St. Patrick's Day in Dublin!

Last week was one Irish experience!! I spent St. Patrick's Day in the heart of Dublin with a bunch of my friends from across the globe. We got up super early (8am!? ridiculous for students...) and got together in my friend Mary's room. I came decked out in my green Dunder Mifflin shirt (oh, yeah!), some green Irish necklaces (thanks, Mom!), and even sporting some face paint. After we got ready together, we caught the train into town prepared for the festivities ahead of us. The train was PACKED full; there were people sitting on the floor and standing for the duration of the 40 minute commute. But once we got there, our group of about 30 people traipsed through the streets of Dublin towards O'Connell Street. If you don't know anything about Dublin, O'Connell Street is like Michigan Avenue or Broadway, the heart of the city. 

So we stood around waiting for the parade to start! There's a St. Paddy's Day parade every year down O'Connell Street, but you have to get in line early, because, well, it's the biggest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world! We waited for three hours, but we had a great time doing it =) After buying all the souvenirs our budgets would allow, we took lots of pictures to pass the time. Once we ran out of pictures, we began to drink the morning away ;) Hey, we're in Ireland -- might as well blend in with every other person there!

Once the parade started, we cheered and danced and watched the craziness! Afterwards, we crossed the Liffey (the main river) and started to celebrate this glorious day in the best pub in town! Although I would never make a habit of it, I did down a few drinks before 3pm ;) I ended up having a wonderful day with my friends, it's just so unfortunate that I won't be able to celebrate St. Paddy's in Ireland next year! I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day back in the States and no one got pinched ;)