Guinness and Goodbyes

 (Day nine part 2 recap of my late April Ireland trip.)

My friend Kim and I are beer snobs.  We love stouts and porters, especially if they're microbrews.  We've tried Guinness before, but here in the states it normally comes in cans, so I've never really liked it that well.  But people who have been to Ireland and the UK told me I had to try Guinness from the tap.  Apparently this stout tastes so much better straight from the keg and when it's poured by someone who knows what they're doing.

 

Finally, the famous brewery!

Despite our reservations about Guinness, Kim and I were excited to try Ireland's National beer in its home country.  After a week of traveling around Ireland, sampling pours from various pubs, we were solid fans.

Unique tour group

The final day of our Rick Steves tour, we had another entire afternoon on our own to see more of Dublin's sights.  When planning our trip, Kim and I had both agreed a visit to the famous Guinness Storehouse had to be on the agenda.  I'd purchased tickets for a mid-afternoon tour that day, which happened to be a Saturday, and unbeknownst to us, also happened to land on a bank holiday weekend.

Colorful skybridge at the Guinness Storehouse

After our most excellent tour of Glasnevin Cemetery, the bus dropped us back at our hotel.  Since the storehouse tour wasn't until 2:30, Kim and I and Debbie, another tour-mate that had become a friend, decided to find a bit of lunch.  We headed towards a restaurant that others had recommended, only to discover it was closed for lunch on weekends.  Continuing down the same street, we found another place that looked good - but it wasn't opening for another 10 minutes.  Not wanting to venture any further, we hung out at the doorway until someone unlocked the doors, about 5 minutes after their advertised opening.  Irish time!

Here we go - the front entrance!

The restaurant featured wood-fired pizzas, but when we ordered the sleepy and possibly hung-over waitress (who admitted she needed her morning coffee) said that the oven was just getting fired up and wouldn't be ready for a half hour.  On to plan B - burgers!  Not wanting another Guinness so close to our tour, I ordered a Murphy's Red Ale.  It was so good I wished I would've tried this beer sooner.  Our lunch took a bit longer than anticipated, so when Kim and I were finally finished, we knew there wasn't time to walk or take transit over to the storehouse.  We needed to hail a cab.

Ode to the founder

I thought we'd have to walk all the way back to our hotel to find a cab.  But as we stepped out of the restaurant, we spied one in front of the door, stopped in traffic waiting for the signal.  After motioning to the driver, he gladly invited us in.  The cabbie took off at a breakneck pace - we'd be on time for our tour no problem!

Lots of interactive displays

The city was full of people and traffic.  The cabbie told us not only was this weekend a big bank holiday for Ireland, there was also an important Gaelic football match in town today.  That explained why everything was so busy.  When we reached the Guinness Storehouse, the street outside was swarming with people.  Good thing we'd pre-booked our tour.

"100 barrels of beer on the wall..."

I read somewhere that in 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the brewery site at St. James's Gate.  This place wasn't going anywhere!

We rode an escalator through all 7 floors of the place

We would learn later that the 7-story Guinness Storehouse is the number one tourist attraction in Ireland.  And we'd chosen a Saturday on a bank holiday weekend to visit.  As Kim and I walked through the front door, we were confronted with hordes of people.  Taking the escalator to the first floor, a band was playing extremely loud music.  Not exactly the experience I was hoping for.

The advertising floor was by far the most interesting

The Storehouse's seven floors surrounded a glass atrium in the shape of a Guinness pint.  In this atrium was an escalator to take visitors up to the exhibits.  Kim and I dutifully followed the arrows on the floors that led through the place.  The second floor featured the four ingredients (water, hops, barley, and yeast) needed to make this special beer.  The exhibits were interactive, but there were so many people it was hard to get up close and read everything.

Old posters

My favorite part of the museum was the floor that featured all the Guinness advertisements.  There were lots of old posters, life-size mascots (such as a turtle) and the company's famous harp logo.

A fish riding a bicycle??

They had a larger than life sized fish riding a bicycle (which actually moved.)  Not sure what that was all about - I guess if I'd grown up in Ireland it would make more sense.

Showing off my strength

Although the advertising floor featured some interesting things, and cool photo ops, I was getting tired of all the people.  Time to head up to the top floor, dubbed the Gravity Bar, for our free pint of Guinness that was included with the tour.

The famous Guinness harp

If I thought the exhibits were crowded, I was in for a rude surprise.  After hiking up the last three floors on various stairways, we reached the rooftop Gravity Bar on floor seven.  It was packed to the gills with people.  A DJ in one corner was blasting some type of techno music.  It was crowded, hot, and noisy.  I wasn't impressed.

