Guinness Brewery

 (Katherine) After a hectic afternoon of running errands, we were finally able to get back on our Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus and ride out to the Guinness Brewery. I had done the tour in 2004, but I wanted Robert to have the “Guinness Experience“. The museum is HUGE; 7 stories tall, although most of the activity is on the 3 bottom floors. You do a self-guided tour through the history and the beer making process, and my favorite part is the collection of advertisements over the past century. My favorite tag lines were: “My Goodness, My Guinness!” and “Guinness is Good for You.” We then got to enjoy a pint at the top of the brewery, which overlooks all of Dublin with a 360 degree view. They also put a shamrock in the foam as they pour the beer, which is the proper way you should draw a Guinness (no bartenders ever do though).

After the tour, we walked to the oldest pub in Dublin called The Brazen Head. I wanted to go there because one of our favorite restaurants in San Francisco uses the same name. However, the service appeared to be terrible, so we moved on to a place that Robert had read about called The Bank. He was spot on with his idea - this venue was beautiful! It looked like an elegant Hollywood bar from the 1930’s, and had a mezzanine upstairs for dining. We lucked out with securing one of the last tables for the evening, and enjoyed traditional Irish meals along with a cheese platter for dessert (more cheese!) We were also extremely lucky to be entertained by a female pianist who had sang songs ranging from the 60’s through today. Her arrangements were incredible, and she performed many tunes that I never could have imagined to be performed via piano, and many tunes that are sung by male singers. This was a truly classy way to end our Irish experience!