As the title suggests, this blog is still about my trip to Ireland. I know this is getting really lengthy, but I really loved Ireland, so much that I already picked out housing plans for when I build my summer house there. And yes, I know that that's a bit premature, but it makes me feel better that I'm taking steps, even though there's a severe lack of financial steps involved, toward having my Irish home.
So, picking up where we left off, after we returned home from the pub on St. Patty's Day...
I ran upstairs and got a lovely hot shower. Trust me, after the soaking I had on the way to town, something that hot was amazing. Then all of us girls did our prep for the night, which included Meghan cooking our pizzas. Once I was ready, I ran downstairs to grab mine because we had decided to eat upstairs in her room. Her roommate Hugh had a ton of friends over and the kitchen looked like a bomb went off or the morning after a frat party and they were all smoking, which was super gross. I told Meghan she should just through all of the crap in Hugh's room when he wasn't looking -- then he might get a hint and clean up after himself. When I was down in the kitchen, I heard a voice with one of those Irish accents call out, "I like the look of her." I glanced up and that was my first impression of Tom. Needless to say, he got the *eyebrow.* And then I took my pizza and hard cider and went upstairs to eat.
But eventually all peace must come to an end, and we had to wash our dishes. This was after procrastinating as long as possible to avoid the smoke. Downstairs, the situation had only deteriorated. There were a crapload more people and even more of them were smoking. This time when I stepped in the kitchen, I heard "Hello, Beautiful" and without thinking, I looked up. This made him laugh because apparently I know my "name." At least I can say he had good taste. :-)
As we four girls stood surveying the room, and the other three pregamed, Tom finally made his way over to us to chat. I think we might have talked for about half an hour before he even introduced himself. And let me tell you, when I say "we," I mean "he." That boy could talk the ear off the corn in the field. And it was fast. Add in an accent, and it took a while for me to stop saying, "Huh?" after every sentence. But I have to admit, I have a soft spot for Irish accents. Now, just so you have a visual, Tom was taller than me, maybe about Matt's height, slim, with dark hair and hazel eyes. Also not exactly clean-shaven, but it worked for him. He was in his third year of studying at the university, and since they only have three years of classes as opposed to our four, he was about a year older than me.
Now this boy was just silly. He was self-described as "luscious, long, and lean" and he thought I had green eyes, which he used his "words" to describe as "prettier than the treetops." This got the *eyebrow.* Tom also adamently proclaimed that he had a "passionate heart and a poetic thought." Like I said, he was silly. And most definitely outrageous, but he made me laugh.
Eventually, all of his friends left to go to a pub somewhere, and Tom kind of didn't. He stuck around with us and I harassed him about the mess he left. He said he did nothing of the kind, that its was his "fookin'" friends. To which I told him, he "better man up and take charge o' his fookin' friends" in my own imitation of an Irish accent. At some point in here, he started ragging on how worthless the dollar is, and how Ireland is so much better because they have a stronger currency. Now there is no better way to rouse an American than to tell them that their country is worth nothing, so I told him that Ireland was a third-world country until ten years ago and that they were a "parasite on the European Union." Oops. I thought I might have crossed a line here, but he just laughed and said he liked my spunk. Go figure. That's the Irish for you.
So we caught a couple of taxis and made our way into town. I made sure I was in Meghan's taxi, and the other two girls were in the taxi with Tom. When we all met up again in town, there was no Tom to be seen. He had jumped out of his taxi a bit early and went to meet up with his friends at another pub. We four girls looked at the pub we were thinking about going to, but there was a line out the door and it was cold, so we changed our minds and went to 309 instead. This was another pub on Eyre Square. It's called 309 because Galway is three degrees and nine minutes west of the Greenwich Meridian.
And you'll never guess who we ran into once we got there. Darn, you guessed. Yup, Tom was in the house. The whole thing still makes me laugh because when he saw us, his whole face lit up. Then he asked me to take a walk with him so he could get some cash from an ATM. Like I said before, it was cold, so I told him I'd meet him when he got back. During this conversation, he took my hand and made it seem like we were together, staking his claim or whatever boys do, so that the other guys in residence would keep their hands off. Personally, I'm not seeing the draw because you have all these Irish girls dressed to the nines, and I'm there in the same thing I had worn all day -- a tank, polo, and jeans. It wasn't exactly my best-dressed moment.
Either way, Tom left and the girls and I snagged a table near the back. They drank whatever they had gotten from the bar and I watched the Irish "dance." This was a sight to behold because I'm pretty convinced that they can't dance. It was reminiscent of a midschool dance where you have the boys on one side and the girls on the other, each dancing in their own groups, and not a lot of intermingling. And I wasn't impressed with the dancing. They just don't have the rhythm you find in the United States.
