Irish Blog — L.V. Rogers Bombers continue Ireland tour
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The L.V. Rogers Bombers are currently traveling the roads of Ireland on Rugby tour.
The team, which has been raising money to help offset the costs, left last week from Nelson and opened the tour with a 27-5 win over the Balgriggan Rugby Club.
LVR Vice Principal Frank Marisco, who is with the team on the tour along with coach Michael Joyce, has graciously accepted the challenge of blogging the tour for The Nelson Daily. Here’s Frank’s latest entry.
Wednesday, March 16
A little bit of a sleep this morning and then on the bus to the ferry port at Rosevaal.
It’s about one hour from Galway along the coast. The landscape is quite interesting and Michael our driver provides running commentary all the way.
He’s a real life encyclopedia- complete with full truths, half truths, and pure fiction. The skies are clear but the winds are gusting when we leave port and head to the Aran Islands.
There are about 800 permanent residents living here and the language spoken is Gaelic.
After a 40-minute ferry ride we disembark and head to the American Bar for- guess what – soup and sandwiches. It is about 11a.m. and there are already a couple of the locals sitting at the bar sipping their pint of Guinness.
We all rent bicycles and head out to explore the island. Blustery winds, rock wall upon rock wall and the odd cow, sheep, or horse grazing in a paddock with lots of history on the island dating back more than 1000 years.
The kids have a great time exploring and taking in the unique geography and fascinating past of the island — there are a few daredevil photos snapped at the ancient cliff fortress by rugby players with more intestinal fortitude than myself.
Back to the American Bar for burgers and chips and then it is back on the ferry for our return trip to Galway.
A big dinner at the GBC restaurant and then it is a couple of free hours to discover the town – then lights out and another day is in the bag.
St. Paddy’s day tomorrow with the second biggest celebratuion in Ireland. The boys are excited.
Tuesday, March 15
Another great breakfast at the greasy spoon and then it is on the bus for a four-hour drive to Galway.
The scenery is quaint with lots of small farms and rolling hills. Most of the kids take the opportunity to have a nap and catch up on some needed sleep.
Arrive in Galway and the sun is shining. Check into the Sleepzone Hostel and then it is Soup and sandwiches at the Galway Bakery Company.
Always good to see the boys well fed. After a couple of hours of wandering around town it is time to get down to business. We take the bus to the Newcastle training grounds for a session with Nigel Carolan.
Nigel is the Youth Development coach for Connaght Province and is EXCELLENT!
He runs the boys hard for two hours and then we return to the hostel for a shower and then it is off to supper – turkey, ham, mash, veges, the whole nine yards.
A couple of hours to check out the town and then it is back to the hostel and time for bed.
