Day 9: Last Day in Dublin

 May 14, 2025

Made it to the last full day of our trip! For the most part, people either don’t wanna leave and some are more than ready to be home already.

Started off the morning meeting our new tour guide and bus driver. Her name is Kathy and she’s a tiny 5’2 lady which made it difficult to spot her in the crowds LOL. Our bus driver was Brian and boy did he drive us a fancy bus! Only thing missing was wifi and even then I didn’t mind. Since we were actually staying in the same hotel as the place we were exploring, everything was about a 10 minute drive depending on traffic.

We had our usual Irish breakfast options but this time the pastries were the highlight of the shower! They had locally made vanilla glazed sprinkle donuts, giant donut holes with custard or raspberry jam filling, and these creamy custard tarts that was reminiscent of crème brûlée. But the best part for me? THEY HAD ✨ICE✨!! I’ve never been so excited to see a bucket of ice until now. I took one of the Dunkin instant iced coffee packets from my carry on and made myself my first iced coffee in DAYS. It was alright but I was just so happy to have an iced coffee again.

After breakfast we had mass at the Church of St. John the Baptist where many years ago, our current pope (Pope Leo 14th) celebrated mass there when he was still a priest. Felt like the proper way to end this trip!

Once mass was over we made our way to Trinity College where they keep The Book of Kells. Did I fully understand what was going on? Not really. But I read some nice plaques and took nice pictures so that was a plus! The campus itself at Trinity College was beautiful itself. It honestly didn’t even feel like an actual college campus. I overheard a couple of students talking about how part of the campus is closed down for filming and trying to guess what film is being filmed. The girl was absolutely convinced the movie they were shooting was Enola Holmes 3. Guess we’ll have to wait and see if she’s right!

Trinity College to see the Book of Kells was pretty much the only stop we had today on our itinerary. People were asking Kathy about things to do in the afternoon when we have our free time. Some wanted to go to a Filipino bakery (they already made it 9 days without rice, why not one more?!) and some wanted to go to the “Little Italy” part of Dublin, and one wanted Vietnamese. Basically, everyone wanted to go taste their respective cultural cuisine today LOL. Kathy handled it very well and was able to accomodate everybody with the necessary information, as well as found a prime location to drop us off at. 

In the meantime, she gave us one last drive around the area to highlight certain spots in Dublin. There was a model ship in the ocean that was made to replicate the only ship that was going in and out of Ireland during the Famine, the place where you can trace back your family ancestery in Ireland, and the eventual stadium that will be used for football games when the NFL come to Dublin later this year or next year. I think they said the Steelers and Vikings are playing there? I dunno but the stadium was still impressive to look at lol.

Before Kathy had Brian drop us off for our independent activities, she had us sing a classic Irish song: Molly Malloy. I know I’ve never heard of it, but she expected everyone to sing along. Because if you didn’t sing along you weren’t getting off the bus (her words, not mine) LOL. You best believe we faked that song as best we could! Give it a listen on YouTube in your spare time. Its uh kinda interesting.

We got off the bus and of course I ended up going with the group to the Filipino bakery. I kinda got lost from the group because I spotted a Starbucks and still haven’t gotten my Ireland mug from Starbucks yet! So I went in, got the mug, and then continued walking across the bridge to find the Filipino Bakery. I had no idea what the name of it was, just that I was looking for a Filiipino bakery. Eventually, the smell of familiarity wafted the air and I knew we were getting close. And, much to my disbelief, I was right! I found the Filipino bakery AND restauarnt LOL. It was small, cramped, hot, loud, and man it really did feel like home. They had the usual dishes: adobo, bbq pork on a stick, sinigang, kare kare, etc. I stuck with the bbq and some sinigang and it was very….mid. Nothing compaared to what my mom makes or what I can get from a local Filipino restaurant back home. But hey it was still food. The folks that worked there were nice enough to give us free dessert: turon (plantains wrapped in an egg roll wrapper and coated in caramel) and some jelly in a flourescent green liquid (which you already know I didn’t touch). The turon was skinny af and they were pretty dry as well. Overall, nothing to write home about here.

