St Patrick's Day
So, St Patrick’s Day was amazing. I awoke at some insanely early time to an alarm which I still haven’t worked out where it came from. I literally sprang from the bed in such a shock because the noise was so unfamiliar and weird... I thought it was the fire alarm but nobody was madly dashing to the fire escapes so I braved my chances and tried to catch a few more z’s, knowing that the day would be a long one. It ended up being a futile attempt so I watched some movie in Gaelic, all the while trying (and failing miserably) to understand what they were saying. I eventually met up with Kayla at 11:30am and we walked to where the parade was starting and stayed there to watch as much as we could see. It was so packed; there was so many people in the city itself, it was crazy to try and move around and you couldn’t see much of the parade as a consequence. Most of us just held our cameras up and hoped like hell we got some good shots. There were a couple of pretty cool floats we did get to see over the tops of the freakishly tall people in front of us, and the marching bands were very cool as well... I think my favourite was the bagpipes band though. After the parade finished we decided to high tail it over to Temple Bar but of course everyone else had the same idea so we got gridlocked right outside of Trinitty College with thousands of other people. I have to say, I am not usually claustrophobic but I was absolutely glad to get out of that crowd. There was so much pushing and shoving it was lucky no one was hurt... especially considering there were so many kids in that crowd, too. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Kayla and I headed into the actual Temple Bar itself and grabbed a drink. I had a half-pint of Guiness, just couldn’t drink a full one, it is far too heavy! The music and atmosphere in there was great and we could have stayed a bit longer but Emma texted me to let me know they were on their way.
Once we finished our drinks we met up with Emma and her friends at the Auld Dubliner, where the rest of the night was just as great. I loved the music they were playing (mostly U2) although poor Kayla felt like it was putting her to sleep. We drank our weight in cider and beer and had a great time dancing and chatting to the locals as well. Emma and her friends were fantastic and really made sure we had a great time with them. Towards the end when the night was catching up to everyone, they cranked up the traditional Irish music and it was so much fun to watch everyone sing these traditional songs at the tops of their lungs. I only recognised a couple of songs, but it was very entertaining anyway. I managed to get a couple of videos but because it was quite dark in the bar you can only hear everyone singing along, not the actual dancing. All in all, it was a great day... it’s surreal to say that I got to spend St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin itself... the city certainly put on a show and you can tell there are lots of proud Irish men and women who had a really great day. It reminds me of how we act on our Australia Day!
After saying goodbye to Kayla, I stumbled back to my hotel where I ran into some other people I knew and so we drank some more at the bar until they kicked us out. It was a very good day and night and I am totally surprised I did not have a sore head the next morning. Lucky me!
And on a side note, Happy 20th Birthday Emma :)
Once we finished our drinks we met up with Emma and her friends at the Auld Dubliner, where the rest of the night was just as great. I loved the music they were playing (mostly U2) although poor Kayla felt like it was putting her to sleep. We drank our weight in cider and beer and had a great time dancing and chatting to the locals as well. Emma and her friends were fantastic and really made sure we had a great time with them. Towards the end when the night was catching up to everyone, they cranked up the traditional Irish music and it was so much fun to watch everyone sing these traditional songs at the tops of their lungs. I only recognised a couple of songs, but it was very entertaining anyway. I managed to get a couple of videos but because it was quite dark in the bar you can only hear everyone singing along, not the actual dancing. All in all, it was a great day... it’s surreal to say that I got to spend St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin itself... the city certainly put on a show and you can tell there are lots of proud Irish men and women who had a really great day. It reminds me of how we act on our Australia Day!
After saying goodbye to Kayla, I stumbled back to my hotel where I ran into some other people I knew and so we drank some more at the bar until they kicked us out. It was a very good day and night and I am totally surprised I did not have a sore head the next morning. Lucky me!
And on a side note, Happy 20th Birthday Emma :)