Claiming our reward at the Gravity Bar

Kim and I squirmed our way up to the bar and each redeemed our tickets to claim the free pints.  Looking around the bar, all the tables and chairs were full and people were standing.  I spied a group of men around a table who were beginning to show signs of leaving and hustled over to claim their spot. They weren't window seats, but with the sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I was glad to avoid the solar heating (with all those bodies it was warm enough already!)

The place had floor-to-ceiling glass windows

The large windows were the main feature of the Gravity Bar.  Through these tall glass panes one had amazing views of Dublin.  Kim and I took in the scenery while enjoying our pints.

We enjoyed 360 degree views of Dublin

Not only the outside, but the inside scenery was mighty interesting too.  With the huge crowds, it was people-watching at its finest.  Most of today's visitors were younger, and many were dressed oddly (to us old ladies anyway.)  There appeared to be several bachelorette parties going on.  We heard many different languages spoken.

More cityscape

However, it didn't take long before the noise and crush of so many people got to us.  So Kim and I finished our beers, did a quick walkaround to snap pics of the Dublin skyline, and then followed a never-ending staircase all the way back to floor one.

View in another direction

On the first floor, I made a quick trip through the gift shop to pick up a couple of t-shirts and other souvenirs and then we got the heck out of there!  Although I'm glad we visited the Guinness Storehouse, the noise and crowds were so overwhelming, it kind of soured my opinion of the place.

Lots of horse drawn carriages for hire outside the Guinness Storehouse

Since the Guinness Storehouse is so popular with tourists, there are many different modes of transport waiting on the streets outside.  I saw several horse-drawn carriages parked by the curb, just waiting for someone to hire them.  I'm allergic to horses, so it wasn't going to be me!

Beautiful horses

Instead, Kim and I hailed another taxi from the lineup of cabs at the front door.  This driver was really nice and talkative, answering our questions about the bank holiday.  Since we were flying out Monday morning, Kim and I were nervous about the airport being full of travelers returning from vacations.  The cabbie said he'd be happy to take us to the airport that morning, so we reserved him for Monday.  One less thing to worry about!

Outside view of the Guinness Gravity Bar

Back at the hotel once again, it was time to get ready for our final event as a tour group - the farewell dinner.  We gathered at the hotel's front door and followed our faithful guide Pascal through the crowded sidewalks of Dublin to a restaurant in the heart of downtown. 

Final group dinner with our Rick Steves Tour

Due to the bank holiday and sporting events, the place was packed with diners.  But our group had a reservation, and we spread ourselves out between four adjacent tables.  Kim and I sat with our buddies Kim and Alicia and also tour-mate Jane and her husband.

My gal pals

After everyone had been seated Pascal made the rounds letting us all know the first drink was on Rick Steves.  I wasn't planning on consuming any more alcohol, but a free drink was too good to pass up!  However no more beer - I'd had enough today.  So I perused the mixed drinks menu.  Since I almost never drink the hard stuff I figured this was the time to try something different.  Having no idea what to order, I asked the waitress for a recommendation.  Her suggestion was the blueberry margarita, a specialty of the place.  It was a hit!  One of the other ladies ordered a drink called "Are you happy?" and it arrived with a huge bubble over top of the glass.  She tried very hard to keep the bubble intact for a few quick photo ops.

The waitress recommended a blueberry margarita - delicious!

Although I wasn't impressed with the food at this place, it was nice to gather with my tour-mates for one final dinner.  We had a great group of people and over the course of eight days, many of them had become friends.

Cheers!

Our table happened to be located next to a large window.  As we were being served dessert, the skies opened up and the rain came down in buckets!  It was kind of entertaining to watch the people seated outside make a run for the restaurant's dining room.  Many of the other pedestrians scattered.  Umbrellas popped up while other not-so-fortunate folks held jackets over their heads.  A line of people took shelter under the restaurant's awning, which was right outside our window.  Naturally, this was the only time I'd left my raincoat back at the hotel!

Towards the end of dinner it started to pour

Lucky for me, the deluge let up before our dinner was over.  The sun came back out, and the numerous puddles in the street were the only evidence of this recent downpour.

Pascal gave us all cute little sheep keychains

At the dinner's conclusion Pascal had a surprise for us all.  He gave each tour member a copy of the group photo that had been taken that morning.  Pascal also produced a bunch of keychains with cute sheep on them, and each person got one as a gift from our wonderful guide.

