Belfast: Pearl Jam & Ben Harper.

June 30th, 2010 comments: 0

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Our main purpose of stopping in Belfast was to see Pearl Jam with Ben Harper & The Relentless 7 at the Odyssey Arena; granted it was a great city to see for other reasons.  We used Julie’s Ten Club seats for the show and they ended up being GA floor seats.  In other words the best seats I’ve ever had at a Pearl Jam concert.  We waited about 20 minutes before the gates open and then managed to hit the vendor booth for a poster before heading to the floor.  By the time we got to the stage we were about 8 people back from it.

Ben Harper played about 7 songs during a quick set but it was good.  Pearl Jam sounded really good but I wasn’t that into the set list.  Maybe it was just the second encore but the first three songs of the show might have been may favorite songs from their respective albums:

Sometimes
Do The Evolution
Animal

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Side Note:

* Being in General Admission we had to deal with people all night trying to move their way up to spaces that didn’t exist.  Julie and I nearly had to throw down but luckily we made a strategic move.  There was a group of girls behind us who were insisting on moving up and gettting in everyone’s way.  About two people in front of us were two Italian guys who weren’t putting up with anyone’s shit.  We stepped aside and watched the madness as these girls tried to get past these guys.  They nearly smacked the girls in the face and the one guy literally did the ‘Momma Mia’ thing with his hands while saying “You don’t fuck with an Italian!”.

** I took this picture because of the amazing advancement in beer transport technology:

This is the Tour Guide/Body Guard/Drinking Partner that I hired for my time in Ireland. His references were good...

Belfast: The Troubles & The Crown Bar.

June 28th, 2010 comments: 0

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This past Tuesday Julie and I traveled from Dublin to Belfast via train in a little more than two hours. We basically had one full day to check the city out before heading to the Odyssey Arena to see Pearl Jam and Ben Harper.  Our original plans were to head up north and see the Giant’s Causeway and tour the Bushmills Distillery but after figuring out that would take about 6 hours we passed on it. The hotel was able to arrange a ‘Black Cab‘ tour that took us through the more interesting parts of the city.

The Black Cub tour basically takes you through both neighborhoods in Belfast where most of the events of the ‘Troubles‘ took place.  Our driver would point out what each mural was for, where a bombing took place and the headquarters of the IRA/UVF.  It was intense. Five minutes into the drive we had to go through a police checkpoint.  We drove down Shankill Road which is the heart of the Loyalist neighborhood and where a man was shot dead in broad daylight last month.  We drove around both sides of the Peace Wall. The driver advised us not to take pictures on the Catholic side but we were able to get out and walk around the Protestant side.  The driver kept pointing out how things were getting better; for example the new courthouse downtown is made of glass.

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The Crown Bar

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Once we first got into town and walked around a little bit we headed over to the Crown Bar which was about half a block from our hotel.  The bar is supposed to be the oldest in Belfast.  The inside has a bunch of small rooms/booths and half the place is lit with gas lamps, supposedly all the stained glass is what was leftover from the Titanic’s sister ship the Britannic, I’m not sure I buy that.

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The rest of Belfast:

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While at the Crown Bar we learned that our hotel was next to the Europa Hotel which happens to be the most bombed hotel in Europe.  During our cab tour we also got to see the docks where the Titanic was built.  Our driver said the ship was built by the Irish and was fine when it left Ireland, the problem of course was that it was captained by an Englishmen.

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Over all Belfast was great.  The best hotel of our entire trip.

Dublin: Guinness Brewery & Jameson Distillery.

June 23rd, 2010 comments: 0

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Julie and I finished up the first part of our honeymoon in Dublin, Ireland.  We managed to make our way around the city hitting several pubs, the Guinness Store House and the Jameson Distillery.

Guinness Store House:
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This will probably come down as one of my favorite parts of the trip.  As one who doesn’t usually ever drink Guinness, I’ve had my share so far this week beginning with the free pint at the end of the tour.  The whole Guinness brewery is huge, several city blocks.  You don’t really get a sense for the place until you’re at the end of the tour atop the Guinness Gravity Bar.

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Jameson Distillery:
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After we finished up at Guinness we walked a couple of blocks across town to the Old Jameson Distillery.  They no longer actually make any Whiskey here so that was kind of a downer.  It was more like walking through a museum than anything.  There was free whiskey at the end and Julie participated in a whiskey taste test that included Jameson, Johnnie Walker Black, and Jack Daniels.

Needless to say she was not please.

