Ireland Day 7

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Final day of our Day 3 city bus tour started with Emily deciding to take a break. Mom, Gregg, and I hit up Kilmainham Gaol (the main jail of Dublin from 1796-1924), but had a brief set back when Mom led us onto the wrong bus. We quickly remedied the error and got to walk through a nice park to get to the Hop on/Hop off bus stop. Lots of leaders from the failed rebellion attempts of the 1800s and the 1916 Easter Rising were executed at the jail. Lot of history in that place, it was pretty cool. We hopped back on the bus to take us to Jameson. The route took us through Phoenix Park, the 2nd largest park in Europe according to the driver. There is a monument to Lord Wellington, defeater of Napoleon at Waterloo, and the U.S. Ambassador's residence. Dublin Zoo is also located in Phoenix Park. Mom called it a day and went home to get ready for the Christmas party with Dad's work, so Gregg and I decided to tour The Old Jameson's Distillery. Jameson is no longer distilled in Dublin, but the tour was awesome nonetheless. It was guided, unlike the Guinness tour, and went into great detail about how whiskey is made. Jameson is distilled 3 times, most Scottish whiskey is distilled 2 times, and American brandy is distilled 1 time. Apparently that is very important and a matter of pride to the Irish. The tour guide was awesome, which is important in a guided tour, really added a lot to it. I know a lot more about whiskey than I did yesterday at the whiskey shop, haha. The tour ended much like the Guinness tour did with a free drink. I went with gingerale and Jameson, and it was pretty good. Gregg volunteered to be a whiskey taster. He got to sample 3 different Irish Whiskeys, including Jameson, a Scottish one (Johnny Walker Red) and an American one (Jack Daniels). He, like the other volunteer whiskey tasters, thought that Jameson was the best of the bunch (except one girl who liked the Scottish, the tour guide gave her hell but it was in jest) After the tour Gregg and I caught the correct bus and made our way to the DART station. Once back in Howth we picked up some fish n chips for ourselves and Emily for dinner, since Mom and Dad would be at the Christmas party. As usual, ending the day with TV, this time Simpsons!