Labor Day - Dublin, Ireland

After a very long and emotional week in trial Phil and I planned a LAST minute trip to Ireland.  A few months ago we actually attempted to plan this same trip and things just weren't working out.  First we couldn't find tickets and then I had a trial scheduled and with the fear of the trial going into Friday causing us to miss a flight we decided against planning.  But alas the world had other plans.

Trial ended Thursday afternoon and by 6pm we had a flight for Friday morning, a hotel, and a lead on tickets to the game.  Now you are probably wondering what game... it is called the Emerald Isle Classic an American football game between Navy and Notre Dame.  These teams play every year, but this is only the second time they have ever played in Ireland. 

Anyway, so we get up Friday, pack (we were to tired to do this Thursday night) and make our way to the airport.  As we are heading up the stairs we see LTC Z Suqi, who Phil works with.  We start talking and it turns out he is headed the same place for the same game (his son is in the Naval Academy) and he has an extra ticket (we found out Friday when we woke up that our lead only had 1 ticket not 2 like we had hoped). 

So Friday afternoon we got in, walked away from the strip a little and found a quaint pub for a few pints, before finding a place to eat.  I had really great Guinness Stew (my favorite) and Phil had fish and chips (an Irish classic).  Then we met up with LTC Suqi and some midshipmen for a few more pints at a variety of pubs around the city. 

Saturday was game day, so after a nice Irish breakfast we headed toward the stadium, attended a tailgate, Irish Style meaning it was pints at a pub, before heading inside at around 1230.   It was quite interesting to see the difference in the teams, Navy practicing by playing catch while Notre Dame had a very clear, organized, and systematic warm-up.  Opening ceremonies were really neat with all the midshipmen marching in and all the pomp and circumstance that comes with that.

Navy's Irish Pride Shines with a Irish Band

The game was not all that exciting since it was a blow out 50-13 (Notre Dame won of course).  A few other interesting things though - first of all the stadium is pretty cool (pictures don't do it justice sorry); second half-time featured the Notre Dame Band which is quite impressive. 

 

ND's Irish Pride Shines with a Four Leaf Clover

 

 

Finally, we had the opportunity to meet a few slightly important people.  Such as:

The Prime Minister of Ireland
He wasn't too sure who Phil was or why he was getting in on our picture.

 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Military

General Dempsey & Mrs. Dempsey

 

 

The Secretary of the Navy

(Who wanted nothing to do with me once I said I was Army)

 

 

And most importantly Bill the Goat

(who spilt my beer!)



Following the game, we came back to reality with a ride on the tram, dinner at an Italian restaurant, and pints at the Cobblestone Pub, a few blocks up from Jameson's Distillery, that had some good ale Irish Music. 

Most of the time we spent with LTC Suqi, his son, and a variety of his midshipmen friends.  So Sunday morning we started with another traditional Irish breakfast, and then a stroll around Dublin, before leaving them at Trinity College for their trek back to the states.

We didn't do a lot of sight seeing but just by walking around we did see Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Green, Fusiliers´ Arch, Merion Square, the National Memorial to Members of the Defense Forces, the Jameson Distillery (no tour cause the wait was 2 hours) and of course Grafton Street and Temple Bar.

 

 

You may think this is a lot, but all of these things we saw from the outside.  The only thing we really visited were pubs but we saw a lot of those!  All in all it was a great, but exhausting last minute trip. After a 4am wake-up we were home and napping by noon on Monday.