Ireland Hopping: Dublin

Our final stop was Dublin, the Republic's legendary capital. On our first evening in town, we caught the bus in to the Temple Bar region, which is stuffed with restaurants and pubs. Sadly it seemed that so many other tourists had done exactly the same thing that there was no room left for any real Irish people! So our search for some good Craic was pretty unsuccessful.

The next day we headed to Trinity College - a very pretty campus once we found our way inside!
We checked out the Book of Kells - an amazing illuminated Bible manuscript - although again most of Ireland's tourist population seemed to be in there with us! All very interesting, but really just a warmup for another obligatory Dublin tourist-trap: the Guinness Storehouse.
Although initially it seemed to be another doomed-to-fail experiment - Bec is not an enormous beer fan at the best of times, and Johnny, not previously a fan of the Black Stuff, was feeling a bit unwell with a headache - the place was awesome.


After walking though the former distillery buildings and smelling the beautiful aroma of roasting barley, there was a "teaser" - literally just a shot of the locally-made Guinness. Perhaps it was reading all the old-time "it's-good-for-what-ails-you" advertising, but Johnny's headache evaporated almost instantly, and Bec announced it to be "not bad" - high praise from Miss Sauv Blanc!

Finally we got to the main attraction - The Gravity Bar, seven stories above Dublin with a 360-degree view and the freshest, most perfectly-poured pint of Guinness in the world. And what a pint! Johnny's literally disappeared before Bec's astonished eyes - it was truly a life-changing experience. This pint was so far removed from the thick, bready, tar-like stuff punters choke down back in Melbourne, it was like liquid silk. Not black; a deep red, with beautiful smoothness and complexity, instead of tasting like a 9-day old wholemeal crust. Magic.
Bec "savoured" hers for much longer, a pint being quite a tall order for a non-beerist, but even her untrained stout-palate appreciated the fine flavour and texture. She even felt a bit drunk afterwards - bonus! As we wandered around, filling in our last few hours before heading to the airport, we both noted that Dublin has a very similar feel to Melbourne - both in architecture and culture. So save yourself a trip - just go to your local Bridie O'Reilly's. Just kidding!!