Dublin for St. Patrick's Day

By the time we arrived in Dublin on Friday, the city was already lit green. The contrast of the bright green lights against the otherwise dark city made it clear that St. Patrick's Day was upon us. Having just traveled several hours from the south of Ireland, we went straight for our hotel in the center of town. From our window, we could look out onto the Liffey River running through the center of town. After a little much needed rest, we headed out to the crowded city.

We walked to Temple Bar, just across the river, to figure out what St. Patrick's Day in Dublin is all about. In short, people from all walks of life were everywhere. Of course everyone was wearing green. The atmosphere was energizing and made me excited to be there even though I frankly had no idea what we were celebrating. Sure, we know the one sentence answer to "What is St. Patrick's Day?" but I am fairly convinced that no one in Temple Bar actually knew what the occasion is signifies. But not to worry, this slight lack of knowledge wasn't a hindrance for anybody. Live bands played at each bar and I swear I heard the songs "I'm gonna be (500 miles)" and "Country Roads" a dozen times each that night. After wading our way through crowded bars for several hours we decided to call it quits before too many more drinks were spilled on us.

Live music in Temple Bar

Saturday was our only full day in Dublin to explore the city. We began by walking though the city on our way to the Guinness factory. The line there was already quite long and the area was teeming with tourists. We decided to come back later after we completed our scheduled tour of the Jameson factory. The tour was interesting but having toured several smaller distilleries in Scotland, it was clear the tour was quite bland. The taste test made up for what the tour lacked. Afterward, we made our way to Christ Church where gourmet food trailers were set up. The fish and chips there made for an excellent lunch. A trip to St. Patrick's Cathedral was the last stop before attempting the Guinness tour again.

Ultimately our attempts at seeing the Guinness factory were a complete failure. Not surprisingly, each time we went back, the line grew longer. We gave up on drinking a Guinness at the top of the pint-glass shaped building in favor of a Hop On-Hop Off bus ride. We figured some quality narration while cruising around the city would be a good alternative. Turns out the tour's a sham. The driver didn't tell a single interesting story about the city or sights we drove by. I was actually falling asleep in my seat.

That night we went out to Temple Bar again and had a great time. There were definitely some wild people. We woke up the next morning in time to see the St. Patrick's Day Parade. On our walk to find the optimal parade viewing spot, we purchased obligatory, silly green hats. The parade itself was fun and definitely quite odd. We couldn't figure out what most of the themes of each group were supposed to be. Regardless, it was really cool to be part of the enormous crowd lining O'Connell street for St. Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland.