Trip to the Emerald Isle

Ahhhh, hello there, begora, bejesus, gooan, ya will and all other Irish greetings to you all (to be sure!!)

So a quick blog update now that i've recovered from my birthday trip to sunny (well not really...) Dublin! Its been a while since i've paid a trip to the Emerald Isle and much as alot of it has changed dramatically, such as the hour long taxi ride from the airport into town (i'm sure there never really used to be any traffic over there), building developments everywhere, the general expense of being somewhere that isnt Blighty, most of it is as i remember.... just like the good old days......especially the guiness.

I hooked up with a ragtag and bobtail crew at the airport on Friday night and after a few pints of the black stuff we set off to check into our exceptionally celubrious accomadation, Barnacles Hostal in Temple Bar.... who says the credit crunch is affecting us sabbatical city folk. Now i know its been a while since i left school, but 6 large, hairy chaps in a room the size of my downstairs toilet at home, well it was always going to be an interesting few days! 6 men, 3 bunks and 1 toilet... surely the makings for an excellent new reality TV show?! At least my snoring wasnt that bad (apparently... first time for everything), but the aroma of the room by the time we left Sunday certainly wasnt great. Just a quick piece of advice, never pick the top bunk (as i obviously had) as what you gain in extra head room, you seem to lose through the results of hot air rising.... and my, a diet of guiness, bulmers, kebab and chips and the obligitory fry up seems to produce a fair amount of hot air....!!

Our first night really passed us by without any real events (i know i have to adhere to the "what goes on tour stays on tour" rule aswell, dont worry i wont be naming names). A great game of rugby (France really did deserve to beat Wales), 12 pints of guiness (i have to admit i was chewing them down by the end of the evening), a lovely kebab and then the stroll home through the rather rowdy and racous area that is Temple Bar. Merrily tucked up in bed by 2am. Happy days, until the ones that had turned in early were woken by the late night stragglers around 3.30... all part of the fun.

Saturday morning, my birthday, 39, and i wake up feeling only as one should, pretty rubbish. Nothing a full Irish breakfast couldnt sort out, followed by a stroll to yet another Pub (we hadnt been in this one yet tho i dont think) and a fantastic game of no emotion spoof with bulmers as the forfeit. (as a quick aside, i think that we're becoming rather soft in our old age as the no emtion part of the spoof certainly wasnt enforced as strictly as it used to be in the good old days). It was at this stage that certain events happened that would change the rest of the day. Namely, we bought some tickets for Engaland vs Ireland at Croke Park off a tout whilst rather lashed up outside the pub. Our great crew of 8 (2 were not staying in our lovely dorm btw... v poor form!) only had 5 tickets between us, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to buy 3 face price tickets from our happy go lucky tout, what a kind chap he was..... It was only later, after a very charming Korean lunch (didnt know that Dublin was big on Korean restaurants i have to say) and a stroll through the bantering crowd to the gates of Croke Park that myself and my 2 other tout ticket holders realised the error of our ways.... obviously the tickets were fake, along with about 4997 others (that was the estimate from the policeman that took them off us.) Bugger. What a pain. But given we're not the quibbling type we did what any English rugby supporter would have done and headed to the nearest pub.

Cue 2nd event that would change, well not necessarily the day, but certainly watching a game of rugby. I have a very good friend who is Irish and from Dublin. Having bumped into him on Friday night he gave me one piece of advice that i promptly ignored. This was dont go into any of the pubs that are near Croke Park. It really isnt in the best part of town, there seems to be a bit (huge understatement) of a drugs problem and the locals really arent that keen on us English folk. Having been in the pub a matter of minutes and sitting down behind a rather large group of what can only be described as pikeys, the insults started to fly. I cant really print what we were called throughout the game as i know my mum will read the blog, but general atmosphere really wasnt that good. In a bizarre way i'm glad England didnt nick the game with a late drop goal (as i hoped would happen when sitting on my barstool in a rather annoyed drunken haze) as i'm not fully sure we would have escaped from the pub alive.... but as a good friend always tells me, its all part of life's rich tapestry. That's true, as long as you stay alive that is.....!! We left the pub rather promptly at the end, being jeered by a big group of girls that had amassed at the pub during the game.... all rather bizarre.

The rest of the evening again followed without any other life altering events (other than 2 of our party falling asleep in various Public houses and having to be red carded home) The highlight for me was singing 2 little boys to an applauding crowd in one of the pubs as the Irish said the English couldnt sing... how wrong they were!! (those of you that know me well know that i will always sing 2 little boys at the drop of a hat, so to a packed Irish bar... perfect!!)

Another 2am finish, another hangover, another fry up. How simple life can be sometimes. I spent Sunday stumbling around Dublin with the other people that were on later flights, had a charming lunch with an old work colleague and headed to the airport feeling very much the worse for wear. Mental note to self always get the earlier flight. On arriving home i have to admit i went straight to bed and slept for about 10 hours. That just about sorted me out...

So now i'm in the rather snowy Alps (its dumping as i type) just up the valley from Morzine, staying in a friends chalet in St Jean D'Alups (i'm pretty sure thats how its spealt). I've helped shift 3 tonnes of logs (earning my keep!) got a snowboard for my 2 hour lesson tomorrow (going to be v painful i'm told) and am about to head to the local bar to set up my decks for my gig this evening..... whoever told me that taking some time off to go and enjoy life was just so right!!

I'll update you all from the snow shortly. Until next time.... have fun out there....

B