Ireland: Whiskey, for breakfast.

Day 10: After another mostly sleepless night we depart early. We find ourselves just outside of town on the 10:15am tour of Tullamore DEW Whiskey factory. Our 50 minute tour was quite informative and really explored the science behind whiskey and the history behind Tullamore and it's prolific maker Daniel Edward Williams. With certainty we understand the differences between malted, blended, scotch and bourbon. The tour ended with a tasting. We were each given 3 samples: Tullamore DEW, Tullamore factory blend, and 12 year aged Tullamore. They did not sample single malt whiskey, that was available for purchase in gift shop. Mom was the only one who finished her samples, Allison and I did not enjoy ours.

Up next on our list of tour for the day was the bog tour. Clara is the town adjacent to Tullamore and home to the 7,000 year old Clara Bog, which is now protected lands. The visitors center was closed, but there was a self guided tour in a raised track across the bog. We learned a lot about the ecosystem but still have questions about peat, harvested dried portions of the bog used widely as a heat source.

Next on the agenda was a quick lunch and followed by a tour of Belvedere House. It was not our favorite tour but offered us another look into 18th and 19th cent life. It was now mid afternoon and time.to head towards our final stop on our tour, Dublin. Mom booked a wonderful one bedroom apartment attached to the most lovely cottage B&B. The owner Brenden greeted us warmly and then spent the next hour chatting with us about our plans and suggesting a few stellar ideas he felt we would like based on what we have already enjoyed. He then gave us a quick tour of the neighbor on a map, marking all of the important places. He made several dinner recommendations which included "letseatin.ie" a delivery company offering regional cuisine. After exploring their online system we placed a order for Indian food (still wanting to enjoy more ethnic fare but wary of Chinese). Dinner arrived within the hour, piping hot. While it was not the most delicious or authentic food, on a rainy night it was 100x better than dominino's.

Tomorrow we plan to take the LUAS public transport into Dublin. It should be thrilling.