Dublin
The Famine Memorial sculptures and Jeanie Johnston Ship
Irish Emigration Museum
While our travel-mates scattered in every direction, heading off to Northern Ireland, Scotland, Europe, or back to the States, we had one more day planned in Dublin.
Our first stop was the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum. The museum covers the historical reasons for Irish emigration and celebrates the contributions of Irish people to the world. The museum had many interactive and educational exhibits, and a "passport" which was stamped as you navigated from room to room.
Upon exiting the museum, we made our way to the Jeanie Johnston Ship, which was docked in the harbor. The ship is a replica of 19th century ships that took Irish emigrants to America. Nearby, the Famine Memorial sculptures illustrated emigrants walking to the ship. The moving display shows the extreme conditions that drove Irish people to leave their families and country to seek better lives and prosperity elsewhere as immigrants. While leaving was unimaginable and the conditions in a new country were unknowable, staying where family members had perished to famine and living under oppressive conditions was the other side of an impossible choice faced by many who chose to emigrate.
Guinness
After finding out we do not qualify to immigrate to Ireland, it was time to drink away that sorrow at the Guinness brewery. We headed for the brewery, with a walk through the lively and touristy area of Temple Bar.
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The Guinness brewery was a museum quality experience where you navigate upwards through floors of exhibits—with topics such as brewing Guinness beer, the flavor and rigorous quality control, and their advertising over the years—you ascend to the top-floor bar where a fresh pint and 360º view of the city awaits you.
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Apparently, trying to "split the G" when taking the first sip of a Guinness is a quirky tradition, Internet fad, or yet another marketing move from the geniuses in their advertising department. In other words drink enough that the liquid/foam in the glass bisects the letter "G" in "Guinness" printed on the glass. I will sip at my own pace, thank you very much!
