After the disappointment of yesterday at not gaining admittance to the Harpoon Brewery because we could not prove that Roma was over 21 - we went along again today for a great tour of the brewery. We were early so - needs must, we had a beer in the bar before hand. The tour itself was quite short - it is a small brewery. I had a lot of difficulty understanding what the tour guides were saying as they spoke so fast, also the background noise made for difficult listening conditions (or maybe I am turning into a deaf auld bollix?). We had a tasting session where I tried several different beers - each taste was 2oz, which is about a mouthful. Very enjoyable and worth the $5 entry fee. We also visited the shop where I bought a new cap and some glasses. Normally I steal glasses, but did not think it wise to try this here where they were selling them.
Also of course there were two big games on today - I saw a bit of Italy vs Spain, but none of England vs Iceland. I was not surprised to see Italy beat Spain, but what about Iceland beating England? I saw the highlights on YouTube and was impressed with Iceland. Is this the Leicester City phenomenon continuing in the European Championship? I'll certainly be cheering them on against France. I don't understand why England under perform so much in big tournaments. I remember Italia '90 when they were a whisker away from a World Cup Final and probably winning it. They have brilliant players, but suffer from poor management and over-confidence - they need a completely different coach to get the best out of these spoiled millionaires who do not try very hard for their country. Every team like Iceland has a puncher's chance of an upset, but England should have been prepared for this - and they didn't.
Boston seems indifferent to football/soccer. You see very few football jerseys being worn by people on the streets. The USA reached the semi-final of the Copa America last week, but you wouldn't know that around here. Bostonians wear all types of t-shirt - not too much focused on one or two teams. There does not seem to be the same desire that to wear a badge/identity for one affiliation that you see on the streets of Dublin. I felt a bit out of place yesterday wearing my Ireland jersey on the day we were playing France, the only other International jersey I saw was a German one. How do they manage?
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