St Paddy's Day - Dope Irish Events

W.B. Yeats said it right! That up there is basically the theme for St Paddy's Day here in Dublin. Honestly, it was one of the craziest, but yet awesome experiences of my life. I got to spend Paddy's day with my new Irish friends, my new American friends studying abroad with me AND Abby came in from Edinburgh to celebrate Paddy's day right!! All in all, it was an absolutely amazing weekend. Tiring, very tiring BUT yet super amazing! 

Abby and I at the parade. 

The first day that Abby came in, we did the Guinness Factory. Now, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to go on the Friday before Paddy's day to the Guinness Storehouse, but apparently even then it was super crowded. Either way, we got the experience I wanted to show Abby (and James who happened to be visiting that weekend as well) - we got to see the hops, the barley, my all-time favorite waterfall, the free tastes and the pints. AND we got to pour our own pints. HOW EXCITING. I didn't get to do that the last time so I was perty excited for that bit! 

corrupting abby with her first taste of Guinness.

Abby, James and I by my favorite part: THE WATERFALL. 

Not going to lie, we all got a little bit of stage fright when we were pouring our pints, but the lovely people at the Storehouse were nice and gave everyone little certificates saying that we have successfully poured our own perfect pints of Guinness. But I gotta say, mine actually was pretty perfect. Not to brag or anything, but even the lady teaching us how to pour pints was impressed by how well I got it. The head of the pint was absolutely perfect. I was so impressed with myself! I guess living in Ireland for so long and watching all of those bartenders pour the Guinness taught me a thing or two! Next step: getting a bartending job in the States. Best job ever or what?

just closing off Dame Street/College Green, no big deal.

The next day we went to the parade. Now, I don't know why, but this parade was absolutely nothing to what I was expecting. I was expecting a bunch of Irish step dancers, bagpipes, Irish music, the whole works. What we got was something completely different.. There were people hanging upside down on poles, odd-shaped and odd-colored costumes.. basically nothing that represented Ireland at all. What Grace and I came to the conclusion was that because they are Irish, they can essentially do anything they want because they themselves are the Irish.

 On the left: a dude on a pedestal playing the sax in a top hat in front of the now Bank of Ireland (which used to be Parliament way back when). Basically, not Irish at all.

On the right: A rhino on a wheel chair. Please try to tell me how in the hell that is Irish or representing Paddy's day at all. The only thing really Irish and stereotypical Paddy's day are the hats/bows you see audience members wearing.



Needless to say, the entire weekend was definitely an experience to be had! Just seeing everyone dressed in green, white and orange jumping all around the streets of Dublin was a sight to see. I myself bought myself an Irish flag and spent the whole day running around the city doing heel clicks and just loving life essentially. The whole day I just had the phrase "Meanwhile in Ireland" stuck in my head.. the whole day was essentially the complete stereotype that I had dreamed about before coming here. Glad I got to experience it!

just frolicking through Dublin like a leprechaun. 

my amazing flag that I'm obsessed with. 

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin is filled with a bunch of festivals, parades, events all over town. What I definitely wanted to do was go to Merrion Square for the fair that was going on there. Granted, it wasn't a huge fair but what we did see was the Giant Wheel. This wheel was essentially a ferris wheel but so much taller than I ever thought would be possible. Actually, looking back on it, the wheel reminded me of the Ferris Wheel in Six Flags Great Adventure. 

Unfortunately, Abby is not one to go on rides that are only temporarily fixated on the ground, instead of being grounded in it. So Grace and I went up to the top to get one of the best views of Dublin I could have imagined. It was absolutely breathtaking to look out over the city. I could almost spot UCD, but once I looked down (hence the picture below), I spent more time freaking out that we were so high up in the air. Didn't help that the Wheel went backwards and forwards.. still not sure if it was our own fault or the ride's fault. We were freaking out a bit and definitely moving the carriage back and forth a little bit. But again.. nothing a little bit of whiskey can't fix! 

so incredibly high above the ground. People look like ants! 

I will now include a lovely video of Grace and I on top of the wheel exclaiming how excited we are that we live in such an amazing city. We were definitely cracked out and high on life, but we absolutely loved every second of being up there, as you will see when you watch that video. It's actually kind of funny, if you watch it. At least for us it was. 

The following activities included walking around Dublin showing Abby all of the important sites. Including a Boots Pharmacy. That was not only necessary to shower her (because Edinburgh has one as well; similarities) but also because we needed to pick up some essentials: my hairbrush which I stupidly forgot in Latvia. We picked up our important items, but Grace and I also did a little dance in the middle of Boots. We really tried keeping straight faces on, but we obviously just aren't allowed to look at each other because inevitably we will laugh. DAMNIT. 

Over all, being in Dublin for Paddy's Day is nowhere near what I expected but at the same time fulfilled all of my preconceived notions of how the day would pan out. It was absolutely amazing to be an official  tourist for at least this weekend and not feel bad about it - because EVERYONE was a tourist. It was amazing to be able to pull out my camera and not be judged at all (something that I'm consistently worried about because just having an American accent is something I'm judged for here). 

Wearing green, white and orange with a flag around my shoulders proved to be the best experience I've had here in Dublin so far. By far my favorite time of the year for sure! Hopefully next year's Paddy's Day will be just as eventful as this years!