"Paddy's in Ireland Isn't Going to be that big a deal..."

EXCEPT IT IS.

Everywhere I went and everyone I talked to before I came to Ireland claimed that the infamous St. Paddy's Day (That spelling is correct, mind you) was just a completely Americanized event made out just to push people into bars and sell products with an Irish theme. Like Valentine's day (thanks hallmark!) Now, I don't mean to be condescending, but that's absolutely the furthest thing from the truth possible.

And it's only 70% tourists

I'll start with Friday: The big event was the craft beer festival that took place on the docks. A bunch of microbreweries came into town and set up to sell. Apparently, Guinness basically had a monopoly on selling beer in Ireland until about 1996. Kind of like the walmart of Dublin (except they sell a mighty fine product). They would buy up the smaller breweries, then instead of using the land they bought, simply turn the land into a park or some other contribution to the city of Dublin. Then the government started subsidizing microbreweries to promote Irish companies. All things we got to hear from a free talk on the history of brewing in Ireland. Also, I now can tell you the difference between a beer and an ale (historically)

My friend Lucas from Oak Ridge came into town to celebrate the festivities, and the first thing I did was drag him into Carroll's across the street from the spire to buy him as much obnoxious green as we could. Because I didn't want him to be out of place for the following day. I know this seems super tourist-y, but they actually have the cheapest green material in the city.

Here's some advice for Paddy's. If you want to buy IRISH food either the day of or the day before big festivals, get ready to wait about an hour. And they don't really have reservations here either. After wandering around north Dublin for a while, we finally settled on a noodles bar on the street.

Saturday:

Only very rarely have I woken up feeling like it was Christmas on days other than Christmas (usually on days where I drive back to UNC, Basketball games at UNC, etc...), but I popped out of bed at 7 45 AM with a smile on my face. After rousing Lucas awake, we decked out in our green.

I went business casual, Lucas found a green shirt later on

We met up with a couple friends, and got into the city super early to get good spots for the parade. This was unbelievably packed. I'll just post a few photos and then explain why the floats all look like someone designed them in a drug-induced haze.

Roommates! The only time I've run into people I know on the streets of Dublin thus far.

We were on Dame Street across from the central bank

Not technically Irish

OK, that's a good taste of what we were experiencing. Now, let me tell you why there were dragons and wooden horses on the streets of Dublin.

From what I understand, the parade seems to be an artist's dream. There were tons of different groups from every corner of Ireland, and they were introduced by signs that announced what county they belonged to. As far as I can tell, each county submits a group to perform. It's like a friendly competition. There were some interesting floats, and I kept finding a child-like enthusiasm every time something new would pass.

"LUCAS LOOK AT THAT ONE" "OH MY GOSH, LOOK AT THIS ONE" came out of my mouth more than once.

The parade was pretty fun, however, in my infinite wisdom, I thought a coat would be unnecessary because the sun was shining in my window when I woke up. Thus, in the hour we were waiting for the parade to start, the rain was piercingly cold.

After the parade, we got lunch at a place off grafton street, where I was just excited to be inside. Lucas was only in for the day, so we decided to wander around the city and see the big spots. After walking to the Jameson Distillery and looking at the 50 minute wait, we then walked down to the Guinness factory to see how massive it was, St. Patrick's Cathedral...

In Paddy's (Garden), at Paddy's (Cathedral) on Paddy's (day)

...Trinity College, and finally an attempt to see St. Stephen's Green (which was closed because by then all the 15 year olds who were out drinking had been properly drunk to the point where it was not hygienic to walk through the green anymore).

It was interesting to watch the cops (gardá), as they wouldn't even fine people who were carrying around open containers, they would just point in the general direction of a trashcan and hope the people would go that way. It was almost to the point of futility, however.

After running back to get a coat, I met up with the team at a restaurant on Baggot street where they finished up eating and we headed out for our Irish pub experience. We ended up well away from the commercial district at this place called Scruffy Murphy's to meet up with our friends.We drank a couple pints, sang some karaoke, danced a lot, and called it a night.

Best weekend in Dublin thus far.