St. Paddy's Day Weekend

5:00 AM. Time to wake up! The bus for Dublin leaves at six.

St. Patrick’s Day is all a blur to me now. It was quite overwhelming. In my mind’s eye it goes something like – crowds, green, parade, crowds, funny hats, crowds, Irish flags, crowds, lots and lots of people.

The streets were absolutely packed. It took forever to get from one place to another. The parade was really hard to see, because the majority of it was on street level, and I am short. I caught glimpses of only the biggest floats. We were all so excited to go out that night, but by eleven o’clock, the sensory overload was too much for us and we went back to the hotel.

The next day, my friend Caroline and I went to Sligo for the Só Sligo Food and Culture Festival. In the afternoon, we walked around and explored the town, then made our way to an adorable B&B, called Glenvale. We spent the evening in a nice Italian restaurant, in which we had the best dessert that either of us have ever had. It was called the B.C.C.C, belgian chocolate cake and cream. It was heaven. The  rest of the weekend, we didn't go more than two hours without mentioning it.

 Then, we went to a pub, where we met lots of friendly colorful characters celebrating their graduation, by buying rounds for everyone. Money saver. They kept telling us how happy they were that Obama is coming to Ireland, and how upset they were that the Queen is coming. I guess they've never heard of not talking about politics in a bar.

On Saturday, we started out with a traditional Irish breakfast at our B&B.

 

Then, we walked around collecting as much free food as possible. Our favorites were the tea and chocolate tasting at a café, and free stew at a pub (served on a Singer sewing machine).

The streets were filled with vendors, musicians, and irish dance school showcases. It reminded me a lot of Dexter Daze, when I used to dance on a small wooden floor in the middle of a park. It was a fun and quaint small town atmosphere, perfect for the relaxation we desired. We meandered around, visited with birds of prey and tiny ponies, dropped a euro at the make-your-own-sticky-bun tent, watched the Ireland v. England rugby game at a pub, got a spontaneous haircut, etc.

  

Overall, it was an enjoyable weekend.