Another first for the year – watching the Portugal v France World Cup game at a bar in Glasgow, while the World Cup was on.
I co-run an induction course  every July: two days to prepare people for working abroad. We hold the course at the University of Glasgow, so there’s a chance to try out the student areas nearby.
This year, we had a French student on work placement with us, who was helping at the course. Naturally, we had to follow France’s fortunes (at semi-final stage at that point) in the World Cup so that she didn’t feel too homesick.
Dan claims this was not a real ‘match at a pub’ experience because the bar also had a restaurant inside. One part of the bar floor was raised up and screened off, a bit like a square band stand, and you could sit there and eat while all the blokes stood in front of the bar instead. There were even additional TV screens by the tables so you could be sure of a good view, should someone block your line of sight to the bar.
If anyone thinks this is a more civilised way to try the experience, we were at Bar Buddha, near Ashton Lane.  Food well recommended too! And thankfully, France didn’t lose that game, so all went well for our French guest. (She did however come in late, the day after the France v Italy final…)