The Family Pub Crawl

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$1 = 6.3794 SEK

One of the highest points in months. I don't know if this means the US economy is starting to improve or if Europe is starting to feel the impact of mortgage and credit issues in the States. I know the Irish economy is heading towards a recession after enjoying a ten year boon, or "Celtic Tiger" if you will.
So we are back from tropical Dublin. In the name of full disclosure, we have been back for about a week and a half but I also brought a cold back with me so I am just now feeling like talking about it. Thanks for understanding.

I figured we'd start out wit a quick post with a few pictures of our "Extended Family Pub Crawl 2008," and follow that up with a slideshow of other pictures we took from our week in Dublin. Now you will be able to tell from the pictures but it was kind of gray and rainy while we were there. But what we were not expecting was how hot it was. It was in the mid 80's everyday we were there, and combined with the rain and humidity made for a very tropical experience. We had been informed before we left, thanks Ry, that Dublin has an ideal climate for palm trees. And lots of people had them growing in their gardens. So there you go, you learn something new everyday.

These first couple of pictures are from McGowans of Phibsboro. Ragen and I braved the rain one night to find this place and have some dinner. Nice place, huge bar area with different levels and the restaurant area had pictures of America movie stars which I didn't quite understand but hey, whatever brings people in right. The bartender was one Patrick McGowan and was a nice enough guy and gave a brief history of the bar. You can find some more of the history and some pictures on their website (http://www.mcgowans.ie/). Be warned though that it also plays the Cheers theme so don't have the sound up too loud. Also, they use Ocean Spray cranberry juice for mixing and serving.


O'Brien is one of the family names in Ragen's family so we had to post some pictures. O'Brien is a much more common name in Ireland than McGowan so it turned up a little more often. There is this chain of gourmet sandwiche shoppes throughout Dublin so here is a picture of one. We also found an O'Briens liquour store and of course
a pub.


Here is a picture from the front of the pub. Given the amount of rain in Dublin and hat they don't let people smoke inside, every pub has these awenings in the front which make it very difficult to get a good picture of the outside. That being said, this pub was on a busy corner so taking a picture and avoiding traffic was a fun game.



This is a sign that hangs in front of O'Briens and includes the family crest with the three lions. CiS Cultural Fact about Dublin #1: they don't use an apostrophe "S" when they write something in the possessive. Interesting I know.


A picture of some of the fancy stain glass they have at the pub. O'Briens was an interesting place. It had the nice wood, cramped bar space in the front, a slightly more open second bar place with seating for lunch to the side, and a swanky, recently rennovated upstairs dining area/lounge with a fireplace and flatscreen tvs, where we enjoyed part of the Olympic opening ceremonies while dining on a "burrito" and clubsandwich for lunch.

Now Fitzgerald is not officialy part of the family names, at least as far as we know, but we knew that Chaise and Megan would probably appreciate seeing some pictures. Fitzgeralds is right downtown near the river and the main shopping areas of Dublin. It comes complete with a nattily attired, crazy or possibly drunk, old Irish guy arguing with himself out front (you can see him leaning on the sandwich board). This is where we enjoyed some traditional Irish pub fare of fish and chips and shephards pie. It was allright, although the fish had no flavor to it. We also tried a "lumpy bumpy" for dessert. Which was this chocolate and vanilla cheesecake/icecream cake sort of concoction. Which was pretty good. So we proudly declare Lumpy Bumpy as CougsInSwedelands (note no apostrophe) official dessert of Dublin. Lovely.

Here is a mirror advertising Old Fitzgerald bourbon whiskey. From Kentucky, found in Dublin. It really is a small world.