Ireland!!

How remiss I have been. A whole trip to another continent and I haven't posted a darn thing.

The trip was great! The flights and hotel went off without a hitch. Every day was sunny and 45 degrees. Indeed the locals were friendly, and my handy iphone with gps prevented me from ever getting lost. It also kept me appraised of where to eat, how to find live music, and what times everything opened and closed.

One of my favorite things that I did was my visit to the Guinness Storehouse. Everyone recommends it, and it isn't like I don't love the beer anyway.

For some reason I figured it would take me about an hour at most to view, but not so much. I was there for two and a half hours. It is a seven story building that not only describes the brewing process, but also details the history of the company, the evolution of brewing, the changes in manufacturing and transport, the path of advertising, and the historical significance of the entire Guinness history.

Whew.

Then of course at the very top there is a bar with 360 degrees of glass walls to drink your free beer and look out over Dublin. And of course let all of that new knowledge sink in. Right now I'm still kind of a walking fact machine, it is scary.

The funniest thing occurred after my tour and brew when I went back to the ground floor to the gift shop to purchase some souvenirs. After picking out some gifts and sundries I headed to the cash register.

Where the clerk greeted me in French.

I stood there, stumped. Recognizing the language I was torn. Do I respond in kind? Explain that I'm not French? Ask why he spoke to me in that language?

Seriously, I just sat with my mouth open. Unsure of what to say next.

Eventually seeing my confused face the clerk then realized his error and inquired "Sorry, you're not French? Where are you from?"

At which point I replied "Oh, I'm from the US"

And he then said, "Ah, from a southern state with more exposure?"

Now I'm just laughing. "Errrrr...no. Quite the opposite. New York City"

So we both had a good chuckle. Apparently to the Irish I look French and tan. Me. Tan. Yeah. Seriously I was cracking up for the next half an hour. Awesome.

More adventures to come...