I didn’t really do much preparation for my trip to Dublin since I was just planning on tagging along with my father, but the one request I made is he wait and go to the Storehouse with me. The one site I consulted before leaving recommended going early to the Storehouse, so we made our way there sometime after 9.30am.

Never too early for Guinness, is it?

One of the most interesting and difficult-to-photograph-attractively things about Guinness and the Storehouse is the 9000 year lease that was signed by Arthur Guinness in 1759 for £45 pounds per year. 9000 years! And actually, this year, in 2009, is the 250th anniversary of the signing, which means they have only 8750 years left. They better start thinking of negotiating strategies for the inevitable rent hike!

This is supposed to be where the magic starts: roasted barley gives it that distinctive taste, along with the special yeast, part of which is kept in a safe so that they’ll always be able to make Guinness.

It’s not considered a true brewery tour because you don’t actually see the beer being brewed in front of you, but you can spy the various vats and containers through the windows, and you get some interesting information. Make sure you watch the video on how a cask/barrel is made – it’s fascinating.

I wasn’t sure what hops looked like, but now I do. And now so do you:

The advertising section of the Storehouse was really interesting, too – I love seeing how brands and messages evolve – and the packaging, too! Here are some old bottles of Guinness.

I have to be honest, the best part of the tour is the end when you get a freshly-poured Guinness (free as part of the admission cost!)  in their famous Gravity Bar at the very top of the Storehouse which gives you a fabulous 360-degree view of Dublin.

Here’s some pints waiting for the second part of the famous “double pour” which helps keep that lovely thick creamy Guinness head from overflowing.

Finally it’s ready. But it’s worth the wait!

Can’t keep your hands off a freshly-poured pint!

Good until the last drop. My dad will inevitably comment how I didn’t get his model release on this pic since we were talking about that while we were visiting. You’re a star, Dad!

A neighborhood of Guinness pints together. By the time we left the Gravity Bar, it was quite crowded.

Note: side effects of enjoying one or several Guinness may include sitting on Trinity College lawns and watching cricket, people passing by, and becoming intrigued by your own shoe.

If you make your way to the Guinness Storehouse, make sure to enter one of your photos in their monthly photo competition! And just in case you were wondering, the Guinness Book of World Records DID originate with the Guinness family.

Guinness: Yay or Nay?

Guinness Storehouse website

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• 2009 Year in Pictures
• Praline Almond, Pistachio and Chocolate Chip Blondies Recipe
• Temple Bar Food Market in Dublin, Ireland

After that, I quickly bought a hat. That way, my hair was screwed, but I had instant rain coverage. And afterward, walking around, you could tell how many people were locals by all the hoodies – rain starts to fall, hood up. Rain slows or stops, hood down. Not as many umbrellas fighting against the wind. Sometimes the rain would be so brief that you’d realize you’ve been walking around with your hood up for minutes with no drops. And other times, you’d find yourself standing in a particularly sunny spot, with no clouds directly overhead, getting pelted with big drops of rain.

Ah, Dublin.

But, there was a particularly sunny patch of Dublin we were lucky enough to stumble upon, and that was the Temple Bar Food Market! (PS: Since I work in web stuff, I actually wrote Template and caught it when I re-read the draft – Template Bar, indeed!)

The Temple Bar Food Market is deep in the center of the Temple Bar neighborhood, and we would have missed it if we hadn’t been looking for a certain restaurant on Meeting House Square. The market is every Saturday from 10am – 4.30pm on Meeting House Square.

If I didn’t live in Italy and see this every day, I would have immediately bought some of these lovely olives and mozzarella from The Real Olive Company – I loved the barrels and wooden spoons they used to scoop them out for customers.

Mmmm…garlic. I love the purple ridges on these.

What would an Irish food market be without Irish apples? These are from Llewellyn’s Orchard Produce.

There was a good variety of food and especially of baked goods – if I lived close I would definitely be stopping by for some good brown bread or Irish soda bread from The French Bread Stall.

Some ethnic food, too – at Karuna’s Kitchen there was anything fried and they had about 8 cuisines in a row – panzerotti – Italy, samosa – India, spring roll – China, Kofta – Middle East, Spanakopita – Greece, Croquette – Italy…!  (I do have a weakness for fried stuff – check my own posts about Italian panzerotti, street food in India, or my sweet balls of fried ricotta)

The luck of our timing was we were able to see this roasted pork that had been roasting since 8am…

and was taken out to be eaten right at that moment! (Check out my post on roasted pork, porchetta, that you can find in Italy, complete with head still attached!)

Top that off with some fresh oyster shooters and some conversation from St Martin Shellfish. My brother would have gone crazy at this stand.

Do you shop at a Farmer’s Market? Is there anything you prefer to buy – local, homemade, etc., instead of in the store or doing it yourself?

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• Drinking a Guinness Beer in the Guinness Brewery Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland
• Segesta Greek Ruins in Sicily and Eggplant Parmesan Stacks
• 2009 Year in Pictures