Day 447: Give us Guinness

15/10/2022

This morning, the kiddies were up early and ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Eloise headed straight for the grandparents’ room, Lachlan, who had slept through their arrival yesterday was hot on her heels, happy to greet them again. Once the grandchildren had kicked them into gear we headed into the city. Eloise dragged Grandma up top for the scenic ride. Grandpa’s jokes worked their magic on Lachlan.

We made our way past the General Post Office to Costa. Grandma needed her coffee fix and Lachlan lucked out with his own ghost cookie.

Much to Lachlan’s amusement the letter boxes in Ireland are appropriately coloured. Eloise was not sure “green, green letter boxes, nooo, not red”.

We passed through Dublin Castle courtyard, Grandma was quickly learning how much Lachlan loves drain covers, as he led Grandma on his guided tour.

We followed the Irish rainbow, it was nice to know Curious George was still looking out for us.

The Irish rainbow had led us to, you guessed it. The Guinness Storehouse.

The day was still on the up for Lachlan, he found the ultimate feature to stand on.

We made our way through the impressive building, it was a bit like an adult’s Willy Wonka Factory.

Arthur Guinness (September 1725 – 23 January 1803) was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness beer, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James’s Gate in 1759. In 1759, during a financial crisis that created an abundance of affordable property, Guinness moved to Dublin and purchased an abandoned brewery from the Rainsford family. It was originally an ale brewery, but Guinness began producing porter in 1778, and by 1799, production of ale ceased with the popularity of his darker beer. Outside of his brewery, Guinness was socially and politically active… Guinness and his wife had 10 children together, and upon Guinness’s death in 1803, his son Arthur Guinness II inherited the brewery and all operations.

The mega Guinness pint was a hit with the kids, we lost count of how many laps they did.

We had timed the tasting room well. The first stop was the aroma room, strong pleasant fragrances filled the room. The aromas must have gone straight to Lachie’s head, he had wobbly legs. Grandma was working overtime trying to keep him upright.

The Guinness could not have been fresher, it was a bit cute in the mini glasses.

Guinness is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James’s Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 liters (190,000,000 imp gal; 220,000,000 U.S. gal).In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually… Guinness’s flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness’s palate still features a characteristic “tang”, the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer’s thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

We followed wobbly Lachlan on upwards, he made a friend on the journey.

The famous Downhill Harp dating back to 1702, on display in the advertising gallery in GUINNESS STOREHOUSE® was purchased by GUINNESS in 1963, to ensure its continued preservation. The harp was made by Cormac O’Kelly of Ballynascrenn and played by the blind harpist, Hempson (or O’Hampsey) in the 18th century.

After playing the famous Guinness harp it was up to the Gravity Bar, drinks were on Eloise.

Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over twenty million visitors… The building in which the Storehouse is located was constructed in 1902 as a fermentation plant for the St. James’s Gate Brewery (yeast is added to the brew). It was designed in the style of the Chicago School of Architecture and was the first multi-storey steel-framed building to be constructed in Ireland. The building was used continuously as the fermentation plant of the Brewery until its closure in 1988… In 1997, it was decided to convert the building into the Guinness Storehouse… In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the Storehouse as part of a state visit to Ireland.

By the time we emerged, the rain had stopped, momentarily, and the sun was out.

Lunch was consumed at Lachlan’s pace, on the go, fast. Lachlan, Eloise and Grandpa were all competing for the pram. We made our way to the Book of Kells, sadly it was booked out, so we joined the line for the National Museum of Ireland – Natural History. Dad had promised buttons and Eloise was keen.

Disappointingly, there were no buttons, good one Dad. However, there were more than enough animals to entertain her. Lachlan meanwhile was darting between displays at full speed while honking at maximum volume, Grandma had no chance of keeping up. He was having the time of his life.

The National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, sometimes called the Dead Zoo a branch of the National Museum of Ireland, is housed on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland. The museum was built in 1856 for parts of the collection of the Royal Dublin Society and the building and collection were later passed to the State… The Natural History Collection comprised sub-collections for zoology, geology and botany; the geological collections have largely been held in storage from the 1960s, and the botanical collection was moved to National Botanic Gardens in 1970. However, the museum’s zoological collection, and its building, have changed little since Victorian times, and it is sometimes described as a “museum of a museum” or a “stately home of death”. Admission has been free of charge for decades, and attendance grew from 106,000 in 200] to over 336,000 in 2017, and 388,000 in 2019.

We then caught the bus back to the hotel before a wild goose chase to find dinner on a Saturday night.

Back in Glasgow, “a ‘drinkable’ Irn-Bru billboard has appeared in the centre of Glasgow, giving those passing by the opportunity to pick up a free can. The billboard on Argyle Street will remain in place throughout the weekend, from 11am on Friday morning until 6pm on Sunday evening. People in Glasgow are being encouraged to head over and pick up a can of the sweet stuff”.