adventure began leaving Kilkenny behind and driving to see the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. This place was amazing from a distance. If you've ever been in Rome, walking along the cobble stoned streets, and turn a corner into a piazza only to come face to face with the magnificence of the Pantheon you'll understand this feeling. You turn around a bend and from a distance, you
can see the massive rock with a stone cathedral and tall round stone tower jetting in to the sky. The land surrounding was low laying plains/farmland. It's stunning. We pulled into the cute little town of Cashel and missed the exit immediately. Oops... Boo's jet lag and my rigid map directions really don't make for a great combo. Anyways, we flipped it and turn down the right street and into the pay parking lot that's about 200 ya
rds below this massive rock. Then we start our short climb up to the entrance. Per our Rick Steve's guide book, we do the self tour and I read the history of the place as we walk around. "The large Cathedral, ancient round tower and the very early Romanesque Cormac's Chapel , perched on a dramatic outcrop of rock, were silent witnesses to many of the stirring events of Irish History; St.Patrick converted the local King Aenghus, here in the 5th century from Pagan to Catholic. St. Patrick's Celtic cross is still standing at the very spot; Brian Boru was crowned King of Ireland on this spot in the early 11th Century. According to local lore, the Rock of Cashel originated from Devils Bit, a mountain 30 km north of Cashel when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel." (Cashel website.)After a 2 hour tour, and lots of photos, we head out to the town of Midleton to tour the Midleton Whiskey Distillery (the first Jameson Whiskey Distillery was built in Dublin in 1780, but moved to Midleton to expand). The rolling drive from Cashel to Midleton was actually quite nice. I got to drive for a bit before we stopped at a little pictures
que bend in the road, overlooking some pretty farmland, to have a picnic. After we feasted on crackers and 5 different cheeses ( samples of Irish, French, and Danish cheeses), we pulled up to the distillery just in time to catch 2:30pm tour. There was probably 30 people in our group. "The tour the Jameson Midleton Distillery will take you back in time to the magnificent courtyard area, evoking the atmosphere of harvest time with farmers arriving with horses and carts piled high with sacks of grain ready to sell to the Distillery. You walk along the path to the Distiller’s cottage and see the giant waterwheel which at one stage powered all of the distillery machinery, and today still turns the cogs and wheels in the Mill Building. In the Brew House you will see the largest pot still in the World." (Jameson website) While in the brew house I got to touch the copper pot and boo actually got volunteered to ring the bell that workers once used to signal that they needed more coal brought 
up to keep the pot heated. He had the biggest grin on his face as he tugged that rope and made that bell ring. haha! The barrel room left me in awe. Just stacks and stacks of barrels as high as I could see, filled with aging whiskey, waiting to be tasted. At the end of the tour everyone was given a ticket for a free drink at the Jameson bar. Well, when our tour was complete the guide asked for 6 volunteers for a whiskey tasting session in the Bar. I don't know what it was, but my hand shot straight up to volunteer. Yeah, I know what it was..... my favorite Liquor drink ever is Bourbon and Ginger Ale. Hell yeah I wanted to taste some whiskey! Boo's hand shot up too, and low and behold, we get picked! Whoo hoo!! The whole group walks into the Jameson Bar and we, along with the other 4 
volunteers, are escorted to a tasting table. (By the way, I am the only woman at the tasting session. ) In front of us are 3 types of whiskey. American whiskey (Kentucky Bourbon which WAS my favorite), Scottish Whiskey (Johnnie Walker), and of course Jameson Irish Whiskey. After an overview of where each was from, the tastings began. We picked up our first (BIG) shot of American whiskey. (ugh, I forgot I'm not much of a shot drinker.) Anyways, I sipped and let the familiar amber colored liquid burn down my throat as my eyes filled up with tears. Yep, this is what I remember straight whiskey tasting like. I had to take two more sips of my shot glass to get it all down. Everyone else just tossed it back. Boo is just laughing at my misery. I think he's having a good time with this whiskey thing. Then he confirms it when he reveals that he now starting to understand his people. I take it that he likes the whiskey more than the Guinness we've been having. At this point I noticed everyone from our tour group surrounding us and watching, with their free drinks in hand. Now, we are on to the Scotch whiskey. I lifted it up to my nose, sniffed it and immediately notice the difference. It has a strong earthy peat smell, and guess what? It has a strong earthy peat taste. Yuck, I did not enjoy this whiskey. In fact, I gave boo the rest of the my shot b/c I couldn't choke it down. Sorry Scotland. On to the Irish Whiskey. I sipped and it tasted smooth. Wow. I was surprised. I like
d it. ALOT. Our tour guide comes back to take our order for our free drink. I'm thinking... wow, I just had 3 shots of whiskey and now I get a free drink too! SWEET! I don't know if it was the excitement of being in the tasting, or if the whiskey had already gotten to me, but when the guide asked for my order, I blurted, out of habit, "Bourbon and Ginger Ale please". I hear lots of "ooohhhs" and chuckles through out the table, then I realized my faux pas. "Oh! I am so sorry, I meant to say Jameson and Ginger Ale please!" My face with either flushed from the whiskey or from the embarrassment of looking like such an amateur. Oops... ahhahaa! She comes back with all Jameson whiskey neats for the other volunteers, and my mixer of Jameson and Ginger Ale. I am such a girl. :) It was soooo good though. I think I found a new fav. whiskey. Our guide comes back with certificates for the 6 volunteers. Boo and I are now "Official Whiskey Tasters", we have the paperwork to prove it!
