Our guests in Ireland would sometimes visit, in the same day or two, three important Irish sites: Kilmainham Gaol (1796-1923 CE), Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne (3500-3200 BCE), and the Guinness Storehouse (2000-present).

Even the most historically aware tourists had trouble grasping the time periods involved: what was going on other places, how long monuments were originally used, and how long it took civilizations to change.

To help visualize the things we talk about on this blog (and in person at the B&B), we are proud to announce the beta version of our timeline.

It has some unusual technical requirements, so it lives on its own page. You can find it at http://bakkerbugle.com/timeline/timelineParallels.html.

Comments are warmly welcomed, and we’ll be tweaking it over the next few weeks. Also, we’d really appreciate a snappy name for the thing.

At several social functions during our recent visit to the US, my spouse Will told a somewhat humorous story involving the shooting of a movie in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland. I would like to address my remarks on those occasions.

In the course of his story, Will sometimes speculated that the movie being shot may have been Leap Year and cited evidence to support that guess. In most cases, I ridiculed this conjecture, claiming that the timing was impossible.

Recently, ads promoting Leap Year have appeared on local television. In response, I indulged my curiosity regarding the movie and its making.

I discovered that Will’s adventure in County Wicklow did, indeed correspond with some dates that filming occured in Ireland, generally. Thus, it is at least possible that Will’s hypothesis was correct.

I regret any impression of implausibility that I may have generated regarding that hypothesis. I also have deep regret for having deprived Will’s listeners of the pleasure of a story untainted by my commentary.

In all good faith,
Anita

As it often happens with these things, the actual purchase of the globe was constantly delayed. The globe store had limited hours; I didn’t like the colors that I saw; and so on. Globes are expensive so I wanted my globe to be perfect.

Christmas 2009 arrived and I had not yet gotten around to buying a globe. Will was fed up with my antics and decided to take matters into his own hands. He reached into the interweb and, once again, found something to hold me until I find that perfect globe.

So I am now the proud owner of a Ravensburger Puzzleball. What he didn’t know was I had nearly bought the same thing a few weeks earlier! I saw it in a store in Luxembourg, but they only had the Puzzleball in German or French — and English names is one of my (many) requirements.

We opened it last night and started it. We had fun looking at the pieces, testing our geographic knowledge. (We don’t know much about islands and oceans.) We also found:

Chicago

Luxembourg (Look carefully!)

Ireland (and some of the British Isles)

I envisioned a quiet evening after work that would end with a nice little globe. I’ll admit that I didn’t realize how time-consuming the Puzzleball may turn out to be. There is a lot of ocean out there, kids.

We plan to keep you informed of our progress. I managed most of South America last night, but now we need to tackle the ocean around Antarctica before we can go any farther. Personally, I can’t wait to get to Russia as it will cover a lot of ground!

(Insert obligatory “I can see Russia from my house” joke here.)

Subject Name: Will Bakker

Date and Time: 6 Dec 2009, 13:08

Conditions: Subject did not fast, but had a St Nicholas’s Day breakfast of a “bonhomme” and citrus fruit. Also, he consumed two cups of coffee within three hours of the test.

Preparation Step 1: Fresh bottle of Bovril was opened for this test. Contents had slightly higher viscosity than dark maple syrup. Color was surprisingly dark brown, near black. Scent was mild, more beefy than yeasty.

Preparation Step 2: Filtered tap water boiled in standard kitchen kettle. Two teaspoons of Bovril pseudo-liquid moved into Test Mug. Each teaspoon measure of the Bovril pseudo-liquid was very difficult to pour into the Test Mug. Technician used all reasonable force and ultimately failed to accurately measure the amount of Bovril transferred to the Test Mug.

Preparation Step 3: Boiling water poured upon the gelatinous blobs of Bovril which clung to the sides and bottom of the Test Mug. Given its earlier intransigence, it dissolved relatively easily.

Preparation Step 4: The Test Mug and its contents were left to cool for five minutes. Used teaspoon placed in cleansing apparatus. Safety check completed: All Bovril pseudo-liquid confined to cleansing apparatus, Test Mug, and original container.

Observations at time of preparation: Contents of Test Mug now thin and very dark brown, with a bit more gray color than a cup of beef broth of similar depth. Scent changed significantly by addition of boiling water. Now, quite yeasty and very little beef odor. Subject mentions that it recalls the smell of the Guinness brewery of St James Gate. Test Mug appears unaffected by contents: no observations of melting, fizzing, or other alteration. Subject appears greatly affected, presenting facial expressions of hesitation and disgust.

