More Dublin April 27/24

Sneaky cool weather on a day filled with walking and beer. Bright sunshine meant the locals and tourists were out in droves albeit 47F/8C meant multiple layers and gloves. We ambled to the north side of the river to meet our tour guide for a three hour walking tour of, naturally, the south side of central Dublin. James was an excellent historian and story teller as we visited numerous landmarks including the O’Connell bridge, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Viking settlement ground zero, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Trinity College and so. A long walk but very worthwhile.

More walking after the tour to resolve eSIM cards for our phones and then a late lunch at one of the ubiquitous pubs in center town. I don’t want to know how it earned its name.

Then it was more walking to the epicenter of tourist attractions, the Guinness Storehouse.

Little did we know we would be sharing our tour with a few thousand of our closest friends. What a madhouse! The tour requires you walk up four flights of stairs with each level providing a detailed description of the brewing process including raw materials, equipment, unique yeast, history and marketing. The volumes of input materials and output of beer are staggering.

The facility is mammoth and is only Guinness facility in the world to produce its best known beer, stout. Of course, tradition dictates the “right way” to pour a glass. One could learn as part of the tour.

The official instructions are: You want to hold the glass at a 45-degree angle beneath the tap’s spout. Pull the handle forward and let the stout flow, filling it up until you reach .75 inches below the top of the glass. Let it settle for precisely 119.5 seconds. Bring the glass to a 45-degree angle again, but push the handle backward this time until the head is “just proud of the glass.” Don’t let it overflow, and “never use a spatula to level the head.” That’s just blasphemy!