St.Patrick's Day in Dublin!!!

Everything you think St. Patrick's Day would be in Dublin - all the Irish dancing and celtic music, singing along to Cockels and Mussels and Danny Boy, drinking pints of Guinness and being kissed on the cheek by friendly Irish men - Dublin measures up to all of these expectations, and then some. And then a lot, actually. I had the best time of my life in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. The city is vibrant and friendly. There are horses clip clopping their way past on the cobbled streets, celtic music (real celtic music, being played by old musicians) sneaks out of every pub you pass. The shopping is phenomenal, the buildings beautiful, and everyone is willing to stop and say hello. And I officially love the Irish accent above all others.

Stevie and I spent St. Paddy's Day at the huge outdoor Ceilidh Mor, dancing Irish dances with complete strangers from across the world. It was neat to see all the highschool age Irish students who really knew all the dances and who were chanting and singing along with all the songs. The Irish culture is so rich and natural that it is really refreshing - even though the city was packed with tourists, it was clear that all this "Irishness" wasn't just for show - these people really do love their culture, and they really do sit around in pubs playing the guitar and Irish bagpipes, and girls really do climb on the bar to do some Irish step dancing in tune to the music and the crowd's clapping hands and hooting.

St. Paddy's night was spent in St. John of Gogarty Bar in the Temple Bar district. The place was packed so that you could barely move, and glasses of Guinness were being spilled on people and broken every two seconds. But you can't help but be in high spirits when everyone is there for the party, dressed in green, and no one is afraid to spark up conversation. I had a shamrock and maple leaf painted on to my face, and we met a lot of Canadians that way. On the second level of the bar was the Irish Music level, and we weren't in there two seconds when I got swept into a dance with a guy who really knew how to do the dances - he held both my hands, facing me, and we would kick and twirl to the music, while the rest of the bar stood and clapped and cheered us on. That is my single best memory of St. Paddy's Day, it was so exhilerating!!!!!

The next night was spent much the same way although a little more subdued in Temple Bar, the most famous of the pubs in Dublin, and rightly so. We spent most of the night singing along with their Irish Band.

The next day we spent wandering around shops and coffee shop hopping, then headed back to St. Andrews in preparation for our next adventure to Eastern and Central Europe. I will never have a more exciting St. Paddy's Day than the one spent in Dublin. And I am forever in love with that city of friendly people, beautiful accents, and cobbled streets.