>> END PAGE 1

Ireland scored that goal in the 35th minute, and played an outstanding game for all of regulation. After two matches of 90 minutes each, the score was 1-1. So they played into extra time.

In the 13th minute of extra time, the superstar Thierry Henry got a fast-moving ball under control and passed it to William Gallas. Gallas scored and the entire Irish team turned to the referee and called for a “hand ball” foul. No foul was called, the goal stood, and France beat Ireland to qualify for the World Cup.

Somehow, the fact that Henry admits the handball makes it worse.

I don’t know what the Irish fans did that night in France, but I do know that the main flight this morning from Charles de Gaulle airport to Dublin was delayed by more than three hours.

Out of fellow-feeling for our Irish friends, and a bit of sadness ourselves, we decided to watch the Irish morning television show and see what the newspapers had to say online.

Anita observed that the television personalities appeared to pass through four stages of grief:

1. The first stage, obviously, was anger. They was robbed! A blind referee in a system biased toward the big countries! We played our hearts out and we was robbed!
2. The second stage was depression. They were lucky to get this far, with the sad bunch of players that Trap had to choose from. We’ll never see the likes of this team in our lifetimes, and now it’s all over.
3. The third stage was self-blame. We shouldn’t have let it go to extra time in the first place. If we’d played, in Dublin, like we did in Paris, like we can play, then there’d be no extra time. In fact, we should have won our division outright, and it should have been Italy versus France in the playoff.*
4. The fourth stage was rationalization. With the economy as it is, this is actually a blessing. We can’t actually afford to go to South Africa, so it’s good we lost.**

The newspapers brought out their most lurid prose for their sports coverage today, as you can imagine. The Bugle Staff are busy collecting the choicest turns of phrase for your pain, or pleasure, or both.

A note at press time: The latest news is that Ireland has lodged an official complaint with FIFA, calling for a replay of the second match.

* – Yes, this is actually what one soccer commentator said, on RTE, this morning.
** – Yes, this is also a close paraphrase to what was said on RTE.

Ireland began the first round of qualification more than one year ago, and amassed an impressive record — with zero losses — to October 2009. At that point, they were virtually guaranteed second place in UEFA Group 8, just behind Italy, and surviving the first round.

On 10 October 2009, Italy traveled to Croke Park in Dublin. Ireland was eager to see the magnificent Italian national team, and of course, Irish sports fans love being the underdogs. Beating Italy would mean that the Irish could win the Group and automatically qualify for the Cup.

To add yet more drama, Ireland’s new manager was (and still is) Giovanni Trapattoni, the most successful coach in the history of Italian pro-clubs.

I found the match on TV in the second half, and then witnessed the most exciting football I’ve ever watched live. The score was 1-1 in the 85th minute, with little more than five minutes to go. It would be a respectable result for Ireland against the skill and depth of the Italians.

Two minutes later, Ireland scored on a gutsy, diving header. Croke Park was a storm of crying, cheering Ireland fans. The team itself was shot with energy, knowing that they had only to resist the Italian offense for five or six minutes to win rare soccer glory.

It was not to be; there are many reasons why Italy is the world champion. I saw a few of them on my television screen, in the very last minute of regulation play. Italy’s forwards picked apart Ireland’s midfield defense and gracefully, but almost casually, passed the ball into the box and placed it in Ireland’s net.

Still, Ireland ‘won’ a draw and easily secured second place in the Group. They would continue to the second round, a great result for a small European country. After the Italy game, they awaited the seedings for the second round — and hoped not to draw France.

They did draw France.

There’s a controversy regarding the second round seeding that I don’t fully comprehend. The problem seems to be that FIFA, the governing body, first said that they would seed the matches randomly, but then used the international rankings of each team to determine who would play whom. (Sports Illustrated called it “special treatment”.) That means lowly Ireland is playing the Gallic powerhouse for qualification to the World Cup.

The format for the second round is two-legged tie: each team of a pair plays one home match and the aggregate score determines the winner between the two. That winner goes to South Africa in July of next year.

The first of the Ireland-France matches is tonight, in Croke Park. The game against Italy shows that the venue gives a real home-field advantage, especially against better-ranked teams.