And then there was Tom. He had found us at the back of the pub and pulled up a chair. We sat and talked for a while, covering cars, politics, education, why I think socialism is nutty, why he thinks capitalism is crazy, Matt of course and so forth. He asked me if Matt a) challenged my thoughts and ideas (to which I replied, "If you were mine, would you?" - No), b) if he was rich ("I don't know" -- "Good, neither am I") and c) if he had "words" ("Yes, but not so many as you"). There was another random guy at our table who remarked suddenly that Tom and I were going to "shag" that night. This comment most definitely got the *double eyebrow.* Then Tom said something more Irish and masculine than "How dare you" but it followed in the same vein. We chatted for a bit longer, and I have to give the boy brownie points because he said that I was intimidating, which is something Matt also says. He also said that I was a "darling" and asked if there were many more like me in America. Of course there aren't. :-)
Then we girls left for a club, and that was the last I saw of Tom. He was a nice boy, and very entertaining. We decided to go to Cuba, which was right next door and cost ten Euro to get in. I thought that was a bit extreme, but I guess that's how it is in Ireland. We met another boy in line named Sean, and he entertained us while we waited. Sean thought the four of us should make a "Sex in the City -- Galway" because apparently the four of us resemble the four main characters in the show. It was a pretty great experience because as much as we laughed at him and the Irish, he laughed as us and Americans. And that pretty much sums up Ireland's attitude toward Americans, at least as far as I saw. There's a whole lot of laughing going on from both sides, and it's just a jolly good time. At one point Sean said something about Italians, and when we asked him about it, he said, "Oh, no -- I love Italians. Spaghetti -- yum!"
The club was interesting enough. There was a lot of dancing going on, and the music they played was pretty much the same stuff they play at home. But since I haven't been home to listen to the radio in over two months, I didn't know some of the songs. It was a good time nonetheless. They had pop playing on the lower level of the club and an Indie band upstairs. Most of our time was spent in the pop section, but we were upstairs for about half an hour. I swear I had a sign on my forehead, "Creepy people welcome" because I met some interesting characters. The girls said it was because I looked friendly. Go figure. At one point, this guy came up to dance with us, bent down, and picked me up around my thighs. The he took me to the center of the dance floor and said, "Look out for bouncers" and we "danced" for a bit before I was like, Ok, put me down now please.
The Irish also don't stress out about broken glass at all. At the King's Head, we must have heard the bartenders break twenty glasses, and they don't pick them up. They just push the glass off to the side and deal with it later. It's such a different approach to it than in the United States where we'er like, "OH MY GOD!! There's broken glass, nobody move until I get a broom!!"
Finally, it was getting late enough that we left the club and went to a 50's diner that does not compare at all to Baby's. However, there are these huge windows and I sat facing them. The people on the outside put on shows for the people on the inside, and I almost died laughing. The other three girls were totally not amused, but it was just really cute and funny. Just before we left there, I saw some of Meghan's friends walk past, so I ran out to meet them while the others paid their bills. And then we all walked home to go to bed.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Because I have a thing against sleeping in, especially when I'm someplace new and exciting, I was awake by 9:30 the next morning. Apparently, the rest of the apartment didn't subscribe to this view, and continued to sleep until about noon. Since I had nothing to do after I had gotten dressed and ready for the day, I went downstairs. And saw the kitchen. And remembered who was there the night before. And then thought about how Meghan was really upset about how dirty the kitchen was. So I cleaned. All the beer cans and bottles got thrown away, the counters wiped down, the furniture rearranged, and the floor mopped and swept. Eventually the High Dirty Person himself, Hugh, got his arse out of bed and took out the trash and loaded the dishwasher for me. But by the time I was done, the kitchen area looked good again. This was my thank you to Meghan and her roommates for letting me crash there over the weekend.
After everything was back in order, I still had to wait a bit before Meghan woke up. I didn't know if she'd be ok with me going to town by myself, but just as I started to really consider it and go up to get my stuff, Meghan got up and we had toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam for brunch. That's another thing -- people in Europe don't have grape flavored anything. I guess it's just an American thing.
But it was starting to get late and the other girls still weren't up, so we decided to go into town and get some shopping done while they slept. We left them a note and off to town we went. Now the weather today was really fickle. It went from snow to hail to rain to sun and back again in the space of twenty minutes. We bundled ourselves up and prepared for anything, we left the apartment. Meghan took me on a bit of a tour on the way to town. We saw the catholic church there where she goes to Mass every couple of weeks. She goes to the University church on the other weeks. Then we saw the old part of the river and the new part of the river. On the old side, you can see the water and nothing man-made disturbs it. On the other side of the path is the new side of the river where you can see fence-like structures that were used when the river was fished. They don't fish there anymore, but the fences remain.
