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Amy in Ireland!
A Quick Country Tour and St. Paddy's Day in Dublin
The packed parade
in Dublin is a St. Paddy's Day tradition.
More European Travelogues:
•
Amy
Arrives in London
•
Amsterdam
– The Full Report
•
The
Best Time Ever!
•
The
Whirlwind Weekend
•
Romanced
By Rome
By
Amy Jones, Cal State-Fullerton Senior
Top of the morning to you! I spent St.
Patty's Day in Ireland and it was the most interesting trip I have ever
taken.
As soon as we got off our low-coast flight from London, we encountered
a grip of car rental agents. Though we planned on staying in Dublin
we figured it wouldn't hurt to get a car and perhaps seeing more of
Ireland. We ended up getting a great deal, got to drive on the other
side of the roa and lived to tell you about it!
Hmmm; we're thinking
keg party!
It was a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day and our first stop
was the Guinness Storehouse where we took a tour. Well, why not,
right? At the top is a bar with huge windows with panoramic views of
Dublin. It was fantastic.
I was chilling when some guy tapped me. It ended up being Shane, our
tour guide from Amsterdam!
It really is a small, small world. So we hung out, drank Guinness and
then spent a grip of money down at the gift shop.
Afterward we headed out of Dublin south to Cork. On the way
we drove through the most beautiful countryside ever! Also we saw cool
little villages like Waterford, Waxford, and Aslow. Crazy
thing is that highways go straight through the villages. Renting a car
really is the best way to see Ireland!
The St. Paddy's
Party – through the streets and into the night.
The next morning was ST. PATTY'S DAY!!!
We got up, had a bomb Irish breakfast with everything (except the black
and white pudding which is pig intestine and blood) and then headed
out on a mission to find an open pub. It was 11am so we figured
that on St. Patty's Day that wouldn't be a problem. Eventually, after
buying some Shamrocks, we found a pub that was opening at noon and we
opened the bar. We were the first ones in the place.
 Wahoo!
I opened a bar in Ireland on St. Patty's Day!
After a few Guinnesses it was time for the parade (the second largest
in Ireland) so we went out to catch it. We sat on a bridge barrier so
we saw above everyone's heads – a perfect viewing spot.
Parades – coupled with several beers – can be tiring
and eventually a nap came calling. When we woke up it was dinner time
and we went searching for some grub. We ended up asking two intoxicated
Irish guys if they knew of any good places to eat (that were open because
everything except for pubs is closed on Paddys). The really drunk one
pointed us across the street to a place called AbraKababra. I
thought the name was cute.
Anyway, he decided he was hungry, too, and that he would join us. Joy!
I thought that it would be funny though so we let him. This boy was
so drunk it was ridiculous! He kept on asking us the same questions
over and over. But I have to admit it was rather funny! He was from
Blarney, a little village 10 minutes away, that is famous for its castle
and the Blarney Stone (if you kiss it it is supposed to give
you good luck).
From bottom to the
at the top of Blarney Castle.
So of course he offered to let us crash at his place. Since we didn't
have a hotel we took him up on the offer and headed to Blarney. He made
it seem like he had his own place but when we got there it turned out
to be his grandma's house and he didn't even live with her! He just
stays there when he is in Blarney.
I felt like I was 16 and sneaking into a boy's house. It was ridiculous.
We had to hide behind some bushes and he whistled at us when the coast
was clear. Then we snuck into his room and had to be silent.
It was obvious that we were not supposed to be there and I did not
want to get the kid in trouble so we asked him to take us to a pub instead.
There was only one open in Blarney (like I said it was a small village).
It was cool...everyone knew everyone and it is safe to say that we were
the only Americans in the place. And this is what I was really after...to
spend Paddy's Day with some true Irish people. The kid's name was Wesley
and we met all of his mates. They were all super chill and we spent
the rest of the night with them.
Even though we all only had one pint that night we ended up closing
the bar. The owner was a friend of the guys so it was cool. Plus, since
we didn't know where we were going it was nice to have a warm place
to chat. Eventually we left (Wesley had taken off long before us) and
these two guys Johnny and Nole asked us if we wanted to see the castle.
Heck yeah we did!!!
So, the guys took us to go see it. We had to climb over the fence and
sneak in. It was brilliant. I snuck into a castle in Ireland on St.
Patty's Day – the best Paddy's Day ever! The grounds were
huge and it was cool to hang out there and learn about the castle from
a local's perspective.
At Ross Castle in
the beautiful Irish countryside.
The next day we actually paid to go in the castle so that we could
see it during the day and also kiss the Blarney Stone. Then, for the
rest of the trip we explored more of Ireland. It was good times. We
went up to Kerry and Killarney and stopped at a few different
castles along the way.
Amy Jones is a Cal State-Fullerton student on an exchange program
in London. She arrived in January and is filing regular reports for
PubClub.com.
 Amy
In Amsterdam!
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