Kim and I pose with our "buddies"

Finally we trooped out of the restaurant.  Many hugs and photos were taken.  Kim and I posed for a pic with our tour buddies, Randy and Jessica.  Such nice people - I was sure gonna miss doing buddy checks with Randy!

A final photo with our fabulous guide Pascal

Pascal gathered us together one final time.  He said he'd really enjoyed our group - he praised us for always being on time for everything.  I don't think anyone ever was late or held up the group (I may have gotten close a couple times!)  And Pascal was right - we did have a bunch of wonderful, funny, considerate people on this tour.  I enjoyed meeting them all and was sad that it was coming to an end.

And of course, the feeling was mutual with Pascal.  He was such a nice man, amazing storyteller, and worked so hard to make sure we had a first-rate experience.  Pascal's pride in his country showed and he passed his love of Ireland on to us all.  I was sure gonna miss him!

St. Stephens Green in the evening

After the group dispersed, Kim and I took a detour through St. Stephen's Green.  Now that the rain had blown by, the skies cleared to reveal a gorgeous evening.

Beautiful tree

The park was full of people enjoying themselves.  The low angle evening light illuminated the ponds and vegetation beautifully.  I'd left my big camera at the hotel, and was kicking myself for not having it with me.  My phone would have to do.

Lovely pond and swan

Most of our tour group gathered later in the hotel bar for a final nightcap with Pascal.  It was a lot of fun, chatting with these wonderful people (and Pascal) one last time.  But the hour flew by too quickly and soon it was getting late.  Many tour-mates were leaving bright and early the next morning and had to get to bed.  So one final round of goodbyes and hugs were shared before bidding everyone goodnight.

But Kim and I had weren't leaving tomorrow.  We'd booked an extra day in Dublin to tour the nearby ancient burial mounds of Newgrange and Knowth at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne.  

Join me for my final Ireland post coming next!

Glasnevin Cemetery

(Day nine recap of my late April Ireland trip.)

I know it's weird, but I love visiting old cemeteries.  There's so much history that can be found from perusing ancient tombstones.  However, during my 9 days in Ireland I'd been seeing lots of graveyards and was getting cemeteried-out.  So on our second day in Dublin, when I saw a visit to Glasnevin Cemetery on the agenda, I initially wasn't very excited.  Of all the interesting places to see in Dublin they're taking us here?

Daniel O'Connell Tower

One of the great things about not having to travel far, our tour group got to sleep in that morning and wasn't required to report until 9 am.  Since our original bus driver George had finished his driving duties and headed home, we had a new bus and driver for our day's trip.  Sadly, George's brand-new bus had us spoiled because the bus we rode to Glasnevin was a well-used and dirty vehicle.  But luckily today's drive was short - only 45 minutes and we were pulling into the cemetery's gate.

Graves of priests

The first thing I noticed about Glasnevin Cemetery was the tall stone tower that soared high above the grounds.  Built to honor the famous Irish Liberator Daniel O'Connell, this tower lies directly over his grave.  At 180 feet (or 55 meters) it is still one of the highest structures in Dublin.

Large Celtic cross next to the chapel

Daniel O'Connell was the key figure in the Catholic Emancipation Movement of 1829.  Because of his perseverance, many of the Catholic restrictions imposed by the Penal Laws were removed.  He became known as the Liberator, and continued to represent the people of Ireland, advocating for a separate Irish Parliament in Dublin.

Thick rows of trees line this lane

Glasnevin Cemetery owes its origins to Daniel O'Connell.  The English Penal Laws didn't allow Catholics to be buried in the Protestant cemeteries.  As part of his work to advance the rights of Catholics, O'Connell established the Dublin Cemeteries Committee to provide dignified burial space "for those of all religions and none."  In 1832 Glasnevin became the second cemetery opened by this committee.  Glasnevin was established to accept burials of all faiths and all people, regardless of income (and it still does to this day).

Cross close-up - so much detail!

After disembarking from our bus, my fellow tour-mates and I wandered around the cemetery's entrance area.  It was a dreary, rainy morning so we all flipped up our hoods or unfurled umbrellas.  The ornate tombstones were fascinating!  Most were adorned with crosses of every design, while some supported full size statues of religious figures.  There were so many graves packed into this place, the headstones were nearly on top of each other.  While waiting for our guide I roamed around with my camera, snapping copious images.

Graves are packed in here

There were Celtic crosses of all shapes and sizes.  And some of them were quite tall - as you see in the photo below:

Some of these crosses are quite tall!

After 10 minutes of self-exploration, our tour guide arrived and introduced himself.  His name was Niall ("like the river" he quipped) and he was a middle-school history teacher who volunteered at the cemetery on weekends.

