Minor Disclaimer – I mostly drank Guinness in Ireland. As someone who has been following a gluten-free diet for a year, I am aware that while there are no wheat components in the beverage, Guinness does contain a protein (hordein) which is similar to gluten. A couple things: since I am not celiac, this was not really an issue for me to consider. Also, while I was making the 24 hour drive back to Ontario for school, my face more or less exploded. Since I cut out gluten for the sake of my skin, and because my face was already unhappy (stress from the long drives?), I took a very DGAF attitude about what I ate and drank in Ireland. Prepare for a lot of Guinness photos.
Our first night, we were jet lagged, a bit grimy, and feeling totally wonky. We were lucky to have a quick nap at our friend’s parents’ place, but when we were released into Dublin and left to our own devices, we gravitated, naturally, to alcohol. Our nap hosts graciously wrote out a little list of off-the-tourist-trail pubs that were musts. Our first stop was Mulligan’s. Thankfully, I’m a whiz with maps (and our hosts were very accurate in marking the map with x’s): the streets we went down to arrive at Mulligan’s were dark, uninviting, and in no way hinted at the hope of a pub. I insisted we just check around this next corner (that’s where the x was, after all!) and lo and behold, there she was! Time for a pint (or four)!
The following day…
After a chance encounter with our friends Colin and Claire near Grafton Street (seriously, thanks wifi and sheer, bloody luck o’ the Irish), we headed to the Bailey for a drink. Yep, more Guinness.
Predictably: the following day…
After a long day of running around Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge and Giant’s Causeway, we ended up at the historic Crown Bar in Belfast. I was a bit hungry at that point, so not only did I quench my thirst, I also had a meal in a glass with that Guinness.
Back in Dublin that night, we went for dinner and…
Like I said, DGAF.
The following day… ahem… was almost entirely focused around Guinness.
After almost an entire day soaking in the Guinness Storehouse, we ended up back on Grafton Street. This time, without wifi, no previously set plans, nothing, once again, we bumped into Colin and Claire. Sheer, bloody luck, I tell you. Needless to say, more alcohol.
The following day, we headed away from Dublin to Connemara, where the wedding was to take place. You guessed it. Didn’t take long for this to happen:
Immediately after the wedding the next day, per tradition of the town we were in, everyone ambled over to Paddy Coyne’s for a drink and for the celebratory “First Pint”, when the bride pours her new husband his first pint of Guinness at the bar.
After the bubbly reception back at the hotel, the night dissolved into all the wine and pints.
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Do you like Guinness?
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