Dublin Day 1

Waking up early I was able to write up a lot of the blog post for yesterday and look up news from home. We had all got some much needed sleep after the long haul travelling here.

We got sorted and headed down for breakfast. It is served in a two room in the cellar of the building. It seems strange but it is a reasonably well set out area but it would be impossible to access with the narrow staircases etc for elderly or people with walking difficulties. The food was slightly better than average with plenty of cold options or a full Irish breakfast option. The staff did their work very well and were quick to supply the hot meals and run around servicing the guests. While we were sitting at breakfast the owner of the hotel actually came into the room and walked around to each table and introduced himself and spoke to everyone. It was certainly a surprise to meet him. Definitely good P.R. for the hotel.

After having breakfast we headed off down O’Connell Street with a bitter and quite strong wind behind our backs.

Above & Below - The Spire of Dublin  - 121 metres tall (just on 400 feet)

Dave had to do some posting back home so we headed to the main GPO building which is a grand old building in the centre of the city.

We then worked our way to the Hop on Hop-off City bus tour. It is a green double decker bus service that takes you around the city giving commentary and stopping at all the major city landmarks. You could get on and off as often as you like and then ticket allowed for a 24 hour time period using the bus. We got it on at about 10.30am and the bus runs till 7.00pm each day.
It started drizzling rain as we got on the bus and luckily to front of the upstairs section is enclosed so we were protected from the rain. It did not however protect us from the bitter wind. A circuit of the bus route takes about 1 hour 30 minutes . It was a great way to get some bearings of the city and gave a detailed description of the history and architecture of Dublin.

The following photos are from the bus trip,

Interesting Bus Ad

Another Delivery of the Black Gold

Another Local Favorite - Galway Hooker Beer

We got back to the start of the tour point and hopped off the bus and decided to get some refreshments at Madigans pub.

It is a very typical Irish pub well set out and a lot of memorabilia around the walls. Neil was able to get some beer glasses off the bar manager. In return for some of his Aussie Beer Shed memorabilia.

We stopped for a while and spoke with the bar staff who told us of an Aussie themed pub called the Woolshed Baa which was about 500 metres away in Parnell Street. I had actually been to that pub on my last visit but had actually forgotten about it.

We made our way there via a chemist and a electronics store for essential maintenance items and I was finally able to get a card reader for my camera memory card. Although it was quite a bright day the wind was bitterly cold.

The Woolshed is a large bar with pool tables and giant screen televisions. It is a good sports bar. We were greeted by two barmaids, Emma from Australia and Tineke from New Zealand. We were able to relax and have a good lunch in the pub. Talking to Emma and Tineke, we told them of our beer collecting hobby and they spoke with their boss and then gave us a huge amount of beer gear. 14 different beer glasses, four sleaves of 100 coasters, a Heineken shirt, a Fosters hat and some beer sponsored football programs and two large silk banners, one of which is a good Guinness one for my collection.

We stayed there for about an hour and a half before leaving to walk back to the hotel to drop off all the beer gear we had got in the last two hours. On the way back to the hotel, Neil went off searching for Antique shops and we went via a Tesco supermarket to get some bottled water.
I also managed to pick up 9 different (new to me) Pringles chips tubes to add to my collection of them. Whilst walking back to the hotel I dropped my backpack and cracked the lens housing on the camera. It is working but is not in very good health. IT will need to be replaced when I get home.

Back at the hotel Barry and Dave went for a cleansing beer while I typed up some notes. We decided not to go out again in the couple of hours before we had to go out for tonight’s Irish dinner show we have booked into.

When it was time to go we caught a taxi down to the Arlington Hotel which is aside the River Liffey. We had paid 29 euro per head for a three course Irish dinner and live Irish music played by a three piece band. They played for 2 hours with a 20 minute break in which time a 5 member Irish dance group came on and performed. We had seats in the front row right on the stage edge and Dave had to duck a few times when the dancer’s feet swung out into the crowd.

It was a great night, with plenty of sing song Irish music to join in with and plenty of crowd involvement.

During the night some Scottish people came into the show and they were there for a good party. They were a great laugh and we shared some good banter with them. They are in town for the Soccer International Tournament.

At the end of the show the band came down and spoke to us and we had a good chat with them. Neil and Dave chatted with the Bar manager and once again out came all these glasses, coasters, advertising posters and signs. I scored a good Guinness bar top sign.

By then it was half past 11 and we headed off back to our hotel and have a beer at the hotel bar before heading off to sleep about 1am.

Tomorrow is a huge day with our Guinness Tour and then we are off to a soccer international which is part of a four nations championship, the game we are seeing is between Wales and Northern Ireland. The other two teams in the tournament are Ireland and Scotland.