Back to Croker
I made it back to Croke Park one last time before I take off (which is fast approaching), and am able to cross another "must-see" event off my list; Gaelic Football. Getting out to the match happened quite by chance, but couldn't have worked out better for me.
On Friday night I met up with Susan and her fellow classmates, who had just finished their last exam of the year, to imbibe a few social beverages in celebration. After a rousing game of beer pong we took off to Dakota, just outside of Temple Bar. On the way over I stopped in to Spy Bar to see Aengus and have a quick Jagger-Bomb for the road. Talking to him, he mentioned that he had an extra ticket to the Dublin v. Offaly match for Sunday and there was no way I could turn it down. I had been looking for tickets earlier, but couldn't get any last week (and didn't particularly want to go on my own).
Saturday I wasn't in the best of shape, but forced myself not to sit on the couch all day. I walked around the city looking for outdoor stores (it would be so much easier if they just had and REI or MEC) looking for camping gear. In the end I only had 4 stores to choose from and settled on some basic, ultra-lite equipment (3/4 length self-infating sleeping pad, 2 season sleeping bag and a Coleman Rigal X2 tent. Combined weight: 2.4kgs). I have looked online and found quite a few campgrounds close to where I plan on visiting, so hopefully I'll get quite a lot of use out of everything. Also, camping over here isn't really like back home at all. At these sites there is typically a grocery store, communal cooking/dining area, laundry facilities and in a lot of instances, even a pool. There are large fields where you pitch your tent (or rent one of the pre-pitched tents already on-site). Not exactly roughing it - it's got pretty much the same facilities as a hostel, only it costs €3-5/night rather than €20-40. Plus, there are a few spots where all the hostels are booked up for the time I plan on being there (Pamplona, Valencia and Munich), so bringing along a bit of gear could come in handy.
The forecast was predicting rain for Sunday (more of the same from the past 2 weeks or so), but it held off until we were comfortably seated in the back-row of the stadium (under the cover of the luxury box seats). Gaelic Football has the same rules as Hurling, so it was easy to pick-up on what was going on. The only real difference between the two is that Hurling is a stick and ball game (very similar to field hockey or lacrosse) where as Gaelic Football is more like soccer or basketball (played with a large ball, which looks like a volleyball).
Just like the soccer game I went to at Croker, there was no alcohol allowed in the stands, but this time it was allowed to be consumed in the concourse area. Unfortunately the demand substantially outweighed the supply and we only had one pint, because the wait to get another was about 20-30 minutes and half-time was only 15... Aengus decided to opt for a hot dog instead, but as luck would have it they were all sold out. I'm not too sure who is running the show there, but there are some serious kinks to be worked out.
Aside from a few brutal, one-sided calls from the referee from Cork, the game went relatively smoothly and Dublin walked away with a 1-12 to 0-10 win (that's 15-10 - goals past the keeper are worth 3 and points through the uprights are worth 1). I took a few pictures, but they aren't all that impressive. You really need to see a live match to get the full feeling of the crowd (77,623 people strong).
I'm down to my last 2 weeks of work, but if last week is any indication, it's going to feel like a whole lot longer than that before I leave.
Last week they offered to extend my contract until the end of Aug. if I was willing to stick around, but had to turn them down when I did a bit of research and found that it would cost me €300 to change the tickets that I have bought so far. The extra money would have been great, but 12-weeks of backpacking around Western Europe beats out working, hands down.
On Friday night I met up with Susan and her fellow classmates, who had just finished their last exam of the year, to imbibe a few social beverages in celebration. After a rousing game of beer pong we took off to Dakota, just outside of Temple Bar. On the way over I stopped in to Spy Bar to see Aengus and have a quick Jagger-Bomb for the road. Talking to him, he mentioned that he had an extra ticket to the Dublin v. Offaly match for Sunday and there was no way I could turn it down. I had been looking for tickets earlier, but couldn't get any last week (and didn't particularly want to go on my own).
Saturday I wasn't in the best of shape, but forced myself not to sit on the couch all day. I walked around the city looking for outdoor stores (it would be so much easier if they just had and REI or MEC) looking for camping gear. In the end I only had 4 stores to choose from and settled on some basic, ultra-lite equipment (3/4 length self-infating sleeping pad, 2 season sleeping bag and a Coleman Rigal X2 tent. Combined weight: 2.4kgs). I have looked online and found quite a few campgrounds close to where I plan on visiting, so hopefully I'll get quite a lot of use out of everything. Also, camping over here isn't really like back home at all. At these sites there is typically a grocery store, communal cooking/dining area, laundry facilities and in a lot of instances, even a pool. There are large fields where you pitch your tent (or rent one of the pre-pitched tents already on-site). Not exactly roughing it - it's got pretty much the same facilities as a hostel, only it costs €3-5/night rather than €20-40. Plus, there are a few spots where all the hostels are booked up for the time I plan on being there (Pamplona, Valencia and Munich), so bringing along a bit of gear could come in handy.
The forecast was predicting rain for Sunday (more of the same from the past 2 weeks or so), but it held off until we were comfortably seated in the back-row of the stadium (under the cover of the luxury box seats). Gaelic Football has the same rules as Hurling, so it was easy to pick-up on what was going on. The only real difference between the two is that Hurling is a stick and ball game (very similar to field hockey or lacrosse) where as Gaelic Football is more like soccer or basketball (played with a large ball, which looks like a volleyball).
Just like the soccer game I went to at Croker, there was no alcohol allowed in the stands, but this time it was allowed to be consumed in the concourse area. Unfortunately the demand substantially outweighed the supply and we only had one pint, because the wait to get another was about 20-30 minutes and half-time was only 15... Aengus decided to opt for a hot dog instead, but as luck would have it they were all sold out. I'm not too sure who is running the show there, but there are some serious kinks to be worked out.
Aside from a few brutal, one-sided calls from the referee from Cork, the game went relatively smoothly and Dublin walked away with a 1-12 to 0-10 win (that's 15-10 - goals past the keeper are worth 3 and points through the uprights are worth 1). I took a few pictures, but they aren't all that impressive. You really need to see a live match to get the full feeling of the crowd (77,623 people strong).
I'm down to my last 2 weeks of work, but if last week is any indication, it's going to feel like a whole lot longer than that before I leave.
Last week they offered to extend my contract until the end of Aug. if I was willing to stick around, but had to turn them down when I did a bit of research and found that it would cost me €300 to change the tickets that I have bought so far. The extra money would have been great, but 12-weeks of backpacking around Western Europe beats out working, hands down.
posted by Trevor Schofield at 8:17 p.m.
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