Israel (Away) Sat 26th Mar 05

[tall chapy]

sorry for asking in hebrew
i just wanted to know where does the irish national team staying. i mean the name of the hotel. and do you know if they have a flight home right after the match or in the morning of the day after.

Israeli Fan
According to Helen Corkonion living in Israel on http://www.thepeoplesflag.com/web/index.asp

Would just like to correct a previous error. The Irish Team ARE NOT staying at the Hilton. They ARE staying down the road at the David Intercontinental Hotel, which is also on Hayarkon Street on the Beach Front.

[donalfitz]

Israel is not a Muslim country...
You can drink wherever you like.

Some countries have weird laws with regarding drink. Some required that when drinking outside you need to have the drink covered. Other countries/cities don't allow drinking on the streets at all. Just need to be sure.
The US were the worse with it come to drink laws.
When I was in Lynchburg, Tennessee where Jack Daniels whiskey is made, I visited the factory and discovered that you cannot buy alcohol with the exception of the visitor center (only at weekdays) at the factory. I was there on a Sunday evening on a free tour. The aussies and me were very disappointed that we couldn’t buy a bottle . And the hills surrounded the town were full of warehouses of whiskey. But you can legally eat it within any food you like :eek. Anyone for Jack Daniels scones? Tasted horrible.

http://www.jackdaniels.com/tennesseetable/main.htm

[Green Tribe]

so lets get back to football- do you have any injuries?

not that i know of! i feel fine!

[donalfitz]

so lets get back to football- do you have any injuries?

I fine too, thanks Will be there in Tel Aviv next week, on or off the pitch. with 3 points!!

[donalfitz]

u could stuff the cash into your bra that would fill it up! !

That a change of sight, men ogling at the sight of a bra full of money instead of breast.

[QUOTE=ah... tomorrow week, the big game![/QUOTE]

Tomorrow week 3 points and parting

[Green Tribe]

[QUOTE=donalfitz]That a change of sight, men ogling at the sight of a bra full of money instead of breast.

Tomorrow week 3 points and parting

you lucky duck! will be a great trip, i imagine, could u all take loads of photos and put them on the web, that way i can see what i missed....

cheers!

[tall chapy]

The Israeli invasion starts next Thursday, I am sure there are a few people on the ground as we speak, doing a recce and finding out the best places to go.

As you may have gathered Ron (Amikam), the Irish like to have a laugh and a joke, so hopefully, the Immigration Officers will bear this in mind when we arrive. As for stories Ron, there are millions.....maybe not for the Iran game, but for stories of Irish Fans at or going to matches there are plenty..
The only issue I can remember before the Iran game (I did not travel) was whether the Irish women would be permitted to enter the stadium and watch the game and what possibly they would have to wear. I believe common sense prevailed on the clothes issue. If the women had not been allowed enter the stadium and watch the game, it would have been a big issue . In the end I believe the Iranians did not want to be seen in a bad light so common sense prevailed. I would say that everyone that traveled to the Iran game knew the situation about alcohol, just like most people traveling to the Israel game know that their Hotel will not serve a 'Full Irish Breakfast' of rashers, sausages (very non-kosher) and Fried Egg and a decent cup of tea...followed by a few pints when down the street.... .
Eldad, Bonk, Ron..etc.. If you know of a Cafe or 'greasy joint' that does a decent non kosher fried breakfast, then this is the place to post the name and address.
My memories from the Paris are - That many fans traveled with their mobile phones the Mobile phone network crashed just before the game.
Another one.. all the Irish fans humming 'La Mareillaise' (French National Anthem) on the metro on the way to the game and the sound of it running up and down the carriages and all the French people looking on in bewilderment at the Irish humming their national anthem !!
If you read most of the posts here you would see that the Irish like to drink..socially and responsibly...this advertisement is sponsored by GUINNESS...LOL
The stories of pubs running out of beer are not folklore, they are true..
Most are traveling to follow the team and have a bit of 'craic' .
The fans usually like to interact with the locals, some want to chat and mingle with the locals, a lot are looking out for women. Some just want to drink, go to the match and celebrate win, draw or lose . Some like myself want to see a bit of the country, mainly Jerusalem and also do some of the others above...
The Irish when they get talking will talk about anything....Football, women, politics, religion,and how Ireland is one big rip off merchant at the moment !!
Ireland is a great place to enjoy yourself, but the price keeps going up !!,
So when you come here for the return leg bring plenty of money.
A pint of lager is anywhere between €4-€6 (23 shekels - 34.5 shekels)
How many Israelis will travel over to Ireland for the game.

[Superhoops]

How did u all manage without alcohol out there?

Probably the most amazing spectacle ever of Irish fans before a game was when the 400 or 500 of us were all gathered in this big hotel lobby in the Azadi Stadium complex. We were there for about an hour and a half, all waiting around drinking tea and coffee. It was an eerie atmosphere as people who normally only ever meet each other at games, usually in the pub beforehand, stood around laughing and joking but with not a beer in sight. Unlikely ever to be repeated!

