Dublin take dhá

A third weekend of rugby! Not that we are rugby heads, but the chance to watch all three All Blacks tests seemed too good to pass up.  Up early Saturday morning for our Ryanair flight.  In typical ruanair fashion we were lined up at gate 440, when over the PA it is announced we will now be boarding from gate 443.  A mad human crush followed as people rushed to keep their place in line.  Oh how I wish for allocated seating. A short flight later we landed in Dublin and let the gunniess flow!  We went to the temple bar to watch the Kiwi league teams last minute semi-final win over the English.  We then walked around the city, taking in Trinity College (the oldest university in Ireland) and two Cathedrals.  Nath and I headed back to our hostel for a nana nap later in the afternoon before heading out for dinner with my cousin + girlfriend and Scott + his friends.

Next morning Nath and I headed to Jameson's Old Distillery home of the famous Irish Whiskey.  We didn't think it would be open at 10:15, but it was, and we had our first whiskey of the day at 11am!  The whiskey hit us in the head so we grabbed a bite to eat before slowly making our way to Aviva stadium.  We stopped at a pub called Oil Can Harry's and had a guinness with some pretty funny older Irish guys.

Game time and what an amazing atmosphere.  The Irish supporters were writing off their team before the match and were stunned to score an early try - an then another and another to take the lead at half time.  Luckily the Irish scored no points in the second half and the All Blacks were able to win the match in over time.  What a game! An Irish supporter gave me his scarf afterwards and shook my hand - so lovely.  We celebrated our victory at a massive pub called O'Neills where we had Irish stew to warm ourselves up.  Time to take the bus to the airport and board our last ever ryanair flight.  The best of the three rugby weekends by far.
Ah Dublin you were grand!