemed a little sureal to be looking over Dublin, Ireland the day before St. Patrick's Day, holding a Guinness in one hand, and watching the sea of people in green pass by. After taking all of that in for a little while we decided to head out into the city and see the rest of the sites. Honestly, for anyone who decides to see Dublin, its easy to do it one day. The city isn't exactly known for its tourist sites. On our walk we were able to see the monuments you most likely can associate with the city such as Christ Cathedral and Trinity College. We also walked down Temple Street which is similar to Bourban Street in New Orleans for its famous night life. Temple Bar is its main area for clubs and bars where we ended up later in the night. But, the most interesting things to me on the walk was all of the Irish pride and decorations everywhere in preparation for the next day. I loved seeing the excitement of the city over it and was pretty much how I expected it to be. After the long day, we went back to Matt's where we got ready to go out to Temple Bar...but although we had an amazing time that night, secretly all I could think about was the next day...
The next morning the sun shone in proudly and being one of the first people up, I went out onto the balcony that over looked Dublin and soaked up the idea that I was in Ireland on St. Patrick's day. The weather was great, a little chilly but the sun was out and it made it warmer. From Matt's apartment you can see the countryside which is not far from the actual city and the "mountains" that surround it. In about an hour everyone started waking up and after a big breakfast and getting decked out in green we were ready for the day. To my surprise, the pubs didn't open til 4pm that day, so we had a little St. Patrick's day party at Matt's during the day. Brendan's friend from high school Walter goes to graduate school in Dublin, and he came over with a couple of his classmates, an American Jose, an Austrian Flo, and two Irish guys Dave and Liam. He also brought his other Irish friends...Guinness, Jameson, and Bailey's. :) We blasted Irish drinking songs all day as we celebrated and watched the sun go down on Dublin and then headed out to a pub Dave suggested. The pub was just as I imagined it would be in Dublin on St. Patty's day....crowded with people, mostly Irish, singing Irish songs at the top of their lungs. Being with a couple of Irish guys made the whole thing even more authentic. Talking to Dave about Ireland and its festivities on this day made the whole experience that much better. The best part was when the song "Ireland" came on and the overwhelming reaction to the song (which I have a video of, so make sure you check it out). The hundreds of Irish voices belting the song out was unreal and you could just feel the pride about it. We definitly had fun there, watching the Irish drink and realizing we have no chance against their abilities. At the end of the night though, I realized that St. Patty's day in Dublin was everything I thought it would be. Just like American's pride on the 4th of July, the Irish have an even more magnified sense of pride on this day and they definitly know how to celebrate that. Being there definitly made you feel apart of that and you couldn't help but catch that Irish bug everyone gets on March 17th. St. Patrick's day in Dublin, Ireland is a definite check off my list, and I feel fortunate to have experienced it all....but the week definitly didn't end there...The next morning I boarded a flight back to London, noting the fact that Dublin's airport was filled with people my age in full green looking a little hungover to say the least...then to Barcelona. Blog on that coming VERY soon..so check back.
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