Post 35 - 6 Nations Tournament

February is the launching of the 6 Nations Tournament! What is this?

Every year the 6 main nations of rugby in Europe (Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy) play against each other across the months of February and March. This is the 6 Nations Tournament! It is a very prestigious and high level competition.

This year is very particular and crucial since all nations will try to take benefit from the tournament to train and build a strong team in order to be ready for the World Cup which will be in England in September 2015.

Rugby is a very famous sport in Ireland.

Irish professional rugby teams is divided in 4 different team which are:

·         Leinster (Blue jersey and the main city is Dublin)

·         Munster (Red jersey and the main city is Limerick)

·         Ulster (White jersey and the main city is Belfast)

·         Connacht (Green jersey and the main city is Galway)

Those teams are playing during the whole year in the two main competitions which are the Rabodirect Pro 12 and the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Ireland plays usually in green jersey with a “clover stamp” on the chest. They won the last 6 Nations Tournament and they are favourite to win the competition this year too!! Let’s go!!

Post 34 - Christmas in Dublin - Celebration Days!

Well into the Christmas countdown here in Ireland...  less than a week to the big 25th of December! As mentioned by Gilles in the previous post, every night is now a mix of Christmas Jumpers and Festivities.

Having had the chance to spend Christmas in the country, here are some little traditions you may find intriguing, exciting and enjoyable.

How many of us would be rushing through the streets of our hometown to buy the last minute presents and table decorations... On December 24th, getting ready for an evening of big festivities around the table with the entire family...
Well, not in Ireland! December 24th is another great excuse to meet all childhood friends down the PUB! When most of the Irish who go home for the holidays, Christmas Eve is the perfect opportunity for a great catch up with friends and neighbours down the good old local pub. No family party or gift exchange, just another great night of pints and laughter!

Following another night out, December 25th in Ireland starts with a strong coffee, a shower and maybe a fry-up before getting ready for the traditional Christmas family dinner.
A traditional Irish table would have a big roast turkey, roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnip, the good old Brussel sprouts and stuffing. Desert would usually include a Christmas pudding made with mix fruits, sugar and obviously more alcohol (stout or whiskey). It is important not to forget the mince pies for everybody to nibble on.
Presents are open before or after dinner depending on the family traditions.

December 26th is another important day for Ireland. As most of us Expats would have to think of going back to work, Irish people would be enjoying another day off spent with more family members and dinner celebrations. Being a Bank Holiday in Ireland, St Stephen's day mark the beginning of the Sales! Yes, an entire day off to shop and exchange your unwanted Christmas presents. Ideal no?

So, if you are spending Christmas in Ireland... Do not hesitate to follow all these traditions, I can assure you... You will barely miss home!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Post 33 - Christmas in Dublin, PARTY!!!

Christmas is a big deal in Ireland and the festive season starts from mid November till the end of December. Irish people love to go out and meet friends and family in the run up to Christmas. At work everyone is busy with Team Night Out and Christmas Parties. I have to say that I really love it, I always loved Christmas but in Ireland it seems to be a bigger version of it. However I have never spent Christmas Day in Ireland so I don't really know what it's like in an Irish family (Leslie will tell you more about this in another post).
Oh and by the way here they call the big red man Santa (for Santa Claus), not Father Christmas!

Dublin city council is really trying to get a great festive spirit and there are lots going on:

• Christmas lights

•  Christmas Market on Stephens Green

• Christmas tree on O'Connell Street

• They even have a Radio station that only plays Christmas song!! http://www.christmasfm.com/

• Christmas jumpers are a must have and this is great fun to wear one of those...
  
   

Merry Christmas everyone and be good if you want Santa to bring you something nice :)

Gilles

Post 32 - An amazing Food Blog: French Foodie in Dublin

I have been in Ireland for almost 9 years and one thing that annoyed me when I first moved here was that I could not find all the food and food ingredients I was looking for. Things have changed now and I know where to go to find all the stuff I love.

When I discovered French Foodie in Dublin's blog, I was really impressed and since then I follow this blog everyday: http://frenchfoodieindublin.blogspot.ie/

FFID as she calls herself has an amazing talent for finding news places where to eat, sharing recipes and taking great pictures. She is now organizing Cinema and Food nights and tours of Dublin. Everything she is doing seems to be a great success.

Here are a few tips if you are a foodie in Dublin (French or not):

• Great bread: Hansel and Gretel Bakery and Patisserie, 20 Clare Street, Dublin 2
• Great cheese: Sheridans Cheesemongers http://www.sheridanscheesemongers.com/
• Great food hall: Fallon & Byrne http://www.fallonandbyrne.com/
•  Great food magazine: Food & Wine Ireland

Gilles Cognard, another French Foodie in Dublin :)

Post 31 - Weekend away : London

Dublin is great and the city is not so far from London, UK, a proper British accent! So, why not going to London for a weekend? Not too bad would say an Irish guy! Indeed London is lovely, London rocks and London is massive, the city will fit to all kind of people!

If you arrive from Gatwick airport you will have to take the train to Victoria station (15 pounds) and then the tube to go where your hostel/hotel/flat is! You can get accommodation through airbnb or hostelworld, easy booking!

London ok, but for what? You can go to Twickenham for a Rugby game, to Brick lane and try excellent yummy Indian food, to Hyde park to meet with squirrels, to Buckingham palace to watch the guard change, to Big ben to take the imperial buses, to Leicester square or Piccadilly circus to go shopping, to spend hours and hours in the National Gallery and then to Camden town to party in a very friendly atmosphere!!

A lot of connections from Dublin airport, I recommend to change euros in pounds in Dublin’s post office to avoid taxes. Let’s go for a totally different weekend! Enjoy it!

Florian

Post 30 - Never pay an apartment deposit without seeing the apartment

The housing market in Dublin is going through a difficult time at the moment because there is not enough apartments to rent. This is creating a difficult situation for whoever is currently moving to Dublin. I have been following a French community on Facebook and I can see that lots of people are struggling to find a place to live.
However it seems that people always manage to find an apartment. It is important to have a back up plan (hostel or friends...) and to be patient.

One of our candidates recently got a big problem with a landlord and I wanted to share this with you. The landlord had a place to rent online and our candidate wanted to secure this place. So he paid the deposit without meeting with the landlord or seeing the place. Then when he was supposed to get his keys the landlord told him that she was on an unexpected business trip and would only come back to Dublin the following Friday. Then she emailed him on Friday saying that she would only come back on Monday and now she has disappeared with his deposit...

We are investigating this issue and will try to help our candidate to get his money back but it seems that this is happening a lot.

Be careful who you are dealing with and never pay a deposit without meeting with the landlord and visiting the place!

Post 29 - Hurling

I never heard of Irish sports before I moved here but this is a huge part of Irish culture. They have 2 main ones: Football (I will blog about this later) and Hurling. I think Hurling is the most spectacular one. This is highly physical and all players carry a wooden stick called Hurley so this can get pretty dangerous... Apparently this is a very old game that has been played for over 3,000 years.

This weekend it was the All Ireland Finale (all county have a team and compete with each other). This was Kilkenny against Tipperary. Kilkenny is one of the best team in the country and won the All Ireland 34 times... However this time they did not win, they drew and there will be a replay!

The big change this year is that the games are now live on Sky Sports so this is available in the UK. I don't think that many countries will start playing Hurling but this is definitely a sport that deserves to be on TV. The finale is played in Croke Park (which has a capacity of over 80,000 people) and the atmosphere is absolutely amazing!

Have a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBx7ZsjziHQ