Rugby Trip to Ireland!

13/14 June 2012
Chicago, Washington D.C., Dublin
So the flight was pretty uneventful.  We made our connection on time, which I was worried about since we had less than an hour, but it all worked out.  I watched Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on the plane, which was pretty good.  There were a bunch more movies I wanted to watch, but instead I decided to try and force myself to sleep.  Despite staying up until 4:30am the previous night, I was not really all that tired and had issues sleeping, probably due to being nervous, since this is (a.) the first trip I'm going on without a responsible adult (yes I know I am technically an adult but you know what I mean), (b.) the first trip I organized in which I am the responsible party for the whole group.  I think I got a bit of sleep, no idea how much though.  When we got to the airport, the customs guy teased us about how we didn't look like a rugby team--we aren't big or hairy enough--and also that the winning team has to buy the beers (we replied saying we hope that's true, since we probably won't win).

We then got in our taxi van (2 sets of three seats, facing each other in the back, with the 7th girl riding in the passenger seat up front) and made our way to the hostel.  We couldn't check in right away, so we waited around a bit, then changed into our rugby gear and stored our bags.  We practically had to run to the hotel where our Full Irish Breakfast reservations were, and quickly scarfed down our food in 20 minutes.  It was delicious though: an egg over easy, Irish breakfast sausage, a big piece of Irish bacon (more like ham), baked beans, toast, orange juice, and coffee.  Irish butter is delicious.  There were also a bunch of other condiments on the table, including "Brown Sauce," which apparently is like a steak sauce.

After our speedy breakfast, we immediately went to our training clinic with Kevin West, an internationally ranked rugby coach.  He was a fantastic coach, and we learned a lot of good drills.  He also taught us some strategies/plays for playing 7s, since we've never really played 7s before.

We then hopped back into the van to head to Lansdowne Aviva Stadium, the home pitch for the Irish national rugby and football (soccer) teams.  We had a guided tour of the stadium, and our tour guide, Danny, was quite amused by us and some of the things we said (one of the girls wasn't really up to date on Irish slang).  There was a 3D Experience in which we each typed in our names and took a picture of ourselves on an iPad, then headed to our own little cubicle.  In the video, I was the new star player of the Irish national rugby team, so I got to experience what all that was like, and got a virtual tour of the stadium.  We then got to physically tour all of the places we just saw in the video, such as the locker room (which has physio beds, a replay meeting room, and two giant baths--an ice bath and a jacuzzi bath (players go in the ice bath for ~2 minutes, then the jacuzzi for ~5 minutes, then repeat both baths before every game--it cuts their recovery time in half) among other things).  We got to walk onto the field via the players entrance, then we went upstairs and entered the spectator section.  It was all quite exciting.

After Lansdowne, we headed over to the Guinness storehouse.  We went through the self-guided tour of the museum, which talked about how Guinness is made, from the initial basic ingredients all the way to pouring it from the tap.  The museum started on the ground floor and worked its way up to the Gravity Bar, a 360 degree panoramic room where we got to enjoy our free pint of Guinness.  The man who gave me my pint made a shamrock in the head (like how coffee baristas make hearts and leaves in the foam), which was awesome.  In line in the gift shop, I made a single-serving friend--she noticed I was wearing my rugby kit, and we started talking about rugby--she is the coach of Washington University's team in Seattle and is just on vacation around Europe by herself.

We finally made it back to the hostel for our first break of the day.  We all got ready for the evening (finally changed out of our rugby gear) and went right back out into Dublin.  Two of the girls went on the hostel pub crawl (which apparently included the pub from PS I Love You), but the rest of us decided to go to a pub that our driver had said had a traditional dancing show and meal for €17.  Unfortunately when we got there we found out that it was actually €40, so we decided to go elsewhere. By this point we all looked like drowned rats, since it was pouring outside and we had been walking for quite a while.  A hostess at a pub down the street ushered us into her pub.  Our initial table wasn't ideal; the Irish were playing Spain in the Euro Cup, and we were right in front of a TV blocking everyone else's view.  Our new seating arrangement was much better; we were actually all sitting at the same table, and though we had a view of the television, we were not blocking it.  I had a Bulmer's cider, a steak and Guinness pie, and chips (fries).  The steak and Guinness pie was really tasty, but unlike other savory pies I've had.  The top crust had been baked separately, and was just on top of a stew.  It was quite delicious though.  Unfortunately Ireland lost the game 4-0, and everyone was quite sad, but the pub played Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" after the game, and everyone sang along, which was quite amusing.

