I arrived home from a business trip to Porto last Friday feeling a bit emotional, as I had say farewell to one of my suppliers. The trip was good, and I was very touched when the managing director gave me a 30 year old bottle of port wine as a parting gift. Hopefully, I will get back to Portugal at some point, both professionally and for a bit of vacation.
It is always good to return home from a productive business trip, and I looked forward to a quiet weekend catching up with friends and watching a little footy, particularly Arsenal in the FA Cup. The weekend was pretty much OK, except for the disappointment of crashing out of the tournament in pretty poor fashion; I never got the feeling that we had our hearts in it.
Many months have passed since I have discussed Arsenal on this blog. That is primarily because there is not much to talk about. I read enough articles from various pundits, and over the past years the majority of those pundits have very little positive to say. In fairness, I can understand the negativity, because the team is certainly capable of playing very well, but somehow seem to fall short. Repeatedly.
At the beginning of this past week, I had a few beers with some guys, including a Frankfurt Eintracht fan, who expressed his own disappointment at the way his team has played this season (dismal, to put it best). I commented about my own frustrations with my club, and went on to say that I was really hoping that we would not get completely destroyed in Camp Nou on Wednesday during the return leg of the Champion's League match.
Well, Wednesday evening came, and I decided to watch the match in the privacy of my home, preferring not to go out and have a handful of beers and wake up on St. Patrick's Day not only with a sore head, but also more disappointment. It was a good decision, as we went on to lose the game, albeit in respectable fashion. I must say that Barcelona are simply unstoppable, especially when their little trio of super forwards come anywhere close the ball.
Like the past several years, I usually become a little indifferent with the results of Arsenal. The season is starting to come to an end, and despite the closeness of the teams in the top 4 o5 positions of the table, Arsenal seem likely to repeat their habit of securing 4th spot. Neat.
At any rate, I woke up Thursday morning with a clear head and looked forward to a few beers that evening at the pub to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
The many years of celebrating on Lower Greenville hold fantastic memories. Hands down, the block party to celebrate St. Patrick's is one of the great experiences that I miss about living in Dallas.
That being said, I am fortunate to live in a city, a neighborhood, that tends to have "block parties" on a regular basis, especially during the warmer months. Within 5 minutes walk from my flat, we have Wine Fest, Oktoberfest, the Kerb, and probably a couple of other events. Usually the whole neighborhood turns out for these things and it is simply cool. But, the season starts with St. Patrick's Day, and the minor difference is that everyone heads to the local Irish Pub, which, as we know, is situated directly next door to my apartment.
The weather was mildly cool, and maybe this year was not quite as full as some of the past years, that had more to do with Thursday being a "school night," and most people, including myself, would have to work on Friday.
I am still amazed that so many Germans get so enthused about an Irish holiday. My local pub has a good mix of Germans and ex-pats, and this particular evening was no different. As much as like this particular holiday, I really just enjoy the open festivities, as it gives a chance to see a lot of different people at once: old friends that are not as regular in the pub, the usual Stammgäste, and along with that, all the people who just like to make their annual trip to the Irish Pub to drink Guinness and wear a silly hat.
This year, there were plenty of people wearing said silly hats (the big top hats that look like glasses of Guinness), and while I prefer to put the beverage in my body instead of wearing it, everyone certainly enjoyed themselves. I met up with a few friends, and was glad to run into a lot of old friends that I hadn't seen in several months. The live musician played his traditional Irish set list inside the pub, and I hung out outside, preferring the open air to the overcrowded pub. The landlord had set up a little beer wagon outside, which made it very easy to keep the beer flowing.
Not dissimilar to the marathon of the Greenville block party, people tend to come in sessions. Some couples brought their younger kids to try and grab an early bite to eat, and subsequently left earlier in the evening so as to get the kiddos in bed at reasonable hour. Others showed up a bit later, somewhat surprised that at 9pm the place was almost at it's full peak. Still others showed up closer to 11pm, preferring the late-night atmosphere. Much the way I did years ago on Greenville, I came early, and stayed a bit later (albeit respectably). After all, I did have to work on Friday, and was keen to avoid a completely wrecked head.
I think we all tend to figure out the pattern that works best for us as we advance in years, and long gone are those days where I really tie one on and go on a 10-12 hour session. Staying til close no longer is as interesting to me as it once was, mainly because the recovery seems to take longer and longer.
Still, I had a pleasant 5 hours or so standing around chatting with everyone. As people were starting to make their departures for home, I realized I was about ready to call it an evening, myself. Alas, I ran into a fellow Arsenal fan (who happens to be more of a night owl) and we discussed the previous evening's match as we finished up our beers. Once finished, we started to say our goodbyes when a couple of guys next to us offered us their extra pints of Guinness, as some of their buddies had already scooted off.
"Don't mind if we do," both of us replied as we started in on the final pint of the evening.
And that was about it. We finished our drinks a few minutes later, and bugged off for our respective homes, leaving the late nighters to continue their celebrations. I felt a little bit like the 3rd bear; the evening was not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Likewise, the crowd was not too overwhelming, not too quiet, but just right. And, I didn't drink too many beers, but just the right amount.
In short, a very nice evening.
I will be thinking about everyone who head out to the party on Greenville today, and hope everyone enjoys their celebrations like I did.
bryan
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