Crouch. Touch. Pause. Engage.

The helicopters have been circling overhead all day and it's just about impossible to walk more than 15 feet without bumping in to a group of loud and rowdy English supporters. The rugby match was at 5:30, but if you really wanted to watch the game in a pub you would have had to be there by noon . . . Italy played Scotland in the first match of the day, so most people just spent the whole day/night drinking and watching the the games. Seeing as we were still wandering around the streets at 5pm there was no way that we would be able to cram into a pub, and it was raining, so watching on the screens outside was out of the question. We ended up getting a bunch of food and just watching it at Susan's place. This had the distinct advantage of having a clear view of the screen, no line-up for drinks and a substantial decrease in the amount of beer spilled on my jeans (although not total).

If you didn't already know, the English haven't been allowed to play in Croke Park since 1920, after a dozen civilians were randomly shot by British authorizes in retaliation for multiple assassinations carried out earlier in the day by the IRA. Most know this as Bloody Sunday (one of many in Ireland's past), namesake of the U2 hit. Needless to say, everyone was a bit on edge about what would happen before/during/after the game, especially if it turned out to be a close match with a confrontational finale. Fortunately, Ireland came out strong from the start and absolutely tore the English apart (43-13). Afterwards I made my way through Temple Bar and it was a fairly typical night, but with larger crowds than usual - it should be a good prep for St. Patrick's Day; 3 weeks and counting. We'll have to wait until Monday to find out how out-of-hand things really got.

Last night I met up with Alannah, Susan and a bunch of her friends from class for "Ballad Sessions". It was a kind of Battle of the Bands for the Med and Pharm students - only €5 for entrance, a beer and free food; after that, drinks were cheap and things got a bit out of hand. This was all held in one of the lecture rooms at the Surgeon's College, but was set-up with full lights and sound. By about the third set everyone was up on the desks doing their best impression of the band of whatever cover was being played at that moment. Everything was great until the last song when the guy and two girls behnd me bailed HARD off their table and fell into the chairs at my feet. We helped them up and they managed to walk away on their own, so I'm assuming they were just fine.

Alannah is heading back to Italy in the morning - hopefully I'll be able to swing a trip out that way before she heads home for good in the summer.

You will travel far and wide for business and pleasure (in bed)

Feckin' 'ell, C'mon Dub-lhin
This was all that was yelled for the entire 70 minutes of the Hurling match, but more on that in a bit. . .

Happy Chinese New Year – we all got fortune cookies with lunch today and that(as read above) was mine. I think it was fairly fitting, and much better than the one Jenny got: Today will prepare you for tomorrow (in bed). For those of you who don't know, whenever you read your fortune you have to add “in bed” at the end – it's usually pretty good for a laugh.

This past weekend I finally made it out on my hike around Howth. It was looking pretty dismal when I left the flat on Saturday morning, but by the time the DART (commuter train) pulled into the station it was a gorgeous day. I couldn't have asked for better weather. I toured through town, then walked all the way around the cliffs next to the shore before checking out the castle and church in the center of the village. It was great being right down by the ocean again – the River Liffey running through the city just doesn't cut it. Howth is mainly a fishing outpost and reminded me SO much of Nova Scotia; namely Morden and Victoria Harbour. Everyone was incredibly friendly and actually stopped to say Hello as I walked along the trails. It was a great change of pace from Dublin.

Then, after a movie that night, and another the next morning, I headed north of the city again to check out a hurling match that a co-worker (Joe) had told me about. I really had no idea what to expect, but ended up running into Joe and his kids as soon as I got the the stadium – I got the full play-by-play and think I have a pretty good understanding of the game. It was supposed to be a complete upset with the current National champs (Kilkenny) giving Dublin a beating. In the end Dublin scored a goal and a few late points and it ended in a draw. There were a few brawls and the game never seemed to slow in pace. The game is a strange mix between lacrosse and field hockey - no pads, just a hurley stick and what looked like a baseball. I'm definitely going to have to make it out to a few more games. The stadium we were at this weekend holds 13,500 people and was just about a sell-out. The finals are held at Croke Park with, as I mentioned before, seating for ~82,500 (and it ALWAYS sells out for the big matches). It's hard to believe that amateur sports can have such a draw when pro-sports back home seem to have a hard time filling the stadiums.

Alannah (another UBC alum) is heading to Dublin tomorrow - Susan and I are going to attempt to show her the sights. First on the list, Temple Bar. After that, I'm not really too sure yet. This weekend England is playing Ireland (Rugby 6 Nations Tournament), so there are sure to be mobs of people everywhere. Win or lose, I see that afternoon/night turning into even more of a gong show than usual. Nevertheless, it will make for good craic.

Apparently my pictures aren't worthy of Blogger uploading them right now, but I'll keep trying - hopefully they'll be up soon.