que bend in the road, overlooking some pretty farmland, to have a picnic. After we feasted on crackers and 5 different cheeses ( samples of Irish, French, and Danish cheeses), we pulled up to the distillery just in time to catch 2:30pm tour. There was probably 30 people in our group. "The tour the Jameson Midleton Distillery will take you back in time to the magnificent courtyard area, evoking the atmosphere of harvest time with farmers arriving with horses and carts piled high with sacks of grain ready to sell to the Distillery. You walk along the path to the Distiller’s cottage and see the giant waterwheel which at one stage powered all of the distillery machinery, and today still turns the cogs and wheels in the Mill Building. In the Brew House you will see the largest pot still in the World." (Jameson website) While in the brew house I got to touch the copper pot and boo actually got volunteered to ring the bell that workers once used to signal that they needed more coal brought 
up to keep the pot heated. He had the biggest grin on his face as he tugged that rope and made that bell ring. haha! The barrel room left me in awe. Just stacks and stacks of barrels as high as I could see, filled with aging whiskey, waiting to be tasted. At the end of the tour everyone was given a ticket for a free drink at the Jameson bar. Well, when our tour was complete the guide asked for 6 volunteers for a whiskey tasting session in the Bar. I don't know what it was, but my hand shot straight up to volunteer. Yeah, I know what it was..... my favorite Liquor drink ever is Bourbon and Ginger Ale. Hell yeah I wanted to taste some whiskey! Boo's hand shot up too, and low and behold, we get picked! Whoo hoo!! The whole group walks into the Jameson Bar and we, along with the other 4 
volunteers, are escorted to a tasting table. (By the way, I am the only woman at the tasting session. ) In front of us are 3 types of whiskey. American whiskey (Kentucky Bourbon which WAS my favorite), Scottish Whiskey (Johnnie Walker), and of course Jameson Irish Whiskey. After an overview of where each was from, the tastings began. We picked up our first (BIG) shot of American whiskey. (ugh, I forgot I'm not much of a shot drinker.) Anyways, I sipped and let the familiar amber colored liquid burn down my throat as my eyes filled up with tears. Yep, this is what I remember straight whiskey tasting like. I had to take two more sips of my shot glass to get it all down. Everyone else just tossed it back. Boo is just laughing at my misery. I think he's having a good time with this whiskey thing. Then he confirms it when he reveals that he now starting to understand his people. I take it that he likes the whiskey more than the Guinness we've been having. At this point I noticed everyone from our tour group surrounding us and watching, with their free drinks in hand. Now, we are on to the Scotch whiskey. I lifted it up to my nose, sniffed it and immediately notice the difference. It has a strong earthy peat smell, and guess what? It has a strong earthy peat taste. Yuck, I did not enjoy this whiskey. In fact, I gave boo the rest of the my shot b/c I couldn't choke it down. Sorry Scotland. On to the Irish Whiskey. I sipped and it tasted smooth. Wow. I was surprised. I like
d it. ALOT. Our tour guide comes back to take our order for our free drink. I'm thinking... wow, I just had 3 shots of whiskey and now I get a free drink too! SWEET! I don't know if it was the excitement of being in the tasting, or if the whiskey had already gotten to me, but when the guide asked for my order, I blurted, out of habit, "Bourbon and Ginger Ale please". I hear lots of "ooohhhs" and chuckles through out the table, then I realized my faux pas. "Oh! I am so sorry, I meant to say Jameson and Ginger Ale please!" My face with either flushed from the whiskey or from the embarrassment of looking like such an amateur. Oops... ahhahaa! She comes back with all Jameson whiskey neats for the other volunteers, and my mixer of Jameson and Ginger Ale. I am such a girl. :) It was soooo good though. I think I found a new fav. whiskey. Our guide comes back with certificates for the 6 volunteers. Boo and I are now "Official Whiskey Tasters", we have the paperwork to prove it! We stumble, (kidding!) out the distillery and head out Kinsale (http://www.kinsale.ie/), where we are spending the night. It's a quick 2
