The Baboon Congress, Travel

Bowling With The Boss

80 Comments

Daughter and Husband planned the last half of our recent trip to Europe. Our trip ended in Dublin, where they  booked us into a really swanky hotel called The Merrion.  It is the sort of place where the Bell Captains wear top hats and the housekeepers lay out soft mats and bedroom slippers on either side of the bed when they do up the room. It was really grand.

We arrived in Dublin by ferry from Holyhead, Wales.  The streets were really crowded and it was hard to find a taxi. We strolled around Trinity College and down Grafton Street and it was wall to wall people.  We were told by the travel agent that we were lucky to find hotel rooms in Dublin the weekend we were there, as she was told by someone that there were lots of things going on in town. Those “things” turned out to be:

  1. The Irish Open
  2. Josh Groban in concert
  3. A very important soccer match
  4. Bruce Springsteen in concert Friday and Sunday evenings.

Everyone seemed to be talking about Bruce Springsteen. Nils Lofgren and Stevie Van Zandt were playing with him, and the newspapers had the whole play list for the concerts, which took place in a large outdoor arena that held 65,000 people.  One taxi driver told us that there were 100,000 extra people in Dublin just for those concerts.

As we were checking into our hotel, I heard a man asking after a female guest who was “a member of the Springsteen party”, and I realized that Bruce was staying at The Merrion, too. That explained all the people with cameras milling around outside the hotel.

We never saw Bruce, but we heard about him from some delightfully gossipy taxi drivers. They confirmed that he was indeed at The Merrion, and gave us a running itinerary for him, letting us know that on Saturday morning he worked out in the gym around the corner from the hotel, and that on Sunday morning he went bowling.

Bowling? Now, in all our time in Europe, I never saw a bowling alley. Did he go lawn bowling? Can you imagine Bruce Springsteen lawn bowling, upsetting the octogenarian bowlers in their white lawn bowling get ups? Why would he go bowling? Why not a short trip to the coast or to some castle, or a private view of the Book of Kells. Maybe he could have gone to church. If I were Bruce Springsteen, would I want to go bowling? I just don’t know.

W.W.Y.A.S.D?  (What Would You (as Springsteen) Do?

 

80 thoughts on “Bowling With The Boss”

  1. There must be some great Irish musicians in Dublin that would like to visit with Springsteen and could make themselves available on a Sunday morning. i wonder if there are any pubs open at that time where he could hang out with those musicians?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. I’d do as the Boss apparently did and use my free time to distract myself from the high pressure and fast pace of life as a celebrity. Might not be bowling, but putting on a disguise and going for a long walk, or touring a brewery or distillery, or just renting a car and going for a drive in the country would help me stay grounded and sane.

    Chris in Owatonna

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. I would say on Sunday morning go to church, but could a person of his fame just go to church? The church would be disrupted. Maybe a bowling alley is a good retreat. Would a bowling alley be open thrn? Or would it open for him?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I know someone who met Alice Cooper in his church’s parking lot after they had both attended the service. So I guess some famous people “just go to church.”

      Like

      Reply

        1. I don’t know. Maybe he struck up a conversation and they exchanged names?

          I am guessing AC didn’t wear makeup to church so he wouldn’t draw undue attention to himself..but I don’t really know.

          Like

  4. Internet search she was many bowling alleys in Dublin. Some seem to be lawn bowling. Many are clearing what we see here in U.S.

    Like

    Reply

  7. if i were the boss i would go kick nils and van zandts ass in bowling just like i do every sunday morning.
    i remember being in a swanky chinese hotel where they had bowling and billiards on the executive floor to let people have a physical thing to do instead f just sitting and drinking beer or munching. my host was a chinese guy who ws very good about learning new things . he wanted to know about how you hold the ball and swing your arm and twist your wrist. bowling looks so easy until you dissect it.

    if i were the boss i think i would rent a motorcycle and go see the country side. helmet and goggle should prvide all the annonimity required and the sites on the back roads are wonderful there. dublin is kind of an ugly city but the countryside is great and the roads are great twisty things that have green at every corner. the strand to the south is beautiful and while a gig intown is exciting i think after i kicks the boys butts in bowling i would go for a cruise.
    i also like doing tours . i would guess he could get someone to take him to see where the famed stuff of ireland happened. or maybe hes alreay seen that. hes been a traveling man for what 40 years? i suppose he has favrite spots around everywhere he goes.
    i used to hang with guys who owned companies and went to the same odd spots to eat and hang out as they went to last year. some people dont want to have the thinking thing be added to the ittinerary but i would guess the boss just enjoys kicking butt on a regular basis.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. It’s almost impossible for me to imagine being in the spotlight of celebrity so hard to know what lengths I might go to in avoiding it…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  9. It’s a little-known fact that Mr. Springsteen’s appearances in Dublin invariably occur on the same weekend as the annual Sunday picnic of the Dublin Needlepoint Society. Coincidence? I think not.