Here’s how The Irish Times described it, yesterday:

The French are expecting a fight. As the golf buggies chugged past and the wind whistled through the trees outside the marquee where more than 100 journalists had intruded on the peace, four players took turns to riff on the same theme. The Irish will bring their team spirit, their tenacity, their fight and their 80,000 hollering fans. The French will bring better players.

As for Ireland’s hopes? Here’s a Times analyst:

I would happily take 0-0 now, a clean sheet, keep the tie alive, and then let them cope with the pressure of a disgruntled crowd in Paris. And I think we can get a draw tonight. Sneak a goal in Paris on Wednesday and, well, you’d never know.

Ireland’s assistant manager also wishes for a nil-nil draw, and explains why. The second match will be just four days later. If you’d like to read more, here are some recent articles from The Irish Times:

• Trapattoni still deciding who to play
• Is France’s manager their greatest weakness? Irish say no; but French continue to say yes!
• An amusing prediction of what will happen if Ireland qualifies and an eloquent requirement for that to happen: “Logic needs to be turned on its head tonight and again on Wednesday evening in Paris. That defiance of what makes sense has always been the source of Ireland’s lion-hearted, improbable nights of international football success.”
• Player-by-Player overviews: for Ireland and for France
• A silly bunch of quotes about today’s match

Two Swiss football fans were arrested for rowdy behavior following their teams 3-0 win over the Grand Duchy on Saturday night. Police came across them staggering around the Rives de Clausen area yelling and threatening various doormen at the bars and clubs. Both refused to calm down and leave the area, so police had no option but to take them to the station and lock them up for the night. Other than this, police say the night passed off quietly.

TRAFFIC CHAOS

An accident involving a lorry caused chaos during yesterday evening’s rush hour. The truck tipped over in the Howald tunnel at half past four, resulting in a 6 kilometer traffic jam on the A1 in the direction of the capital from the east. Even after emergency services arrived, vehicles could only get past the accident by driving on the hard shoulder. Traffic also backed up in the opposite direction as rubber-neckers slowed down to gawp at the accident.

PRISON DRUGS SEIZED

Two prisoners at Schrassig have been caught trying to smuggle drugs back into the prison while returning from day release. In one case, doctors had to help retrieve the drugs which the prisoner had hidden about his person. In all, warders seized 37 grams of heroin, 3 grams of cocaine and 17 grams of marijuana. Both prisoners now face charges in connection with the drug smuggling and the possibility of increased sentences.

MARY MCALEESE

Ireland’s president, Mary McAleese is here on a state visit. Yesterday she was received at the palace by the Grand Duc and an honor guard from the Luxembourg Army. She also held meetings with members of the government. After a gala dinner at the palace last night, the Irish head of state is off to see Echternach today before returning home.

And…. the story of the week!

BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS

The poisonous black widow spider has started turning up in Belgium and the Democratic Party’s Xavier Bettel is worried it could soon become resident in the Grand Duchy. The Black Widow spider is native to America and uses a nerve poison to paralyze its prey. Its bite can be lethal for vulnerable people. Mr Bettel has tabled a question in parliament demanding to know what are the government’s plans should the Black Widow appear here. In response, the health ministry says it has ordered a stock of anti-serum for the country. Spider experts think the deadly dark arachnids made their way across the Atlantic ocean in classic American cars being shipped via Antwerp. They added that it was unlikely any specimens could survive a typical Luxembourg winter. In the meantime, we’ll put a picture of a black widow up on our website and if you find one, experts recommend you pick it up with tweezers and drown it in a glass of alcohol before taking it to the natural history museum for identification.

Beyond that, our interest in Irish affairs is hardly over. For example, we followed the second vote on the Lisbon Treaty, which took place last Friday. (The referendum passed.)

For good reasons, then, we will continue to write about Ireland.

In a moment of serendipity, our staff developed the following brand during a seminar on branding at the Bastelengebläers HQ:

To launch the brand, the staff chose a tasty sample to whet your appetite for old stories from our time in Ireland. The following photo from the mean streets of South Dublin contains shocking content, so you may want to send the children to play outside before you scroll down.
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Okay, maybe that photo isn’t staggering. Let’s zoom in a little — scroll down to see the shocking close-up.
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That’s a Missouri license plate! In Ireland! (Is your mind boggling?) Let’s go to the CSI-cam for the incontrovertible proof that will impel the perp to confess spontaneously, er, I mean, that will help you understand our shock at the time.

