Mmm....Guinness...

Nov 2-3, 2007 10:40pm

The US Tour is officially over. The Europe Tour has begun.

The last three months are nearly indescribable. So I'm not going to try right now. I hope to post some excerpts from them (the US tour) later, but suffice it to say that they were amazing, I've met many amazing people, seen many amazing things & places, experienced & learned much, and it was all a good preparation for the next leg of this journey: Europe.

Jaya & I were joined Halloween night by Ryan. Apparently you can't stay in the airport all night, and should never ask Homeland Security a question.

Our flights from Boston to Chicago to Dublin the next day were great fun. We got to check out the sun setting over Boston, and had all sorts of a good time torturing our fellow passengers with our hyperactivity. Here's just a few pics from the flights...

We touched down in Dublin, Ireland at about 8:30am, and headed down to our hostel, Paddy's Place. Check-in wasn't until about 1pm, so we dropped off our stuff, and headed out in search of the first mission for Europe: Guinness. After wandering about a bit, during which we managed to get a good idea of the city (pics to come), we managed to find the Guinness Brewery. Here's our first Guinness in Ireland:

Ryan (I don't have the pic of Ryan's first Guinness, so here's a recent one)



Jaya



Gaea



It was creamy goodness...and I mean that. When I say creamy, I mean that the head on the pint was so smooth & well...creamy, I could have been drinking...um, cream. Yeah. Not poetic, but true.

Later, after we had checked in & all three of us had showered off 3+ days of travel, sweat, grime & exhaustion, Jaya passed out hardcore, and I started on the next re-organization. This is pretty much a private joke between myself, my travel companions and those housing us, because I've had every incarnation of backpacks, duffels & suitcases full of stuff to take with me. Each re-organization was a paring down of items and sometimes, admittedly, additions. Though I've sent some items off to the main place we'll be staying in Germany, I've finally pared down to THE backpack. I can travel without killing myself. Triumph!

After the great re-organization, Ryan & I headed out into the evening to check out our neighborhood. We stopped by one pub up the street, and then headed off for the next. After stopping into a market to see what they are like over here, we noticed a pub across the street called Grainger's. We had the pleasure of being served by Alan, the owner & proprieter of the place. This is not some tourist joint; we only saw two other groups of Americans come in, and another bartender told us very few tourists ever actually come in. This place is a legit, bona fide local Irish pub. Talbot Street. Remember that, because it is well worth stopping off.

[Tangent: At one point, one of the other groups of Americans that walked in started hedging about the drink "where you put the Baileys shot in the Guiness..." I could have told them before I ever stepped foot on the island not to order that one, but they didn't get any farther than that before Alan refused point-blank: "No. Won't do it." and walked off down the line to finish the other drinks he'd been working on. Not CAN'T do it. WON'T do it. He came back later to explain very kindly to them that the reason was that the Guiness curdles the Baileys. This guy is cool.]

Alan told us about the three main breweries that are Ireland-based: Guiness, Beamish & Murphys. We also got to have our first Beamish (recommended by Jon-Michael & Lauren):



There was a rugby match on the TV & as we "ooh!"-ed a particularly close failed score, Alan informed us that we were to be rooting for blue, "by the way", Leicester. "That's where you are," Alan said. We got hungry after a bit & decided to order off the menu; we chose Bangers & Mash & an order of spicy potato wedges with garlic sauce (Ryan & I think it was mayonnaise, and I actually LIKED it). I defy anyone to tell me that Bangers & Mash (basically sausages & mashed potatoes with gravy) isn't tasty that isn't from Ireland. We happily rooted along with Leicester & promised to come back, with Jaya in tow.