Brenna's Ireland: St. Patrick's Day in Ireland!

Since the moment I knew I would be going to be in Ireland for 5 months, I made the connection that I would get the opportunity to spend St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. Everyone had been talking about it for weeks and all of of were anxious to see how the Emerald Isle was going to celebrate their holiday. Emily and I woke up early on St. Patrick's Day morning because we were expecting the entire Linfield crew and some extras over to our place for a full Irish breakfast to start our day off right. The parade in center of the town was at noon so we were expecting our guests at around 10. Soon enough we had everyone in the kitchen cooking breakfast items from Irish bacon, to crepes, potatoes, scrambled eggs and potatoes of course. Let me first tell you something about the bacon in this country. It is incredible! It blows American bacon out of the water; it always tastes so fresh. It will be one of the many things I will dearly miss when I leave Ireland. Breakfast was the perfect way to start our day! And we all had full bellies when we headed to Eyre Square to see the parade. Our whole group went and even met some friends down by the main square in Galway. The streets were packed and we barely managed to find a spot against the barrier to see the floats and people in the parade. We were happy to see that even the Irish, along with Americans, were dressed in their festive green. Three old women across from us even had on green, shiny wigs. It was very similar to St. Patrick's Day in America but it felt like it meant something so much more to them. The parade was pretty good! Local elementary schools bands played down the streets and different organizations in the community had decorated floats or entertainment. There was even a "U.S.A" section with old automobiles and cheerleaders and football players. It is funny to see the stereotype of the All-American. Of course we all cheered loud when the U.S.A float went past. All of us had a great time cheering and enjoying the parade! After the parade we all headed back to our apartments to have some lunch and rest a bit before we went back out that night.

Later that night, we decided to head to town and see how night life celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Shop Street and pubs are usually fairly packed on week nights but this was nothing compared to anything we had seen in Galway. Streets were absolutely packed with people! It felt like we were in the heart of Temple Bar district in Dublin. Pubs were absolutely packed and we could barely get in anywhere! We finally got into some of our favorite joints but weren't out for too long that night. Most of our celebrating occurred in the morning and afternoon. It was very entertaining walking back to our apartment that night seeing loads of trash on the streets and green, witty outfits everywhere. Not to mention the completely intoxicated people who had obviously started their celebrations early. There were people from all over in Galway that night and it is obvious that everyone was excited to flock to Ireland for March 17th. Prices were higher and tourist surely increased! Overall, my St. Patrick's Day in Ireland was very entertaining and I was glad to be able to spend one of my favorite holidays in its birth place.