O'Neill's Pub In Dublin

Of course we managed to eat lunch in a place that is a pub. You need a good Guinness with your lunch when you are on vacation in Ireland.

This pub is directly across from the Tourist Office. However, the most incredible thing about this pub is that it is HUGE inside. It is a bit deceiving from the outside. It has 5 or 6 rooms, an upstairs and two carvery rooms inside.

Oh, and the Guinness Beef stew was Yummy!

Having a Pint In Dublin

In Dublin, there is a bar called the Knightsbridge. It is right on the River Liffey. You can sit in the front and look out of the window at the traffic going by on the quays. It is a great spot to have a pint of Guinness.

After a long day of touring the city, my friends and I stopped in there. While we were there, I noticed these two friends sitting there enjoying the view out the window.

I was torn about converting the photo to black and white because there were some lovely, warm brown tones in the other one. However, I think the black and white photo shows the light flooding through the window in a better way.

250 Years of Guinness

It was very exciting to be able to go to Ireland and visit the Guinness Factory during the 250th Anniversary yaer. I have posted tons of pics and stories about Guinness over the past few years. So you can imagine my excitement.

The actually day the Arthur Guinness signed the brewery contract (for a whopping 9000 years) was on Sept. 24th. Guinness is having a big bash called Arthur's Day to commemerate the event.

Brilliant!

Pouring the Perfect Pint at the Guinness Factory

While I was in Dublin, I did the Guinness Factory tour. At the very end, you can go to Gravity Bar and get a freshly poured pint of the good stuff.

Guinness from the Factory

At the top of the Guinness Factory tour is a place called the Gravity Bar. It is where you can go and collect your pint that is included in this part of the trip.

There is always a lot of activity up there. You can actually see the whole city because all the walls are glass.

Even better are the yummy pints that are being poured as well. Slainte!

Typical Irish Pub

There is a long standing debate with my brother about why Guinness tastes so much better in Ireland. We have surmised that it is the grain, the water, the Irish just being downright greedy and keeping the best stuff for themselves.

We have also heard that Guinness doesn't travel well. It needs to be fresh to taste its best. In Ireland, people drink the crap out of Guinness. I think this photo demonstrates that pretty well.

The average pub will go through about a barrel a day - that is what most publicans will tell you. Just counting the days until I land on the Emerald Isle to enjoy a pint.

Guinness Reflection

While I was in Dublin, I found myself at The Celt pub. It is a place that I spend a lot of time in - my local - when I am in Dublin. They have music every night and some really good singers. One other great feature is the bar staff and the Guinness is always great.

On the evening I took this photo, I had just arrived in Ireland and was drinking the good stuff. As the night wore on, my pace was getting a bit slower. The one thing I noticed about these pints is the head of the beer was staying nice and fluffy - almost like a milkshake.

As I peered down when I was getting to the end of my pint, I noticed the reflection from the Guinness logo on the glass was on the foamy head of my beer. It was brilliant! It was almost like a little gift to me - much like the shamrocks the bar staff sometimes draws in the beer when they are board. Slainte!

Vathouse #4

One of the best parts of going to the Guinness factory, besides the fact that you get to pay homage to such a great beer, is that you are walking on the campus of Guinness. If you walk through town, you get to stroll through the streets to the factory.

It almost seems like you are walking back into a different time. The cobblestone streets and stone buildings always make me nostalgic. I have been to the factory, and on the tour, about a half dozen times. Every time I have walked there, I have noticed this sign and never taken a photo. I was actually walking back from the factory and had passed it. Then I stopped, walked back and took the photo.

I love this picture because it reminds me that Guinness is a real place - St. James Gate where they make the beer that I love to drink.

On Holiday in Dublin

I have not been very good lately about updating the photo blog. I was on holiday in Dublin. This photo was the first one I took. I went to my favorite books store and picked out a few books to read. Then, I headed to the Quays pub in Temple Bar.

There is nothing like a good book and a really good pint of Guinness. It was so lovely and creamy. Definitely a good start to any holiday. I am going to be posting my photos from the trip over the next few days.

What is Old is New Again

So the idea of this blog was to take new photographs and talk about why I took them. If you didn't know, it was about 8 degrees in Cleveland this weekend. I wasn't really that encouraged to leave the house.

Instead, I watched four movies and read a book. I do have to admit, that on Sunday, I was very tempted to go to the local pub for a pint of Guinness. I was going to take my book and spend the afternoon near the cozy fire. If I had actually done this, the photograph would look something like this one.

p.s. I read a lovely post on Gadling about approaching photography with the idea of seeing old things in new ways. I think this project is starting to make me dig into that a bit.