Ireland day 0723. Thursday 21 September 2023- Visitors Day2 *

Ireland day 0723. Thursday 21 September 2023- Visitors Day2

Today’s summary	Val was at work so I drove our guests into Dublin and we visited the Guinness Storehouse then afterwards drove out to Castletown for a house tour. Drove back then out for dinner at the Greedy Goose
Today’s weather	Beautiful sun most of the day, with some cloud and a light shower later on. Light westerly wind. Appx 16c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

The second full day of our visitors stay with us today. Val was back to work for her next three day shift so I organised for the rest of us to visit the Guinness Storehouse for a tour finishing up in the viewing gallery (with a pint!) and then to go on to Castletown for a house tour. To make the logistics manageable, I decided to drive in, which was the first time I’d experimented with the central Dublin traffic system.

In the end, everything worked well. The drive in was straightforward, and there was a well managed parking system for Storehouse visitors, close to the entrance. As ever, the Storehouse experience itself was well organised and enjoyable. The highlight was, of course the “free” pint at the end – although as I was driving I could only have the “Guinness zero” which is OK but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. The excellence (or otherwise) of the Guinness was complemented by the excellence of the views – brilliant blue skies, clear air and views that extended from the 7th floor viewing bar far in all directions.

Once we’d finished imbibing the liquor and the views, we made our way back to the car and jumped in for the short drive west out to Castletown. We had lunch once we got there (the café is excellent) and then joined the 4pm tour. John, our guide, was outstanding. A slow-ish (but still under an hour) saw as back in Malahide around 6:30 which just gave time for a cup of tea (and a beer!) before going to the Greedy Goose for tapas dinner.

Another very enjoyable day, all round.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Traditional transport outside the Guinness Storehouse	Looking a bit manic I fear! by the waterfall in the “water” section of the Storehouse exhibition

View from the front of the Castletown stately home, looking south to the Dublin Mountains. The Liffey is at the bottom of the gardens	The rear of Castletown House. Unadorned in its simplicity

The long corridor connecting the main living rooms on the ground floor	Fabulous Venetian chandelier in the main reception room

Casks awaiting their liquid contents. “Barrel” is actually just a size of cask, like “tun” or “firkin”. There was an excellent short video explaining how the old oak casks were made. Amazing craftsmanship – sadly now all lost, with the advent of steel containers.