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Temple Bar:
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The Temple Bar area of Dublin is basically a strip of pubs and shops in the center of the city.  We did the rounds and stop in a far share of them.  We watched one of the World Cup games at the Quays, Bruno was no where to be found.  We also drank at the Brazenhead which is considered to be the oldest bar in Dublin dating back to 1198.  I’m not sure how accurate that is but the mens room was definitely circa 1572.

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Sidenote:

* Unlike usual, our experience with the Airline Industry was pleasant.  We flew Aer Lingus which seemed to have a very modern plane and we managed to arrive 30 minutes early.

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** Despite Dublin’s lack of decent maps and our inability to navigate via dead reckoning we successfully found a Leo Burdock for fish and chips.  I could have used some ketchup but other than that it was good.

*** The rest of my photographs are here on Flickr.

The Stanley Cup at Wrigley Field.

June 14th, 2010 comments: 0

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Last night Julie and I went to Wrigley Field for the BP Crosstown Classic between the White Sox and the Cubs.  The Blackhawks were on hand with the Stanley Cup.

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Side Note:

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* As low scoring baseball goes the game was interesting to watch since both pitchers had ‘no-hitters‘ going for quite a while.  The Cubs ended up winning 1-0.

View From My Seat at Wrigley Field. #Cubs #Sox

** We got rooftop tickets via youswoop.com and went to the Down the Line rooftop.  I was not impressed at all.  There was little information on their website (when do doors open, where’s the entrance, etc.) and the way the whole thing was run was shady.  On the main deck they had three couches setup and then tables and chairs behind them.  If you weren’t one of the first 3 people up you didn’t get a couch (I was fourth) and when you sat at the tables people just stood in front of you.  We ended up moving down stairs and watched from the window and the TV.  I think they might have just started business this season but compared to the Skybox on Sheffield this place was a joke.

Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.

June 10th, 2010 comments: 0

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Last night the neighborhood was pretty loud as the people went to the streets after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.

Parade is on Friday.

Stanley Cup Final: Game Five.

June 8th, 2010 comments: 0

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This past Sunday Julie and I went to Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final.  As much as I’d like to see the Stanley Cup won in Chicago it felt like the odds were against the Hawks going into this game.  After dropping games three and four to the Flyers everyone had assumed the series would end in Game Six.  Now if that holds true the Blackhawks will have their first Cup in 49 years. As all the Chicago games have been in this series it was intense and the Hawks started off quickly getting their first PowerPlay goal in about three months.

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Side Note:

* The rest of my photographs are up on Flickr.

Mayfest.

June 6th, 2010 comments: 2

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After a a nap following Beer Hoptacular I headed up north for this year’s Mayfest.  Despite the rain and a short power outage the night went well.  There was a lot of beer as one might expect and a good group of people.  I think this year was the most time I’ve ever spent at Mayfest (we were actually there until last call).  Granted the previous years it’s usually 90 degrees and the middle of the afternoon.

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Side Note:
*Mayfest 2008.

Beer Hoptacular

June 6th, 2010 comments: 0

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Yesterday afternoon I headed to Beer Hoptacular at the Aragon Ballroom. There were over two hundred beers from amongst 30 breweries.  The breweries were mostly from the Midwest but there were also some from each coast (Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada).  I’d say my two favorite beers of the day were Flatlander IPA or Roadhouse Brewery’s Bluebeery Ale.  The beer I liked the least had to be the Imperial IPA King Paddy from the Wild Onion Brewery, to me it tasted like weed.

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The only downside was the ‘featured brewery’, was out of their signature beer: Brooklyn Local 1.  I got there an hour into the event and they were already out.

Stanley Cup Final: Game One.

May 31st, 2010 comments: 0

Inside the United Center.Stanley Cup Final Game 1 - United Center.

On Friday Julie and I went to game one of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blackhawks and the Flyers.  This is our third trip to the Finals in three years (much like Marian Hossa), we were at games one & two in 2008 and game one in 2009; all in Detroit.  Thankfully we had a different outcome this time around with the Hawks pulling out a 6-5 win.  The United Center was probably as loud as I’ve ever heard it in the past two years.

Julie’s got some great pictures over at chicagometsfan.com, including shots of a couple of the Hawks goals.

Western Conference Finals Game 4.

May 24th, 2010 comments: 0

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The Blackhawks completed the sweep of the Sharks last night at the United Center.  Once again the Hawks came from behind and now we’re headed to the Stanley Cup Final.  We got to see the Campbell Trophy awarded and the handshake line.  Jonathan Toews, much like Crosby two years ago, did not touch the Conference Championship trophy.

Side Note:
*The rest of my photographs from Game 4 are on Flickr here.
**Once the on ice celebration began Patrick Kane began circling the rink waving his stick looking for some one toss it to:

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On to the Stanley Cup Final.