1. Got a full Irish and a snow cake for lunch at Catherine's Cafe. I had noted this place a few days earlier because of the cake-- the icing reminded me of a particular treat I used to get from KR Bakes in Kochi and I wanted to know if the icing tasted the same here-- it did, but KR Bakes did it better. It seemed like a casual kinda joint with plenty of regulars. The owner-lady and customers chatted familiarly. When I got there and asked for a table, she pointed to a spot and asked me to grab the menus on the way to our seats (can't say I cared for that). The cook and the server were Indian (the cooks often are, at a lot of places; even the scotch egg at Winding Stairs was prepared by someone who was evidently South Asian). When I went to pay the bill, the server asked me where I was from (she is from Andhra Pradesh and is doing her degree in Information Systems) and we chatted a bit -- is it my first time in Dublin? What visa did I need to come in? Am I done with my studies? She was very straight-faced through out the exchange, and it felt more like an interrogation than a conversation.
2. Decided to kill time till our next appointment by walking through St. Stephen's Green again. Also checked out Iveagh gardens a few minutes away.
3. Did the Guinness factory tour. I was not particularly interested to be honest, and felt that they were stretching it a bit with 5 floors of exhibits to describe a pretty simple process (Mike called it hokey). But I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if, like some of my students, I had harbored a secret desire to start my own brewery someday. There were a lot of men who seemed to take the tour quite seriously, listening intently to the audio guides and taking their time with the exhibits on each floor. Mike was tired and getting faint, so we stopped by their cafe and got him something to eat and recover. We eventually got to the tasting room, which was fun. A woman who reminded us both of Angela Lansbury told us about the taste, scent and color of Guinness. We moved along to the next room where a guide instructed us on how to savor the flavor of the samples we were given --smell it, take a mouthful and swish it around your mouth for 2-3 seconds, gulp it and exhale through the nose; first, you should feel sweetness at the tip of your tongue, then a coffee, chocolatey flavor on the tongue's surface in the middle, and finally, a bitter taste on the sides. I didn't really get the sweetness, but got the other two. Mike said it just tastes like alcohol. Finally, we got to the rooftop bar-- it had glass walls that gave a panoramic view of the city. We got our free drinks, stood around at a table with no seats for a bit (it was crowded), but got lucky and found seats a few minutes later and spent some lovely time there.
4. Went to a pub, Madigan's, for dinner. We took a cozy, dim lit corner, had a kindly waitress, some great food and Irish whiskey (I asked for Redbreast because I have never had it before, but I have no palette and all I could tell was that it went down smoothly).
5. Tried out Bramley Apple Victoria sponge from M&S-- bleh.
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