ASK anyone who's been to Dublin what they recommend you do there and they all say 'Try the Guinness'. They swear it's completely different to the pint you get at home. It certainly takes a lot longer to pour, so be prepared to wait a while - you may well be asked to take a seat and they'll bring it to you. Very civilised. The place to taste this distinctive brew is in a traditional pub, one that doesn't appear to have been decorated or altered in any way for the past 100 years. It's impossible to describe the unique atmosphere of these drinking emporiums (as they like to call them), you've got go there and soak it up for yourself. On a recent visit I found the Palace Bar on Fleet Street (an extension of Temple Bar) a peaceful lunchtime retreat, with its trademark mirrored partitions along the bar and a back room with a stained glass roof and pictures of Dublin literary figures. Just a few yards away in the same street is the livelier Oliver St John Gogarty, with seating on several floors, a popular carvery (lovely Irish stew) and music upstairs most days. O'Donoghue's in Merrion Row was bustling with lunching office workers, but still retained the relaxed atmosphere more typical of a rural pub. At night and weekends it's known for its live music. Mugs of soup or tea, toasties and sandwiches were just as popular as the Guinness. A much bigger pub with rambling interconnecting rooms and staircases and more emphasis on food is O'Neill's on Suffolk Street where there is a hot buffet. | 
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