St. Patrick's Day: Dublin Edition

I woke up on St. Patrick's Day at about the same time as the sun was rising.  Cullen and I began the 4ish hour bus ride to Dublin at 7:30 a.m. and I was about as antsy as a little kid the night before Christmas. Not only was I about to experience the ultimate St. Patrick's Day, I was about to finally be reunited with two of my close friends and future roommates!

Lea, Taylor and I back together again!

As the bus pulled into the city, I couldn't help but gape at the festive people filling the crowded streets.  People weren't just dressed in green... they were in silly hats, glasses and drinking shirts.

Everybody's Irish on March 17th

The trek to the hotel couldn't have seemed longer.  We booked months in advance and could only find a hotel that was about a 30-minute walk from the downtown area. BUT this was the first hotel I've stayed in since being abroad and it was SO nice to have a room with a view, a TV, a shower/towels and a maid. So, minus my initial anxiousness to arrive, the Ballsbridge Inn ended up being great!

By 1 p.m. I found myself in Hard Rock Cafe, drinking with a group of my guy friends.  I know - you can't really get more commercial than Hard Rock, but believe me, we went to our fair share of local pubs throughout the weekend. Eventually the boys and I ventured out onto O'Connell street to see part of what might be the weirdest parade I've ever seen.  Floats ranged anywhere from a talking tennis shoe to giant polar bears.  There was even a man on stilts, covered in fake bird poop, being followed by a pack of Lion King-esque puppet pigeons.

Dave, Cullen and I at Hard Rock

One of many weirdo floats... 

Taylor and I were reunited by 4 p.m. and began happily wandering the Temple Bar district by seven or so.  That night we discovered a fiddle player who could play 'Hotel California' behind his back, found a group of Chapman study abroad kids, and squeezed our way through crowded pubs. (I'm not kidding when I say squeezed. One pub, I think it was The Dubliner, was so crowded that a nice man actually grabbed me around the waist, rotated 180 degrees, then dropped me off on the other side of him so that I could get by.)  Overall, everyone was extremely friendly and overjoyed to be spending the holiday celebrating with strangers.

Temple Bar district on St. Patty's night

The next morning, Taylor and I met up with Lea around lunchtime.  The three of us didn't stop talking the whole 30-minute walk home!  After dropping Lea's stuff in our room, we ventured back into the city, this time with Cullen, and spent the day eating and shopping.  On Sunday, we moved into a hostel - Lea's first! - that was more centralized.  Lea couldn't have had a better 1st-hostel experience; Abigail's was everything we could have asked for and more.  Clean sheets, a private bathroom for our 10-person dorm, friendly staff, a GIANT common area, and a fabulous view of the River Liffey!

Bunkmates!

That night, we met up with Lindsay, my friend from Chapman, and  Anya, Lea's friend from home for sushi! Yamamori emptied my wallet but was totally worth it. This was the first sushi I have had since arriving in Ireland and it was phenomenal! After dinner, we went to some more pubs in the Temple Bar district where we saw live music, Irish dancing, and I experienced my first Irish Car Bomb.  An Irish Car Bomb is when you drop a shot of Baileys into a pint of Guinness and drink it really fast so that it doesn't curdle. Sounds disgusting but tastes like a vanilla milkshake at the end...

Sushi dinner at Yamamori

Lea and Cullen left for the airport at about the times Taylor and I returned from our nights. Sunday morning was a mellow one. Tay and I sipped coffee from a cute stand by the river, while sitting in the sun.  Later, we explored more of the downtown area of Dublin, toured the Guinness Factory, met back up with Lindsay for some mediocre fish and chips, and ended the night sipping Irish coffees at a trendy underground bar.

Overall, Dublin was quite the successful trip.  It's a beautiful, clean city and I highly recommend spending at least a weekend there :)