Ireland, Day Five: Dublin (with the Guinness Storehouse)

We picked a rainy day to make the 3hr drive to Dublin for the day.  We figured that the kids would have to suffer on the way there, but we waited until bedtime and they just slept the 3 hrs coming home.  There wasn't a direct highway (no autobahn!) for a straight shot, but we loved the countryside scenery and small town main streets. 

We thought about taking a detour to the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone but it would have added about 1.5hrs to our drive and you have to be at least 8 to lean over to kiss it! 

The Guinness factory was our main reason for the trip to Dublin (I definitely enjoyed a black and tan every night in Ireland!)  I was able to take in a bit of the history while chasing 3 kids, but I left Leevi alone to tour in piece and actually be able to focus and read about the history of Guinness!  I pulled this from a wikipedia source..."St. James's Gate Brewery was founded in 1759 in Dublin by Arthur Guinness who leased it for 9,000 years at £45 per year. The exhibition takes place over 7 floors, in a building the shape of a 14 million pint glass of Guinness. The final floor is the Gravity Bar, which has an almost complete panorama over the city, where visitors can indulge in a free pint of Guinness."

This pit of barley was my saving grace!  They dug around for almost half an hour and we even came back to it at the end after visiting the snack bar. 

The view of the city from the top

Each person got a free guinness or soda at the end of the tour!  Kai doesn't like "spicy" drinks (carbonated), so Hailey drank hers. 

Walking through Dublin on our way to dinner.

We were wondering if Dublin would actually look like a real city considering we had only seen farmlands and small towns all week...it did!  I couldn't help but think of the City Mouse meets Country Mouse story!