Pubs

It occurs to me that I have not written very much about our trip to Ireland last September. Well, that is not acceptable!

So let's get to the important stuff first: the pubs.

The first pub we went to was the Palace Bar, which was two doors down from our hotel. Established in 1823, it was the second home to a lot of famous Irish writers and newsmen. We enjoyed it a lot! The kitchen wasn't open until dinnertime, but they did make sandwiches for lunch. I had an enormous and delicious BLT along with my Guinness.

The next day, for dinner, we walked a block in the other direction to The Auld Dubliner. More yummy food! I also had a Black Velvet to drink -- that's Guinness mixed with champagne, and it is very tasty. We sat in a little nook upstairs, but we could still hear the live music perfectly.

The meetup place for our Easter Rising tour was the International Bar, another historic pub. The building is over 200 years old; the pub's been going strong since 1854. Many of the rebels, including Michael Collins, made it their go-to place. Given its history, it was only right that the tour should start from there.

After our tour (which was great), Joe and I had lunch at Dublin's craft brewery and pub, J.W. Sweetman. Joe had one of the craft brews; I stuck to fizzy water. The food was good! We went in the side door, which we realized when we had to down some stairs, then up some other stairs, and then across the pub to the bar. The top floor has a fancy dining room, but we stuck to the bar.

After our visit to the Book of Kells and the Irish Whiskey Museum, we enjoyed huge sandwiches at O'Neill's, in the carvery section of the pub. Again, I had a delicious BLT, with thick rashers of B, and a Guinness, of course. I really loved all the flowers in the windowboxes!

We never did go into Oliver Gogarty's pub, but it sure looked like the place to be!