SPRING BREAK DAY THREE: Guinness Factory and Dublin City

       Another enjoyable and busy day discovering the beautiful country of Ireland.The morning started off fairly early in order to get our free Hostel breakfast. Surprisingly, the breakfast here was quite nice. I had some cereal, a cup of tea and toast with PEANUT BUTTER!!! I haven't had peanut butter in ages! I was in heaven and it was a great way to start off a busy day.

          After we were all fueled and showered we headed to the Guinness Factory where Guinness is brewed. It was about a fifteen minute walk from our Hostel. When we first passed through the gates of the entrance near the factory we wanted to get a group picture in front of the sign. We asked a woman next to us and come to find out she was from Florida...she was spending the week in Ireland before she moved on to Italy. She asked where we were from and we all said we go to school in New York City. Her response was, "Oh, I stayed in Jamaica, Queens before I came here. Not a nice place." We all started cracking up and explained we go to school in Jamaica...its actually really nice you just have to know the area!! hahah

         We waited in a pretty long line to get into the factory. Apparently everyone had the same idea as us! It makes sense I suppose...I did a lot of research on what to see before we left for Ireland and the Guinness Factory tour is the number one thing to see/do in Dublin. Weird!
      After we finally made it inside the storehouse we had to wait in another line to get tickets. It reminded me a lot of waiting in line for a roller coaster. There were also a lot of young kids (like middle school age) around which surprised me as well. The drinking age at the factory is 18 years old. Because we are students we got a reduced rate to get inside...In total it cost 10 Euro for the day. I found it ironic we get a discount because we are students at a place like the Guinness Factory.
      This Blog is going to be slightly different then my usual Blog posts. There was so much information to take in at the Guinness Factory that I started just taking pictures of the signs that explained the brewery process instead of taking tons and tons of notes. For those that are interested in how Guinness Brews their beer I am just going to post the pictures in order and you can read the pictures! I will try to write some notes about them as well!
      One of the first things we saw when entering the factory was the lease signed by Arthur Guinness in 1759 to rent out the warehouse where he would begin brewing his legendary beer. The lease was for 9,000 years so clearly Arthur had some faith in himself. The original lease is in the ground at the factory.

     Arthur Guinness was born in Celbridge Co Kildare in the year 1725. His father brewed beer as well which got Arthur interested in the business. Arthur had tons and tons of quotes throughout the warehouse. His passion for brewing was obvious through photos and quotes.

        The warehouse is basically a self serve tour. Guests are welcomed to walk from sight to sight observing and reading. Some things were about the brewing process and others were about the history of Arthur, his family and the company. I was really fascinated. I never realized beer was so complex to make...it is a chemistry and Guinness makes sure you know that by the end of the tour. Brewing beer takes skill.
       There was a lot of the original machinery that Arthur used within the warehouse. It was really amazing to see the hundreds of years of history here. I could not help but wonder if my ancestors drank Guinness beer.
      There are four main ingredients to Guinness beer and a great deal of the warehouse is dedicated to educating people on those ingredients. The four main ingredients include; Barley, Hops, Water and Guinness Yeast. Here are some photos that I talked about posting a few paragraphs earlier that explain the exactness of each ingredient. The pictures are not the easiest to read, but they give the general idea.

            

The display that I found most interesting was the water one. It had a man-made waterfall of recycled water and described the use of water in Guinness.

 Also the reason barely is such a special ingredient in Guinness is because the Barley is roasted which gives the beer a dark color. We actually got to touch Barley...I took a picture!

      We also got to sit inside one of the original barrels used to brew beer. It was that big! The factory is so high tech now though with flat screen TV's ride inside the barrel! I wonder what Arthur Guinness would think about all of this!!
   We made our way from floor to floor in a matter of a few hours. There is seven floors in the factory. I learned some really neat facts about Guinness during our travels.
   Guinness was originally served straight from wooden casks and in rare cases sold in stoneware bottles. When glass tax was repealed in 1834 glass bottles became cheaper to make and became more popular. The bottle collection on display showed bottles from 1880 to 2000.

   The Guinness Harp became the official company logo in 1862. It is still the official trademark of Guinness. The original harp is located at Trinity College.

 We also got to see a display of all the various Guinness labels throughout the years... It was a crazy collection!!!!

On the third floor we got a free sampling of the Guinness...I am not a big fan....sorry my Irish ancestors!

On the seventh floor the famous Gravity Bar is located where a 360 degree view of Dublin City can be seen. It was such an amazing view. I really enjoyed that part.

Each ticket includes a free pint of Guinness and if you go to the fourth floor you can pour your own! You even get a certificate that says you are a pro-pourer of Guinness! We had an instructor that showed us how to pour the perfect glass. Each of us took a turn.

I did NOT drink my whole pint...I was not a fan !!!! But I was along for the experience which made it worth it anyway :)

        After our Guinness tour we were all SOOOO hungry! We made our way to get a quick bite to eat at the Pizza Place we went to the other night. I got pepperoni this time and it was delicious.  
    Afterwards we all made our way to the famous Grafton Street. Sean and Dana introduced Adrian and I to the movie "Once"a movie that takes place in Dublin and displays the music of one of my favorite artists. A lot of the movie takes place right on Grafton Street. The environment of Grafton Street is absolutely amazing. It is something right out of a movie...literally. It reminded me a little bit of Church Street in Vermont. It was so busy with street acts everywhere. I especially loved this one young boy that was playing guitar and singing.

       The five of us went from shop to shop browsing. I bought a few souvenirs for my family too :) I found soooo many things that reminded me of home... I wish I could have bought it all for my family!!!
      On our way back to the Hostel we walked by the old Irish Parliament House now known as the Bank of Ireland, College Green. It served as the Irish Parliament for the Kingdom of Ireland during the 18th Century.

      I am absolutely exhausted! Tomorrow is Easter... I cannot believe it. We all bought some chocolate today to celebrate! We are going to try and go to St. Patrick's Cathedral tomorrow and to see Trinity College up close (saw it from a distance today). I  feel like there is so much more of Ireland to see and such little time. I also was really hoping to see the Shannon River while we were here, but it is in Limerick which we won't have time to go to. I guess I will have to save that for when I come back to Ireland with my family!
     For dinner tonight we went to a little Irish Diner a few blocks away from our Hostel...I was able to get a BUFFALO CHICKEN WRAP!!! I saw an actual Ketchup and Mustard bottle and I even got a Chocolate Shake!!! The place was called Eddie Rockets and reminded a lot of Johnny Rockets. We stayed pretty late eating and talking.

      Overall it was a really fun day and I enjoyed exploring Dublin City once again so much. There is so much Dublin has to offer I look forward to being able to explore even further. Thanks for reading...stay tuned a really interesting new Blog post coming soon :)

XOXO

Shann