Guinness!

This might come as a shock but I really don't think I have even had a Guinness before, a Black and Tan, yes, but not a straight pint of the G. I visited the brewery today and I was completely blown away. Magnificent, educational, they did a fabulous job with all of it. Heaps of staff to help you through the beer journey. I even got emotional as I was watching vintage footage of a "cooper" (now I know what that is) making a barrel by hand, yes, you heard me right, emotional! Then came the taste test and learned how to drink this stuff! You first inhale and hold your breath, take a gulp of beer, hold it in your mouth a few seconds, then swallow it while you exhale. This allows you to taste the flavors in all of the different areas in your mouth, and it really worked! Then on to the finale, on the 7th floor, you were given your reward after the tour with a pint of the black stuff at the Gravity Bar, with a 360 degree view of the city. It was happening in the there!

I then went from drinking, to church. St. Patrick's Cathedral (1192!) was having an Evensong, the members of the church chorus sing the mass, if you will. Got emotional there too, natch. Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels, 1726!) was dean there for 32 years and is buried there also. On his grave in the nave, his self-penned epitaph reads "He lies where furious indignation can no longer rend his heart". Heavy.Read more