Day Thirty-Two - 12/10/2012 - Dublin

     We woke up before the sun today to make the voyage back to Dublin.  The first thing I noticed upon walking outside was that the stars were as bright as they had been in the mountains in California, even here, in the second largest city in Ireland.  It was a brief walk to St. Patrick's Quay to catch the Aircoach to Dublin.  This bus had working WiFi and even a bathroom!
     Once arriving at Bachelor's Street in Dublin, the city looked much as I left it, but there were subtle changes that I could pick up, now less blinded by the novelty of it.  The Ha'Penny Bridge had been covered in small flowers as part of a volunteer campaign benefitting various charities.  As I wandered the streets I had wandered just a month before, I noticed another Lush cosmetics store selling their food-stylized products.  Walking through Temple Bar, I noticed a T.G.I.F., the first one I had seen here.  There was a Captain America's, in the same style as Cork's.  Continuing south, we wound up in St. Stephen's Green to see the ducks and grey swans in the early morning light.  After a bit of enjoying the greenery, we stopped for a quick coffee.  I got a chance to read the Irish Independent.  The newspaper mentioned that Conan O'Brien, who had recently talked to students at Trinity College (some of my orientation friends got to see him), was filming a segment at the Guinness Storehouse, one of the intended destinations for the day.
     We walked back through the city to the National Museum near Heuston Station.  The National Museum comprises three buildings, all free, the one near the train station being dedicated to the decorative arts and history.  The building itself is a massive, three-storey building enclosing a central square.  It used to be the Royal Barracks in 1702, but was renamed Collins Barracks in 1922, after the Irish acquired it.  It became the national museum in 1993.  The square still contains signs on each facade marking the paces from 0 to 100, an aid for drills and exercise.
     The first exhibit we entered was the curator's collection, a sample of pieces hand-picked by the curators with explanations of why they were chosen.  One of the most interesting pieces in the exhibit was a medieval organistrum, a predecessor of the hurdy gurdy, and the first string instrument.
     The next exhibit was called "Out of Storage" which was two storeys of glass cases containing different pieces from the museum's permanent collection that were on a rotation due to a lack of space in the exhibits. Given the size of the museum the magnitude of the collection became apparent.
     The next exhibit was a 1000 year history of currency and coin in Ireland. The coins were coupled with various medals awarded for religious, political, or commemorative reasons. Coins were used for political purposes among others.  Some mints incorporated Irish symbols to protest the British government. Various communities used different coins or other currency, sometimes even cardboard, to stem local depressions or to benefit a family or region. James II, during the Williamite wars, issued gun money, so called because it was said to have been minted from melted down guns. The gun money was in base metals such as copper that could be exchanged for silver after his victory, employed as a kind of loyalty program for support of his cause. James never won the war. The exhibit also featured signs that explained the relative values of pennies, farthings, shillings, and crowns at different point in history. Depending on the value of coinage, it was common practice to cut coins in half or even quarters and use them for their rendered value.
     The next exhibit featured furniture.  There were multiple pieces that you could touch, including a carved oak table leg from the 1600s and a pewter candlestick from the 18th century.  A Killarney box, named for the region famed for its inlaid wooden work, was on the touch-able display as well.
     The next few exhibits featured silver pieces, including a snuff box on the form of a castle, and a small commemorative vessel containing the charter for Cork city. There was an extensive collection of monstrances with intricate embellishments and decorations.
     The rest of the exhibits featured clothing, jewelry, the lacquer work of Eileen Gray, and finally a collection of Chinese art from Albert Bender, a Dubliner and an enthusiast.  Eileen Gray designed furniture, her most famous piece being the E1027 table.  Much of her work is in lacquer, a type of wood finish that is quite intensive to make.  Gray made and experimented with her own types of lacquer, pioneering a lot of the work in the area.  Gray designed furniture from the 1940s to 1960s, making significant progress in the Modern Movement.
     On the way out of the museum, I took a brief look into the soldiering exhibit which traced the history of warfare in Ireland from participation in the British army to the American Civil War. That part of the exhibit had three rifles that you could hold and aim. I tried a Lee-Enfield on for size.
     At this point, Andrew and Melina had arrived at Heuston but met us at the museum. Alex came in on his train and we all headed south to the Guinness Storehouse. When we arrived, there was a sizable queue outside but it passed fairly quick. As you cross the threshold into the lobby you are greeted by the much larger queue to get tickets. It felt a bit like the queue at Disneyland. The ticket seller asked what country you hail from, apparently to track tourist interest in the building. The Storehouse has been converted into a seven storey "experience" next to the adjacent brewery. The building itself is shaped in the form if a giant pint glass, able to hold 14,3 million pints if it were filled. The tour covered the simple five-ingredient plan for Guinness, including barley, water, hops, and yeast. The fifth ingredient, you ask? The master brewer himself and his expertise.
     The tour entitles you to one free pint of Guinness, which you can redeem on the seventh floor "gravity bar" which has a 360 degree panoramic view of Dublin or at two other places within the Storehouse.  One of those places was on the fourth floor, where you could pour "the perfect pint".  There was a brief tutorial, which explained the basic steps of pouring a pint of Guinness.  It is actually achieved in two pours, the first forming the characteristic creamy head, and the second filling the glass.  The basic procedure is to hold the glass at a 45 degree angle to the tap, and pull all the way down, including as much nitrogen gas as possible in the pour.  As the glass fills, you slowly bring it to level, and stop when it is about three-fourths full.  This is the critical part, you must let the pint sit to settle.  During this time, the nitrogen and carbon dioxide within the beer floats to the top, settling in the thick head.  Once the stout appears deep ruby red (they are careful not to let you say black) you may resume the pour, with very little pressure on the tap, filling the head proud of the glass, forming a small dome.  After successfully pouring (and later drinking) a perfect pint of Guinness, I got a certificate detailing my achievements.  Conan never showed up.
     We finished off the night in Temple Bar, meeting Kevin, one of the students studying at Trinity College.  We watched some football in Busker's, where we also caught the end of some live music.