What a great day to be in Ireland! We got to the parade route bright and early to get a good spot and its definitely good we did. The street was packed by the time the parade started. I will say that Ireland is a little lacking in their parade skills though. There were some cool ballons and dance troup groups but all the marching bands were from the US and almost none of the parade was St Patricks themed. Most of it was about being multicultural so there were all kinds of other countries represented by their music and dance. Still fun but definitely not what I was expecting. There wasnt one bag pipe player in the whole two hour event!
After the parade we went to Gallaghers Boxty House for some traditional Irish fare. I got the beer boxty which is pieces of beef with brown gravy and onions all wrapped up in something like a pancake. It was really good. Followed up with some sticky toffee pudding...mmm
Then it was off to Temple bar. The place was packed and lived up to its reputation of being a great time. We made a bunch of friends from all over the world. Some required translators and lots of hand talking to get points across but most spoke enough english. We of course had our fair share of pints. The evening ended when a girl spilled a beer all down the back of my jeans...not fun.
This morning we took our times getting up and out of the hotel. Had some breakfast and then caught the bus to get our car. The bus was probably the worst experience so far. The driver was incredibly rude and unhelpful. He yelled at pretty much everyone who got on and completely ignored people waiting at some stops. Luckily a nice lady on the bus told us where our stop was since we werent about to ask for any special treatment from that guy.
We are now the renters of a brand new bright red Toyota Yaris...left hand stick of course. I will say I got pretty nervous as I got in the car but after a quick look over and test trip around the block I had it down. City turns are definitely the weirdst part. And the roundabouts are a blast. Im thankful for my Gloucester City lessons back in high school. I can defintely see the people who are afraid of the circles and stay far away from them.
Well we are off to walk the streets of Galway and get our bearings for the next few days. Hope everyone had a great St Patricks and Erin Express. Ill try to get pictures on here soon but so far none of the computers have had front usb ports. Talk to you all soon! Cheers!
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2 comments:
Hey! Sounds great so far. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if the (real) Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day! If you get a chance, can you send a postcard to our kindergarten class at Randolph Elementary School, 1306 S Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22204? Have fun! Hugs from Uncle Kent and Melanie too! XO Aunt Rita
Glad to hear you made it through St. Patty's Day and are still going strong. Too bad you missed the real st patty's day party in philly. Boxty sounds awesome. Why did the night end with the spill? A younger gina would just tie a sweater around the waist and dance harder.
-b
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