The guide picked us up on schedule at 10.10am, and we went round a few other hostels collecting more folk before the tour proper started at 11am. the guide was fantastic, funny and informative. we spent 3 hours exploring different parts of the city, starting at the castle, going through the medieval history through to the recent history, finally finishing up at Trinity college. during the tour I chatted to a few folk, but more Andreanne than anyone else. Andreanne is a french Canadian from Quebec spending 3 weeks travelling around ireland.
Waiting to start the tour
Game of Thrones is everywhere!
Dublin Castle - our guide Ian in the foreground
The crenellations are Victorian not original
Map showing the original size and layout of Dublin -
one of these has been placed whereever there was a gate into the city (or is it a watchtower in the city walls?)
Christ Church Cathedral
Halfpenny Bridge
This plaque was placed by 2 men on the death of their father who used to tell them this story when they crossed the bridge - There is no evidence to suggest that the events it commemorates ever actually happened and the council were going to remove it, but when they heard it had been placed as a memorial they decided to leave it in place. Fuzzies. :)
Trinity College
Mmmm Yummy lunch time!
Finally getting close to the Guinness Storehouse!
9,000 year lease!
Unique strain of yeast - a little bit is lept in a safe by the managing director in case something happens to the stock and they need to regrow it.
Arthur Guinness secured the rights to use a nearby fresh water source (not the river Liffy), and successfully challenged the council when they threatened to take away the rights to it. The Storehouse has a fab water feature so of course we had to take a selfie! Andreanne is on the left.
Teeny Tiny Guinness!
Props from Guinness ads...
Huge wraparound TV screens
After all that walking we finally cashed in our tokens and enjoyed a pint!
Views from the Bar...