We also shopped around for an Irish Nationals patch. I'm determined to find one so I can put it in my scrapbook when I get home. It's green and white, of course, and has three shamrocks and a rugby ball on it. It's on my earlier post from St. Patty's Day. Finally, the other girls showed up and we went to lunch at the same restaurant Meghan and I had gone to on my first day in Galway. This time, I got the seafood chowder and a Sprite. The chowder was amazing. When you order it in the States, they kind of wave seafood over the pot and call it seafood chowder. In Ireland, there were actual pieces of mussels, salmon, and calamari in it. It was pretty much wonderful. There were also pieces of that amazing brown bread with the soup.
After lunch, we ran around downtown and I bought some yarn to make a scarf and a hat for next winter and also a bunch of Bailey's Creme Fraiche chocolates from Butler's for my friends and roommates in Vienna. And of course, several for me. Then it was time for me to catch the bus back to Dublin, so I said goodbye to Meghan and the girls, and prepared for another long bus ride.
This ride was a bit more exciting because I took pictures until it got too dark, and then I managed to get in a nap. I also woke up and saw snow, which was horrible. I'm totally against snow, and was very happy to see that it wasn't sticking. When we got to the bus station in Dublin, I walked around until I found my hostel, which was kind of sketchy because it wasn't in the nicest neighborhood, and then I went to bed.
Monday, March 19, 2007
When I got up today, I walked around and bought a muffin at a Spar for breakfast. Then, since I had a few hours before I had to be at the airport, I crossed the river and walked some more. I was looking for the rugby patch, and although I didn't find it, I did find some interesting things. I managed to stumble onto the pedestrian shopping district, and even though the shops weren't open, I got to see some pretty things. The whole area was very pretty, and because it was my last day in Ireland, it was sunny, if not warm. I also found a "green" mall. It looked like a giant greenhouse, and had plants growing from window boxes on the outside. Inside it had a huge clock made from glass and metal that was so cool that I took a picture of it. Also, which I thought was very entertaining, they have TK Maxx in Ireland as opposed to our TJ Maxx in the United States. This store wasn't open, but I took a picture of the sign anyway because it was funny.
Across the street from the mall was a large garden, called St Stephen's Green. It was kind of like Dublin's version of Central Park. It had ponds and birds and lots of flowers. I really enjoyed my walk in there because I got some very pretty pictures, which came out really good once I got back to Vienna and had a look at them. I was in there for about forty-five minutes and then started making my way back to the bus station because I needed to get to the airport. The bus that brought me into Ireland took such a long time that I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get back. Naturally, I arrived at the airport obscenely early, but because they have nifty little automatic check-ins, I could get my boarding pass and go through security to the mall inside. I'm starting to get good at going through security because I didn't even beep this time through. :-)
Anyway, I killed a lot of time in a bookstore and finally bought a rather hefty book that I thought would entertain me while I waited for the plane and also on the ride home. It was a pretty good story, but books here are very expensive. If I can find the rest of the series at home, I'll probably if not buy them, then borrow them from the library.
I've also learned that the Germanic countries really have their transporting of people down pat. The plane arrived on time, and I was through customs and getting on the Schnellbahn within twenty minutes. Gotta love that Austrian efficiency. I still haven't figured out the whole ticket thing with the S-Bahn, so I got in a bit of trouble and had to buy another ticket once I was on it, but the conducter was very nice and didn't give me a hard time because I made sure I spoke English to him.
And then I was finally back in my apartment in Vienna, and I've really come to appreciate just how much time it takes to travel anywhere because I spent about eight hours either in an airport or in transit just on Monday, without taking into account the bus to and from Galway or the trip to Ireland.
Some sidenotes on Ireland:
They have extremely fickle weather. Like worse than Seattle.
They have smoke-free bars, which I thought was wonderful. I wish Vienna would do that.
People from America only come from three places -- Boston, New York City, and California. The rest of the country doesn't exist.
All the strange things in the world come from Mexico.
Girls with bangs are called "birds with fringe."
Rugby is a national obsession.
People have "words" in Ireland.
The country is colder than expected because everything is run on electricity, including heat and hot water.
The showers in Ireland were designed for skinny people because they're not big at all.
The Irish are bad dancers when it comes to pop dancing.
The whole country is kind of flat compared to Austria.
Seeing baby lambs in a field is good luck.
