Weekends in Dublin

Another one of those entertaining weekends in Dublin. My intention to spend more time in Dublin this summer is paying off. It is rewarding me with a mixture of culture, drinks & dinner, great company and sports. It may begin to sound repetitive, my continuous capturing of how well Dublin’s fair city treats me, but that doesn’t constitute a convincing enough argument against narrating it over and over again. Especially when I find myself in the very comfortable and writing-enhancing environment of the local Starbucks unit. It’s a Sunday morning and one of this weekend’s major treats is still to be enjoyed later on this day, as I secured tickets for the GAA semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone! A sold-out Croke Park is always an experience worth attending any game for, even though my understanding of Gaelic Football is limited at best. It won’t be long before Guilherme and I will cross the Liffey and take another deep dive into Irish culture. I expect it to be the cherry on the cake of a very entertaining weekend, which started very well on Friday night. In the company of Peter, Gene, Padraic, Eoin and Diarmaid the evening was kicked off with dinner at Pichet, whereafter we went to the Olimpia theatre to watch a great performance of the musical Once. Amazing! The night ended when the last bar we visited somewhere in South William Street closed, and if it hadn’t been for the football scheduled at noon on Saturday I would still have been asleep. It was a good reason to get out of bed however, and the running around Fairview Park certainly contributed to battling the last traces of my hangover. After the game I took a bath while enjoying a plate of lasagne (reminded me of coffee in the shower in the Gildebroeders) and slept for another two hours. Not overly keen to make it a late night again I nevertheless was in the mood for a pint or two and in the company of Jesus and Xaxi it was drinks in the Workmans club, whereafter we joined some of Xavi’s friends in the Garage bar in Temple Bar. Sensibly I decided to call it a day around midnight, took a Dublin bike home in the pouring rain, and woke up at the very respectable hour of nine o’clock this morning. And there we are, the circle has been completed. My cup is empty, my thoughts drifting to Croke Park. Time to go!