Guinness factory here we come!

We then headed off to catch the bus to find some lunch and the Guinness factory!  We found the bus stop and waited, and waited and then thought that the bus probably was not coming due to the “Pride Parade” being on today.  We then decided on plan B, to catch another bus about 20 minutes walk away - so we headed off there, and caught our bus to the Guinness factory for our tour.  The bus driver was fab, only charged us three adults and said he would tell us when we arrived at our stop and give us the information we needed to get there - perfect!  We went past Trinity College, the Temple area, Dublina and some other sites - was very cool.

We then saw the Guinness Storehouse and the location for our tour.  There was a big line outside, but we had gotten our tickets already on line and so we skipped this cue and headed inside.  Once inside there was an even bigger cue snaking its way around the partitions and we thought “holy cow” - but a lady came up to us, said I see you have an e-ticket, pop over to the machine - put in your reference number and your tickets will come out and go straight in - wahoo - perfect! This was super easy and we were in - looking around the shop for the few minutes before our tour instruction.

Mum checking out the hops

We were then off looking around, reading and gaining some knowledge about how Guinness is made.  We took some cool photos and it took us about an hour to go through before we got to have our drink in the “Gravity Bar” which was on the 7^th floor with 360 degree views of Dublin - mind you there were so many people there that the view was pretty hard to get around and see - still, we had Guinness.   Karl has not liked Guinness in New Zealand on the times he had tried it - I had said to him it tastes different in Ireland - and sure enough - he agreed - much nicer in Ireland! We enjoyed the tour and drink and then we headed down to the shop to buy a couple of things! This really is a money-maker tourist attraction - there must have been thousands of people there!!!! Great start to Ireland! 

 Me and the hubby standing in front of the very cool waterfall -

 The boys in the same spot..................

 The boys really enjoyed the Guinness factory and all the fun things to do.............................................

My first Guinness in Ireland for over 20 years - still tastes damn good! The tour was certainly different this time around, not personalised like last time, and I remember that a few people on our tour last time did not want their free Guinness so my friend Jo and I helped them out! We were a bit toasted by the time we left - great memories.........just one pint this time however............

 The views from the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor are pretty cool.  The bar was super busy but Connor found a window spot...................

We then caught the bus back to where we caught it, found a great Irish pub called the river bar where we stopped for another drink and a great dinner - we were all pretty starving!  Menus in English and food more like New Zealand - the kids were excited.  Connor ordered a kids meal “three little piggies going to the market” which ended up being three big sausages, chips and baked beans - perfect - and he ate the lot.  Mum was excited to see steak on the menu, so that was her sorted.  Lachlan ordered nachos, Karl a burger and I ordered Irish cottage pie and veges - and we ordered an entrée of bbq chicken wings to share…….yummo and not a morsel left on our plates when we had finished - superb! We then walked home along the river to our apartment and it was an early bed time for all.

Bring on tomorrow and the hop-on, hop-off bus tour!