Welcome to Our Take on Guinness StoreHouse - Dublin

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Welcome to Our Take on Guinness StoreHouse - Dublin

Doug - enjoying his pint of Guinness

Today, I thank my many blessings for family and friends. Over the last few months I have been busy meeting people from all around the globe on Linkedin and Facebook as well as at book signings. So in tribute to my friends on Linkedin that are fellow Authors, I have included my Pinterest boards where you can repin and follow us all. You will find all my addresses at the end of this blog posting.

This fine Saturday we want to take you along to the Guinness Storehouse.  This was our first stop along the way once we had rested for an hour in our beautiful room at the Fitzwilliam Hotel. 



Guinness bottles over the years

Our tour was scheduled at noon and we had reserved a special pass that moved you ahead of crowds. I would like to tell you that this was not necessary to buy the more expensive tickets. We had thought that arriving at noon there would be a huge crowd and did not want to stand in long lines knowing we would be tired. There were no long lines anywhere on the property. We moved through the tour which is self guided looking at displays on seven floors which included barrels of barley and water. While they were interesting I kept wondering where everyone was. The gift shop was large but not that crowded yet it kept us curious as to all the hype. Every man in the universe must be here but where? And their partners?  Yes, there were many people roaming around and some gathered in places but we were able to take photos without much traffic. So where was everyone?

Partial view of Guinness from 7th floor window

The Guinness story is one you certainly do not want to miss learning about if you are in to history and good beer, but this is not a hands on tour. Meaning that there are no tour guides and no hands on tours as watching it being made. We at least in the United States have been spoiled with these type of tours where you can actually see the making of ice cream and the sort but here, they say for sanitation reasons they do not allow anyone on the actually site where the beer is made. 

How sad and disappointing-why not a glass partition as we have here. We were anxious and most interested in seeing this type tour as we had studied the history behind this most intellectual man that created a beer that is now distributed all over. A genius that took barley, water and other simple ingredients and made a fortune while providing hundreds of jobs. I'd say that was sheer success. But where are the people??

As we walked or took the elevators from floor to floor looking at displays, we grew closer to the seventh floor when we began to hear the laughter from above. Had we finally found all the people? Then as the elevator doors opened to the seventh floor-the bar where you are invited to have a free pint of Guinness as part of your tour price, there was standing room only! Here is where there must have been at least 300 to 400 people!  The view from here was simply awesome. Glass windows surrounded the entire room where each person held and enjoyed their beers. 

This is where everyone was!

Now, I am not suggesting you not take this tour as it was interesting but it takes you at least 2 to 3 hours and it was our belief that sight seeing the Temple Bar area with so many places around it would have been a better choice.

We wanted to get to know the wonderful Irish and Guinness was in every Pub in all of Ireland! So why not stop in at say, Gogarty's or any number of pubs and enjoy a pint of Guinness, meet the great people that live there along with other visitors from all around the world. I might add, that eating in pubs is a great way to enjoy meals at affordable prices. Our first try at the lambs stew was at Gogarty's and we were truly impressed. But food in Ireland is another story.

We are not professional reviewers, just ordinary people taking a vacation and trying to use our time wisely.  If the other sites in Dublin are not as important to you to visit or if you are spending weeks there, then you should take this tour. After all, it is a great product and the man himself is fun and educational to learn about.  

Honest, they aren't both mine!

If staying close to the St. Stephens Green, the Hop On Hop Off bus takes you within a block of this tour. 

For a detailed review of fun facts and general information about the history of Guinness you can find my book on my web site listed below and E-Book on amazon.com.  All addresses follow below. 

Hint for this blog:

Be sure to wear great quality walking shoes or your tour and trip will be painful as many street are cobblestone and difficult to manoeuvre!

YouTube:

http://youtu.be/brQlay8bPoo

Web Site:

www.ExtraordinaryIreland.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosemary-Mamie-Adkins/315464778471984

Blog

http://extraordinaryireland.blogspot.com/

Authors Showcase:

http://indieauthorsshowcase.blogspot.com/

Amazon-E-Book:

http://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Dreams-Ireland-Traveler-ebook/dp/B0080JHKY2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336367828&sr=1-1

Back To Books:

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For all my fellow Authors you can find my books and them at:

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Happy Traveling!

Rosemary "Mamie" Adkins