Day 8 – August 12th, Tuesday
Today I got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. The food in Ireland still tastes different. Some of it tastes fresher, and some just tastes strange, and some, like Twix bars, taste so much better.
After eating we left to start the day’s adventures. We were not able to set up a tour for New Grange so the day was spent in Dublin. Which worked out better to be honest. We did a little shopping and a few tours. I had randomly found a place online and Jessica was all for touring it with me. It was The National Leprechaun Museum. Yes, it’s a real thing. The day time tours (which we did) was definitely geared a bit more towards kids, but it was still a fun tour to take. Unfortunately a lot of stories we heard were similar or the same as ones from the Folklore Dinner the night before.
Finishing with the leprechauns we made our way to the Old Jameson Distillery. Here we were able to learn about how the delicious nectar is made as well as about the history of the company. Jessica was chosen to participate in a taste test scenario at the end of the tour, and she was nice enough to save a little of each for me. Then as we were leaving, we found out we could pay to do another tasting of different labels of Jameson. We were given 4 different glasses, one of which was only available there at the distillery, and another of which costs $120 a bottle. The host (he was more than just a bar tender) also allowed us to taste a few other samples from other companies so by the time we left, we were both very relaxed and in good spirits. If Jameson, or whiskey, is sometimes you enjoy, then this tour is definitely a must do.
After Jameson we continued our walking tour to Dublin. We walked past St. Patricks Cathedral, we walked through Trinity College, and we walk around Dublin Castle. Otherall, there was a lot that we would have liked to have seen but just did not have the time to tour.
That evening we went back to the hotel to have dinner. It wasn’t great but it was pretty good. Then we changed and grabbed a taxi to the Olympia Theater. Subsequently I had to chase said cab for about 3 blocks after realizing I had dropped my wallet.
The Olympia was originally built in the late 1890s and while part of the outside facade has been updated, it is very much an older Victorian theater on the inside. The balconies, ceiling and walls have intricate designs and mouldings. The seats are old and fairly uncomfortable for a man of modern height. And being in Europe, there is of course no A/C.
But we were lucky enough to have found a play that sounded intriguing and whose star we was actually familiar to us. Jessica has been reading a tour flier a few days before and found it listed as something to do while in town. Cillian Murphy was starring in Ballyturk, an Irish play, with Stephen Rea and Mikel Murfi. It was very well acted, even if a little confusing. Though a lot of people (mostly “critics”) do not seem to have liked the play, Jessica and I enjoyed it and discussed our interpretations all the way back to the hotel.
That night we drank at the hotel bar before heading to bed in anticipation of the train ride in the morning.