Our guide Niall was fantastic

We were soon to discover Niall was a wealth of information, not only about the cemetery but all things relating to Irish history.

Niall was a wealth of information

Glasnevin Cemetery covers 124 acres and contains the graves of many of Ireland's most prominent national figures.  As well as famous names, nearly 800,000 people have been buried in unmarked mass graves, victims of the great potato famine of the 1840s and a later cholera epidemic.

Chapel and crosses

While Niall was giving us some introductory information, a friendly crow landed on an adjacent kiosk rooftop.  It was so close, I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pics.

A friendly crow

After a brief overview of Glasnevin Cemetery, Niall led us to the most important grave of them all, the burial crypt of Daniel O'Connell.

Entering Daniel O'Connell's tomb

Located at O'Connell's tower base, the crypt itself was sunk below cemetery level.  Access was down a set of stairs.  O'Connell's crypt was encircled by a moat.  The moat's inner side had doorways set into the rock wall.  Niall said each of these housed coffins from several other important Irish families.

Around this tomb was a moat, with separate rooms for coffins

At the tower's base was a door that led to Daniel O'Connell's tomb itself.  Niall unlocked the door and ushered us inside.  The place was ornately decorated.  The walls and ceiling painted in flowery patterns, the floor a tile mosaic with shamrocks.

The ornate tomb of Daniel O'Connell

A carved stone structure protected O'Connell's coffin.  However, there were several holes in the structure and through the openings one could get a glimpse of the simple wooden coffin in which Daniel O'Connell was buried.

There were holes so one could touch the actual coffin - said to bring good luck

Niall said it was good luck to touch O'Connell's coffin.  Several of us reached inside the holes to stroke his wooden box.  Of course I touched it too - who couldn't use a bit of good luck?

An adjacent room held coffins of the O'Connell family

There was a small room off to the side of Daniel O'Connell's crypt that held four coffins, stacked haphazardly on top of each other.  Niall said these held members of the O'Connell family.  Didn't look like a very dignified way to bury somebody.

One last look at Daniel O'Connell's tomb

At the end of his life Niall said that Daniel O'Connell traveled on a pilgrimage to Rome.  On this journey he became ill and died in Genoa Italy.  His famous deathbed quote was "My body to Ireland, my soul to heaven, and my heart to Rome."  In accordance with his wishes, O'Connell's heart was buried in Rome while the rest of his body was transported back to Ireland and buried here at Glasnevin.

I loved the tile mosaic design on the floor

My tour-mates and I enjoyed being able to see the inside of Daniel O'Connell's crypt.  I don't think the general public is allowed in there, so that made our tour doubly special.

The cemetery was beautifully landscaped

Exiting the crypt, the rain kicked in again, but that didn't deter our tour group.  We followed Niall past a section of the cemetery where priests and bishops were buried.  The priests all had grave markers of simple black stone while the more ornate tombs housed important clergy, like bishops and cardinals.

One of the many columbarium walls at Glasnevin 

Niall led us by a section of Glasnevin reserved for holding cremated remains of loved ones.  This columbarium contained several colorful walls that housed ashes.

Another columbarium site

There were also large family plots at ground level that contained cremated remains.  Many of these areas were covered with colorful flowers.

Lovely statues adorning these graves

Beyond the columbarium Niall led us past a large grassy mound, encircled by an iron fence.  In the middle of the area sat a large stone with the word "Parnell" chiseled on it.

Charles Parnell's grave

This was the grave of Charles Stewart Parnell, a famous Irish politician who served as a member of Parliament in the late 1800's.  Although he achieved many victories for the Irish people, an adulterous affair, which was a huge scandal in those times, sullied his name.  Parnell is buried on top of a mass grave containing cholera victims.

Walking down one of the lanes

There were lots of huge trees in this area, and it was a very beautiful and restful part of the cemetery.  

Stopping at Eamon de Valera's grave

Our next stop was at the grave of Eamon de Valera.  Another important Irish political figure, this man was prominent in the 1916 Easter Rising and later became the first president of Ireland.

de Valera's grave

Niall had so many interesting stories about the history of Glasnevin.  My favorite was when he pointed to the tall stone wall that surrounded the cemetery and asked if we knew why the wall was built.  The answer surprised us - it was due to grave robbers.

O'Connell tower rises high above the graves

In the 18th and early 19th centuries medical schools were in search of cadavers for their students to dissect.  They paid such good money for bodies that it inspired crooks to rob graves.  To deter the bodysnatchers, Glasnevin constructed a tall wall with watchtowers and employed several watchmen to roam the cemetery at night with bloodhounds.

