It has been a fantastic past week. Our dear Australian friends spent it with us and it was the occasion for them to see Ireland for the first time. A lot of good times were had, beautiful plays were seen, a great literary pub crawl was enjoyed, a trip in the country and a lot of laughter happened.
One of the highlights of the past seven days was a lovely visit of the Guinness® Storehouse in Dublin. Since this week is National Heritage Week, E. managed to get free tickets for the talk 'The Goodness of Guinness' at the Guinness Archive.
Tony Corcoran, a Guinness pensioner, spent an hour with us telling the story of the Guinness employees and their families as well as stories about the Guinness family (for example, we learned that St Stephen's Green used to be a private park but thanks to Sir Arthur Edward Guinness, it was given to the citizens of Dublin for public use). We all enjoyed listening to those stories told by a man whose grandfather and father also worked for Guinness. At the end of the talk, some of the visitors shared a bit of their own experience. A lady, for example, told us how when she gave birth in the 1970's, she was given to drink a nourishing pint of Guinness and a glass of milk after her baby was born. Obviously, this is not something you should expect to happen in hospitals nowadays...
Mr Corcoran did a lot of research in the Guinness Archive and he is also the author of the book 'The Goodness of Guinness: A Loving History of the Brewery, It's People, and the City of Dublin'.
After the talk, we were all given complimentary passes to the Guinness Storehouse.
One of the highlights of the past seven days was a lovely visit of the Guinness® Storehouse in Dublin. Since this week is National Heritage Week, E. managed to get free tickets for the talk 'The Goodness of Guinness' at the Guinness Archive.
Tony Corcoran, a Guinness pensioner, spent an hour with us telling the story of the Guinness employees and their families as well as stories about the Guinness family (for example, we learned that St Stephen's Green used to be a private park but thanks to Sir Arthur Edward Guinness, it was given to the citizens of Dublin for public use). We all enjoyed listening to those stories told by a man whose grandfather and father also worked for Guinness. At the end of the talk, some of the visitors shared a bit of their own experience. A lady, for example, told us how when she gave birth in the 1970's, she was given to drink a nourishing pint of Guinness and a glass of milk after her baby was born. Obviously, this is not something you should expect to happen in hospitals nowadays...
Mr Corcoran did a lot of research in the Guinness Archive and he is also the author of the book 'The Goodness of Guinness: A Loving History of the Brewery, It's People, and the City of Dublin'.
After the talk, we were all given complimentary passes to the Guinness Storehouse.
We decided to stop for a bit of food before continuing the visit. And when I say food, what I really mean is desserts! There was a lovely choice of cakes made with Guinness so we opted for a beetroot and Guinness chocolate brownie and a Guinness and chocolate muffin. The delicious black stuff is really wonderful in desserts indeed.
Afterwards, as we walked through the museum and climbed the steps to the top, all we could smell was the Guinness brewing. And all I could personally smell was the perfume that emanates from a lovely beef and Guinness stew (complete with carrots and potatoes) when the beer has just been poured in the pot.
Guinness beer is such a wonderful ingredient to add to a recipe, be it for breads, stews or desserts.
At the end of our visit and having reached the Gravity Bar, we waited patiently for our pints to be served and then drank them while enjoying a fantastic panoramic view of Dublin City.
It somehow made it more interesting to know the history of the people (employers and employees) who make the Guinness before we visited the museum and drank our pints. A bit of history learning never hurts, especially when this product had such an impact on Dubliners.
Afterwards, as we walked through the museum and climbed the steps to the top, all we could smell was the Guinness brewing. And all I could personally smell was the perfume that emanates from a lovely beef and Guinness stew (complete with carrots and potatoes) when the beer has just been poured in the pot.
Guinness beer is such a wonderful ingredient to add to a recipe, be it for breads, stews or desserts.
At the end of our visit and having reached the Gravity Bar, we waited patiently for our pints to be served and then drank them while enjoying a fantastic panoramic view of Dublin City.
It somehow made it more interesting to know the history of the people (employers and employees) who make the Guinness before we visited the museum and drank our pints. A bit of history learning never hurts, especially when this product had such an impact on Dubliners.
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The competition for my portrait photography session giveaway ended on Monday 12th August. The winner of the competition is Tash Peters. Congratulations!!
I would like to thank the two lovely bloggers who helped judging the competion:
- Agnès Samour, wonderful documentary photographer based in Sydney, Australia.
- And Jennifer Bosse of the lovely blog Defining My Happy, also writer, photographer and mother of two adorable little boys. She is based in the USA.
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One more little thing!
My blog post about the Irish Croque-Monsieur was nominated for the Best Blog Posts of the Blog Awards Ireland 2013.
It would be ever so lovely to get your votes! The voting ends early October and you can do it every week until then. All you need to do is go to the Best Blog Post page, find my blog name and blog post, click and cast your vote. Merci beaucoup les amis!
***************************************************************************************************
The competition for my portrait photography session giveaway ended on Monday 12th August. The winner of the competition is Tash Peters. Congratulations!!
I would like to thank the two lovely bloggers who helped judging the competion:
- Agnès Samour, wonderful documentary photographer based in Sydney, Australia.
- And Jennifer Bosse of the lovely blog Defining My Happy, also writer, photographer and mother of two adorable little boys. She is based in the USA.
***************************************************************************************************
One more little thing!
My blog post about the Irish Croque-Monsieur was nominated for the Best Blog Posts of the Blog Awards Ireland 2013.
It would be ever so lovely to get your votes! The voting ends early October and you can do it every week until then. All you need to do is go to the Best Blog Post page, find my blog name and blog post, click and cast your vote. Merci beaucoup les amis!
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