Rugby

Eve broke her foot, so we don’t get to see much more as it’s difficult to get around for sightseeing. Today we got to see the rugby at last. It’s a really fun game, basically like the normal rugby, which is very big in Ireland and Eve loves it. Tag rugby though has (theoretically) no contact whereas rugby is like American Football but without the body protection.

Knitting day!

Today we went to Eve’s knitting group. Everybody was a bit shy, so there aren’t many photos. Basically it’s a group of people who meet every other Sunday to sit together, chat and knit. Eve is currently making some presents for a pregnant friend.

Meet some nice children

Eve had to go back to work yesterday and today we got to go with her. She works as a childminder with a lovely almost two year old boy called Ben. We played a lot with him and his favourite toys, he likes the number jigsaw and trains.

We also went to the rugby again but got stuck in the bag the whole time, AGAIN, because Eve was running late through no fault of her own this time and after the match it was all over and we had to take care of Eve because she broke her finger. But next week we will definitely get to take photos before we have to go home again.

Clubbing in Dublin!

We went out tonight for a few drinks and to meet all the important people in Eve’s life! So there was Avee (the best one), Damien (A’s boyfriend), Josi (another great one) and Amy (A’s friend). There were a few others but A, D and J are important. And they seemed to love us. And we loved the beer. We actually got honorary Irish citizenship.

Here is first of all Eve with our good friend, Heineken, then Josi and Damien trying to get us drunk and then Avee (right) and Amy. Actually, Paul was a little worse for wear at that time and had to be held and fed his drink, but sure, he’s grand (something the Irish say a lot). We were in a place called Workman’s Club, which is a great place to hang out and have a few pints, which we Irish (yes, we already call ourselves that) love.

We were so tired after all the partying and drinking that we fell fast asleep as soon as we got home!

A walk to the Irish Sea

Because it’s so warm we went to the sea side today with Eve and Ben. We went to Dun Laoghaire, that funny place we learnt about last week. It’s a lovely spot with a harbour, it’s where ferries go to Great Britain from but there are lots of sailing boats as well. We were stuck to Ben’s buggy on the way, which was a nice way to get some sun.

Before we went to the pier we had a rest beside the harbour.

Then we went onto the West Pier, which is a mile long and has a green light house at the end. It’s a nice walk. There was a big boat in the harbour, which looks tiny behind us.

 

After we spent a lot of time in a gazebo on the pier we went over to the other side of the pier where you can see a place called Sandycove and a lot of the Irish Sea.

A walk on the streets of Dublin

Today is a day of rest and the day of partying! First we went to cross our fingers (press our thumbs) for Eve and her driver theory test. It was nerve wrecking but we’re so happy she passed the test and now she’s allowed to drive. The test centre was close to the canal as well, it’s actually a lovely walk for about 30 minutes along the canal so we took a photo with Eve’s provisional driver’s licence at one of the locks, where we later also saw a boat passing through.

We also saw something very funny called yarn bombing. We will get to the root of that a bit more on Sunday next week we were told but basically, Eve likes to knit and crochet and she meets every other Sunday with a group of people to do that. Yarn bombing is something when somebody (or a group of people) knits and crochets bits and pieces, they are joined together and attached to something you find outside. We found a big bit wrapped around a tree, as you can see in the picture.

We also found a kind of a statue sitting on one of the benches along the canal. Eve isn’t too sure what it’s about, it’s certainly nobody famous but we thought it was great, so we took a picture with it. All we know is that in 1991 Dublin was the cultural capital and probably in honour of that this statue was placed.

A trip to the coast

The weather is beautiful today. We are helping Eve to dry out her tent from the camping trip but we were messing around so much that she put us in the tent and we can’t get up to anything any more.

In the afternoon we went to the beach with Eve’s friend Liesa, she’s South African and really funny! Nobody told us that the weather in Ireland can be nice, it’s 27 degrees today (very hot for Ireland) and we’re sitting here in long trousers, heavy boots and coats! The beach was lovely, Dublin has lots of them close to the city as it’s right at the coast and we went to one at a place called Sandymount in South Dublin City. The tide was out and there were lots of people there and in the distance between Howth Peninsula and Dun Laoghaire (yes, Irish place names are sometimes really weird, you pronounce this “Dun Leary”) there were lots of sailing boats and yachts in Dublin Bay. This is us at the beach, the big blob over Paul’s head is a massive dog, we were a little bit scared but he seemed nice. The other photo shows all the boats.

Eve plays Tag Rugby and was helping out a team today but because we were running late (well, it’s really Eve’s fault, she talked to her friend for too long) we didn’t get a chance to take pictures. But next Wednesday she is playing with her own team again so there will be plenty of time to kick the ball around. We heard it’s a funny shape, a bit like an egg, we didn’t even get to see because we were stuck in the bag the whole time.

We visit Ireland

After a long and complicated trip we are finally in Ireland. We just got collected at the post office (Oifig an Phoist) and are on our way home. We are staying with a girl called Eve, she is 27 and from Hannover in Germany but has been living in Ireland for over 7 years, we are with her in Dublin now, where she has been living for about 5 years. This is us on the Luas, the tram, which is one of the three means of public transportation in Dublin. The seats have prints of several sights on them.  

We were so tired from the trip that we just went home to relax, Eve was tired as well as she just came back from a camping trip in Dingle which we unfortunately missed but there will be loads of exciting things happening over the next couple of days so we’re not too sad! 

Irish cuisine!

We did a lot of food shopping and cooking today. Eve always cooks dinners for 2-3 weeks ahead because she doesn’t like to cook in the evening after a long day in work, so we helped her make 5 big pots full of food. Hans got a bit too curious and hungry, he almost fell into the Bolognese but he wouldn’t have minded too much, he could’ve eaten his way out.

In the evening we went outside for a while, Eve lives right by the canal which goes right across Dublin and when the weather is nice it’s beautiful to sit there and read or have a chat with friends. Eve has her theory test for her driver’s licence tomorrow afternoon so she did some studying but we wanted to talk to her so we just sat on the book. Here in Ireland you don’t have to do lessons for the theory test; you just buy a book and learn all the answers. So fingers crossed she passes the test, she’s a bit worried!