Get To A Bottle Of Stout

So Pez and I took a train from Hereford to Holyhead up over in Wales, then jumped a Stena Line Ferry to Dun Laoghaire over in Ireland. The whole trip took about 6 hours but it was so easy going, time flew. The ferry was amazing... when you walk from the loading area onto the ferry it is hard to tell when land ends and boat begins. The seating is nothing like a bus or plane or train, for that matter, it is more like a floating bar with comfortable seats or booths around tables. The ferry had at least 3 bars, a Burger King, a cafeteria style restaurant, a café, a casino, a video arcade, and duty-free shopping. It also had 15ft waves on the way out and Dramamine was in order.


I didn't have much of an expectation of Dublin -- and we didn't have a ton of time either. So we focused on a couple of key sites and then re-focused on what always is most important whilst travelling: eating and drinking!


Stop 1 on our only full day was the Guinness Storehouse and Tourist Trap -- albeit a very well done tourist trap. The place is seven floors of Guinness goodness, ending with a free (sorta, it was 15 euros to get in) pint in the Gravity Bar with arguably the best view of Dublin.


Kilmainhan Gaol (Kilmanhain Jail) was a long-walk out of our way but proved to be more interesting that expected. I knew nothing about Irish history and the tales of the people that were imprisoned here are a good beginner's guide to what happened in Ireland over the last couple hundred years. In the jail, there is a museum or you can walk the halls in a guided tour.

After the long walk to the jail, we were mostly done with non-drinking related tourist attractions. We spent the rest of the evening jumping between a few bars, having more Guinness than we needed. Cheers!


An Irishman is the only man in the world who will step over the bodies of a dozen naked women to get to a bottle of stout. - Unknown