Brilliant!

On Monday, I awoke late and had an early morning of it, then headed off into the slightly more western side of town, around St. James's Gate, where the Guinness Brewery (the original one) is located.

Just around the corner from it, shoved between other factories and glowering brick buildings with little glass and less welcome, you will find the Guinness Storehouse.

I sought out this amazing place and entered the hallowed vaults of the "Heart of Guinness" around 11AM. I purchased my ticket and was handed a drop of Guinness suspended in plastic with a small plastic ring attached to the back. The girl at the counter smiled as she explained that when I reached the top floor I could take an elevator up to "Gravity"--the 360 degree Guinness Bar/Dublin viewing space and there would receive a free pint for turning in the small plastic ring.

I expected I wouldn't spend more than an hour or two in the storehouse, since it's just an old warehouse that was once devoted to the fermentation stage of the process of manufacture, and has now been converted to a museum of Guinness memorabilia and history. I was wrong. I spent almost five hours in the storehouse. The designers have done a fantastic job of building interesting, engaging exhibits throughout it that I enjoyed and spent plenty of time absorbing.

When I had finished, I enjoyed my pint (and wonderful view of Dublin) quite thoroughly. I also met a brick mason from Australia and a charming young Canadian girl who had been teaching English in Korea for the past year, and who gave me fresh encouragement that I might spend a few years pursuing that temporary career in East Asia somewhere. It was a lovely day and by the time I had returned to Four Courts it was late in the day.

I wandered a bit, captured some strong pictures of the river as the sun dipped low in the western sky, and headed for Chill-Out Café. Once finished, I returned and spent a quiet evening reading before dropping off early. The next morning I needed to fly out of Dublin for Cardiff, and I had no intention of missing my flight.