Page 56 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

Happy as I was to see Ireland prosper, it’s old Dub-
lin that that interest me most. We were only in Dublin
a couple of days but managed to walk around much
of the historic city center, bustling with locals and
tourists. We saw most of it during our excellent food
tour which ended with a unique Irish whiskey tasting
in one of Dublin’s most famous pubs.
We had planned to take a Hop On Hop Off (HOHO)
tour bus for a general overview of the city and visits
to popular destinations like the Guinness Storehouse,
home to the Guinness Brewery since 1759 when an
optimistic Arthur Guinness signed a lease for 9,000
years. Unfortunately, we didn’t book the original
HOHO tour. We opted for a knockoff brand waited in
two different locations for more than a half-hour for
the bus to pick us up. In the meantime, we saw at
least four of the official HOHO buses boarding happy
customers. We figured it would be a better use of our
limited time to explore the area by foot than to wait in
lines.
Fate would have it that the Pope would visit Dublin
the day after our ship sailed from the city. That meant
that there were a lot more folks on the streets while
we were there, which wasn’t so bad. That problem
was that several venues were closed or had limited
access due to security. There was still a lot to do, but
I kick myself for not snagging one of those “Dublin
Loves the Pope” green t-shirts.
A lot of walking makes for a thirsty and hungry
traveler. With so many choices, it was difficult to
decide on a place to have some Irish pub food. As we
paused outside The Porterhouse Temple Bar to study
the menu, a small group of fellow cruisers was leav-
ing. They gave the place a big thumbs up - great food,
cold beer, and a little tab. Sounded perfect to us.

There are historic buildings almost
everywhere you turn in the old quar-
ters of Dublin.

56 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018