"The Best 12 Euro I've Ever Spent"

Last night Andrea, Stina, Tanja and I went over to some Irish college students' house (Andrea met them through the Ultimate Frisbee club). They invited us to go see a concert of a group called East 17. They described them as the "original boy band" before America had the Backstreet Boys. After watching a few of their music videos on the Internet, I knew that seeing this early 1990s group perform would be hilarious. The group members now must be in their thirties or forties, and it was funny how they still wore '90s clothes. I felt like I was 13 again seeing 'NSync with Aunt Laurie and Carrie! All of the Irish young people in the crowd were so excited to see this group from their childhood. And the best part was that it was held in a large pub (where I actually had a wonderful lunch last week). We drank Beamish and chatted for a few hours before the show. And I finally learned that the distinct smell of Cork City (that I thought was from bread baking in restaurants!) is actually from the Beamish factory. All of the "lads" told me I had to go on a tour of the Beamish brewery before it closes because it is so close to Cork's heart. As they all complained about the recession (as is the constant topic over here) our friend said "This is the best 12 euro I've ever spent!"