Visiting the Guinness Factory

Did I mention that I was recently in Ireland. Dublin to be specific. I had a great time and drank as much Guinness as I could. Even better, I made a trip to the Guinness factory for the sixth time. I took a couple of photos from my trip that are posted on my photo blog.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Vat House sign at Guinness factory
• Reading with a Guinness
• Watching the musicians at the Cobblestone - who are drinking Guinness as well

Jealous. Well, you should be because the Guinness isn't quite as good in the United States. However, St. Patrick's Day is approaching the Guinness gets better and better as March 17th approaches. Go on - go out and have pint, you'll feel better. Remember, Guinness for Strength!

Guinness Believer Event in Chicago

As I was cruising through all of the random emails I get every week, one caught my eye . . Guinness True Believer. I thought it was probably spam, but when it comes to Guinness, I am willing to take that risk.

I opened the email and it was an invitation to a Guinness event being held in several locations, none of which was my current hometown. As you know with the Irish, luck happens upon us from time to time. One of the events was in Chicago the weekend I was going to be there for business.

My co-worker and I made our way to the West Loop of Chicago. We started standing in line a couple of minutes early . . thank heavens because it was first come, first entry. I had no idea what to expect, the sign outside of the event didn't give any indication either.

We get into the venue after a few minutes in the windy Chicago evening (our event was at 9pm). When you get into the room, you take a token to the bar and great a freshly poured pint of Guinness. I was liking this event already. They told us we had until 9:40 when we would be asked to go to another room.

My co-worker and I moseyed up to the bar, waited in line for a bit and waited for the nice bar keeper to pour our pints. I was fevered with anticipation. Could there be a band inside? We had all kinds of theories.

Of course the reality was not as good as us imaging U2 was playing a super secret gig in Chicago and we were there to see it.

It was pretty cool. There was a Guinness pouring competition. Everyone learned how to pour a half and half. We got mini pint glasses and a half and half spoon. There were a few other things going on. Overall, it was definitely worth the trip and the experience.

It made me really long for Ireland. How much I miss the relaxing experience of sitting in a pub, reading a good book and having a few pints. Slainte!