Grand Slams & Shrinking Trousers!

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Well, I’m sure there was some party back home. Sixty one years is a long time to wait to win something and hopefully it wont be that long before our next one. We watched the match in Sullivan’s Irish bar in Palermo with the two girls (Linda & Eimear) that we had met in Puerto Iguazu. We had already met them on Paddy’s day here in BA, where we celebrated our Patron Saint in fine honour! I had left my clothes including my irish jersey in for cleaning two days before the match. On the morning of the game the laundry still had not returned. We waited until 1 o’clock and had to leave at that stage as the match was at half two our time and we wanted to make sure we had a good spot in front of the TV. We arrived at the bar the same time as the girls. There were a few Irish in there already. The match got under way and it wasn’t long before I was making a fool of myself shouting at the TV. Others were at it too, so it was not like I was the only one! With each score Ireland got we jumped (as in me) around celebrating. I couldn’t believe at then end when Paddy Wallace gave away a penalty. It seemed if he didn’t, Best was hell bent on making sure he did. Imagine how Wallace would have felt if that ball made the 48 metres and crossed the bar. I turned my back to the screen as I couldn’t watch. There was another TV there so I had no choice. Everyone went crazy in the bar (mainly me). I couldn’t believe it. I really thought he would have put it over. I was glad golden face Henson didn’t take it. Imagine if he was the one to deny us the Grand Slam. It would be twice as hard to take. By the way, was that Tommy Bowe, the boy with no pace leaving Shane Williams for dust?! We didn’t get to see the after match celebrations as the TV station turned to some Italian football. This morning though we spent an hour on RTE watching all the interviews and reports and it would nearly bring a tear to the eye! Paul O’Connell’s interview was brilliant and something you could watch over and over again. After the match we had few more pints with the rest of the Irish in the bar. We chatted about the match and wondered what it would be like back home. Hopefully it’s not long away that you can join a party without being physically there, in the same way that using a web cam would have been alien 20 or 30 years ago. One thing we will always remember is Sullivan’s bar in Palermo, BA. The place we saw Ireland win the Grand Slam for the first time in a lot of peoples lives.

We left the bar about an hour or so after the match with the two girls. We went walked a short distance to find a market and clothes shops surrounded by bars and restaurants. The perfect place for men and women to go on a Saturday afternoon. The place was full of people and there was even a play ground for kids. It was all in a small area and if we had the weather back home it would be the perfect way to spend a weekend afternoon. It was all very civilized as well and we all wondered would we respect it enough at home so as not to tear the ass of it? I was also wondering is our weather like part of a maths equation in our personalities. That if you were to change our weather back home would we change as well?? My head started to hurt at this stage so I stopped. We walked further until we found a nice café and ordered Empanadas and coffee. This was only to fill a gap as we were heading out later for another big steak dinner and wanted to leave room for another feast. We hoped on the subway to get home and arranged to meet Linda and Eimear at 10:30pm.

Our laundry was back and I changed into my Ireland jersey and my newly shrunk jeans. Now, I can all hear you sniggering, saying that it wasn’t that they were shrunk and that I had actually piled on a few pounds from all the pizza’s, steak and buns! Maybe that was it but they were certainly smaller. I think/hope the trekking in Patagonia might sort that out. We met the girls and went to a restaurant called La Rosillina (or something like that). I was now regretting wearing my jersey as it was warm out and I was feeling the heat. We ordered our food and wine and sat and talked until our feast arrived. Again it was meat only. Michelle ordered Lomo (sirloin) and I ordered Asado (veal ribs). Michelle’s was bigger than two portions you would get at home and mine, although big, was not as big as the Asado we had ordered a few nights previous in La Cabrera. Mine was very tasty but had a lot more fat on it than the last one. It was enjoyable but hard work and I don’t think I will eat it again unless it is recommended to me. Michelle couldn’t finish hers and I duly helped her, while keeping an eye on the button of my trousers. I really hope it was the tumble dryer!! We sat and talked there until about 1am. I was getting tired and feeling the effects of the pints I had earlier. We talked some more to the two girls in area with a lot of bars and although tempted to have a drink we decided we better go home as we were going to Uruguay the next day and didn’t actually know how! It was 2am when we got home and we knew there was a boat at 9am. That went straight out the window.

We got up this morning, checked out and left our bags in the storage area for the three days we would be in Uruguay. All we needed to bring with us were a few changes of clothes and anything worth any value. Michelle suggested I should stay in the luggage area! Funny girl! We sat around the hostel until about 12pm and then decided that we better figure out a way to Uruguay. We hit the road towards the port with the name of a company and our two day bags. When I asked in the hostel about the boat the guy suggested we ‘book a bus’. I kept saying ‘no, I want to get the ferry’ and he kept saying ‘yes, book a bus’. I was getting pretty pissed off with him until I realised he was saying ‘Buquebus’ the name of a ferry company. Did I fell like a fool!. We made our way to the terminal and the next boat was not until 7:30pm. We booked our first class tickets to Uruguay (they had no normal class and it was €10 each to upgrade so why not) and it only cost about €70 each returned. It was now time to eat so we looked for a nice café nearby for some food. Healthy isn’t on the menu here so we got some sort of fancy burgers and chips. We have said it is chicken, fish and veg for the next while and hopefully we will find a place that sells anyone of them.

There is a new enough neighbourhood here in BA called Puerto Madero. It is built near the docks and has plenty of high rise apartments and fancy restaurants. The people in the restaurants were very much of a boating culture with and the area looked like it had plenty of money. We stopped at a Freddo ice cream shop and had a combination of lemon and chocolate to share. We got a huge tub for about €3 and sat along side the boardwalk and enjoyed the sun and people going by. Right now we are in the terminal waiting for the boat. It is feckin’ freezing in here and we are kitted out in shorts and t-shits. We are going to stay in the sleepy but picturesque town of Colonia for three days and maybe, just maybe we might do a bit of relaxing!

In a bit. DH

Song of the Blog: Safety Rope - White Lies - Mick Flannery

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