A country girl at heart

I now know why Ireland is associated with the color green. Dublin is expensive as heck! After the Euro to Dollar conversion we were paying about $8 a pint. What I can't figure is if they're really brewing tens of thousands of pints of Guinness just down the road why aren't they giving it away? We did get one for free (OK - kind of free - we had to pay admission) at the brewery tour. Come to find out, the majority of the cost comes from beer taxes. What an awful thing to do. We had an interesting conversation about US politics and our homeland security with several people - one of whom may have been on something a little stronger than beer. It's always interesting to get another perspective on your nation. Apparently, we care too much about our safety. With Obama here for the G-20 and the NATO summit we've heard much about The Beast and the number of Secret Service he's traveling with. For most Brits and Irish, it seems a bit ridiculous. But, when asked, most people spontaneously end their comments about our president by saying they'll be surprised if he survives his term. We spent an evening listening to traditional Irish music in a bar the locals seem to consider a hot spot. It's pretty amazing - people just bring their instruments to the pub an know they'll be able to join a pick up jam in the corner. And the locals know the words to most of the songs. The sing-alongs get louder the more pints are consumed. We even saw some spontaneous Irish dancing at one bar. It was much different than a night at the Loft. I wish I had more to say about Dublin but the concensus between the four of us was that it didn't really live up to our expectations. It was a big, dirty, expensive city. I guess with my expectations of what Ireland would be I would have much rather traveled the countryside and sipped pints over conversation in a local pub. Being a County Cavan decendant I guess I'm just a country girl at heart.