Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Lá Fhéile Pádraig!! Well, it's way past St. Paddy's Day, but that was the last major event.
Two of my friends from home came to visit for a week and it was pretty intense! My other roomie had 2 friends also, so it was quite the packed house. It was an interesting mix of people too - we had three people from Wisconsin, 2 from Jersey, 1 from Boston, and 1 from Connecticut. At one point 2 other people stayed so we had 4 from Wisconsin and 2 from CT, trust me - the accent ratio was insane and we had a lot of fun with that.

Kris, Jacks, Kat, and I hit up the Cliffs of Moher which were just unbelievably beautiful. I had been there years ago, but it's something you can never see too many times. The weather was perfect - sunny, cool, and clear. Driving through the Burren alone made the trip worth it. The rolling Irish hills were in perfect form for our friends. I had class during their stay so I couldn't visit Connemara with them on another day, but I'll get there. I had to pass up on a trip to the Aran Islands also, but I'll make it there no doubt.

At the end of the week was St. Patrick's Day - which contrary to some American's belief, it is a big deal in Ireland. A very big deal. Thousands of people descended upon Galway from around the world, but the weather was awful so you didn't really see half of them.

We started off in Monroe's, a great pub, and a marching band played some music to kick off the parade. We hid under an awning during the actual parade because the rain was so bad. The parade was short but cute - lots of kids in uniforms and bagpipers. We then hit up Wards Hotel for some lunch and to watch the big rugby match. Ireland won, but not by enough points to secure the entire six-nations games. Nighttime was when the real festivities began. The rain relaxed a bit and we hit downtown.
We went to the Quays first and met some obnoxious Irish boys. I was almost set on fire by some idiot, and that idiot then literally set his friend on fire. I was asked by multiple boys for a kiss - it's the Irish pick-up line. We met up with some more American friends we had made earlier in the day and then went to Hole in the Wall. We met more crazy Irish people and danced for awhile, where we met some great people. We followed them back to their apartment and went to a real Irish house party. It was amazing.
We drank, we sang, people Irish danced and played the tin whistle, and I met some great people. We all even fell in love for the night with some nice Irish boys with great Irish names. We partied till 4am and had probably the best night in Ireland thus far. I miss my family and friends and NYC, but I am in love with Galway!!!