Anita and Will spent the next hour speculating about the means, motive and opportunity that would bring a car from Missouri to Dublin, Ireland. Not to mention the hazards of being on the wrong driver’s side. And is a Missouri plate even legally meaningful in Ireland?

That’s it for today. You can look forward to posts in the future about:

• Things we miss about Ireland and from Ireland, such as: lamb on the grill, super-sugary chocolates, clear skies just moments after rain, the oceanfront at Dublin Bay.
• Photosets that somehow failed to make it to Flickr
• Minor adventures in the Irish countryside
• and probably much much not much more!
]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/10/08/bugle-blog-classic/feed/ 0 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/30/readers-affection-for-the-next-confection/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/30/readers-affection-for-the-next-confection/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:38:38 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=805 The BB Procurement Department has license to obtain unique or representative confections during the course of ordinary operations. Those purchases are given asset tags, categorized according to several key taxonomies, and then placed in environmentally-controlled storage. At some point, this inventory of neat stuff is meant to be used for future blog posts.

The move to Luxembourg created an opportunity for a review of our sugar-related resources and associated goods. In short, we have some candy and other food left over from Ireland, and we need your help.

The staff are positive that they can complete one food review before the inventory reaches its “best-before” date. They’d like you, the Bugle readers, to choose which confection (or otherwise) will be reviewed. Here are the five candidates for the next review:

1. Battle of the Turkish Delights

This review would be a comparison of the commoner’s brand, Cadbury, with the (relatively) exotic Sultans brand. It’s the British corporation against the representative of the Ottoman Empire. Think of it as a reappraisal of the Crimean War, in gooey, sugary form.


2. Yorkie

It’s NOT for girls. We’ll find out why.


3. Bovril: ground chuck in a jar?

The sole non-confection on the list, Bovril is a legendary element in the diet for the British Isles. It is labeled, “The Original Beef Extract,” yet it is meant to be served as a beverage. Will feels a little nauseous just looking at the jar, and Anita requires that any tests be performed while she is in a different country. But according to the back of the jar, “In 1888… over 3000 pubs and bars were serving hot cups of Bovril.” That’s a bit too Dickensian for us, but if you insist, we shall persevere.


4. The Great Chocolate Rod Showdown

Drifter, an offering from Nestlé, is a package containing two candy bars. Each of these bars is, in its own words, a “Crispy wafer dipped in chewy caramel & covered in chocolate.” Twix, from the good people at Mars, is the same thing. Two brands enter the Bugle ring — only one leaves.


5. Little Pink Marshmallows for you and me

These apparently fluffy enigmas pose so many questions for us to answer. First, their name: “Chamallows” — is it a tribute to the purveyor of Southern rap? How can pink candies be created without artificial colours or flavours? Why, pray tell, did Haribo need to change the recipe? Finally, the question that haunts so many candies in this world: what the devil is that mascot supposed to be, and is it a marshmallow-cannibal?


The Poll

These are the questions before you, our dear readers. Vote for your choice right now, as the poll will close at 0800 UTC on Saturday, 4 July 2009. As always, electioneering in the comments is encouraged.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. ]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/30/readers-affection-for-the-next-confection/feed/ 7 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/08/i-am-a-dublin-voter/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/08/i-am-a-dublin-voter/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:46:21 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=758 I almost missed the deadline to apply for the Register of Electors for Friday’s election. You can imagine my delight when I found my reminder card in the mail last week. It said that I should vote at the primary school on Lower Baggot Street.

With a firm sense of civic duty, I walked the short distance to my polling place on Friday morning. I followed a few of my fellow walking voters down the lane to the rear of the school. So far, it looked quite similar to polling places in Illinois.

I don’t know if there are state or city regulations prohibiting posters and electioneering close to the polling place; the location was deep on private property, so there wasn’t an opportunity for the parties to hang signs.

I entered the small gym to find a familiar system: two bored teenagers behind a table labeled with my district’s number, and an older man behind a second table for a different district. The young men were solicitous and quickly found my name on the Supplemental Register. I received one ballot, for the city councillors of Dublin. (Alas, only citizens of the EU could vote for Ireland’s Members of the European Parliament.)

Ireland uses proportional representation for almost all elections; techincally, I voted in a single transferable vote system. That means that my ballot consisted of a list of all the candidates for the office, and I could number them in my order of preference. On this ballot, each candidate’s box included the candidate’s party’s logo, area of residence, occupation and other professional information — but no face-photo, to my surprise!



