Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Taylor Beach Rugby

As I mentioned in my previous post, we played Rugby on the beach.  That was a blast!

Unfortunately, since I was playing I was unable to get any pictures, but thankfully Lilly took all these AMAZING pictures.

Explaining the rules...

Picking teams
 Brian, our bus driver, was also once played rugby on the Leinster team. He did a great job coaching us. This is my team, getting ready for the first play. Since I had to take off my glasses because Rugby gets super rough, I couldn't see much the entire game.
 LET THE GAME BEGIN!
 Can I just say that we had NO idea what we were doing...
 I decided that bulldozing was the best method.
GET OUT OF MY WAY!

Brian talking to the other team.
 If you are successfully tackled and hit the ground, you are supposed to let go of the ball, but that didn't always happen...

There I am, on the run again...
 Emily plowed Daniel over at one point when he had the ball.

Great shot!

I'm not sure what was happening here.
 Oh, look! We dropped the ball! It is time for a scrum. Our scrums aren't nearly as impressive, though because we didn't have as many players.

 Another scrum...
 Run, Carlee, RUN! (Oh wait... She wasn't on my team... ATTACK!)

Please don't ask what I was doing in any of these pictures...
 At half-time, we had to move the lines for the rugby field because the tide was coming in and creeping closer to our rugby field! But still, by the end of the game, our goal line was the water...
 For the last play, Brian stuck the ball in between us and made us race to get it.
 Game over! Our team lost, but we fought hard and had tons of fun.
 Apparently, it is a tradition to make a chain and run into the sea. Whoever breaks the chain has to do something ridiculous. Since I already "swam" earlier, I didn't join in. (That is a story for a different time.)
 Everyone ran into the icy ocean. Now, someone was supposed to trip and break the fall in the headlong rush, but they didn't so although they stayed out in the freezing sea for a while and ducked under the waves several times, they never broke the chain.

Lilly also took this lovely picture.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Rugby Game

 We got to attend our first Rugby game. Leinster was playing, of course! Now, when we watched this game, I knew NOTHING about rugby and basically had no idea what was happening. Then a few weeks later, we played rugby and in doing so learned more about it. I'm still no expert, but at least I can explain it a little better.
 Ireland's color is actually blue not green, therefore the Leinster boys and all their fans (which has to be 99% of all those there) were decked out in Blue. BLUE WAS EVERYWHERE!

Now, in rugby, basically, the main goal is to tackle anyone who has the ball. The ball gets passed backward to another team mate who then carries it. The game involved a lot of tackling and it often took awhile for the ball to get across the line. When someone carries the ball across the goal line, they must touch it to the ground, then the team gets five points.
 Every time Leinster scored, the crowd erupted, blue flags were waved, creating a wave of blue in the stands. Celebratory music filled the air and everyone was shouting for a few minutes. 
Do you see the amount of blue? SO MUCH BLUE!
 If the ball is dropped at any point during the game, a scrum has to be made. Everyone wraps arms around the players to either side, crouch and wait... The ball then gets thrown in the middle of the teams. The goal is to kick it back to your teammates.
 This results in a lot of pushing, which means that the scrum breaks... and results in a jumble of legs and arms...
 Not only was basically everyone cheering for Leinster (there were like two people cheering for the other team) but the Leinster mascot circled the stands, beating ob his drum and making everyone clap and chant for Leinster.
 After the game was over, (Leinster won, of course) we took the DART back to Bray, because (once again) the DART was down and didn't go all the way to Greystones. Then we rode one of the many double-decker Dublin buses back to Greystones.
Misty Bray head on the horizon.
 We decided that being college students was overrated and drew monsters on the misty bus window.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Mount Usher Gardens

 The last post about the Dark hedges was awhile ago, well this one was even longer ago... All the way back to the end of September! We got to go to Mount Usher gardens, which were beautiful. There won't be much text in this post, so just enjoy the pictures.

Another great tree!

Bridges, rivers, and waterfalls.
 Sorry for the glare of the sun.


Cool tree!

A little alcove hidden under the branches of a tree.
 THIS was the view you got if you ventured down the tiny deer path, under the tree, through the alcove, and across some stones jutting out into the middle of the river.
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 Another angle of the hidden alcove leading to the waterfall.

Towering trees

Winding pathes



 And lovely flowers...