Guiness Pint Art Piece
Day 49 April 4th 2017 Guiness Story and Gaiety Theatre
Started our day as usual with plans and route discussions then realised after Chris had a reminder on Social Media that is was in fact our Wedding Anniversary! Given every day is like an anniversary there seemed no need to change plans.
What were our plans …
First stop the Guiness Storehouse for an hour or so.
That hour or so turned into most of the day finally making the seventh and top floor of the Guiness Storehouse late in the afternoon after a great few hours. Not normally our ‘thing’ but it had been highly recommended by friends so thought to give it a go. So glad we did. A beautifully put together museum and audio-visual displays over 7 floors. A wide variety of experiences all around the famous Dublin Guiness and the man who negotiated a 9,000 year lease to produce the dark stuff! Experiences included learning to pour, taste, sample Guiness; learn about the history, learn about production. A whole section of past Guiness advertising including a surround sound screen was surprisingly absorbing.
A 12 foot statue of a pint of Guiness created by a team of artists was entrancing. Accompanied by a video demonstrating the making of the piece. (See header image above)
As our one special addition to the day being our anniversary we treated ourselves to lunch in 1837 Bar and Brasserie a tasting flight of Guiness to share – and a complimentary pint for Chris and for me a delicious concoction that involved Proseco, guiness and a final ingredient I did not catch – delicious! My lunch was memorable – a very seafoody seafood pie with a crisp lightly dressed green salad.
So pleased we had had a quiet lunch for as we headed to the 7th floor and the Gravity bar expecting to sit with a quiet pint – the doors opened and it was mayhem – crowds, jostling, standing room only. We did a circuit of the room to see Dublin from above and were about to leave when the bar emptied out so we stayed for more view and a half pint each.
So long here we had neither time to head home or to do any other sites so opted to wend our way to the Gaiety Theatre and collect our tickets for the evening play “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” a powerful Irish play by Martin McDonagh. Wonderful staff at the Dublin Tourist Bureau had told us what seats to request and these were perfect. 4 rows from the front – not too close, not too far. The theatre is a beautifully restored theatre – built in 1871 and recently refurbished.
The play itself was mesmerising – a cast of 4, all incredibly. With a funny, black humoured, sad, macabre tension filled plot. We both said the building of, and holding tension was unusually strong. One of those plots you wish for all that the plot would turn out differently but suspect all the while it will not!