I chose to rank my four preferred candidates, numbering them from 1 to 4 and leaving the rest blank. Ireland uses a secret ballot, so I folded my sheet in half and dropped it in an old-fashioned ballot box. The teenagers bade me farewell, and I was done!

Ballot-counting takes a little longer with proportional representation, but not by much in the digital age. The results were final in most areas by Saturday afternoon. As expected, the political establishment was thoroughly shaken, including the Dublin City Council.

Finally, what you’ve been waiting for — the final set of Face-Poster Trading Cards!

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/08/i-am-a-dublin-voter/feed/ 3 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/05/face-posters-set-3/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/05/face-posters-set-3/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:47:50 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=755 Here comes another set of trading cards in the famous series: Face Posters of Ireland 2009

Set Three: Download the PDF today!




]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/05/face-posters-set-3/feed/ 2 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/03/face-posters-set-2/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/03/face-posters-set-2/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:13:53 +0000 staff http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=751 Are you ready to get another set of your very own trading cards of the best Face Posters of Ireland 2009?

Set Two: Download the PDF today!

Now that Set Two is available, it won’t be long before Set One is gone forever!

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/03/face-posters-set-2/feed/ 0 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/01/face-posters-trading-cards-1/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/01/face-posters-trading-cards-1/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:22:48 +0000 staff http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=745

For a very limited time

Download and print out your very own trading cards of the best Face Posters of Ireland 2009! Each PDF will be available for just a day or two, so be sure to check in frequently, so that you can…

COLLECT THE WHOLE SET!

Set One: Download the PDF today!

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/06/01/face-posters-trading-cards-1/feed/ 3 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/24/busy-busy-but-time-for-art/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/24/busy-busy-but-time-for-art/#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 14:56:10 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=741 Anita and I so busy that we’re just now watching the Eurovision 2009 broadcasts from last week. (Fantastacular! Glorilicious!) Mostly, we’re preparing for the big move to Luxembourg in three weeks.

Today, we completed a task 18 months in the making: we bought a lovely painting from one of the regular exhibitors on Sundays at Merrion Square. We’ve strolled around the park at midday on dozens of Sundays, knowing that we would leave Ireland with a souvenir someday.

Anita and I waited until the last possible Sunday, and it was the best time, too. The park was packed with the Dublin Soul Festival, and we met Blanaid Lynam, whose “Sunset (Dusk) Sandycove” will grace our future homes. We were glad to have met her, and we are very happy to have found (and most importantly, agreed upon) an ideal representation of our fondness for Dublin.

I have a mile-long list of potential post topics about Ireland and Dublin. In a perfect world, I’d have time to work through them over the next three weeks. Alas, I must warn you: the posts may be sporadic in the month of June.

I’ll keep making short remarks on the Bugle Tumblr, which is on the right sidebar (and you can follow it on its own webpage too). I’ll keep reading comments, and publish at least one post each week. But more than that? Anita and I can’t make any promises.

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/24/busy-busy-but-time-for-art/feed/ 0 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/09/dublin-politics-face-posters/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/09/dublin-politics-face-posters/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 11:33:03 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=719 This week brought the return of Anita’s beloved “face posters,” the primary form of campaigning that we’ve noticed. These posters, of uniform size and a standard design, are attached to nearly every pole in the neighbourhood. Here are two examples near Baggot Street:

`

The upcoming election (in Dublin) is for two levels of government: representatives to the local councils and to the European parliament. The newspapers lead me to believe that there is a close parallel between these elections and mid-term Congressional elections in the US. In both cases, the media and the parties take the results to indicate the popularity of the parties at the national level.

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/05/09/dublin-politics-face-posters/feed/ 3 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/27/bakker-bugle-bb-booked-to-the-brim/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/27/bakker-bugle-bb-booked-to-the-brim/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:23:49 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=714 We announce, with both pride and sadness, that the Bakker Bugle B&B is fully booked through the end of its presence in Ireland. We will begin taking bookings for our new location in mid-summer 2009.

Here are two photos of the new location:





The building is under construction, so there’s not much more to show. For geographiliacs, it is in the Belair neighbourhood of Luxembourg City, not far from Parc du Merl.

Until the Bakker Bugle B&B re-opens on the Continent, whet your appetite at the outstanding Luxembourg City Tourist Office. Be sure to take a look at few of their gorgeous pamphlets and leaflets.