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

  11. If he went to Trinity college library he could have tried playing Brian Boru’s harp that is displayed there. It dates from the 15th century.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. And he is one of the few people they MIGHT allow to do that.

      I think if I were him, that would be my choice.

      Like

      Reply

  13. So glad to hear something about the Trip, Renee!
    I was going to say get out to the country. See tim’s above for more detail.

    OT: May be gone now for a couple of days, baboons. Loading the car as we speak, and Joel’s friends come over her to night to load the truck. We may even drive down there tonight if it’s not too late. See you when I can get to a computer…

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  14. OT – Blevins Book Club Reminder

    Sunday, June 12
    2 p.m.
    Sherrilee’s

    The Girl on the Train (Hawkins)
    &
    Uprooted (Novik)

    Like

    Reply

    1. Both of which had a waiting list a mile long at the library…so I won’t come for the book discussion.

      Luckily, if I just come for the food, you all are okay with that. Am I right?

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

        3. I’m supposed to know what I’m bringing before the day of book club? Not too likely.

          Might be something with rhubarb.

          Or not.

          Liked by 1 person

  16. I would take my boss camera equipment (top-notch camera with top-notch lenses and top-notch tripod and a top-notch camera backpack to carry it in) and go out into the countryside to shoot pictures. I bet I could find something beautiful there.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Your question raises a series of issues, Renee. My only answer is that I don’t have a clue about what I’d do if I were Bruce Springsteen, for I have never been remotely like him.

    There are several things in life that people want so fervently they will do virtually anything to get them. Examples include fame, great wealth, beauty and popularity. People who actually have fame, wealth, beauty and popularity often talk poignantly about how much of a burden they can be. And the typical response of most people is sarcastic rejection. You want me to pity you, Christie Brinkley, because you are beautiful? Ha! Don’t expect sympathy from me, rock star, for the way gorgeous young women throw themselves at you!

    The only conclusion I ultimately draw from this is genuine sympathy for people who have too much of something, so much of it that they live in “the bubble.” The bubble is a form of solitary confinement that is all the worse because the only contact they have with most people is being chased by paparazzi and screaming fans.

    Living in the bubble is apparently a worse hell than most of us can imagine. We should believe those who try to tell us how desperate they are to escape it. If you watch Barack Obama these days, he is deeply happy because he can see an end to his own bubble life.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. I’ve never cared much for the vocal stylings of Springsteen (too monotone), hence singing lessons from an Irish tenor.

    Like

    Reply

  19. Thanks to all the baboons who responded to my post. I have loads of ideas for more posts from the trip. I will try not to bore you all silly with them.

    Like

    Reply

  21. You guys are in fine form today.

    Like Steve, I have no idea what I’d do as Bruce Springsteen, but I know what I’d love to do as a musician. I’d love to go to an Irish pub late at night and play music with the locals. That would be a peak experience. I’d be willing to bet that the Boss would enjoy it too (if he wasn’t recognized).

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. is there a good wishes saying for moving into a new place. if there isnt there ought to be.

      may the new home you enter bring you the happiness and contentment you desire. may the hearth keep you warm and the pantry keep you full enough the living room bring you happiness and the bedroom make your head lie down with a smile and a satisfied feeling at night and awake to a day of anticipation as long as you both shall live.

      enjoy house b

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  23. If I were the Boss, I would likely do what I enjoy best about new cities: visiting museums. Art, history, science…just point me to a museum.

    Like

    Reply

    1. my son ran into angelina joule at moma in nyc. literally… he was chatting away talking to somebody about something and backed into her. she was ok but her body guard was not amused. yes angelina has a body guard to look at art.
      the boss need to bring guido to go to the sites in away cities. tell me again boss what do it do to thumbs?

      Like

      Reply

    1. I have an earring that I have lost more than once. Or at least I have lost one of the pair more than once. So far the missing one has always turned up. Once it actually dropped into the front pocket of the shirt I was wearing. Another time I lost one in the office where I do volunteer work, but one of the staff spotted it and got it back to me. It’s a pair of rather large gold filigree earrings with red beads.

      Cold weather is prime time for losing earrings – they fall off when you are putting on or taking off a scarf while bundling up for the cold. Summertime is a sfer season for jewelry.

      Other than that, I usually misplace things rather than lose them. It’s always kind of a nice surprise when I come upon a thermal cup or a pair of sunglasses that have gone missing and suddenly resurface. There’s a little spark of joy at being reunited.

      Like

      Reply

  26. Lurking along here.

    State track meet tomorrow, if the s&h can break 2:00 in the 800M it will be a very fine thing regardless if where he places.

    Between that, friends graduating and the onset of college application season, I am all in (oh yeah, and I try to fit some billable labor in there too.

    Delighted to read about moves, travels and publications-wow Baboons !

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.