Saturday morning
Hey there sunshine's!
Good morning! The clock is about eleven here. It's pretty unusual for me to wake up eleven on a Saturday, but I just couldn't miss another second of this country, of this city! It has so much to explore, and I want to visit more and more things for every thing I visit. Weird, but true. :) Unfortunately the weather isn't sunshine and rainbow's today like a few days ago, when I visited the Blarney Castle, but hey... That doesn't stop me at all! Later this day me and my friend Mary are going down to a cafe down town to talk and get to know each other a little bit more. Have I told you guys about Mary at all? Well it's not a long or complicated story. Paul was showing me around the city, places where tourists usually don't visit (that makes a trip just so much better, I promise!), and we met Mary around the corner of a street. Paul and Mary have been friends as long as they can remember, so they're pretty tight! Anyway Mary told me a shocking thing... She is half-Swedish! I got really happy and I think Paul got a little bit bored, we couldn't stop chattering on Swedish. Haha, pore Paul, had to stand out with that. It was nice to let go the English for a while and get to talk my real language a bit.
The time flew away, but luckily Paul said we had to move on, I guess it was enough for him... Actually before we left, we decided to meet up on a pub and later move on to check a hurling game! I got really excited, just like the first time you can go to the city without your parents, I got to go somewhere without Paul. Oh, now it sounded like he is forcing me to be with him, but I can ensure you, I wouldn't go outside my hotel door if I hadn't got such a great guide as Paul, I might tell ya... :)
ANYWAY, (sometimes I just write about something small and it becomes huge..) I wanted to tell you how my day at the stadium was. As we decided we meet up in a pub (sooo similar to the pub we where in) and stayed there for a while, actually, it was over a hour... She took a beer with a explanation: “I've become addicted top this.” She pointed on a Guinness. Oh, I totally agreed with her, even though beer isn't my favorite thing to drink. The time flew away fast in the bar especially when she showed me music of Van Morrison. When she told me he was Irish I was totally shocked, and I don't even know why. Did you guys know he was Irish? I guess I thought the music from Ireland just was “hoppely-doddely-do”.
She was a little bit shocked that I didn't knew which song “Brown Eyed Girl” was, I was sure that I never had heard a song named like that. When she turned it on, it was like my mind was flying back in time to when I was young, teenager-young.
So lovely song, so lovely memories!
It's not so calm but the notes still makes it a song in the map called ”Fun but calm songs”. Not many songs in Sweden can keep the calm but still have that 80's touch swing on the notes, but not go all the way to “hoppely-doddely-do” haha. As we was listening to Van's delightful song, and sipping beer and soda, we almost forgot about the time song we had to run to the stadium. The line was SO long when we came, Mary explained all the good hurling-players was in this match. It seemed like hole Dublin wanted to check the game. Luckily, we got in before the match started but it was just barely. It took a while for us to find our seats, we had apparently got into the wrong entry, but it do so much really. Mary worked her heck to find the seats (hahah) but, at the moment, I have to say she was like air for me, I just couldn't help, think about a similarity. Just because everything else, like the food and stuff was pretty cheap (especially the meat, I'll tell you one thing: Ireland have lot's of cows.., that makes it affordable and organic, me like!), I thought going to a hurling game would be even cheaper. Apparently it wasn't. It actually cost just like ordinary football games in Sweden. But yeah, I have to consider it was a huge game between two of the most well playing teams in hurley. That's the way it is in Sweden to. If it's two good playing game, it cost a bit more. :) (It's kind of logigal isn't it..? HEHE)
Either way, they started playing and as they did something Mary explained how they play it. It was very simply, but really fast so you had to make sure your eyes were in right place!The ball flew in the air, fairly high, and the players must have quite good skills on catching balls. I'm afraid for balls so that's defiantly not a sport for me. But that's not the only thing they do. When they grabbed the ball, it was quick. Drop the ball, that's called “sliothar” on the grass, pick it up with your little stick named just like the game, hurling, and run with it. But they can only take about four steps, and then they have to pass. I didn't think it sounded that difficult, but damn, I had wrong! Just look and see for you self...
Kind of what it looked like... Amazing!
I can't imagine how they flip, run, catch, pass, like in the same time, it sure is many sports in one like everybody says! As the fastest game in the world (yes omg), was in action in front of me I actually noticed how different it is. They were screaming and talking, it was always some noise going on, even in the most thrilling scenes of this games! I mean, when you sit in a arena in Sweden, it isn't that noisy, it most quiet, well, not maybe in the cliffhanging scenes... ;) As I mentioned in previous entries, Irish people are very social and chatty, so I guessed sitting there with Mary it had to do with the noise circulating the arena all the time. I'm maybe totally wrong, but it felt like that. It can have been how much football or hurling lovers it is on the arena? Of course, it's more talking and chatting when the people love the game, and are really familiar with it. :)
Though it's the fastest game in the world, hurling takes about 70 minutes a game. I actually thought the goals was in football, you know, that the median was like 3 goals, but it's often 10 +! Just like in handball. That just shows how much sports is involved in hurling. Cool!
Hurley stick and ball. Looks like a hockey stick and a baseball ball don't you think?
However, those 70 minutes was gone really fast. I didn't even count the time, it felt like the judge started the match and five minutes later, said it was over! It was a really tens game between Clarinbridge and O'Loughlin Gaels. Clarinbridge had pink t-shirts and O'Loughlin Gaels had green. I cheered for the pink shirts, of course, and they won! Mary jumped up and down from the ground and was really happy. She totally transferred the happiness on me and suddenly I stood and was jumping up and down, just like Mary and half of the arena. It looked really cool when they shouted out loud and waved with their big pink flags. It reminded me of Sweden, when the wave with their flags after a match. :) Good feelings there! :D
I'm sure I'm going to remember yesterday forever, and hopefully I'm soon sitting there again. :) My phone is ringing, it's Mary, oh mother earth.. :@ It's still raining... But, as I said, that ain't stopping me today,, I'm in a real coffee-mode. :) Hope your day is gonna be great and shiny, haha.
So long!
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Sources:
- sv.wikipedia.org / en.wikipedia.org
- Gleerups HAPPY Textbook No. 1
Lovely photos belongs to:
- Peter Wöllauer @ commons.wikimedia.org
- Rick Payette @ flickr.com
Well Done!
as allways good about the factpart very good comparisions awesome work!:DDDD