After lunch we made the walk back to our hotel. Kathy said that the hotel is only a mile away from our exact location. Well. She lied. It was more like 1.5 miles away. Maybe the measurement conversion screwed us all over LOL. I wouldn’t have minded the walk if it wasn’t so warm outside. But I really didn’t mind it.

At the hotel I got a little bit of rest and then I felt ready to go out and do something more. For the majority of the trip I was hoping to go to the Guinness Factory for a tour. It was literally located across from our hotel so I had to make the most of our last few hours in Ireland. I got 2 tickets for my dad and I to go, and it was close to the last few tours they had available for the rest of the day. I got the tickets, saved them to my Apple wallet, and we made our walk to the factory. I wasn’t to confident on how to get there, even with the directions I had on my phone. We may have gotten lost a couple of times but after a lot of guessing and approximation, we finally made it! 

Before we could even get into the building they scanned our tickets and we made our way in to stand in line. We were greeted by an employee (who loved my Guinness shirt and said I wore it to the right place) and he gave us our vouchers for the free pint of Guinness we’d get at the end of the tour. Definitely had to keep that in a safe spot in my pocket! Before we knew it we were able to continue to walk into the main part of the building to the first floor where they had such a huge gift shop! I was already tempted to shop but had to refrain myself to the very end. 

The whole experience is a self guided tour, but our grop had to meet up with an employee before we started the tour. They showed us the original patent on the floor that was signed by Arthur Guinness himself back in the 1700s when he first created Guinness. The guide also explained to us how there are 7 stories to the building and that the whole building was made in the shape of a giant pint glass (I love details like that). After she did more talking (I wish I could understand the Irish accent a little better) and then she left us start our tour!

We get into the first floor and we’re greeted by flourescent lights, stunning graphics, and a giant field of wheat. Basically that Guinness is made of 4 main ingredients: water, barley, wheat, and yeast. Which I thought was crazy since whenever I drink a dark beer, I taste notes of chocolate and coffee (and NEITHER of them are in the ingredients!). 

Once we got through the first foor, we made our way to the 2nd and 3rd floors which basically taught us how they roast their barley and how they’re the only brewery in the world to roast their barley on site for their beer. They also keep their beer stored in a barrell and keep it in there until its ready. They probably gave an actual number but did I look? Nah lol.

The 4th level is where they had the tasting room! After a short wait in line we walked through a dark hallway lined with more flourescent lights and ended up in a stark white room. You know that scene in Willy Wonka when he took the families into that white room so they can reach out and get a Wonka bar out of the TV? Yeah. That was exactly how this felt LOL. There were giant vats of liquid nitrogen and the aroma of chocolate in the air for some reason. From there we saw 2 employees pour Guinness into cute tiny glasses for each of us, which we then had to carry over into the tasting room WITHOUT drinking any of it. The next room we went into was like a fancy Gatsby-like party room. There were little stands to put our little glasses on so we rested our glasses on the stand and waited for further instruction from the guide. Putting it down also helped prevent me from taking a tempting sip LOL. The guide had told us the proper way to drink a Guinness. All you have to do is inhale the aroma, sip a mouthful of Guinness, swish it around your mouth a few times, and then swallow it. By doing it that way, it releases the natural notes of the Guinness and takes away the liquid nitrogen aspect of the beer. Basically the same way you’d be sipping wine if you were doing a wine sampling. But I will say…this guy was really onto something LOL. After the tasting I could really get a good lingering taste of the Guinness not only in my mouth but it was STRONG in my nose. So weird but I loved it.

By level 5 they showed us all the Guinness ads they’ve made over the years and all the animals they’d highlight to promote Guinness. From seals to kangaroos to a toucan (which is currently what they’re using), and even a fish on a bike?! So odd but very fun and colorful to look at.

Level 6 is where they kept all the restaurants (which were all closed) but we weren’t planning on eating there since we had dinner waiting at the hotel later that night. They also had one store where you could get a picture of yourself printed onto the foam of your glass of Guinness. So cool but not worth paying the extra $$ to go do.

