Easter Break: Saturday in Dublin

Today was a lovely day. It was the perfect last day for Andrew and I to spend together. We had a driving tour of the city this morning, and then we headed into Malahide and Howth (pronounced Hoath). They are both little villages with harbors. In Malahide we went inside a castle. I went to this castle with Steph, Dan, and Matt last week, but this time I actually got to go in. Cameras were not allowed, so I don't have anything to show, but I can tell you it was very interesting. Being in a building like that and hearing the history of the "important" people who used to live there is very intriguing to me.





The bus dropped us off at the oldest pub in Dublin, called the "Abbey." There we had a free meal. It was some type of a stew with mashed potatoes on top. I have to say that although I do enjoy the food around this area, it is quite heavy and I'm always so full. I feel like I'm never very hungry when it comes time to eat.

After our meal we went to the Guiness Storehouse. This is where 95% of Guiness is made. The layout of the building was amazing (can you tell I've been with a group of architects for over a week?). Arthur Guiness, who founded the company, signed a 9000 year lease on the property. You can see a picture of the lease here. Irish people are VERY proud of their Guiness.

Trying the barley.


By the water.


The 9000 year lease.

The first floor was so neat. The building takes you through the four different ingredients used to make Guiness; water, barley, yeast, and water. My favorite to see was the water, they had this amazing fountain. The water flowed on glass above your head and then came down to the ground right beside you. I was intrigued.


After a few hours spent at the Guiness factory we realized we didn't have much time to get back to the hotel before our dinner. We BOOKED it back to the hotel, my poor short legs were having quite a tough time keeping up. We got ready for dinner as fast as possible, then we all BOOKED it to a hotel where we were supposed to eat dinner with the entire World Tour group. After a few minor struggles finding the hotel we made it about 10 minutes late. Again, our meal was huge and filling, but it was good. After dinner there was a bit of dancing entertainment. It was neat.


Then, we walked back to the hotel. It was actually a beautiful walk in the dark. It's been a long day, and I'm tired. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Andrew for 6 more weeks tomorrow morning. He pulled the surprise of a lifetime during this trip, I'm secretly hoping he'll pull a second huge surprise by telling me he's staying in Ireland with me for 6 more weeks.