Today was a holiday in Ireland, obviously. So nobody had to go to class or anything, and my apartment and some other girls, including my friend Angela who was visiting from Limerick, had a big breakfast all together. We each kicked in 2 euros for eggs, bread and bacon and it was a very nice breakfast to have all together. Then we all went downtown and went to The Cellar, where some people got drinks. We then left in two different groups, sort of by accident, and ended up with half the people watching the parade in one place and half watching in another. I was with Jaye, Jess, Angela and Liz, and then Nora joined us a bit later.
The parade was alright. The sun was out like it has never been out before in Galway, so that was very very nice. Some people said they were hot. I was finally just not cold. So we watched the parade go by, and it was definitely more kid focused than adult focused, and it also seemed to have an oceanic theme for reasons we have yet to determine. There were all sorts of kids marching in the parade, kids who play hurling, kids rugby, kids playing the flute, kids playing the drums, kids waving around flags. Also, there were too many Canadian groups in the parade, two separate groups! That's just overkill, Canada. The american group was all wearing tacky Obama masks. Great. The best part of the parade was promoting a Galway stage adaptation of Pink Floyd's The Wall. They had a guy with hammers, and they were playing Pink Floyd. Simple and effective.
After the parade ended the crowd around Shop street really didn't disperse at all, everyone descended on all the restaurants and pubs. We went into King's Head, where a bunch of us had some Guinness, and then me, Jess, Jaye, Nora and Angela headed out for some lunch. We went to the fancy Irish establishment of Supermac's, which is the Irish McDonald's. I got the hot muffin with ice cream, which is really not lunch at all, but is very delicious. We took our food to eat out by the Spanish Arch, where we really enjoyed the sun. Fergus came and met us and then we all walked up to Eyre Square where we ran into Mark, Conor, and some other people, and we were able to get Mark from their group to come with us. Then we all went to The Skeff so some people could have a pint. The bartender at the Skeff put shamrocks in the foam of the Guinness, and I wish I had gotten a Guinness there because of that, but I didn't. After that we headed back down to the Spanish Arch to meet up with the other Menlo girls. By this time, it seemed like all of Galway had gotten the idea that that was the place to hang out in the sun, so it was super croweded. We managaed to find them and we all hung out on the grass there for awhile. We saw a bunch of people we knew, and then we walked home around 6.
Me, Angela, Mark, Ferg, and Jaye all hung out in my apartment for awhile, and waited for Fergus to get drunk enough to sing us "The Rattlin' Bog", which eventually paid off and the video will be in a new post. It was a lot of fun, those guys are really hilarious to hang out with. So it was a pretty great St. Patrick's Day, and I'm sure I'm forgetting to tell a lot, but it was a really really nice day.
The walk downtown.
Still walking.
At the Cellar.
Watching the parade.
This one reminded me of home.
King's Head.
Angela and I in the King's Head.
Across the table at King's Head.
Enjoying the sun by the Spanish Arch.
Me and Fergus by the arch.
Jaye and Mark at the Skeff.
Jaye, me and Mark at the Skeff.
Photography by Mark.
Jaye, Mark, Ferg.
Apt 30 by the Spanish Arch.
The crazy crowd.
Me and Angela in the sun!
Me and Hepler.
The crowd again.
Mark's makeshift blanket back at the apartment.
They love each other.
Emily Clifford and Fergus Clifford. Twins? Yes.
Ferg being Ferg.
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