Irish adventures: day 2 dublin

After trying to sleep off some jet lag we mosied our way out of the hostel to get lunch around 11 at this superb deli/grocery store called Fallon and Byrne. After eating a delicious sandwich and having my obligatory coffee we took a, what seemed at times endless and harrowing, walk to the the Kilmeonen Gaol (jail) in west Dublin.

One of the really great things about Dublin was that you could pretty much walk anywhere. Even this walk which felt long compared to the rest Dublin wasn't particularly bad when compared to how far I go in Chicago. There's also a tram system that I took later that makes it easier to get farther west in the city if you need to.

The jail had housed a number of important political figures throughout it's history including Eamon de Valera (longest serving President of Ireland) and James Conolly (leader of the Easter Rising). The jail made uchicago me keep thinking about Foucault but I don't even want to get started on that. The main room of the jail looked cool (and was in the movie In the Name of the Father with Danial Day Lewis)

After we left the jail we walked back down the road to the Guinness Storehouse where they brew the Guinness. While the experience there was rather touristy and at times felt somewhat like disneyland of beer, the top of the place had a great view of Dublin and I also got to pour my own pint of Guinness.

While the place is a must see for a strange set of reasons it is also not the best thing to see in Dublin. After that we went and got a snack at this place called the Cake Cafe. The cafe seemingly could only be found by go down an alley or through a parchment store. I had quite the brownie whilst there which was great preparation for our walk up through St. Stephens Green before coming back down to dinner at Green 19. They did an interesting modern take on traditional irish food, which made for some lovely and unique corned beef and cabbage.