Agree with Gary, the locals were friendly enough, although at the stadium some of those in the section next to the Irish fans got a bit agitated towards the end of the game and began throwing stuff at us. Fair play to the local army/police, they soon got it under control.

After the game, we went to a local restaurant where we were made very welcome by the locals. There was no sign of the men locking up their wives and daughters. Many of them spoke english and were happy to come and talk. They were no different from people anywhere else when it came to them wanting scarves, hats, badges and one of the funniest sights I saw for a long time was a young teenage Iranian girl in the full black regalia including head dress wearing one of those big Leprechaun hats! A memorable experience!

[Peadar]

The Irish Team ARE NOT staying at the Hilton. They ARE staying down the road at the David Intercontinental Hotel, which is also on Hayarkon Street on the Beach Front.

Hope they don't keep DCFCSteve and myself awake.
We're looking forward to a nice quiet weekend.

[gspain]

How did u all manage without alcohol out there?

Quite a few fans got their hands on it. It was arranged via taxi drivers. Quite risky as apparently they were clearly very very drunk when arriving back at the hotel but the Iranians turned a blind eye to it.

We rented an apartment and our hosts had actually got alcohol for us but we didn't touch it. While we appreciated the gesture it is very difficult for them to get (smuggled in from Georgia and Armenia). However shortly after settling into my seat on the Lufthansa flight on the friday night the flight attendants were dishing out alcohol like there was no tomorrow.

Every woman in Iran must wear the Hijab in public btw. I asked our guide in Esfahan what would happen if a woman didn't and he couldn't even comprehend the question. It was just too unthinkable. You are also not allowed enter if you have ever visited Israel.

[Saint Tom]

pubs have run out of beer when the Irish are around FACT.

Do we know if many Israelis will be at this beach party? Got an invitation with my Travel agent Tickets so the Tourist authorities in TA must have done their homework.

I think the numbers travelling to Tel Aviv is a credit to us. If we get 2500 it is an achievement, considering the Swiss only had 40-50 Any idea how many French are going to travel Israeli lads for the game next wednesday?

[SuperDub]

Iran was amazing, We stopped off in malta to refuel "we went the scenic route with 747 travel" but in the airport in malta we bought the place dry of beer and drank it all on the final leg to tehran. The locals were great applauding us on the street corners as our bus passed by. Then to find eddie jordan standing on the terrace beside us "No corporate box's in the azzuri.

it was a weird feeling in the airport after the game mingling with the team we had qualified for the world cup but we were all so sobre.

Roll on thursday. I hope the immigration lads don't give me grief for visiting iran.

[ACdub]

pubs have run out of beer when the Irish are around FACT.

Do we know if many Israelis will be at this beach party? Got an invitation with my Travel agent Tickets so the Tourist authorities in TA must have done their homework.

I think the numbers travelling to Tel Aviv is a credit to us. If we get 2500 it is an achievement, considering the Swiss only had 40-50 Any idea how many French are going to travel Israeli lads for the game next wednesday?

There will probably be more Irish staying on for the French game than French travelling!

[gspain]

Roll on thursday. I hope the immigration lads don't give me grief for visiting iran.

I actually rang the embassy on this as no doubt some bright spark in Mossad would notice that they had a lot of visitors in the same few days that had also visited Iran. No problems here and they are aware of it.

Only a few days to go now - can't wait.

[Israel-fan]

Some countries have weird laws with regarding drink.

you just have to present an ID that proves that you are over 18 years old.
i don't think its legal to buy a drink for some one who is under 18.
about drinking in the streets, i never saw people drinking in the streets but i'm sure that as long as there is no violence (and there isn't i hope), its fine.

tell me, do you think irish women will come also?

[Beavis]

If going by the booking for our Hotel (Beavis & I are going with Standup) is anything then I don'y think there'll be any wives going:

Singles:1
Twins: 34
Three beddeds: 6
Doubles:0

If you're looking for more Ireland fans drinking stories I heard one from back in '90. A huge croud decided to go to via a 3 day cruise to Sicily. After 2 days they'd drank the boat dry & had to spend the last night sober!

Thanks Tom for the money exchange.

Roll on cheap drink & sunstroke!

[Cowboy]

We rented an apartment and our hosts had actually got alcohol for us but we didn't touch it.

I know, saw it on the RTE documentary

[kobby]

Friends..
Today Maariv sport (second largest newspaper in Israel) wrote 2 pages with all of your stories written here in the last few days...
Here is a link for the story :
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/3/ART/885/592.html
Cant wait 2 see u all
Yours
Kobby

[Cowboy]

is there an english version anywhere ?

[kobby]

is there an english version anywhere ?

But take a look of the photo and how long it is...it covered 2 pages today..