People were obsessed with the contaminated water and the fact that Ireland beat Pakistan at cricket, which they all claim isn't played in Ireland.
They have these driving circles, kind of like they have in Jersey, and there aren't any lights or traffic signals, so Meghan calls them the Circles of Death.
The Irish have developed indestructable mascara, but nothing to take it off with. Which should tell you something about the Irish in general. Oh, how I love them.
People don't visit Ireland for the buildings or the weather, they visit for the people and the landscapes.
Bulmers Cider is amazing.
And that pretty much sums up my trip to Ireland. And now I'm off to Rome for Easter vacation!
Love,
Amanda
PS -- look for lengthy posts on Rome when I get back the week after Easter.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Shoulder to Shoulder, We'll Answer Ireland's Call...
Alrighty, part three of five coming up!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Let me just say this right off the bat -- I love St. Patrick's Day. It ranks right up there in my top three favorite holidays, the others being Christmas and Halloween. So this whole vacation was pretty much amazing!!
Anyway, here goes. Breakfast was at 10:30 and it was pretty much like whoa. Meghan and her friends have a "family" dinner night once a week, and St. Patrick's Day breakfast was an extension of that. They break up all the work and do it kind of like a pot-luck meal. We had green pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit, toast, tea, and punch. And then, in keeping with the spirit of the day, we had a round of drinks before we walked to the pub. I had my first Bulmers hard cider, which is wonderful. It's a bit sweeter than beer and it doesn't have that yeasty aftertaste, so I liked it a lot.
Our walk to town in the early afternoon was what one could call damp if they were the world's best underestimater. It was misting, but it was also windy, so by the time we got to the pub, I was soaked all the way up my thighs and down through two layers of coats. And naturally, I didn't have my umbrella since it's useless to use them in Ireland. The locals certainly don't. It was so bad, I had mascara running down my face, and from then on, I carried my liner and mascara in my pocket when we went out somewhere. Apparently, Ireland makes this incredible mascara that never comes off. Meghan bought some earlier in the semester and she said it was great because it never ran, but that she literally could not get it off her face and she's tried almost everything. Maybe the make super mascara remover in Ireland too. I wasn't there long enough to need to invest in it, but I do think it's pretty amazing stuff because non of the local girls looked like drowned rats.
The pub we went to was called the King's Head Pub and it's on the main drag of Galway. The pub was absolutely packed by the time we got there, and the rugby match didn't start until 1:30. But people were staking out claims to tables with good views of the televisions since early morning. It's really cool, because the pubs in Ireland aren't like the bars we have in the United States. Pubs are more like family gathering places, and people literally bring babies to them. It was also really nice because about a year ago, Ireland banned smoking in public establishments, so there was no smoke inside. I loved it. The pub itself was three stories high, and eventually we got a seat on the third floor, which is called the Ruby Room. That's where we watched the game. But before then, when we were still drying off, we ordered Irish Coffees. They make it with instant coffee, hot water, and Jameson. It's really important to get it down before it gets cold because then it's just nasty. So I was a trooper and finished mine first (don't worry, Poppop, Mom says you think I'm an alcoholic -- cross my heart, I'm not). Then the Ruby Room opened up and we went up to grab our seats. Once we were settled, we ordered more drinks and this time I got Bailey's. They couldn't serve it with ice because they were having a water problem in Galway when I was there. It was really cute and funny because everybody and their brother made it into the biggest news. Everyone you talked to told you about the "contaminated" water and told you not to drink it. The pure fascination with it really reminded me of a small town, and not the fact that Galway is Ireland's fourth largest city.
Then the game started. It was really intense because Ireland National was playing the Italian team, and they would win the Six Nations if they won their game and Wales won their game against England. The Ruby Room was full to the brim with people and everybody cheered when we scored. It was the coolest experience ever. Ireland National has their own song because they don't really play an anthem (they're made up of people from both Northern Ireland and Ireland, and there's been some controvesy about which national athem to play). It goes something like this:
Pretty much, Ireland kicked Italy's butt. I think the final score was something like 52-17. I forget exactly how it is scored, but the idea is similar to that of our football. Leah, Meghan's friend, had played rugby at one point, and explained some of the rules as the game went along.
About at halftime, we got another round of drinks. I didn't want anything because I didn't want to go to the poorhouse, but the bartender made a mistake and gave them an extra drink. That's how I got my second Bulmers of the day. Now I know by this point, my grandpa is probably having a heart attack because he thinks I'm not ready to be drinking. And I know myself that it was a little weird to be starting before noon, or even while it was still light out. But it was St. Patrick's Day in Ireland!!!! And Irish alcohol agrees with me because I didn't even get tipsy -- I'm good at spacing things out. Phil, Lauren's boyfriend, had gotten a pint of Guinness and he let me try a sip before we left after the game. I really didn't like it because it tasted burned.
