What trip to Ireland is complete without Riverdance at the Gaiety Theater in Dublin where it debuted in the 80s (maybe 1984)? Reading the Irish Independant while at Dromoland there was an article on the show's opening the night before, the beginning of a run through the summer season. We were shocked and excited to get 6th row tickets.
The intimacy of the Gaiety Theater made for a better experience than the humongous halls they were playing in on their US tour when we saw the show. The cast was very differnt, a new generation of performers for sure, but everybit as impressive. The show succeeded washing away the ho-hum taste of Thriller which we saw in London.
The area surrounding the Theater changed our impression of Dublin as well. It is a much more vibrant (and cleaner) part of town than where we stayed our first night in Ireland.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of Dublin is Laura drinking Guiness. Never a beer drinker, Laura thought the Guinness Draught poured at the Brewery was "not bad." Good enough that she had another half pint while at Dromoland Castle and before the show. Now she has a second drink to go along with Margaritas. Brewed in Ireland, St. James's Gate, does taste better, just to confirm the myth.
A few facts stood out at the Guinness tour:
- In 1749, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the 4 acre property in Dublin where the St. James's Gate Brewery resides. Lease rate, £45 (less than US$ 70)!
- "Slainte" is the Irish toast, the equivalent of "Cheers"
- Guinness purchases 2/3 of the brewing Barley grown in Ireland every year, approximately 100,000 tons. So much for potatoes being the national crop and key to the Irish economy.
- Barley, one of the four ingrediants that goes into Guinness, in three forms: malted, unmalted, and roasted. The deep red (some say black) color comes from the roasted barley.
- The yeast used in Guinness is alledged to be a strain that dates back to Arthur Guinness himself. Since the 1800s some of the yeast from each brew is transferred to the next to ensure consistency.
- The original yeast strain is kept locked in the Director's safe at St. James's Gate. If something happened the yeast could be regrown from that stock in a matter of hours.
- Doctor's used to prescribe Guinness for certain ailments including stimulating nursing mothers with milk production, giving rise to one of the early ad campaigns "Guinness Is Good For You"
- It is said Arthur Guinness didn't invent Stout, but he did perfect it.
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