Live the Live ™

I’m not a big beer guy, so my travels to Scotland and Ireland did not include a lot of pub visits. Despite being told by my driver that the pub next to my hotel was an excellent “puller,” (at least I think that’s what he called it), my thing is cocktails.

 

 

Sure, a pub can make a gin and tonic for you, and a gastropub, like Element in Edinburgh,  can add a nice plate of food, but I’m always looking for a special place to sit and sip. 

 

 

 

 

I’ve found that the best cocktail bars are located inside the best hotels. And even though I can’t afford to actually stay at the hotel, I can pop in for a drink. I had one very fancy dinner while in Edinburgh, at Dean Banks at the Pompadour, at the Caledonian Hotel.

An excellent meal, but I started the night at the Caledonian’s Caley Bar.

 

 

 

My first stop when I reached Dublin, Ireland, was to pay tribute to my rock and roll hero, Phil Lynott, the lead singer and bassist of Thin Lizzy, one of my all-time favorite bands.  A statue of Phil stands next to Bruxelles pub. But just a little further down that street was the classic hotel, The Westbury.

Having had so many gin and tonics in Scotland, I was craving a good old vodka martini at the Sidecar. Unlike the United States, however, the limit of booze per serving in Scotland and Ireland is about 2 ounces. So they were trying to get me to add things to it, to make it look bigger. I like my vodka unmessed with, because I like the taste of it. Why ruin high quality vodka with nasty salty liquid from an olive jar? A dirty martini is not for me. So they shook it a lot to dilute it, poured it into a tall, thin glass, and dropped a huge olive into it. It was exactly what I was looking for!

 

The Merrion Hotel, another beauty, had a couple of bars that were worthy of a visit. The ground floor bar, the No. 23 bar, had that typical classy hotel bar vibe. But The Cellar, downstairs, was an amazing creature unto itself, with a huge cavern-like space. It was absolutely packed with partying people, and a space I will definitely visit again if I’m ever lucky enough to go back to Dublin.

 

 

I managed to fit in one other historic hotel on my cocktail journey, and that was The Shelbourne, celebrating its 200th year. I enjoyed a beverage on the Horseshoe bar, one of five bars in the hotel.

 

All in all, a pretty successful journey to many classy and classic (found mostly in hotels) cocktail bars. Recovery is now in order!