This morning dawns cold but bright and sunny - again! Ireland isn’t known for its sunny weather so we are delighted. Armed with our Dublin Passes and Hop On Hop Off bus cards we head out to go to gaol (jail). Our hotel is across the street from one of the must sees in Dublin, Kilmainham Gaol.
The gaol was built as a reformed gaol. This means that it is built so that each prisoner has his or her own room unlike gaols before where all prisoners, men, women and children (yes, children) were all put into one room. It opened in 1796 and closed in 1924. Over its history it housed many leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916. During hard times when there was little food it also housed children, the youngest being 5, for crimes such as stealing bread.
The prisoners were either shot or hung when executed. One day alone during the Irish Civil War saw 14 executions. We learned much about the history of Ireland and its struggle for independence.
The gaol was in a state of bad decay when the call went out for volunteers to come and restore it. Former prisoners and guards were among those who took part in the restoration. In recent years part of it has been used for movies. Over the front door is carved a symbol of 5 snakes with chains. I really liked it so below is a picture of it.
After visiting the Gaol we hop on the bus and ride it to the stop that serves both St Michens Church and Jamesons Irish Whiskey old distillery. First we go to church and then to the distillery :-).
St Michens is unique for several reasons. The most famous one is because of the Crypts beneath the church. The limestone used for the crypts is the type that absorbs moisture so quickly that you can see wet foot prints disappear as soon as they are formed. Because of this a natural mummification takes place for all who are buried here.
It is against the law to open coffins, but over time some of the coffins have broken open due to age revealing the contents. The most famous of these coffins, three of them contain a nun, a priest, and a crusader. The nun and priest are about 200 years old and the crusader 400 years old. It is said that if you rub the finger of the crusader you will have good luck.
The bravest of us on the tour crouch down, enter the crypt and make our way to the back past the nun and priest to the crusader. I had rubbed his finger in 1984 when Bob and I visited along with friends from England. What the heck, might as well do it again! This time, to hedge my bets, I rub each hand. It feels like a stick covered with dry old leather. Catherine joins in as well.
Now off to the distillery. Jamesons (pronounced Gemison) is the oldest whiskey in Ireland and some say the Scots took their method from Jamesons. However, Jamesons is the only one that is triple distilled. The Scotch Whiskey is double distilled and the American has only one distillation. Triple distillation is part of the reason Jamesons is so smooth and mellow.
Scotch whiskey is also blended from many malt batches (there are some single malt) where Jamesons is only from one malt. A single batch of malt Jamesons is mellowed in three different used oak barrels, port and sherry from Spain and Portugal and cognac from France. Then the whiskey from all of the barrels are married into one vat and allowed to blend before bottling.
Scotch whiskey barley to make malt is dried over a peat fire giving it a smokey flavor while Jamesons is dried over a smoke-less fire so its flavor is more like honey.
As one of the chosen tasters I sit at a table for 8 where we will taste the most popular of the three types of whiskeys, Jamesons 5 year-old whiskey, Scotch and American. Johnny Walker Black Label is chosen for Scotch and Jack Daniels for the American whiskey.
First we are asked to tell our names and where we are from. Then we are asked to smell and taste the Jamesons. It is quite smooth and delicious. Next we are told to taste the Jack Daniels. I can’t help but to make a screwed up face the taste is so bad. This gets a lot of laughter from the crowd sitting closest to the tasting table especially because they know I am an American. After that, the Johnny Walker. It’s not bad, but the Jamesons wins the taste test from all 8 of us.
Shopping for souvenirs is our next activity. Cat has a whole list of people to buy for so we hit several of the shops. After shopping it’s back to the hotel to off load packages and to prepare for the evenings activities - the Ghostbus Tour!
The Ghostbus Tour is a combination bus ride on the top level of a double decker bus with curtains drawn and the inside painted black, and walking tour to grave yards and churches. The actor leading the tour is very entertaining and even gets some of the women to scream. He speaks of the colorful people, hauntings and grisly facts of Ireland throughout its history.
After leaving the tour we walk up to the Temple Bar area. There is a famous bar called the Temple Bar, but it is also an area of Old Dublin with cobblestone streets and old buildings. It is Saturday night about 2130 (9:30) and the place is jumping.
Dressed in our warm coats, gloves and scarves we are amazed at the number of women all dressed up in skimpy outfits and towering spikes heels and NO COATS! The first group we encounter all have white bleached blonde hair, dresses so short they probably had underwear to match, and are teetering on heels so high I can’t see how they can move let alone walk. My first thought is wondering why hookers would go about together! Then after spying several more groups like this (not all with blonde hair, however) I realized this is the way many of them dress for a night out bar hopping.
Cat and I finally find a place to eat called O’Reilly’s that is virtually empty and right across from the Temple Bar itself. From our window table we watch the crowds go by. It is some of the best people watching ever. Our food is delicious. She has a salmon pasta in cream sauce and I opt for a more traditional Irish fare of cabbage, bacon (more like ham), mashed potatoes topped with a parsley sauce.
As we are finishing our dinner we observe a cat fight. Not of cats but of two women! They all of sudden fall to the cobblestone street wrestling, punching, scratching and yelling. Stunned we watch them go at one another. Within less than 2 minutes we hear a siren whoop. I think, WOW those cops got here fast. No,not cops, but an ambulance trying to get through the street! That broke up the fight in a flash. Oh, you are probably wondering how women could fight in the outfits described earlier. These two are in jeans and shirts and jackets.
To top off the evening as we are leaving the bar three people in windbreaker type jackets, slacks and shirts appear. On the back of the jackets is written something about Lap Dancing! We find out it is an Irish dancing group not anything to do with actual lap dancing. Talk about speaking the same but different language.
Quite a full and wonderful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment