Ireland Adventure Day 3; Limerick Parade Day... the good, the bad, and the ugly
Our day started off with an early breakfast and packing up to leave the hotel dressed in our band gear.
The good news; the weather forecast called for possible periods of clouds and some fine drizzle, but not any heavy rain, and as it happens, the weather forecast was fairly accurate. The kids managed to get out of the hotel on time and with all their belongings and loaded the buses. We arrived a couple of hours before the start time at the staging area.
The bad news; we arrived and unloaded the truck to discover that we were missing a critical huge box containing all the important bits for the drumline harnesses that actually allow them to march with the drums. When we finally tracked down the box - we learned it was still in Dublin at the airport - over 2 1/2 hours away...
The amazing news; our incredibly creative parents were able to, in the words of one student, "MacGuyver" a solution so that most of the equipment was playable, if not pretty (that would be where the ugly comes in). Using packing material from the truck, blankets, foam, rope, ties and duct tape, makeshift harnesses were created and our percussion section rose to the challenge to make it all work and still sound amazing. At the end of the Limerick International Marching Band Parade Competition with 20 bands from around the world competing, we were awarded "Best International Band"!
And a couple more pictures from yesterday's dinner at the castle...
More pictures of the day to come!
Tonight we checked into the hotel in Dublin, had a lovely meal in the restaurant here, and were reunited with our missing equipment in time for the big St. Patrick's Day Parade here in Dublin tomorrow. Don't forget, you can watch the parade as it will be streamed live on http://www.rte.ie/player/us/. The parade steps off at noon.
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