After the pub, we dragged our tired, soggy selves back to the hostel and went straight to sleep.


15 June 2012
Dublin
This morning I went to the Old Jameson Distillery with Alie and Bootheel.  I found it interesting that the first half of the distillation process is quite similar to how Guinness is made-->harvest barley, malt (germinate) some of it, roast it, mill it, and mash it--then it differs.  For Guinness, the barley mash is mixed with hops, yeast, and water, while for the Jameson, the barley wash (the liquid is used, not the solid like in Guinness) is just mixed with water and distilled (three times in the case of Jameson).  At the end of the tour, we got a drink of Jameson--we got to choose whether to drink straight Jameson on the rocks, or with ginger ale, cranberry, or sprite.  Not knowing what was to come next, the three of us decided to just get Jameson on the rocks so that we could properly taste the whiskey.  We then were directed to sit down next to a placemat, on which were three shots: Jameson triple-distilled Irish whiskey, Jim Bean Black Label twice-distilled scotch, and Jack Daniels single distilled American whiskey.  We tasted each one in turn, first smelling it, then letting it sit for a bit on our tongues before swallowing.  The Jameson was the best of course.  The Scotch had a smoky, kind of bittersweet taste--this is because they use peat in the roasting process, whereas Jameson uses natural gas.  The American whiskey tasted woody--this is due to the fact that after the Prohibition Era, a law was passed that said you can only age liquor in new casks. (Jameson uses seasoned casks--they buy them from America [previously stored bourbon], and Spain and South America [previously stored port and sherry].  These give the whiskey different flavors.)  Jameson was the smoothest, and everyone liked that one the best.  We then got certificates that say we are Certified Irish Whiskey Tasters.  Normally this whole tasting/comparing process is only one person per tour, but we all got to do it.  I think that is because the three of us ended up with a tour of elderly people (we talked to them later, apparently they are all alumni from some US University.  They all really liked us and kept taking pictures of us).

After the Jameson distillery, I went back to the hostel and met up with Chappy and Megan.  We walked around a bit, and then had lunch at a pub in Temple Bar.  I had bangers and mash and a pint of Harp, Chappy had an Irish breakfast and a pint of Harp, and Megan got a shepherd's pie and a pint of Guinness.  Everyone's meals were delicious (we each had some of each others'); the black and white pudding that came with Chappy's breakfast was really tasty--fried slices of blood and liver sausage, so that they were crunchy on the outside.

We walked around Temple Bar a bit more, then headed to Trinity College.  I went to the library and the Book of Kells exhibit, which was pretty neat.  I got to see the Book of Kells, as well as four other richly illuminated books from around the same time.  The Long Room of the library was beautiful, and so big.  I got to see a bunch more old, illuminated books in there as well.

We then made our way back to the hostel to get ready for our first match against the Old Belvedere Rugby Club.  They lent us two girls (and changed them out regularly), so we played "nines" instead of sevens.  They were extremely good and beat us 80-35, but they were also really nice and gave us in-game tips.  We later found out that one of their girls plays for Ireland's national team, so no wonder they beat us.  They gave us lots of great tips though, and we got better throughout the game.  We learned a lot from them.

There was a pub at the rugby club which we went to after the match where we socialized with the other team for a while.  Eventually we left and went back to our hostel to get ready for the evening and pack up our suitcases in preparation for the next day.  We went out to a pub that Alie and Bootheel had found the previous night on their crawl.  There was a live band playing traditional Irish songs that everyone sang along to, which was a bit awkward since we didn't know the words, but still really fun.  After a while, Airriell and I left to go back home.  We sat in our hostel room for a while chatting until everyone else got back and we realized it was 4:30am and we had to get up at 7.

(pint glass count: 1)

Photos from Dublin!