St. Patrick's Day Celebration

Hello all!

I had a fantasitc St. Patty's Day! Probably the best day I've had here! My friend Rob came into town Monday night, so I took him out to Temple Bar which was fun, he loved it. The next day we did the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour around the city which was great, we went to the Guiness Factory, showed him around St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, and we went to the oldest Victorian style bar in Dublin. At the top of the Guiness Factory there is a circular room with windows surrounding it where you get your free pint, but the views of the city from the top were spectacular, I didn't think Dubin would look so beautiful like it did from up high. The next day was St. Patty's Day and it was a blast! I went to the parade with some friends, the parade was hard too see because it was so crowded but it was still fun and the atmosphere was great. After the parade me and a friend met up with my host family and we all went to a couple of pubs and everyone was celebrating and just having a good time all day. Later on me and my friend went out to the pubs and ended up going out to a night club and staying out pretty late but I had so much fun. Definitely couldn't have asked for a better St. Patty's Day in Dublin!! This weekend I'm going to Galway and to the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands, I'm really looking forward to it since I haven't done much traveling around Ireland!

St. Patty's Week

So it's officially St. Patty's Day Week! Sorry that I have been so terrible at updating this blog, it's been over a month since my last post. Since then I've been doing just fine, I've adjusted very well. I went to Belfast for my birthday weekend and up to the Giant's Causeway. It was really cool, I've always wanted to see the Causeway, and Belfast was neat, the history there is so interesting, there is still a wall that divides the city and the communities into the Irish and Protestant neighborhoods, tensions are not as high as they were a few years ago but it is still not 100% at peace and there is always the slight chance for something to errupt. Since then I've stayed around Dublin I took a day trip to Howth one day, it's a little fishing village outside the city and it was a great place, the seals were my favorite part! I also have spent days just walking around the city and taking picture around St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Square Park, and I went to Kilmainham Jail today, and again I found all the history there so interesting. I've gotten back into the habit of going running, so after work I'll go running at Sandymount Beach, and the tide is out so I'll run all along the sand with the sun setting, it is beautiful. My host familiy is still awesome, I've been having a great time with them, and my internship is still going great as well. So I've just been working, running and exploring the city when I can! I'm excited for St. Patty's Day here. The festivities started yesterday night and continue this weekend and up until actual St. Patty's Day on Wednesday, but there are already a lot of tourists running around in their ridiculous hats and beards, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and just having a good time! I have a friend coming to visit Europe for spring break he's stopping into Dublin for a day so I'm looking forward to seeing someone from home! The festival here is supposed to be great too! They shut down the streets and its just packed with people, but the whole day should be a blast!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!!!!!!!!