Day 2 - Midleton

I left the River Lee Hotel after enjoying breakfast with Matt and walked up to the bus station. On the way there, I popped into the store, Azure, and paid a visit to the artist who designed my hairpiece for the wedding. Upon entering, Jessica looked at me and said, “I know you, the Italy wedding! Did you bring photos?!?!” After sharing some photos, I thanked her again for making something uniquely Irish for my special day. It was hard to leave the shop without buying more sparkely goodness.

I caught the 11:15 bus to Midleton. While in route, I asked the driver if he could flag me when we arrived at the stop for the Jameson’s Distillery. The girl seated across from me piped up, “Are you from America?....Which part…It’s on my bucket list to go there someday!!!...Are the lawns in people’s yards as perfectly manicured as shown on the TV show Desperate Housewives?...Are all the houses that nice in America?”

 

I sat there for a moment pondering her rapid-fire list of questions. I wasn’t sure if I should burst her bubble, but I did think she should not stay rooted in the belief that all neighbors in America do not look like Wisteria Lane.  I shared with her a small dose of reality before I hopped off at the next stop.

The Jameson’s Whiskey Distillery was great. While waiting for my tour to begin, I enjoyed some 12 year old black label whiskey that is not exported. It perfectly reflected the Gaelic origin of the word “whiskey,” which means “Water of Life.” Yes, I could live on this special reserve.

The tour was 90 minutes long and was very comprehensive. John Jameson, a Scottish businessman began distilling whisky in Dublin in 1780.  In 1823 they began distilling in Midleton. Today, this distillery produces all the whiskey for the brands Jameson, Powers, Midleton and Paddy.

 At the end of the tour, we had a tasting of 3 whiskeys to compare.

1.     Scottish Whiskey with 2 distillings

2.     Jameson’s 6 year aged with 3 distillings

3.     American Jack Daniels whiskey with 1 distilling

The Scottish whiskey was way too heavy on the Peat/Smoke flavor. The Jameson’s I’ve had many times before and it was a solid standout. But having Jack Daniel’s in the lineup was embarrassing.  I’ve always thought JD tasted like crap and I still do.

The tour ended with more complimentary whiskey and a certificate of authentication....I'm now a qualified Irish Whiskey drinker. I think this is resume worthy. A couple from Holland asked me to take their photo and then invited me to join them while we all drank our “water of life.” The first thing they asked me was, “What does this word ‘yield’ mean? We see it all over on the roads, but don’t know what to do?” I explained what to do and we enjoyed our visit. Apparently, I have seen much more of The Netherlands than this couple who was born there. They said driving 1 hour to Keukenhof to see the Tulips in bloom was too far of a drive and that it required an overnight stay.

 Upon my return to Cork, I met up with Matt and we walked to a pub called, “Down South.” His Apple co-workers were having a little shin-dig. I greatly enjoyed my free drink card as well as meeting some of his co-workers.

In addition to my carefree day of whiskey tasting, this is a huge day for the country of Ireland. Today The Irish public has taken to the polls in a referendum poised to make the country the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.

Polls leading up to today's vote showed support for same sex marriage at two-to-one. It’s been 17 years since I lived here and I can’t believe I’ve seen this day come There are 5 million people in Ireland, almost 85 percent of whom identify themselves as Roman Catholic. Today, all ferries and flights into the country were booked solid with people returning to Ireland to cast their vote. Just in the last few weeks, there have been tens of thousands of new voter registration solely because of this. We find out tomorrow if it passes.  What’s even crazier is if same-sex marriage is approved by Irish voters, it will come little more than two decades after Ireland became the last country in Western Europe to de-criminalize homosexuality. Go Ireland!!!

And one last note, the other referendum the public is voting on today is in regards to dropping the minimum eligibility age of Presidency from 35 to 25. No one can explain why a 25 year old should be considered a qualified candidate for President