English

The first full day! Breakfast was at a reasonable time (luckily) and provided by Brent and Sietse. The Irish way, of course, so lots of scrambled egg and bacon. Right after breakfast we only had to walk a block to our first activity of the day, a walking tour with the ‘gezellige’ tour guide Ian from the company Original Dublin, where we had a crash course on Irish history in about 3 hours. To summarise, the Irish had a lot of good ideas but lacked successful execution. Like the millennium clock, asking the Spaniards to help them win against the British, and then eventually inviting the British over to Ireland. The best facts of the day had to be that they accidentally burned down the city while trying to create a battlefield area for the fight against the Vikings and that two-thirds of the Irish population doesn’t speak Irish and of course the most important one; that the current political tumult is caused by one guy crawling out of prison through a latrine. The most boring fact according to Ian is that the O’Connell bridge is wider than it is long.

After the wonderful tour, the group split up where Menno, Brent and Kay couldn’t get enough of beer, while others needed a nap after yesterday’s outings. Of course, Bas and Sietse did some sightseeing where they bonded with some squirrels. Dinner plans were also split up into groups, but luckily in restaurants right across from each other, O’Sheas (also in Eindhoven!) and Gallaghers Boxty House, recommended by Ian.

Our whole day was influenced by Ian. As we write this, we are joining a pub crawl organised by Ian and his friends. Lots of Dutch people, lots of drinks, lots of live music, and lots and lots of fun! Already looking forward to tomorrow morning… For now, we’re going to enjoy Piano Man by Shaun, see ya!

– Written by Bas and Pam –