St Paddy's Day

Hello everyone!

Last night was lots of fun! Met Fiona and Lisa at the first bar and we joined the pub crawl. We went to four bars all up and enjoyed some Guinness, some dancing and had a good night. Ran into a few of the others I walked around with at the second place, and the third place was a pub that had live music and Irish dancing which was heaps of fun! At this place we met Jordan, a guy from Seattle who's living in Madrid so the four of us hung out for the rest of the night. After the fourth bar we were meant to go to a nightclub but the temple bar district was so crazy busy that we lost the group and ended up just the four of us! So we counted down til midnight in the street and then spent the rest of the night in a pub in that area. They also had good live music! Then as it turned out Jordan was staying at the same place as me so we walked back to the hostel and I got to bed about 3am. All in all a really fun night!!

Today I woke up at 8.30 and got ready for the St Patrick's Day parade! I put on my green clothes and my shamrock temporary tattoos and headed down  to meet Jordan for breakfast at the hostel. Then we walked to meet Lisa and Fiona in O'Connell Street for the parade! The parade didn't start until 12 but we met at 10 to get a good spot. And that we did! We were right down the front. We killed time waiting by playing 'same page' (that Danton taught me in Uruguay!), chatting to the people around us and taking photos. The funniest way we killed time was spray painting Jordan's beard with green hairspray! Hahaha.

Then the parade started. It was so cool!! So much colour, music and celebration. St Patrick's Day is a public holiday in Ireland because it's the date St Patrick died. Green is worn by all because it is said he used shamrocks to explain the holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. This year's theme is the present day. Last year's was the past and next year's is the future!

I've never had so little personal space in all my life! After two hours of waiting and two hours of parade my legs didn't know how to move any more, but it was worth being at the front! There were people climbing statues, trees, buildings etc just for a look haha. I'm really glad we made the effort to go early so we had a great view. 

Tonight I'm once again meeting Lisa, Fiona and Jordan and we are heading out to the girls' hostel and then to celebrate St Paddy's! Travelling solo is funny, to think I only met those two yesterday and it was all because I asked them a question about the walking tour! Really glad I met them. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox