International cricket match referee, Devdas Govindjee shares his current travel experience with all the blog readers. Dev is currently in Ireland for the ICC Women's T 20 world cup qualifier tournament.I am so blessed to be acquainted with such a wonderful human being who loves to impart and share his knowledge and experiences with the rest of the world.
The Women cricketers representing eight countries are gathering in Dublin Ireland to take part in the ICC's T20 World Cup Qualifier- only 3 of these teams will make it into the draw for the T20 World Cup event scheduled to be held in Bangladesh next year.
Hosts Ireland will have to compete against teams from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Netherlands,Japan, Thailand and Canada for a place at the prestigious World cup event so everything points to some exciting matches starting on Tuesday in Dublin.
As Tournament Referee to the event I left Port Elizabeth on Friday and it was a smooth uneventful journey via Johannesburg and London into Dublin on Saturday around midday.
The majestic Croke Park Stadium is pointed out by the driver when one approaches the hotel with the same name. He informs me that the 82 000 seater is home to popular Gaellic Rugby and the sport of Hurling.
Within walking distance of the hotel one immediately immerses into the Irish lifestyle- the streets have so many homes with the trademark colourful doors and the flowers clustered around lamp poles makes such a pretty sight.
Getting into the Temple Bar area brings the visitor into an entirely new environment - scores of locals and tourists come to this iconic part of the city where the river Liffey glides along and the area just cluttered with brightly painted pubs each with special names- these will provide patrons with good old fashioned Irish dishes or a menu to satisfy the tastes of any visitor.
Musicians entertain crowds inside pubs and restaurants as street corners or pavements have groups or individuals all exhibiting their own unique entertainment.It creates a buzz in the area which is just so infectious and even a teetotaler like myself would end up sitting in a bar and taking in all that it has to offer.
One could also just find a quiet spot and spend time watching the different visitors from various parts of the world and absorb the sometimes risque dress codes of passers by. With camera in hand it does become a paradise for one with an eye for that "Kodak" moment.
With the sun only going down at around 10 pm there is certainly enough joviality around not to mention litres of Guiness that will get consumed.
With the serious business of a tournament in mind it is time to head back to the hotel and take in a good night's rest- ahead there are stadium inspections, umpire workshops, technical briefings with managers, coaches and captains of the respective teams and a welcome function on Monday evening before the first ball gets bowled at The hills and the YMCA grounds on Tuesday. The morning matches have hosts Ireland playing against Japan and Netherlands playing Zimbabwe with the afternoon matches pitting Sri Lanka against Canada and Pakistan against Thailand.
For update and live scores log into www.espncricinfo.com
The centrally situated Croke Park hotel with the massive Gaellic Football & Hurling stadium across from it. That shall require a special visit during my stay here.
A glimpse of the impressive Croke Park Stadium
After settling in and a rest, time to get familiar with the surrounds.
A quiet Saturday afternoon in this part of Dublin- not so once you hit the city centre and the Temple Bar area where it buzzes!
Calm and tranquil scene- just to take a moment to savour it it all
Along the walk near the hotel had to identify future eating houses- knew there would be a Curry Den somewhere.
Early evening took a short cab drive to the Temple Bar region with ICC Tournament Director David Thorley and media representative Mary - selection of places to east is mind-boggling. We chose the "yellow" establishment.Waitress of Canadian origin did mention that that the burgers did not come with "buns!"
The world famous Temple Bar !Note the young lady in the foreground attracting customers to dine somewhere. People just flock to this area and the atmosphere is fantastic with live musicians on the streets and in the countless pubs.
This flautist and his group straight out of the Jethro Tull era!
The Liffey River is central to Dublin.
Day 1 comes to an end as the sun goes down around 10 pm! Time to call it a day and relax in a quiet cosy corner of The Library at the hotel.
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