January 30th- The perfect day

Front of Croke Park

Conference room inside Croke Park

Champions Cup

Players lounge

Locker room

Sitting next to our MAYO jersey!

On the field!

Tunnel where the players run out, and where the ceremony after the games take place.

Inside the Adidas company box.

Two thumbs up for the Guinness Brewery

Learning how to pour a pint a Guinness

The Perfect Pint pour certificate!

  So I know I've said in many previous blogs that this was my favorite day so far, but now that my trip is just about over, I can honestly say that today earns the award of being my favorite day.  First off I want to thank my cousin Sean Feeney for being so generous to my class.  Sean was able to pull some strings and get my entire class free entry, along with a guided tour of Croke Park.  Croke park is the headquarters for the GAA which is Ireland's biggest sporting organization.  I cannot explain how amazing this stadium was.  We walked on the field, and out of the players tunnel where they had an audio simulation of the magnitude of the crowd.  Our guide took us through the players lounge, players locker room, and even the corporate boxes. 

     As many of you may know Ger Feeney, Seans brother, played for County Mayo and was an All-Ireland player.  Unfortunately recently Ger passed away in a tragic boating accident.  While I was in the team locker room I found the Mayo jersey and made sure I took a picture next to it.  I found it interesting that all the Gaelic Football players are non-paid athletes.  They hold a day to day job, and dedicate their mornings and nights to training sessions for their club team.  Croke park holds about 83,000 people, and for the big events it will be completely sold out.  Croke park also has a massive museum which shows the history of the GAA and how it is intertwined with the history of Ireland as a Nation, and it also has an interactive center where you can play Gaelic football and hurling.  Needless to say, we spent over three hours participating in the various activities. 

    After the tour of Croke park we drove over to the Guinness Brewery.  The Guinness family, who was the wealthiest family of their time, built an enormous factory in Dublin which is now open to the public for tours.  Along our tour they teach you all about how the beer is made, and all the steps that are taken to get the perfect pint.  Guinness is kept at 6 degrees Celsius, and if it is kept just 2 degrees higher or lower it will completely ruin the taste making for a bad pint.  After many samples and explanations on how the beer was made, it was my turn to try and pour my own pint.  I did not realize that there is a true art to pouring a pint of Guinness.  First you have to fill in up only 3 quarter of the way and let it sit until the beer extracts itself and the foam rises to the top.  Then you fill the rest of your pint up.  From the pictures above you can see that I passed the test and became certified as the perfect pint pour. I think you can all understand why today was my favorite day of the trip, a combination of sports and beer, and no rock tours!