Information on Bulmers:
Commercial cider production was started in Clonmel in 1935, by local man William Magner. Mr. Magner quickly established a very successful business and, in 1937, he joined forces with the famous English cider-makers H.P. Bulmer and Company, securing the rights to the Bulmers brand name in the Rpublic of Ireland. Dowd's Lane in Clonmel was the location of this burgeoning enterprise. In 1949, Mr. Magner withdrew from the business and the Bulmers name came to the fore.
Today, Bulmers Ltd. is a formidable Irish company by an standards, with a well-deserved reputation for innovative and successful product development and marketing. The company employs more than 500 people and is a substantial part of the economic infrastructure of the community of Clonmel. Bulmers Ltd. has an extensive portfolio of drinks brands which include Bulmers Original Cider, Strongbow Cider, Linden Village Cider, Samsons Cider and Ritz Crisp Dry Perry.
Drinking cider in moderation can have health benefits. The acid/sugar balance of cider, along with being served carbonated and chilled, provides a long alcoholic drink that is very refreshing. Recent research shows cider contains a number of antioxidants, the same amount as wine.
During the 14th century, children were baptized in cider -- it was cleaner than water -- and in the 18th century, part of a farm laborer's wages was paid in cider. By the year 1800, cider was said to be "the" cure for stomach upset, rheumatic disease, and various other diseases. (Information taken from bulmers.ie)
Information on Bailey's: (from wikipedia)
Baileys Irish Cream (the registered trade mark omits the apostrophe), is an Irish whiskey and cream based liqueur, made by R. A. Bailey & Co. of Dublin, Ireland. The trademark is currently owned by Diageo. It has a declared alcohol content of 17% alcohol by volume[1].
Draught Guinness is served cool with the beer line run through a cooler to chill the liquid to the required temperature. Due to the foaming action of the nitrogen it can take a while for the beer to settle as it is poured, often requiring a pause. Guinness has made a virtue of this wait with advertising campaigns such as "good things come to those who wait" and "it takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint". Some bartenders also draw a simple design, using the head of the tap, such as a shamrock in the head during the slow pour.
A long time subject of bar conversations is the Guinness cascade, where the gas bubbles appear to travel downwards in a pint glass of Guinness.[5] The effect is attributed to drag; bubbles that touch the walls of a glass are slowed in their travel upwards. Bubbles in the centre of the glass are, however, free to rise to the surface, and thus form a rising column of bubbles. The rising bubbles create a current by the entrainment of the surrounding fluid. As beer rises in the center, the beer near the outside of the glass falls. This downward flow pushes the bubbles near the glass towards the bottom. Although the effect occurs in any liquid, it is particularly noticeable in any dark nitrogen stout, as the drink combines dark-coloured liquid and light-coloured bubbles.
Guinness uses the harp of Brian Boru, or Trinity College Harp as their trademark. This circa 14th century harp which is still visible at Trinity College, Dublin, has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII (16th century). Guinness adopted the harp as a logo in 1862, however it is shown in a form that faces left instead of right as in the coat of arms.
Continuing on...
As we left the bar, I got Phil to hid a Guinness glass in his jacket for me. So now I have a bona fide Guinness glass from Ireland sitting on my desk. I'm not exactly sure how to get it back to the States in one piece, but I'll let Mom worry about that since I'm sending it with her. :-)
Our walk back to the apartment wasn't as damp as the walk to town had been. In fact, I don't think it was misting at all. Meghan and I stopped at the convenience shop in her apartment complex to pick up frozen pizzas for dinner. After we stored them in the freezers, I ran upstairs to get a hot shower and warm up before we started St. Patrick's Day Round Two.
I think that's enough for now, because I really do have to write a paper for one of my classes, but as soon as I've either finished it or made real progress, I'll write more about my visit to Ireland and the craic (pronounced crack, translation: fun) I had there.
Love,
Amanda
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Let me just say this right off the bat -- I love St. Patrick's Day. It ranks right up there in my top three favorite holidays, the others being Christmas and Halloween. So this whole vacation was pretty much amazing!!
Anyway, here goes. Breakfast was at 10:30 and it was pretty much like whoa. Meghan and her friends have a "family" dinner night once a week, and St. Patrick's Day breakfast was an extension of that. They break up all the work and do it kind of like a pot-luck meal. We had green pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit, toast, tea, and punch. And then, in keeping with the spirit of the day, we had a round of drinks before we walked to the pub. I had my first Bulmers hard cider, which is wonderful. It's a bit sweeter than beer and it doesn't have that yeasty aftertaste, so I liked it a lot.