0 minute drive, we just decided to take the scenic route and get lost for an additional 20 minutes. haha! We finally arrive in Kinsale and its a gorgeous little medieval fishing village town that is also known as the gourmet capital of Ireland. We navigate the narrow winding streets up to our bed and breakfast and finally arrive at The Woodlands. It's a bit far from the harbor, but our room made up for it. Our room was huge and had a commanding view of the harbor and town of Kinsale down below. We quickly showered/changed and got back in the car to park close to downtown and explore. By the time we got there, most things were already closed or closing, so we just walked around the harbor, and then tried to find a place to have dinner. Most places we saw were really upscale and here we were in jeans and wool sweaters. So we decided to just go to a pub and grab dinner and a few pints. That is how we discovered the "Muddy Maher." We walked in, took a table at the back of the bar and glanced over the menu. The bartender came over to take our drink order and I asked him to recommend something that people from the area like. I decided to try the Irish beer called Harp, and Boo tried a Danish beer called Carlsberg (the bartenders favorite beer.) We found some new favorite beers. After dinner (Boo orders the "Legendary Doorstop sandwich" and it was huge! I could probably stop 
a door), we decided to go sit at the lively bar and see if we could mingle with the locals. We inched up to the bar, ordered more pints and took a seat. We met a funny Irishman in a purple sweater drinking wine! His name was David, and he lives in Kinsale part time and in Spain part time (explains the wine drinking.) He was so warm and welcoming. He talked to us most of the night and introduced the other characters around the bar. What an eclectic group. We had so much fun and we even had some "craicing" going on. (Irish joking around.) One guy was wearing an Ernesto Guevara "Che" shirt, and from where I was sitting it looked like a Bob Marley shirt, so I asked him if he liked Bob Marley and Reggae music. He had no Idea what I was talking about, and after that, everyone started calling him Bob Marley. hahah! Even the bartender got in on it. Muddy Maher was probably one of my favorite pubs from our trip and it was all because of the local people and how welcoming, and open they were to us. Good times.
0 minute drive, we just decided to take the scenic route and get lost for an additional 20 minutes. haha! We finally arrive in Kinsale and its a gorgeous little medieval fishing village town that is also known as the gourmet capital of Ireland. We navigate the narrow winding streets up to our bed and breakfast and finally arrive at The Woodlands. It's a bit far from the harbor, but our room made up for it. Our room was huge and had a commanding view of the harbor and town of Kinsale down below. We quickly showered/changed and got back in the car to park close to downtown and explore. By the time we got there, most things were already closed or closing, so we just walked around the harbor, and then tried to find a place to have dinner. Most places we saw were really upscale and here we were in jeans and wool sweaters. So we decided to just go to a pub and grab dinner and a few pints. That is how we discovered the "Muddy Maher." We walked in, took a table at the back of the bar and glanced over the menu. The bartender came over to take our drink order and I asked him to recommend something that people from the area like. I decided to try the Irish beer called Harp, and Boo tried a Danish beer called Carlsberg (the bartenders favorite beer.) We found some new favorite beers. After dinner (Boo orders the "Legendary Doorstop sandwich" and it was huge! I could probably stop 
a door), we decided to go sit at the lively bar and see if we could mingle with the locals. We inched up to the bar, ordered more pints and took a seat. We met a funny Irishman in a purple sweater drinking wine! His name was David, and he lives in Kinsale part time and in Spain part time (explains the wine drinking.) He was so warm and welcoming. He talked to us most of the night and introduced the other characters around the bar. What an eclectic group. We had so much fun and we even had some "craicing" going on. (Irish joking around.) One guy was wearing an Ernesto Guevara "Che" shirt, and from where I was sitting it looked like a Bob Marley shirt, so I asked him if he liked Bob Marley and Reggae music. He had no Idea what I was talking about, and after that, everyone started calling him Bob Marley. hahah! Even the bartender got in on it. Muddy Maher was probably one of my favorite pubs from our trip and it was all because of the local people and how welcoming, and open they were to us. Good times. 
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment