Soggy Ireland

I had to go to Ireland for work to attend the "Taste of Dublin" and then we stayed the weekend. It was a great event, despite the wind and rain. The upside was our coffee was very popular. We opened the Ireland market two years ago and it's been a huge success. The Irish love Americans so there is less resentment and they are much more of a coffee drinking society then the English.

In an effort to get Greg golfing in Ireland, we stayed at the Port Marnock Hotel. For work I stayed at the Davenport in the city. Can't say I'd recommend either (how do they make those website photos make these tired hotels look amazing?), but it was fine. Despite being only "8 kilometers" from Dublin, it was a $50 cab ride into the city from the Port Marnock . So we decided to try an be thrifty and take the bus into the city which resulted in a story that I will let Greg tell you about in a separate post. I'll just say that it's the first time in this trip where I feared for our safety.

The highlight of the trip was a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. It's the birthplace of Guinness and a must see if you come to Dublin. They have a very entertaining tour on the process behind what makes Guinness great which concludes with a free pint. One of the more fascinating parts is the an exhibit on "Coopers" who were the artisans who made the casks or barrels used to store Guinness. We found out the next day they are actually moving the facility to a fancy new spot outside the city, which is a big deal since it's been in this location since like 1796 or something. Key tip if you go...book your tour the morning of on their web site. We were amazed when we walked by 250 people lined up in the rain and right inside since we booked in advance...and you save 10%.

Here I am with my first scone, jam and clotted cream. I must say, it was delicious. I also have a proper pot of tea.

I tried to get Greg to go on a literary pub crawl with me as Dublin is home to lots of famous authors including James Joyce. He wasn't up for it, so we did our own pub crawl. We started out in a total dive spot that was full of Americans called Anseo. Next we headed to the Stags Head where I had an Irish Coffee and Greg continued his Guinness run. Lastly we end at The Cobblestone where they had traditional Irish music. It was great...but I didn't see any jigging, maybe next trip.

Restaurants in Dublin:

Little Mermaid - Perfect for a nicer meal. Great service

Town Bar & Grill - Romantic spot for a nicer diner in a cozy basement cave like space. Greg thought the food was average, but I thought it was good.

Imperial Chinese - Supposedly Dublin has a large Chinese population, so we thought it might be a good opportunity for some chow mein. It was fine...not great.

Harry's - Solid, but not worth going out of your way

Temple Bar Market - This was a great find. As you can see from the photos there are lots of tasty cheeses, crepes and many other gourmet offerings.