Our walk to town in the early afternoon was what one could call damp if they were the world's best underestimater. It was misting, but it was also windy, so by the time we got to the pub, I was soaked all the way up my thighs and down through two layers of coats. And naturally, I didn't have my umbrella since it's useless to use them in Ireland. The locals certainly don't. It was so bad, I had mascara running down my face, and from then on, I carried my liner and mascara in my pocket when we went out somewhere. Apparently, Ireland makes this incredible mascara that never comes off. Meghan bought some earlier in the semester and she said it was great because it never ran, but that she literally could not get it off her face and she's tried almost everything. Maybe the make super mascara remover in Ireland too. I wasn't there long enough to need to invest in it, but I do think it's pretty amazing stuff because non of the local girls looked like drowned rats.
The pub we went to was called the King's Head Pub and it's on the main drag of Galway. The pub was absolutely packed by the time we got there, and the rugby match didn't start until 1:30. But people were staking out claims to tables with good views of the televisions since early morning. It's really cool, because the pubs in Ireland aren't like the bars we have in the United States. Pubs are more like family gathering places, and people literally bring babies to them. It was also really nice because about a year ago, Ireland banned smoking in public establishments, so there was no smoke inside. I loved it. The pub itself was three stories high, and eventually we got a seat on the third floor, which is called the Ruby Room. That's where we watched the game. But before then, when we were still drying off, we ordered Irish Coffees. They make it with instant coffee, hot water, and Jameson. It's really important to get it down before it gets cold because then it's just nasty. So I was a trooper and finished mine first (don't worry, Poppop, Mom says you think I'm an alcoholic -- cross my heart, I'm not). Then the Ruby Room opened up and we went up to grab our seats. Once we were settled, we ordered more drinks and this time I got Bailey's. They couldn't serve it with ice because they were having a water problem in Galway when I was there. It was really cute and funny because everybody and their brother made it into the biggest news. Everyone you talked to told you about the "contaminated" water and told you not to drink it. The pure fascination with it really reminded me of a small town, and not the fact that Galway is Ireland's fourth largest city.
Then the game started. It was really intense because Ireland National was playing the Italian team, and they would win the Six Nations if they won their game and Wales won their game against England. The Ruby Room was full to the brim with people and everybody cheered when we scored. It was the coolest experience ever. Ireland National has their own song because they don't really play an anthem (they're made up of people from both Northern Ireland and Ireland, and there's been some controvesy about which national athem to play). It goes something like this:
- Come the day and come the hour
- Come the power and the glory
- We have come to answer
- Our Country's call
- From the four proud provinces of Ireland
- Ireland, Ireland,
- Together standing tall
- Shoulder to shoulder
- We'll answer Ireland's call
 |
Pretty much, Ireland kicked Italy's butt. I think the final score was something like 52-17. I forget exactly how it is scored, but the idea is similar to that of our football. Leah, Meghan's friend, had played rugby at one point, and explained some of the rules as the game went along.
About at halftime, we got another round of drinks. I didn't want anything because I didn't want to go to the poorhouse, but the bartender made a mistake and gave them an extra drink. That's how I got my second Bulmers of the day. Now I know by this point, my grandpa is probably having a heart attack because he thinks I'm not ready to be drinking. And I know myself that it was a little weird to be starting before noon, or even while it was still light out. But it was St. Patrick's Day in Ireland!!!! And Irish alcohol agrees with me because I didn't even get tipsy -- I'm good at spacing things out. Phil, Lauren's boyfriend, had gotten a pint of Guinness and he let me try a sip before we left after the game. I really didn't like it because it tasted burned.
Information on Bulmers:
Commercial cider production was started in Clonmel in 1935, by local man William Magner. Mr. Magner quickly established a very successful business and, in 1937, he joined forces with the famous English cider-makers H.P. Bulmer and Company, securing the rights to the Bulmers brand name in the Rpublic of Ireland. Dowd's Lane in Clonmel was the location of this burgeoning enterprise. In 1949, Mr. Magner withdrew from the business and the Bulmers name came to the fore.
Today, Bulmers Ltd. is a formidable Irish company by an standards, with a well-deserved reputation for innovative and successful product development and marketing. The company employs more than 500 people and is a substantial part of the economic infrastructure of the community of Clonmel. Bulmers Ltd. has an extensive portfolio of drinks brands which include Bulmers Original Cider, Strongbow Cider, Linden Village Cider, Samsons Cider and Ritz Crisp Dry Perry.
