Lizberries in Ireland: Day 2 Among Seagulls

The second day of the Lizberries’ seventh tour of Ireland begins with a decidedly unusual challenge: Mattia versus a Galway seagull.

Between a stolen brioche, a bit of shopping, the legendary mussels at the King’s Head, and

a trip to Cork full of delays and unexpected twists, we arrive at Cyprus Avenue for a concert destined to turn into a real party.

Mattia vs. the seagull: 1-0 in his favor

The morning starts off on a humorous note.

In fact, it’s what will soon become one of the most memorable moments of the entire tour.

Mattia decides to have a brioche for breakfast and, very wisely, chooses to eat it in the car with the door open.

What he doesn’t take into account is one of Galway’s greatest dangers: seagulls.

He soon notices that a hungry seagull is watching him.

Very closely.

Instead of taking the threat seriously, Mattia decides to tease it. He shows the brioche to the seagull once.

Then a second time.

The seagull gets ready to take flight.

Mattia pulls the brioche back.

And so a little challenge begins.

Too bad that, on the third try, Mattia gets distracted for a split second.

And that’s all the seagull needs.

It dives down, snatches the brioche right out of his hands, and flies away.

End of the game.

Seagull: 1. Mattia: 0.

And the best part?

We managed to capture it all on video.

A brief, decidedly expensive breakfast—and above all, one that was much more eventful than expected.

Shopping, Souvenirs, and the Legendary Mussels

After this unusual adventure, we turned our attention to a bit of shopping.

Kry buys a new, higher-performance whistle and a Claddagh ring at the historic jewelry store.

Stefano, on the other hand, opts for something decidedly less romantic:

medicine.

Everyone has their own priorities.

There’s also room for a few souvenirs, of course.

But above all, there’s room for the legendary, absolutely unmissable mussels at the King’s Head.

Yes.

We go back there.

Again.

And again.

Because there are some things you simply can’t miss.

Kry has practically fasted for 24 hours to make room for what she considers one of the most important meals of the entire tour:

mussels, fries, and Guinness.

And finally, the moment arrives.

A decidedly generous lunch, perfect for recharging our batteries before hitting the road again.

From Galway to Cork, Amid Traffic and Delays

After lunch, we set off for Cork, heading to Cyprus Avenue.

Unfortunately, delays are back to keep us company.

Those darn delays.

It’s been chasing us since Dublin, and clearly has no intention of leaving us alone.

Traffic doesn’t help.

Neither do Cork’s one-way streets, made even more complicated by roadwork.

Getting to the venue quickly thus becomes an adventure within an adventure.

But when we finally arrive, we discover that this year we’ve been assigned the new Upper Stage: a stage at the top of the venue, partially open to the outside.

Luckily, the weather is on our side.

Mild temperatures and no rain.

Perfect conditions.

Or so we think.

Because there’s one small detail we haven’t fully considered yet.

The New Stage and the Challenge of the Stairs

The new stage means a lot more stairs.

And we have all our instruments to carry up.

Fortunately, Kry has a big heart—and a particular knack for sparing Ste the effort.

So, just like what happened at The Quays with its vertical stage, Kry ends up climbing an impressive number of stairs carrying the instruments.

At this point, we’re starting to think that touring with The Cranberries’ songs is also turning into a pretty effective workout routine.

But there’s a silver lining.

All those flights of stairs are doing wonders for Kry’s muscle tone.

Who needs a gym when there’s an Irish tour?

##And then… Cork

What can we say about the concert in Cork?

The crowd was literally going wild.

They were singing.

They were dancing.

They were jumping.

They gave it their all.

The energy was incredible.

And at one point, when Kry went down into the crowd and did a little Irish dance, they started dancing with her too.

It was impossible not to get swept up in it.

And then they asked for three encores.

At that point, it wasn’t a concert anymore.

It had turned into a full-blown party.

A beautiful moment to remember our Dolores and celebrate, through her music, that special bond that continues to unite people from different places.

A wonderful and unforgettable celebration.

After the concert: friends from all over the world

And if the concert was incredible, the after-party was just as special.

There were so many people coming up to congratulate us—old friends we hadn’t seen in a long time, new friends we’d just met, conversations that seemed to go on forever…

And, among the many people we met, there was even a guy from Chicago.

It’s one of the things we love most about these tours.

You start the evening without knowing a soul.

You end it feeling like you’ve made friends with people from all over the world.

After about an hour spent chatting with the audience and a quick break-down, we finally get to enjoy the fantastic green room at Cyprus Avenue.

And when we say fantastic, we really mean fantastic.

The Green Room at Cyprus Avenue

This isn’t just any green room.

It’s practically an apartment.

Sofas.

A full fridge.

Foosball.

A TV.

A kitchen.

Shower.

At this point, we’re pretty sure that, if we wanted to, we could even live there.

Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to enjoy it.

We quickly eat our fish and chips and head to the hotel.

Because, once again, we’re running late.

Very late.

In fact, hotel check-in had officially closed more than two hours ago.

Fortunately, the staff is very kind and lets us in anyway.

We finally make it to our rooms and collapse into bed at this cozy and relaxing hotel.

And this time we actually manage to sleep.

Until 8:30 in the morning…

Until…

8:30 the next morning.

Which, of course, is also the deadline by which we absolutely must move the car to avoid getting in trouble with the parking lot.

So the question is:

Did we make it?

Did we manage to move the car in time?

Or did the Irish tour finally get the better of us?

You’ll have to wait until next Saturday to find out.

To be continued…