St Patrick + 1

So I missed the obligatory St Patrick's Day post because I was out revisiting Peru and Ecuador at a World Journeys evening. I did say to a teacher at school at morning tea, "And did you congratulate the girls for all remembering to wear green today?" but he just frowned and said, "Do you mean their uniforms?" so that was wasted effort.

When we went to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin as part of a hop on, hop off bus tour, I laughed when the driver barked "Please stay seated!" as we drew up. Once inside, though, where throngs of young male pilgrims pretended to take an interest in the barley and the hops, the ostrich advertisement and display of bottles, all the time pushing forward eagerly to the last level where the bar awaited with splendid views of the city and river, but most of all their free pint of velvet, I understood. Apparently, if you're not too fussy, you can do well here, as many tourists don't care for the taste and push their glasses away after only a sip or two: so aficionados can down pint after pint - pulled with good humour and skill by the barladies, who swirl in a shamrock on top, two at a time.

I couldn't decide if it was the Guinness or simply being Irish that led one young woman to direct us thus: "You need to go up another couple of levels. This is the fifth, and you want the eighth."