I liked this statue of Mary

The best story from Niall:  In the late 1800s, a man's wife suddenly died.  He tried to remove her wedding ring, but it wouldn't come off her finger.  So she had to be buried with her ring.  The grave robbers got wind of this, and that night unearthed her coffin.  The crooks decided to cut her finger off to get the ring.  As they were trying to do this, the woman awakened.  Apparently she wasn't dead at all - and had only been in a very deep coma.  Her sudden resurrection scared the bodysnatchers and they ran off.  The woman wandered back to her home.  When her husband answered the door and discovered his wife, bloody and very much alive, he had heart attack and died.  The man was then buried in his wife's grave.

Wide-angle view

As we wandered through the many gravesites on our tour, the rain slowly let up.  After visiting Eamon de Valera's grave, the sun started peeking through the clouds, flooding the cemetery with nice light.

There were all sorts of decorations on the headstones

We passed by the tomb of James Larkin, Ireland's famous labor leader (and whose statue on O'Connell Street had been my favorite.)  For such a famous man his tombstone was very plain, simply a large block of unadorned concrete.

James Larkin grave

There were so many crosses in Glasnevin!  Most were quite ornate and nearly all of Celtic design.

Twin Celtic crosses

The final stop on our guided tour was the grave of Michael Collins.  A famous Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician, he was a central figure in the early 20th century struggle for Irish independence.

Michael Collins grave

Michael Collins led one of two national paramilitary groups that launched the 1916 Easter Rising.  After being captured during this uprising and spending time in jail, Michael was released.  He then organized another military group to fight for Irish independence.  Collins was in charge of intelligence, and trained many soldiers in guerilla warfare tactics.  After the 1921 ceasefire Michael was sent to London to negotiate a peace treaty.  Not everyone was happy with the terms he came back with, and a group in opposition (led coincidentally by Eamon de Valera) splintered off and fanned the flames of civil war.  In 1922, Michael was shot and killed in an ambush by anti-treaty forces.  He was only 31 years old.  A recent movie that does an excellent job of portraying this man's life and heroism is Michael Collins, starring Liam Neeson.

People from all over the world leave flowers on Michael Collins' grave

Michael Collins is still respected worldwide, and Niall remarked that people from all over visit his grave and leave flowers and other items.  There is one anonymous person that sends flowers weekly, and has done this for several years.   

Very interesting gravesite (I thought)

After paying our respects to Michael Collins, our guided tour was over.  We all sadly bid Niall a fond farewell.  He had been such a fantastic guide!  A wealth of historical knowledge and interesting tales, Niall was an excellent storyteller who had kept us engaged the entire time.  His enthusiasm for Irish history was contagious.  My tour-mates and I all agreed Niall's students were lucky to have such a wonderful teacher. 

Rows upon rows of tombstones

After parting with Niall, our group had another half hour to roam the premises and check out anything a second time.

 

And more headstones....

Lucky for me, blue sky started chasing the clouds away.  Time to get more photographs with all this good light!

The sun finally came out at our tour's end

I couldn't get over how tightly packed all the gravesites and headstones were placed.  But this chaos made for some interesting images.  I never imagined cemeteries could be so photogenic!

Lines of Celtic crosses

Enjoy a few more random photos.....

Interesting statue

The tiniest angel

I'd glimpsed this tiny angel statue on a tombstone near de Valera's grave, but neglected to photograph it at the time.  Upon completion of the tour, I wandered back through the rows of headstones to find the sculpture again.  There weren't any inscriptions on the adjacent tomb, so I can only assume it was to commemorate someone's young child taken way too early.

Flowers for a loved one

There were several small, but touching memorials left beside many graves.

One last look...

Although initially skeptical about visiting yet another Irish cemetery I thoroughly enjoyed my tour of Glasnevin.  So much history in this place!  And we'd had such a phenomenal guide, he had really enhanced everything with his insights and stories.  It was definitely a worthwhile activity.

Our tour group photo

Our Rick Steves tour guide Pascal had been trying all week to get a group photo, but during every tour someone had been missing.  On this last day everyone was finally present, so Pascal lined us up in front of the O'Connell Tower and recruited our bus driver for photographic duty.  

Departing from Glasnevin, Kim and I now had the afternoon free to explore more of Dublin.  When planning our Ireland trip, one place had been first and foremost on our minds to visit - the Guinness Storehouse!  That's where we were headed after lunch.  Come back for my next post and read all about our Guinness experience.