Drinking cider in moderation can have health benefits. The acid/sugar balance of cider, along with being served carbonated and chilled, provides a long alcoholic drink that is very refreshing. Recent research shows cider contains a number of antioxidants, the same amount as wine.
During the 14th century, children were baptized in cider -- it was cleaner than water -- and in the 18th century, part of a farm laborer's wages was paid in cider. By the year 1800, cider was said to be "the" cure for stomach upset, rheumatic disease, and various other diseases. (Information taken from bulmers.ie)
Information on Bailey's: (from wikipedia)
Baileys Irish Cream (the registered trade mark omits the apostrophe), is an Irish whiskey and cream based liqueur, made by R. A. Bailey & Co. of Dublin, Ireland. The trademark is currently owned by Diageo. It has a declared alcohol content of 17% alcohol by volume[1].
Introduced in 1974, Baileys was the first Irish Cream liqueur on the market but there are now a growing number of other brands available.
Baileys was first maunfactured in 1927 by Swiss dentist Dr Guttimesenhousen as an all purpose tooth whitener, anesthetic and 24hr contraceptive. However due to the rise of conservative Nazisim and economic hard (ooh) times in the 1930's the good doctor's dream was never realised
Baileys was the first liqueur to use cream and alcohol together in a manner sufficiently stable to allow commercial distribution. The cream and whiskey are homogenized to form an emulsion, with the aid of an emulsifier containing refined vegetable oil. This process prevents separation of the whiskey and cream during storage. The quantity of other ingredients used is not known but they include chocolate, vanilla, caramel and sugar.
According to the manufacturer no preservatives are required, the whiskey alone is used to preserve the cream.
Information on Guinness: (from wikipedia)
Guinness is a dry stout that originated in Arthur Guinness's St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. The beer is based upon the porter style that originated in London in the early 1700s. It is one of the most successful beer brands in the world, being exported world wide. The distinctive feature in the flavour is the roasted barley which remains unfermented. For many years a portion of the beer was aged to give a sharp lactic flavour, but Guinness has refused to confirm if this still occurs. The thick creamy head is the result of a nitrogen mix being added during the serving process. It is extremely popular with Irish people and is the best selling alcoholic drink of all time in Ireland, where Guinness & Co. makes almost 2 billion euro annually.
Now available around the world, the brand is still heavily associated with Ireland, though the parent company has been headquartered in London since 1932, and was later developed into a multi-national alcohol conglomerate and re-named Diageo.
Guinness stout is made from water, barley malt, hops, and brewers yeast. A portion of the barley is flaked (i.e. steamed and rolled) and roasted to give Guinness its dark-ruby colour and characteristic taste. It is pasteurised and filtered. Despite its reputation as a "meal in a glass" or "liquid bread", Guinness only contains 198 calories (838 kilojoules) per imperial pint (20oz UK) (1460 kJ/L), fewer than an equal-sized serving of skimmed milk or orange juice and most other non-light beers.
The water used comes from Lady's Well in the Wicklow Mountains. The barley used is Irish-grown.
Draught Guinness and its canned counterpart contain nitrogen (N2) as well as carbon dioxide. Nitrogen is very much less soluble than carbon dioxide, which allows the beer to be put under high pressure without making it fizzy. The high pressure of dissolved gas is required both to enable very small bubbles to be formed and to force the draught beer through fine holes in a plate in the tap, which causes the characteristic "surge" (the widget in cans and bottles achieves the same effect). The perceived smoothness of draught Guinness is due to its low level of carbon dioxide and the creaminess of the head caused by the very fine bubbles that arise from the use of nitrogen and the dispensing method described above. "Original Extra Stout" tastes quite different; it contains only carbon dioxide, causing a more acidic taste.
Contemporary Guinness Draught and Extra Stout are weaker than they were in the 19th century, when they had an original gravity of over 1070. Foreign Extra Stout and Special Export Stout, with ABV over 7%, are perhaps closest to the original in character.Draught Guinness is served cool with the beer line run through a cooler to chill the liquid to the required temperature. Due to the foaming action of the nitrogen it can take a while for the beer to settle as it is poured, often requiring a pause. Guinness has made a virtue of this wait with advertising campaigns such as "good things come to those who wait" and "it takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint". Some bartenders also draw a simple design, using the head of the tap, such as a shamrock in the head during the slow pour.