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/27/bakker-bugle-bb-booked-to-the-brim/feed/ 4 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/12/photos-from-january/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/12/photos-from-january/#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:38:25 +0000 staff http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=703 So, we’re running about three months behind. (If you don’t count the unfinished Italy set.) But you better not complain! We used our four day Easter holiday weekend to catch up for you ungrateful gobshites!

The holiday in January was a full three days — County Donegal is a large and picturesque region, and we saw the city of Derry, too. There are four sets for your viewing pleasure:

• Donegal, Friday: A small set from our drive from Dublin to Killybegs, with a detour far out into McSwyne’s Bay at St John’s Point.
• Donegal, Saturday: A large set of photos from all over Donegal, particularly near the coast.
• Derry, Sunday morning: Our walk around Derry — mostly the political murals in Bogside and the walled portion of the central city.
• Malin Head to Dublin, Sunday afternoon: From the northernmost point in Ireland to home, with all kinds of weather in between.

A preview of the delights on Flickr:





]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/12/photos-from-january/feed/ 0 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/10/egg-cellent/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/10/egg-cellent/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:20:59 +0000 Anita http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=689 No matter where you fall in the religious spectrum, you can get behind the Rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate — and that, quite frankly, is a bunny miracle that none of us want to examine too closely.

We are in Ireland for our second Easter, so some of the subtleties of the season have become more apparent. A Midwestern American’s Easter is not subtle. A common sight in a young Christian American’s life is the Easter Basket. A wicker (or plastic) basket, filled with “grass” and chocolate – chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, chocolate pieces. If you are really special, there might be a Peep or two to introduce a more pure form of sugar into the mix. A token to good dental hygiene could be made by throwing in a toothbrush or some floss. A classic American sight, Will, I and most of our childhood friends received – and you probably did too, if your childhood was middle-class and middle-America.

In Ireland, they take a different approach. Instead of a basket of goodies, they go for what we refer to around the Bugle newsroom as the “Heroic” egg. The “Heroic” egg is a total package – a box, sometimes containing just one large egg, and other times supplemented with some ancillary chocolate pieces. The packaging is rather intimidating and overwhelming.

So is the egg. But Will discovered that the egg is hollow, with a surprisingly thin shell. The chocolate is good, but in lesser quantities than an American Easter basket. Too bad it wasn’t filled with the product advertised on the box!

Everybody makes a “Heroic” egg – Snickers, Mars, a multitude of Cadbury brands and even the high-end Irish chocolatiers like Lily O’Brien. Speaking with some of my colleagues, each had fond remembrances of receiving their first egg. I didn’t have time to dig into whether the gift of the Heroic Egg was motivated by one’s age or as a reward — mainly because Good Friday is a public holiday in Ireland and I have the day off.

One of the fun aspects of living in a foreign country is the differences in celebrations, like the “Heroic” egg. I can’t wait to be in Luxembourg next Easter to see what the local traditions are. Who knows – we could be getting some chocolates from a bell or something equally unlikely.

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/10/egg-cellent/feed/ 0 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/06/to-a-new-country-to-find-new-adventures/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/06/to-a-new-country-to-find-new-adventures/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:51:54 +0000 Anita http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=684 The staff had some fun on the first of this month, but our move to Luxembourg is no April Fool.

My work will take us from Dublin to Luxembourg City later this year. We will take the Bakker Bugle with us, and our beloved readers, of course. We’re excited about the move and, in the next month or two, we’ll find out more about where and when we’ll take up residence.

Will and I will be learning a new city and new languages. You’ll read about our adventures at our new home and all over Europe. Plus, the BBB&B will be open and accepting reservations as soon as possible.

This change is no fault of Ireland, of course. We have a long list of things we love about this island and its inhabitants, and an even longer list of things we’d like to do before we go. It is simply time to take new opportunities elsewhere. Thank you, Ireland, for your hospitality, for your good graces, and for letting us be part of this exciting place.

And thank you, dear friends, for being our patient audience for the past two years. Your support means the world to us. We are so glad that we can take you with us!

]]> http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/06/to-a-new-country-to-find-new-adventures/feed/ 3 http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/01/breaking-news-ireland-and-italy-tie/ http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/2009/04/01/breaking-news-ireland-and-italy-tie/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:49:25 +0000 Will http://bakkerbugle.com/blog/?p=681 Italy played Ireland tonight, in Southern Italy, for the World Cup qualifying round. Italy had won every match in the round so far.

Robbie Keane scored in the 85th minute to tie the match, an incredible result against the reigning world champions.

This is not an April Fool!

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