This morning we decided that the Guinness Storehouse will be the order of the day… We’ve heard good things from people who’ve done it, so we wanted to see it for ourselves.
On our way there at the tram stop and various other places, we finally encountered what we’d heard a lot about and seen on a documentary… Gypsy beggars. We’d seen one in Paris, but that was it. Today we saw heaps. They’re not like your typical sit-down beggars, they will walk right up to you, and they know you’re more likely to give them something just to get rid of them than keep saying “no”.
The Guinness tour is something pretty special. It’s a work of art. It’s based on the original building and has been altered to become a visitor centre. Built as a giant pint glass with a black slate circle at the bottom and then glass going all the way up in a circular fashion, it’s the first thing you’re introduced to.
From there, you are self-guided around the factory with video presentations, interactivity via touch-screens and a heap of information to read/view. It’s extremely well done and obviously took a lot of thought into producing something that good. You’re given a tasting course with a small amount of the black stuff and at the very top, you’re treated to a 360degree view of Dublin along with a complimentary pint.
We absolutely loved the tour. Deb wasn’t so sure about the actual product, but made it half way through… Shame I had to finish hers…
It takes a good few hours to see it properly. From there, we walked around the city more and visited the fairly well known, and sometimes infamous area of Temple Bar. It’s probably what you can call the trendy/drinking/eating area of Dublin – but apparently it can get out of hand. Some good photo opps though and we had a coffee there, but that was about it.
More walking around the city and back to our hotel. The walk certainly brought more of Dublin to life to us as before then, we were a bit ho-hum about the city. No doubt the cold weather puts people coming out a bit more, so we didn’t really think there was much life to the city. Temple Bar showed that there’s still a bit happening at all times of the year.
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