In 1887, heir to the Jameson whiskey fortune, James Sligo Jameson (creative name) joined an expedition in Africa to save Emin Pasha (the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition). You’re not going to learn about THIS Jameson family member on the Jameson Distillery tour. But, it’s a fascinating tale so I want to share it with you.
Warning: This isn’t for the faint of heart so continue at your own risk…
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I’m gonna be honest. Whiskey is not my favorite alcohol. It’s not even in the top ten for me. So, why did we go to the Jameson Distillery? Because I’ve been to Dublin over a dozen times, and I’d never been. And it was my birthday. And my friend really loves whiskey and it was her birthday, too. So, we went to the Jameson Distillery.
I’m so glad we finally went to the Jameson Distillery!
As you can see in my map above and linked here, the place is walking distance from a couple of tourist attractions. I’d recommend going to The Brazen Head first for a pint of Guinness and then walking over. Note: The Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Ireland, since 1198. Making it . . .OLD AF. Try to comprehend how old that is. Think about it. I’ll give you a minute.
…And we’re back! If you don’t want to get a beer in the oldest pub in Ireland, then so be it. You can grab an Uber or MyTaxi to the distillery, which is on Bow Street in Dublin. You probably will think you’re in the wrong place. It’s super industrial (because it’s a distillery, duh) and looks a bit unsafe. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Whiskey awaits.
Continue readingAir travel has its fair share of headaches that come along with the convenience of getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. One of these headaches is the unplanned layover.
Hopefully you don’t have a flight booked with Wow Air…since they’re now out of business :-/
What I’m talking about is when a connecting flight city or airport suddenly becomes a destination for 12 hours or more because your next flight is delayed or cancelled. This can be a huge inconvenience. It can ruin your trip, or at least your day. You might even get home much later than planned. But, what if you had a backup plan to make the most out of your detour? Read on for some tips on how to survive an unplanned layover and even enjoy your detour as part of the journey! Continue reading
Lots of cities have tour companies offering to take visitors around to visit craft breweries or wineries. However, you don’t need to pay for an expensive tour if you know where to go. There are a bunch of Queens craft breweries you can visit without a costly tour. All you need is some cash or a credit card for drinks and a love for beer. Ready to taste and toast? Let’s go on my DIY Queens craft brewery tour!
A flight of beer at Fifth Hammer Brewing
First things first: Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island are ALL part of New York City. They are 4 of the 5 boroughs (Manhattan is the 5th). New York City is not just Manhattan. Capisce? Any visitor to NYC can take advantage of visiting a Queens craft brewery during their visit. Allons-y!
Plan to do this tour on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Why? Because not all are open every day. I’ve noted below when each Queens craft brewery is closed, for your planning purposes.
Some of these craft breweries are walkable distances from others, and some require covering a bit more ground between them. One of the easiest ways to cover short distances in New York City is by Citi Bike. Citi Bike is the local bike share program in NYC (similar to the Boris Bikes in London, etc.). You can buy a day pass or a three-day pass if you are not a local, and enjoy unlimited Citi Bike rides during your trip.
Otherwise, you’ll need about $10 on your MetroCard or an Uber/Lyft/other account to get from stop to stop. Got it? Good.
*Note – As of mid-2019, Transmitter has relocated to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. So, you can’t visit by going on foot from Long Island City, but I wanted to include this info still since it’s a great brewery. The updated location information for Transmitter can be found at the end of this post.*
Walking to Transmitter Brewing
Take the 7 train from Manhattan to Vernon-Jackson (the first stop in Queens), then walk to Transmitter Brewing, the first stop on our Queens Craft Brewery tour. Note that you’ll probably think you’ve gone the wrong way. It’s VERY industrial here and can look a bit scary. Alternatively, you can walk on the Pulaski Bridge and take the staircase down where you see the Transmitter sign. The Pulaski Bridge connects Long Island City (Queens) to Greenpoint (Brooklyn) and has dedicated sidewalks and bike lanes, in addition to traffic lanes.
Transmitter Brewing from the outside
Transmitter Brewing is a Queens craft brewery known for its large-format bottles (750ml) and its farmhouse-style brews. Its own website touts it as an urban farmhouse brewery – couldn’t have said it better myself!
The beers are all named according to a system – sort of a binomial nomenclature (nerd alert!). My favorite is H4, a Harvest sour ale made with Italian plums. They sell by the bottle for tasting on-site and to carry out. You can try some of their options that are for tasting on-site only. I suggest grabbing a bottle or two of the ones that stand out to you, and hang out with your tourmates at a picnic table. Continue reading
Valparaiso, Chile is a colorful seaside town with UNESCO World Heritage Site status, where the only thing more impressive than the colors of the buildings and the freshness of the seafood is the steepness of the hills (of which there are over 40!).
Just one of Valparaiso’s colorful staircases
There’s so much to do there, but without further ado, here are my Top 5 Things To Do in Valparaiso, Chile:
Some Valparaiso, Chile street art
Valparaiso has some pretty amazing street art, and there’s no better way to see it all than to take a walking tour of the city with a guide. We did the Valparaiso Highlights Tour with Tours4Tips, which wasn’t a street art-only tour, but we covered a LOT of great murals and learned about the famous street artists that have works throughout the city. The tour meets daily at 3pm at Plaza Sotomayor.
You’ll see some works by famous Chilean street artist Inti Castro (or just “Inti“), as well as some works by other high-profile artists from Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and Santiago like Charquipunk, and Un Kolor Distinto.
One of the many works by Inti
You’ll find this piece when Continue reading
Friends, I apologize. I’m SO far behind on posting and sharing with you guys…it’s sad.
I’ve been making lots of updates to this site, but lots are behind the scenes, like re-uploading photos that aren’t displaying properly when viewed in different browsers (auto-rotation and Firefox are apparently not a “thing”), creating a brand spankin’ new branded Instagram account and drafting a few posts that I am not QUITE happy with yet.
Those are all excuses, but thought you might be wondering what the heck is going on since my last post is MONTHS ago.
Courtesy of Giphy
Anyway, looking forward to sharing some great new content starting this weekend. I have lots of great places to share with you!
Including:
Lisbon & Cascais, Portugal
The Azores, Portugal
Edinburgh, Scotland and the Scottish Highlands
London, Salisbury (Stonehenge) and Bath
Austin, TX
Denver, CO
Valparaiso, Chile
+ more
Thanks for sticking with me and I look forward to sharing more with you soon!
