The perfect pint

Our old ancient ancestors, as we read in the first chapter of Guinness's, were partial to the running stream.

—Lenehan in James Joyce's Ulysses

In a number of subtle ways my second day in Dublin made me more acutely aware that I had at last arrived in Leopold Bloom's city. Sunday is a sleepy day in the largely Catholic city, so, sadly, the James Joyce cultural center was closed along with much of the rest of Dublin, but the Guinness Storehouse, my other desired destination, was open. What a fantastic museum they have put together! The tour provided a very well illustrated look at both the history and production of the porter, filled with little factoids painted in nearly every little nook and cranny a visitor my examine. The tour did lack the intimacy of Leinenkugel's, which made visible the actual apparatuses of production, but countless video and photograph exhibits of Guinenss's century-old processes captured a pride and even a magic that no young brewery can exhibit. James Joyce makes a play between Guinness and Genesis, and the Guinness Storehouse gives that equation a glimmer of truth.

Apparently aware that Joyce dropped nearly a dozen references to Guinness in Ulysses, the brewery seemed to be returning the favor on floor seven, the Gravity Bar. The round bar and observation deck had a half dozen Joyce quotes painted onto the windows, matching up key locations and environs with corresponding references in all four of Joyce's major literary works. I had the delightful experience of sipping the Guinness I had poured myself while gazing through a quote from the Ithaca chapter of Ulysses, which is one of my favorite pieces of writing.

What act did Bloom make on their arrival at their destination?

At the housesteps of the 4th Of the equidifferent uneven numbers, number 7 Eccles street, he inserted his hand mechanically into the back pocket of his trousers to obtain his latchkey.

We left together, and had a lunch of warm pot pies and (in my case) more Guinness, while enjoying the warm air and sunshine. Just as we were leaving, the clouds rolled in, the temperatuer dropped, and the rain came pouring down. I tried to continue exploring, but the intensity of the rain drove me indoors, and I concluded my stay reading Wuthering Heights in a rather nice leather lounger in our hotel.