59. Pubs & St. Patrick's Festival

Where: Dublin, Ireland
When: March 17, 2012
With who: Dad

I first travelled to Dublin 11 years ago. The great tragedy of that trip was that I never really got to drink in a pub. I have long since regretted this, and decided there was only one way to remedy: head to Dublin on the most Irish day of the year to have my first Guinness in an Irish pub. And so, this is how I spent St. Patty's Day this year. 

Luckily, my dad was on this side of the ocean for work. He made an easy target to convince to come along. Not that he needed much convincing, being very proud of our Irish descent. We met in Heathrow early Saturday morning to fly over to Dublin for the weekend.

As soon as we set foot in the Dublin airport, the Irish festivities welcomed us. Balloons and banners galore. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

After quickly checking into our hotel, we headed out for the celebration. Even at 11 in the morning, the town was in full swing preparing for the parade. The Irish gift shops were making a killing and there were green leprechauns and Irish flags as far as the eye could see.

It was really cool to see all the different ages and cultures that turned out and came together to enjoy the parade, truly personifying that on St. Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish. 

In the middle of a small side street, a band had set up and was playing the drums and bagpipes. A large crowd formed and people were clapping and enjoying.

As we made it out to O'Connell Street, the party was in full swing. For us, there was absolutely no hope in seeing the parade. The crowd was already incredibly thick, and every elevated surface was covered by children decked in orange, white and green. 

Some people came fully prepared for the thick crowds. The streets were completely lined with people on top of ladders brought from home. 

We continued down O'Connell street just taking in the sights. The people watching was more fun than the parade. 

A few of the floats were so tall that you could get a glimpse from afar. This one was creepy. It was like a flying butcher/murderer who kept pointing at the kids while smoke came out of his flying contraption. I think the children below are actually reacting in mild terror. 

Behind the hats and flags, a few sites could be made out. Definitely a different vantage point of the more well-known buildings of Dublin. 

We saw a few more floats towards the end of the route when the crowds thinned out a bit. The rhino in a wheelchair was incredibly creepy. Also, completely appropriate: Notre Dame Fighting Irish marching band. 

Before we knew it, we reached the end of the parade. We took refuge in a small park called the Garden of Remembrance.  It ended up having my favorite statue from my last Dublin visit. It's from an old folktale called The Children of Lir. In the story, an evil stepmother, jealous of her husband's love for his children, turned his children into swans. They remained that way for 900 years until they were changed back to humans by a priest. This statue shows the transformation of the children into swans. 

We lingered in the park for a little while, waiting for the crowds to died down from the parade. Then we head out in search of a pub to have my first Irish pint. We found the perfect place, the Oval Bar, just off O'Connell Street. We ordered two pints of the dark stuff and settled in. 

Here are me and the pops with our pints of Guinness, celebrating our Irish heritage. Nothing beats Irish Guinness, it just tastes so much better. 

After finishing our pints, we decided to head back to our hotel in a quieter suburb of the city. On our way, we saw one of my favorite marketing ploys of the day. 

And one final stop over the River Liffey. A lovely way to celebrate being Irish!

For the rest of our travels on this weekend, click here.