Don't do business with Ulster Bank

It took 5 weeks, but I have finally been able to open a bank account. . .
I initially tried to open an account with the same bank as my employer, as I thought this would make things much easier - I was wrong. After explaining my situation (my name isn't on our lease agreement, so I don't have bills in my name confirming my address), getting two reference letters from work (proving I have a steady income and permanent residence), supplying them with every piece of ID I have, filling out all their paperwork and telling them that I had a few thousand Euros to deposit right then and there, I was still turned down. None of my flatmates had ANY problems opening an account - it all depends on who you are dealing with. I kept getting the excuse that there were extensive security measures in place and they had to be wary of who they allowed to do business there. Apparently I look like a shady character.
I ended up going to a different bank to see if they would be any more reasonable. 10 minutes after entering, I left with an account number in hand. They had the same policies in place as the other bank, but the teller I was dealing with was MUCH nicer. Long story short, she helped me "bend the truth" on my application so that I didn't need a utility bill/tax certificate/government issue letter. I should be fully set-up in the next couple of weeks and I'll finally be able to stop paying Royal Bank a fiver + exchange costs every time I need cash.

Today Dublin is hosting it's first match of the Six Nations Rugby Tournament (Ireland vs. France) in Croke Park, the Gaelic Athletic Associsation stadium for Hurling and Gaelic Football. The usual venue, Landsdowne Road Stadium is being rebuilt and there was a HUGE dispute over whether non-GAA sports should be allowed in the venue. I think a very generous offer was made and accepted, because soccer and rugby will be played on the grounds now. I was really hoping to get out to a game, but it seems that tickets are just about impossible to come by for any even at the stadium. One of my co-workers has season tickets to all GAA events, so was able to purchase Rugby tix at cost. In the end he sold his pair of 80euro seats for 2050euro . . .
I couldn't believe how crazy the fans are over here, especially for the Amateur Irish GAA sports; this proves it:
Croke Park had the honour of having the biggest attendance at a sporting event anywhere in the world last weekend

Croke Park - Dublin V Tyrone - National Football League (Gaelic Football) 81,678

6 Nations England V Scotland - Twickenham 80,943

6 Nations Wales V Ireland - Cardiff 74,239

Super Bowl, Colts V Chicago Bears - Miami 72,000

Real Madrid V Le Vante - La Liga 65,000

Borussia Dortmund V Stuttgart - Bundesliga 63,600

Marsele V PSG - Le Championnat 58,000

Rather than make it out to the game (although the stadium is a 15 minute walk down the street), Whitney and I are going to hit up a few of the pubs around here and watch the game with the thousands of other people that couldn't get tickets. We're all cheering for Ireland, but it's not looking too good - France is a strong team and we lost out captain (O'Driscol) to a hamstring injury in last weeks match. The Irish were favorites to win the tourney in the start, but now it's looking like it will be a battle between England and France (Go England, haha).

Winter in Dublin

The trip on Sunday to Howth was a no-go. I woke up and the city was covered in a freezing fog, so there was no point in hiking up the hills to see the non-existent view of the city. Maybe this weekend will provide a bit better weather.

It's gotten really cold all of a sudden - not quite down to freezing, but close. Yesterday we even had a bit of hail/snow. It only lasted 5 minutes, but that's typically how long constant weather conditions usually last around here . . .

Monday at the Brewery I had lunch with a couple guys up from Australia and got the invite to a product testing that afternoon after work. Turns out they work for Bundaberg Rum in Oz and are up here working on a "secret product" - that's why they are up here and not brewing it back home. It was kinda crazy, but they have rum & cola on tap down there. They were testing it out with some of our new draught kegs, trying to get the mix just right. I'm assuming they are trying to get it ready for export in kegs, but they wouldn't say exactly. Regardless, I got to do some taste testing - it was a great way to finish the day!

Single Bed Vaccancy

So I thought it was going to be another typical week, but there was a bit of a twist. To spare you the details, Brianne (by her own accord) is moving out, and after brief period of advertising and interviewing we have a new flatmate. He (Tyler) is from Perth and has been traveling all around for the past year or so, but is currently tending bar in Dublin, after doing the same in Galway for a few months. It should be a good change, and is fairly welcome after being the solo guy around here for the past couple months.

In other news, I had a bit of a change of pace at work this week. They were having issues with the new bottles of Guinness being shipped to Japan, so I got to run a bunch of compliance tests on them. It was a great break from the usual routine, but I just about shed a tear when we finished and had to pour all the beer out (~500L). Fear not though, I still managed to scrounge up a few free cases to take home for the weekend.

I plan on heading north tomorrow and doing a hike through the town of Howth. I'll probably post a quick note and some more pics if I manage to follow through and get out there.

On a final note - there are a few new sets of pictures up from the past couple of weeks.

Cheers