Dublin, Ireland: Powerscourt Gardens: Guiness Brewery

National Geographic voted the Powerscourt Gardens 3rd best in the world right behind Château deVersailles, in France and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in England.  The gardens and grand Palladian villa at Powerscourt, just south of Dublin, were designed in the 18th century and accentuate 1947 acres of formal walled gardens and shaded ponds. The grounds, waterfalls, parks, garden pavilions, and fine tree-lined arbors were suggested by the Italian Renaissance and the great estates and gardens of France and Germany. Cascading terraces and formal landscapes are planned with carefully designed walks that are framed by the gentle beauty of the Wicklow Mountains.  The FLTT stopped there this morning.  The gardens are deserving of the National Geographic's praise.  Sandy and I wandered through the formal gardens of the estate and neither of us expected to see something like this in Ireland.

You drink Guinness because it's good for you.  That's what they say.  Today we went to the birthplace of Guinness and Irish production center.  The Storehouse, on the Guinness Dublin campus, is now the Visitor Center, sort of a beer museum, where one can learn much about the brewing of their "black" stout.  Of course, none of us are there for the learning but rather the drinking.  We all reached the 7th floor Gravity Bar quickly and enjoyed a cold glass their beer.  Why?  Because it is good for us.