So it’s back across the Irish Sea for another Foundation in Dublin. This time stayed in a hotel on Lower Stephens Street, so only a few minutes walk from the venue, but also a few minutes from the city centre. Arrived, late on Sunday 1st April, and got taxi to hotel, where I dumped my stuff and headed for the nearest pub. Found a small bar that served the ‘good stuff’ ….and realised that they were doing toasted cheese & ham sandwiches…. very nice little snack it was too (helped the Guinness go down).
Started the delivery of the Foundation course, to a smaller group than expected. There should have been about 10-12, but in the end it was a cosy 7….but it was in a room that must have held about 50-60 people…!! Still, I grouped them all together in one part which wasn’t too bad in the end. Most of the delegates had a reasonable level of knowledge of IT, so there weren’t too many issues (other than the normal discussion points around “we don’t do it like that”).
End of day one, and it’s back to the hotel to relax and catch up on the news etc, log on to my email to find out what’s being chased by the office etc. Out for the evening meal, and I made my way up to Grafton Street where I had found a very nice Italian last time I was in Dublin. See the Belly Busters blog for more information on the food…
Day two continued as normal, again with no major issues or concerns. The usual drop in performance from the delegates towards the end of the day due to all the information they are being given - brain overload….! Set the sample questions for homework and back to the hotel. Tonight’s meal was going to be an Indian (anyone would think that I liked Indian food….!!!), but the Champions League was on tonight, with Liverpool playing PSV Eindhoven in the 1st leg of the tie. Food first, or drink first. The problem would be that if I drank first, I may not get to the restaurant later on if I drink right through the match, so decided that discretion was advisable, so ate first.
See Belly Busters for food comments, but suffice to say that by the time I had eaten and made my way around the corner to the nearest pub….Liverpool were 2-0 up….darn! Still it was good to see them playing well within themselves - although the way PSV were playing on the night, a reasponable Sunday Pub Team would probably give them a good run for their money. Final score was 3-0 of course, so all looks good for the semi-finals with either Chelski, or them Germans(?).
Wednesday, and it’s the final few processes and mock exam for the delegates, before I wend my way back to the airport. results of the mock were reasonable, with only one person not scoring a ‘pass’, but only by one point. This is the infamous Paper 4, so I don’t think there will be any issues with the live paper (fingers crossed of course). Unfortunately, due to the timing of my flight, I had to bid my farewells to the delegates and hand them over to the invigilator to take them through the exam.
Flight home reasonably uneventful…until landing at Birmingham. Not sure if the pilot missed something, but he certainly planted it on the ground….with such a thump that it made everyone jump.. Might need to check the suspension and tyres after that one….
So that’s another trip to the emerald isle over once again. Will be going back in another month or so hopefully.
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