Éirinn go Brách...Ireland Forever

This past weekend was spent celebrating all that is Irish in Dublin, Ireland. There was definitely a surplus of Guinness and green clothing, and the weekend couldn't have been greater. I've wanted to go back to Ireland ever since I went to Galway to visit my older sister, Caroline, a year and a half ago. Having the opportunity to return was a gift in itself. However, my return to land of the Irish wasn't even the greatest part of the weekend! one of the best parts, for me, was being able to meet up with some of my best friends from Mizzou. On the first night there, as soon as we stepping onto Irish soil, I began trying to meet up with Rachael and Bridgette (two of my roommates!). We were successfull in this endeavor (as you can probably tell...this picture is of the three of us) and had an absolute blast together. We were able to catch up, but the best part was that being together made it feel like we had never left. I was so excited to see them both, and much less in one of my favorite countries!



The following day, the five girls that I travelled wth and I decided to visit the Guinness factory. We thought it was neccessary, as we were in Dublin! The experience of going through the factory was very cool, it's a HUGE museum. We barely missed an opportunity to take pictures with large Guinness labels...so I have plenty of proof we were there (just in case!). To the left is a picture of Maria and me standing under the sign outside the entrance of the first level of the museum.



Throughout "The Guinness Experience," as it's called, they denomstrate different parts of how they make the beer. First, there's the main ingredients, hops, barley, water and yeast. They show examples of all of these, and little facts for each one (such as that hops can only be grown in two regions of the world, etc.

One of the coolest parts of seeing these ingredients was this giant waterfall that tourists can stand under and take pictures. Not wanting to be outdone by EVERYONE else that goes to the Guinness Museum, our little group of six decided to take a picture. It's on the left, with (from left) Patty, Sara, Maria, Linsday, Me, and Marissa. We played around with the ingredients for a good fifteen minutes, before heading up one level to hear about how the company was founded, and how Arthur Guinness has a 9000 year lease for the brewery. I hate to think what would happen if Guinness had to change locations...

After all of the touring around, we headed up to the Gravity Bar, which gives a 360 degree view of the city of Dublin. From here, we really saw all of the sights that you're supposed to see in Dublin :).

This is one view out of one of the windows of the bar. It was incredibly cool, especially because as you walked around the bar, the backgrounds would change. For example, on one side, there would be mountains along the horizons. Other parts, it would be completely flat. It was very cool to see, and made me realize how much more urban Dublin is than the other parts of Ireland I have see.

After taking time to walk around and see all of the views, we decided to grab the complimentary Guinness that comes with the ticket for the tour of the factory. It was well worth it, I think my time in Belgium has changed my tastes because I didn't like Guinness very much when in Galway, and this time, I really understood why it's such a big phenomenon: it's delicious! For those of you out there who have never had the chance to try it, Guinness has the taste of a watered down, cold coffee. While that may not seem appetizing to you, just give it a try. It is also very cool to watch the barmaids pour the perfect pint of Guinness. Though the beer itself has a very dark color to it, when it's immediately poured, the color is more of a sandy brown. It was very cool to watch all of the ingredients mix, and see the chemical reaction that made the beer change color. Clearly, I learned a lot from my visit to the Guinness Factory!



Upon leaving Guinness, we decided to grab a late lunch at The Bull & Castle, a famous pub in Dublin. It was delicious, and just what we needed. Then, instead of heading elsewhere, we wandered up to the Beer Hall on the second floor of the pub, to watch the Ireland vs. Scotland Rugby match (Ireland won). After this, we headed over to The Brazen Head, which is the oldest pub in Ireland. It dates back to 1189. One cool part of it was the ceiling inside, which was filled with money bills from across the world. Out of all of the bills there, we spotted one from Mizzou! How cool to visit a country across the ocean and see a Mizzou dollar bill in the oldest pub in that particular country...?! Tigers go everywhere. Unfortunately, which you can see in the picture, right above the Mizzou dollar, there is one that has "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" on it. Boo Kansas, is all I can say to that.



Overall, it was a phenomenal weekend, and our time was definitely well spent. Oh, and one of the best things I got out of the weekend was a new sweatshirt that says Ireland on it...another Irish souvenir (you can never have too many!).