At this point I was just ready to get my dang beer already. I climbed up the many stair cases to get to the Gravity Bar which has the most STUNNING 360 degree view of Dublin. Basically like seeing a birds eye view of the whole city. For a Wednesday afternoon, it was surprisingly PACKED in there. We made it to the bar, handed them our vouchers, and our beers were getting poured. All the Guinness is on tap of course and the bartender let us in on their technique. He pours the Guinness halfway and then sets it aside to settle into the dark color. After its set, he pushes the handle AWAY from him which releases the liquid nitrogen into the glass. This then gives the Guinness its signature foamy top. I will say, I’ve had a couple pints of Guinness during my time in Ireland and man it is so much better having it on tap there. Sipping my pint and looking out at the beauty and unique cityscape of Dublin really was the best way to end this trip.

Once my dad and I were nearly done with our glasses, he had the brilliant idea of taking our glasses home. Like, I mean I paid for these tickets to get these beers! We should definitely be bringing home a souvenir from that LOL. So I “had to use the bathroom” where I rinsed out my glass, rolled it into my sweater, and carefully placed it in my backpack. My dad however just chugged the rest of his beer and then placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket LOL. We were not about to take the stairs down to the first floor, so we made our way to the nearest elevator instead. 

At this point I wasn’t really planning on going to the gift shop. But when my dad offered it to me and I saw we still had some time before we had to be at the hotel for dinner, I figured why not?! Had to look around first to see what all they had before selecting anything. They had a whole display of Waterford crystal (which I toured on day 2) where they had crystal glasses and a replica of the iconic Guinness harp made out of Waterford crystal. SO beautiful! But in the end my dad and I got a few cans of Guinness to take home. They had tall cans and bottles so we asked an employee which was better. Apprently, the canned Guinness is going to be the most authentic version to what we’ve had on this trip. In the can they’re able to capture the liquid nitrogen and when you pour it out you get that same foamy head. You wouldn’t be able to get that same result with the bottle. Oh. And the price for the tall can of Guinness? 2 WHOLE EUROS! THAT’S IT! Such a steal! Ended up leaving with 3 of those and a bag of Guinness flavored potato chips for the road (yeah I got curious LOL). After buying our gift shop swag and taking a few more pictures, we made the hike back to our hotel. Which was a much shorter hike than it was to get to the Guinness Factory since we were going downhill.

Made it back to the hotel maybe 6 minutes before dinner started. Gave me just enough time to run up to my room, carefully set my backpack down (I wasn’t gonna bring my glass to dinner) and head down to dinner. My roomie saved me a seat next to her and I shared with the group the experience I had with my dad at the factory. And although I didn’t sit with my dad, I know he was doing the same talk on his side of the table to his group.

Our last supper together consisted of a very basic but delicious menu. For my appetizer I had a caesar salad which had crispy prosciutto, shreds of parm, and GIANT croutons which tasted a little stale so I passed on those. For my entree I picked a creamy gnocchi (can’t stay away from potatoes still) which was DELISH I wish it came with bread so I could sop up the creamy sauce. I usually don’t finish pasta dishes but I finished the whole thing. It was soft and tender and I enjoyed every bite even though there wasn’t a single vegetable or protein in sight LOL. Dessert looked underwhelming but the taste was incredible! We had a slice of bread pudding with a creamy vanilla sauce and caramel pearls. Definitely not like any bread pudding you can get in the states, but I enjoyed every bite of it.

Dinner came to a bittersweet end as we all made our way back up to our rooms so we could finish packing before we leave for the airport in the morning. I had to figure out how to fit in 3 tall cans of Guinness, a wool sweater, and a pint glass into my suitcase. Definitely spent a few hours of packing and unpacking until I finally decided what’s done is done and I’ll worry about it tomorrow.

Good night, Dublin!

Check out pictures from today’s adventures and the Guinness Factory Tour here: Day 9 Photos