Our Friday in Dublin started with a Whiskey Brunch at the Irish Whiskey Museum. This was very informative and we got so sample several Irish Whiskeys to compare them to each other. My favorite was the middle one, which I think was called Porters. Apparently it is the favorite of the Irish, so much so that they don’t export it so they can keep it for themselves! The museum is not associated with any one brand, so that made it even more interesting! The leader of our little group was actually from the US. Her name was Shannon and she had just finished her Masters at Trinity College. She was fun and informative! The brunch afterwards was also very good!
Pictures of the Irish Whiskey Museum
Walking Around Dublin
After the Whiskey Brunch, we walked Grafton Street. It was a vibrant area, but not a lot for us since we are not big shoppers. From there we headed to the Temple Bar area and had a drink in the famed Temple Bar itself. It was very crowded even though it was only about noon! There was a gentleman playing traditional Irish music, which I love!
We wanted to get some pictures of the Ha’penny Bridge–the first bridge over the River Liffey. The name comes from the price of the toll back in the day.
Dublin Castle
Next on our agenda was the Dublin Castle. It seemed more like a museum than a castle to me. The self-guided tour was not as thorough as I would have liked, so consider the actual guided tour if you go there and are a history buff like me!
Lunch and My Clumsiness
We had lunch at O’Neill’s. It was a self-service kind of place, which I’m not a big fan of, but at least we didn’t have to wait for our bill! Most places in Europe are so unlike America–they don’t rush you out the door by bringing your check as soon as you look close to done! This is great when you want to relax, but sometimes you have to hunt someone down when you really need to go! Anyway, I had a celeriac and bacon soup which was lukewarm by the time I got it, but tasted good. Seth had a spicy chicken burger that he really enjoyed.
On our walk back to the hotel we saw a bar named with the name of my second son, Brogan!! It is an Irish name, but it was so cool to see “Brogan’s Bar”!! Shortly after that, I had a bad fall. I have had problems with my depth perception, and I had fallen twice before on this vacation–once in London and one other time in Dublin. But this fall came with injuries. The most immediately noticeable was my bleeding forehead–my glasses broke and the metal arm cut my forehead. I was bleeding like crazy, though the actual cut was quite small and only needed some steri-strips. Fortunately, we were in front of a youth hostel, and they had a first aid kit. They were so nice! I wish I would have gotten their names, and the name of their place, so I could thank them, but I was a mess–more embarrassed than in pain, but both really! On the way back to the hotel, I realized my left arm really hurt. I suspected a radial head fracture, which was confirmed once I got home to the states. As it was, I texted a friend who works in Orthopedics and asked his opinion. He recommended I get a sling and use it until I got home, which I did. I wasn’t up for going out that night, so we ordered pizza from room service.
You can’t tell from the picture, but my glasses were taped up on the left, and you can see the steri-strips if you look closely.
At this point, we only had one day left on our European adventure. Stay tuned for a synopsis of our last day!