A Day in Dublin

     Starting off the morning bright and early mom and I went for a run along the Irish Sea. It was beautiful and a nice change of scenery. Especially for mom, as she is used to running on icy snowy roads through the woods. Used to cold Wisconsin mornings mom put on a fleece and windbreaker. Gently reminding her we were in Ireland I persuaded her to ditch the fleece. It's great to go out for a run and not feel like your lungs are going to burst.

     Returning from our run, cleaning up and heading downstairs we met Jose from Spain and Caroline from Sligo for breakfast. The family was able to experience their first full Irish breakfast. I even ate black pudding: a form of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler. It looks nasty, sounds nasty, but surprisingly tasted good. Now I won't say it's my favorite, and by no means would I ask for it as a snack. However, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised, especially after all the horror stories I've heard about it.
     Our start was a bit later than desired, but we were still able to make it into the city at a decent hour, leaving plenty of time to explore. Mary explained the "hop on-hop off" bus was our best option, giving us a guided tour of the city, yet allowing us freedom to get on and off when and wherever we'd like. Kilmainham Gaol, formerly a prison became our first stop of the day. Chalked full of history and character it seemed as though each wall had thousands of memories and tales to tell. The East Wing pictured below has been the filming site of over 100 movies, including the Italian Job.

East Wing of Kilmainham Goal.

Prisoner Katie in her cell.

Prisoners were required to use the spiral staircase rather than the straight center stairs because it required them to be in a single file line. With the angle of the stairs it would also slow them down, decreasing the likelihood of rowdy behavior.

Mug shots of prisoners were taken as they sat on this chair. Now if this doesn't look like the most uncomfortable chair ever, I don't know what does.

What a bummer when the prison puts spikes on the pipes making it impossible to climb up and escape.

     Our next stop was the Jameson Distillery. What a bummer it was to show up and be told the wait for tickets was two hours and the distillery would close in an hour and a half. No luck for us...but wait. Not with Russ Jamison on the job. Walking up to a man in a suit and tie, Dad explained his surname was Jamison and has always wanted to make a trip to the distillery. With a warm smile the gentleman reached in his back pocket and pulled out two complimentary tickets. Dad waited in the queue as Katie and I were off taking pictures. Somehow we still needed to secure two more tickets. Katie and I didn't know what had just happened and walked up to the same gentleman, he questioned if we already had tickets as he was turning guests away. We explained we didn't have tickets, but pointed to our parents waiting in the queue. Recognizing Mom and Dad the gentleman chuckled and said "Oooh, well then!" and pulled out two more complimentary tickets. We were in!

     Concluding our tour we were quite hungry, but it was getting late and pubs aren't very consistent when it comes to serving food late. On our way to the pub pizza caught our eye.

The pizza was quick, easy and filling. I'm glad we made the stop! On next destination was live trad music.  Just so happened to be at Abbey's Tavern. The very first song they asked if anyway one was from Galway as they played Galway Girl! I knew it was going to be a good night :  )

Tomorrows final destination is Kilarney. What we'll do in between here and there, who knows? It'll be another adventure!


With Love from Dublin