One of the touchstones of Dublin is the Brazen Head pub, because (1) it is the oldest pub in Ireland, dating back to the 12th century, and (2) it is mentioned in Joyce's Ulysses. That's a tiny little James Joyce head on the plaque.
The Brazen Head convenient places to stand if you want to pretend to be gargoyles at the entrance, too.
We went to the Brazen Head for a special event - an expert in Irish folk tales told several of them over the course of a dinner, complete with performances of traditional Irish songs. The attendees (tourists) were from all over, including Australia and South Africa. And while we were waiting for the folk talk event to start, Alison discovered an old phone booth in the bar area that was perfect for child containment.
A pint of cider and one of Harp, at the Brazen Head.
Another key attraction in Dublin is the Guinness Storehouse, a seven story almost Disney-like tourist attraction that guides you in detail through the stout-making process, culminating in the Gravity Bar, a penthouse bar with 360 degree views of the city. Other than that, the most impressive feature is this enormous waterfall emphasizing both that beer is mostly water, and Guinness' "Water of Life" foundation. This is the first room you come into, and the impressive is white noise and a great humid but cooled atmosphere. What you realize on the subsequent floors is every one is just as loud, but after this it's all recorded spiels - except for Gravity Bar, where the crowd noise fills in.
We were lucky to eventually get chairs at Gravity Bar - you can see behind Vernon how crowded it was. As one of the reviews said, it's basically a 20 Euro pint of Guinness, but with great views!
The kids' cheaper tickets got them Fantas - they were delighted.
After emerging from the Guinness Storehouse, we were confronted with a long line to board the next hop-on/hop-off bus - and also with a short line of horse-drawn carriages that hire out like taxis. After some hemming, hawing and examination of the rates posted on a sign, we went with the horse, to the kids' delight. It actually was not a bad deal, taking us all the way back to the Temple Bar area (the main nightlife section of Dublin) along cute back streets that the double-decker buses can't show you. It was a Saturday and the driver's son was riding with him - when we arrived at Temple Bar, the driver's son assured us that the horse always got a tip, too.
One (two if you look in the background) of the many pretty bridges that span the River Liffey in Dublin.
Many of the stories you hear and plaques you see around Dublin have to do with the Irish Revolution of the 1910s and 20s. Kilmainham Jail is a focal point of these memories, and includes this memorial of the 14 leaders of the 1916 Easter Uprising who were executed at the Jail.
Dublin is also famous as the hometown of U2, a fairly famous rock band. "The Little Museum of Dublin" has half a floor (about the size of a large bedroom) dedicated to them. The kids enjoyed the Achtung Baby car display.
As we walked around Dublin, we kept catching glimpses of giant meringues in the windows of bakeries, and knew we had to try them out. It was towards the end of the our last day, but it was worth it. It's kind of hard to see in this picture but those really are enormous meringues (that the kids are holding in white paper bags). You may have noticed that they are streaked with pink - that's because they were (intensely!) raspberry flavored. What you really can't see in the picture is that they were delicious!
One of our last meals on the trip, at the pub down the street from our hostel/hotel.
A little reminder of our street at home.
And then it was back to the airport! In the security line, Alison taught the kids how to stage fight by pretending to slap your partner. Vernon took this picture with his iPhone, so we violated the no-fighting, no-cameras and no-cell-phone rules all at once!
They let us in to the gate anyway, and the flight home was uneventful (unless you count watching movies as events).
And napping.
When we made it back, our lovely housesitter Lilian was just on her way back to London at basically the same time. She and our friends Melissa and Barnaby (Lilian is Barnaby's mother) had parked our car for us back in the SFO garage. To let them know we found it, we took and sent this picture:
