Wednesday, March 18, 2009

St. Patty's Weekend

Yes, I said it. Weekend. This baby is a weekend long event in the good ol' city of Dublin.

Thursday night:
We had the pleasure of attending the DCU-hosted Patty's Day Ball at the bar called "Sin".
Normally it's, like, a twenty euro cover. We got in for five, which included a free shot (and great priced drinks!)
[This is my "free" shot. It tasted like apple juice.]
[This is the crowd on the dance floor. That is all you will see of that night.]

Friday:
Me, Kayla, Kayla's visiting boyfriend, and Maeve went to the Guinness Factory!
I have yet to see Harp, the beer.It was pretty much everything I've been told (as far as awesome). It was cool learning about all of the steps; well, confirming. Since i knew most of it already thanks to Colty-butt and dad.
[9000 year lease, signed my Arthur Guinness himself!]
[Me, being my awesome self.]
[Inside the factory: where we got to see real hops vines, taste barley, and see the beautiful waterfall that unfortunately my camera couldn't capture.]
So appropriate for the time of year.
[The marketing floor might have been my favorite.]
[They didn't actually tell us the answer. I was upset. I am my mother's daughter and grandma's grandaughter. :-)]
Then came the famous gravity bar where I had my pint of Guinness. The best pint I've had on my whole stay, for it truly had a chocolate twang to it. Delicious.
Oh, and there was a good view of the city, too.

Friday night: my friends Alex and Janelle took me to dinner at this restaurant off of Dame St. with their parents who were kind enough to pay for me. It actually made my day to get a free meal :-)

Saturday Day:
We went to the "carnival"; there were six rides. But we went on the Ferris Wheel with yet another beautiful view of the city.
Then we went on the ride, Snow Jet. Where we almost died. It was a blast!
We passed this amazing band on the way back to the bus. I would have bought their cd if there wasn't a difference in Eurpean and American players...
Saturday night:
Party all night long at our favorite pub/dance club: Eamenn Durans (or something like that).
TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!
We woke up at 7:45 so that we could start drinking by 8:30 (this is the a.m.).
We were ballin. Yes, that's orange juice...maybe with some vodka too.
We headed to the parade, two and a half hours early. It was worth it to get a good spot. But we were getting a tad cranky when it decided to be late. Fun stuff, still.
[Please note the O'Bama shirt.]
[You're jealous you weren't here for this display.]
[The Simpson's started of the Irish parade.]
[St. Patrick-in the flesh.]
[This reminded me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.]
[The infamous potatoes being represented.]
[Everything was so colorful; and incredibly NOT Irish...]
[The Suffragists came out. It made me happy.]
We then went to the Hurling and Gaelic Football match at Croke Park. I loved Gaelic Football! And while hurling was less exciting, they both know how to take a beating without pads (and some don't wear helmets!).
What I was NOT a fan of is that you couldn't drink alcohol inside the stadium. You could purchase it in the concessions, but couldn't brink it to your seat. That's when I realized I was not in the states.
After the game we searched high and low for restaurant that would satisfy the needs of five different people; such a difficult task. Luckily we found a quaint little one that had the greatest chicken, pesto, and cheddar panini. I've taken a liking to panini's. In fact, it's pretty much all I eat when I dine out.
Then, we went to our favorite bar and another called, Citi bar, and danced (and drank; c'mon. It's St. Patty's night. What did you expect me to do?) the rest of the night away.

Next week is Barcelona and Brussels. I can't wait to inform you on the awesomeness that is that! Hopefully I'll have enough time between the trips to update before heading to Brussels. However, I am seeing DCU's production of Rent Thursday night. My flatmate is playing Collins!

Word of the Blog:
Shamazal (I can't tell you how that's correctly spelled): Brawl/fight [in the context of a game/skurmish]

4 comments:

  1. OMG! sounds so fun!!!! and you are going to Barcelona! SO FREAKING JEALOUS!

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  2. Katie, what a blast!! Do you ever have a hangover? Tee Hee!! Sounds like you are meeting some neat people and seeing all the sights. Loved the parade pics, well all the pics actually. Enjoy Barcelona and Brussels, I was in Madrid and Brussels and saw nothing but the airport!!! Enjoy!!
    Love,
    Judy

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  3. Grandpa says to practice your Spanish before you go to Barcelona and take lots of pictures.

    The pictures are great - do you every run out of bars? Take it cool!

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  4. Looks like St. Paddy's day is the weekend to be there. How did the bagpipes sound in the parade?
    I am glad that the weather is warming up a little for you so maybe you can explore Ireland a little more. Keep the pictures coming. You are doing a great job and we are very proud of
    you taking advantage of everything over there because I think your next artical or book will be "Pub Life in Ireland" a students perspective.
    Keep the study's up and good luck on your year end essay. Love you Mom & Dad

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