A long time subject of bar conversations is the Guinness cascade, where the gas bubbles appear to travel downwards in a pint glass of Guinness.[5] The effect is attributed to drag; bubbles that touch the walls of a glass are slowed in their travel upwards. Bubbles in the centre of the glass are, however, free to rise to the surface, and thus form a rising column of bubbles. The rising bubbles create a current by the entrainment of the surrounding fluid. As beer rises in the center, the beer near the outside of the glass falls. This downward flow pushes the bubbles near the glass towards the bottom. Although the effect occurs in any liquid, it is particularly noticeable in any dark nitrogen stout, as the drink combines dark-coloured liquid and light-coloured bubbles.
Guinness uses the harp of Brian Boru, or Trinity College Harp as their trademark. This circa 14th century harp which is still visible at Trinity College, Dublin, has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII (16th century). Guinness adopted the harp as a logo in 1862, however it is shown in a form that faces left instead of right as in the coat of arms.
Guinness has a long history of marketing campaigns, from award-winning television commercials to beer mats and posters.
Guinness's iconic stature can be attributed in part to its advertising. The most notable and recognisable series of adverts was created by Benson's advertising, primarily drawn by the artist John Gilroy, in the 1930s and 40s. Benson's was responsible for creating posters which included such phrases such as "Guinness for Strength", "Lovely Day for a Guinness", "Guinness Makes You Strong," "My Goodness My Guinness," (or, alternatively, "My Goodness, My Christmas, It's Guinness!") and most famously, "Guinness is Good For You". The posters featured Gilroy's distinctive artwork and more often than not featured animals such as a kangaroo, ostrich, seal, lion, and notably a toucan, which has become as much a symbol of Guinness as the harp. (An advertisement from the 1940s ran with the following jingle: Toucans in their tests agree/Guinness is good for you./Try some today and see/What one or toucan do.) Dorothy L. Sayers, then a copywriter at Benson's, also worked on the campaign; a biography of Sayers notes that she created a sketch of the toucan and wrote several of the adverts in question. Guinness advertising paraphernalia, notably the pastiche booklets illustrated by Ronald Ferns, attracts high prices on the collectible market.[citation needed]
In 2000, Guinness's 1999 advert Surfer[7] was named the best television commercial of all time in a UK poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4. Surfer was produced by the advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; the advertisement can be downloaded from their website.[8]
Guinness was awarded the 2001 Clio Award as the Advertiser of the Year, citing the work of five separate ad agencies around the world.[9]
Recently, commercials for Guinness Draught have been using paper cutout animation (in the style of Terry Gilliam's Monty Python animations) featuring two scientists. One scientist makes some claim about Guinness and the other responds "BRILLIANT!".
In 2005 their commercial won the European Epic Award. In it, 3 men drink a pint of Guinness, then begin to both walk and evolve backward. Their 'reverse evolution' passes through an ancient homo sapiens, a monkey, a flying lemur, a pandolin, an ichynisaurus and a velociraptor until finally settling on a mud skipper drinking dirty water, which then expresses its disgust at the taste of the stuff, followed by the line "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait". The official name of the ad is "Noitulove" - which is "Evolution" backwards. There are three spin-off versions of this advert, promoting the Extra Cold draught.[citation needed]
In 2007 a new ad campaign appeared: Hands, which broke on February 12, starts a £2.5m campaign that includes cinema, online, digital and outdoor ads in stadiums, pubs and London Underground stations. The ad has a dedicated website and, in a first for Guinness, visitors to the site will have the opportunity to direct and customise their own Guinness "Hands" film, which they can send on to friends.[10] The ad features a pair of hands waiting for a pint of Guinness and is in black and white. The final scene reveals a perfectly poured pint of Guinness as the hands re-appear to type the line "Good things come to those who wait".[11]
Guinness has recently taken the dominant share in the African beer market with its Michael Power advertising campaign.[citation needed]
Despite widespread advertising, sales of Guinness have been falling in Ireland since 1998, with a 3% decline since August 2005.[citation needed] It has, however, become more popular in the US, displaying a 9% sales increase.Continuing on...
As we left the bar, I got Phil to hid a Guinness glass in his jacket for me. So now I have a bona fide Guinness glass from Ireland sitting on my desk. I'm not exactly sure how to get it back to the States in one piece, but I'll let Mom worry about that since I'm sending it with her. :-)
Our walk back to the apartment wasn't as damp as the walk to town had been. In fact, I don't think it was misting at all. Meghan and I stopped at the convenience shop in her apartment complex to pick up frozen pizzas for dinner. After we stored them in the freezers, I ran upstairs to get a hot shower and warm up before we started St. Patrick's Day Round Two.
I think that's enough for now, because I really do have to write a paper for one of my classes, but as soon as I've either finished it or made real progress, I'll write more about my visit to Ireland and the craic (pronounced crack, translation: fun) I had there.
Love,
Amanda
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