Finally wrapping up the Ireland recap! The spark behind this entire trip was seeing that Penn State football was playing an away game vs Central Florida in Dublin. That got the wheels turning as to a good excuse to visit family in Ireland and get a once in a lifetime experience to see our favorite team in an international venue! When my parents agreed to come along, that sealed the deal.
We're working hard to brainwash our little guy to love the blue and white :)
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| Our Lil Nittany Lion! |
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| We were so happy he loved wearing his lion hat :) |
We headed over to Dublin for 2 nights at the end of our trip to attend the game. I had bought 4 tickets through another alumni on facebook, but after thinking it through (and realizing Nolan would need his own ticket), we decided it made the most sense for my parents to take Nolan to do something more kid-friendly during the day and to give the extra 2 tickets to my cousins.
The first thing we did when we got to the hotel was to grab a cab downtown to the massive Penn State pep rally! It was overwhelming to see such a huge turnout of Penn State supporters in Dublin! Nolan was a trooper, but when later asked if he liked Penn State he replied, "No... Penn State is too loud!" Hopefully he'll appreciate how loud we can be when he's a little older ;)
On game day, we headed over to a pub after breakfast to meet my cousin Ciaran and his friend Donal who we were giving the extra tickets to. My parents took Nolan to the Dublin Zoo. There was some controversy about the American Football teams taking up Croke park that day (the largest venue in the country) as it conflicted with the Gaelic Football semi-championship that had to be relocated to Limerick. However, the stadium had been booked years in advance for this game, so the Irish teams were out of luck!
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| Croke Park! |
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| Sold out Crowd! I'd say it was at least 80-90% Penn State loyal. So much for an "away" game. |
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| An abbreviated version of the Penn State Blue Band - so close to our seats! |
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| We are... Penn State! |
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| The Lion and the dance team/cheerleaders were camped out right in front of us for most of the game |
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| Best weather we had all trip! |
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| Donal, Ciaran, and I. Ciaran proudly wearing the Penn State tshirt we brought him :) |
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| The American Football field is a good amount smaller than Irish Football/Hurling but our seats were still pretty close! |
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| Only in Ireland... do you get to watch a Hurling game during halftime! |
The game was such an unbelievable experience! It was so amazing to hear the We are! cheer so loud at a non-home stadium. Penn State led for most of the game, but we started getting nervous in the second half as Central Florida started gaining some momentum, then took the lead with little time left in the game. It ended up coming down to a last second field goal attempt by Penn State which thankfully was good! The crowd went wild and it was a thrilling win.
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| The team celebrating with the Blue Band post-win |
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| Penn State WINS! |
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| Let's go State!! |
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| Penn State #1! |
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| Final Score - Penn State: 26, UCF: 24 |
So glad we made the choice to come to Ireland. Introducing Joe and Nolan to all my family, spending time on my Grandfather's farm, and then ending with the unique experience of watching our alma mater play (and win!) at an international venue was so incredible! Glad we snuck in one more international trip before we became a family of four.
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