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.
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.
posted by Trevor Schofield at 10:36 p.m.
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