Scotland for the Win!

Yesterday I went with some friends to watch the Scotland vs. Italy game of the Six Nations rugby tournament. The six nations included are Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Italy, and France.  We were supporting Scotland, obviously, and it was not only a very exciting game but we also won, which was even better!
I don't really understand the rules of rugby aside from how to score and the basics of play.  Basically, just enough to know when to scream and cheer for my team.  We got really into the spirit of it, and dressed up despite the cold-it was well worth the effort.  Actually, there were a lot of great outfits in support of both sides.

 We took a bus to Murrayfield Stadium, where the game was.  On the way back we walked, because the fans took over the streets and stopped all the traffic!  I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but all the Edinburgh city buses have tartan upholstery on the seats.  Obviously, I am a huge fan of this.

 We're outside the stadium itself here, proudly sporting the Scottish flag, which is called the Saltire.  It is also known as the St. Andrew's Cross--St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and Saint Andrews Day is a national Scottish holiday.  We celebrated it this fall with--what else?--haggis, neeps, and tatties.

 Naturally, there had to be war paint.  I broke in the face paint by giving Ailie a full-face Saltire, and then the rest of us got stripes on each cheek.  Ailie also wrote 'FREEDOM' on Martin's forehead, a la Braveheart.

We were so much fiercer.

 It turned out we had amazing seats, behind one the the goal posts and pretty far forward-you could see the whole game easily, which was good since I was still trying to master the rules.  It was a lot more exciting than I usually find watching sports to be-quite possibly because it was really violent and awesome.  And we won. That always helps.

 The playing of the national anthems was also a lot more exciting than I'm used to.  The flag bearers marched around the bagpipers and drummers to form a Saltire with their flags across the field...and then when the Scotland team was announced, there were flames and fireworks.  I think if American teams entered through giant flames and fireworks came off the roof of the stadium, I might be more interested.

 The game was very exciting-we didn't score until the second half, and it was quite tense up until the final countdown...followed by massive cheers and lots of jumping around.  We walked back into town with the rest of the crowd and stopped at the Southsider, a pub near my flat, to celebrate with Irn Bru, which is a Scottish soda.  I think it's awful: it's bright orange and tastes/smells like bubble gum, but I haven't yet met a Scot that didn't like it.  Supposedly it's also a great hangover cure, but I've never had a need to try that, thankfully.  The commercials for Irn Bru are fantastic, though-I recommend looking some up.  Also, it outsells Coca-cola here, which is pretty incredible.

Scotland won 21-8. Cheers!