When Irish Eyes are Smiling

Top of the mornin to ya!

So I had the incredible opportunity to spend St. Patrick's Day and the weekend before in Dublin. Yes, they DO celebrate St. Patrick's day over there, and boy do they know how to.

So we flew out of Rome on Friday morning, arriving in the first airport that had English words everywhere! It was glorious. The whole weekend was a nice change from other traveling weekends, we actually stayed at a HOTEL instead of a hostel. Nice, large comfy beds...it was the best weekend ever.

Friday night, we found a restaurant that my friend Megan, who had spent a summer in Dublin. My friend and I split my first real cheeseburger in forever. Italian food is to die for, don't get me wrong, but there is nothing like a little variety in life.


Anyway, moving on, that night we went to the Temple Bar area, which is the area where the pubs are. One of my best friends from BC, Ted, is studying in Glasgow, Scotland, but was in Ireland for the weekend. I met up with him in the Temple Bar area, and it was the most fun I had all weekend! Seeing him was a little taste of home.

Saturday, we woke up and got Starbucks for breakfast!!! Coffee to go = INCREDIBLE! Like I said before, the coffee in Italy is obviously superior, but the chance to get it to go was such a nice change.


We walked along the famous shopping street, Grafton street, until we went to meet up with our friends. Along the way, I ran into a Leprechaun and the famous Molly Malone statue. I was so excited about seeing Molly Malone, as back at Corpus Christi, we used to sing her song. I haven't been able to stop singing it since I planned this trip to Dublin!






On the way to meet up with our friends, we found a pub called O'Sullivan's. I immediately fell in love, as it was a cute Irish pub with my sister's name, and our Irish family name! We decided to come back for the Ireland-England rugby game later that afternoon. In the afternoon, it started pouring down rain. We walked around the cheaper famous shopping street, Henry Street, until we were soaked and went back to O'Sullivan's. As we walked inside, the cutest old Irish man who worked there came up to us and was so sweet, he loved us. He found us a table right by the screen to watch the game, and gave us discounts on the food. He even let me keep the menu when he found out my family name and my sister's name was Sullivan! His name was Patsy, and he was amazing, which is why we continued to go back every day of our trip.






Our first drink in O'Sullivans! Cider, of course.


Us with Patsy!

Sunday morning, we woke up early for some sight-seeing, but things were closed so after breakfast (a bagel!!!), we headed straight for the Guinness Factory! It was so much fun, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. We walked through the Guinness Storehouse, which is attached to the brewery, (St. James Gate, which is leased for 9,000 years to Arthur Guinness for a mere 45 pounds a year) and saw exactly how the famous Black Stuff is made. It used to be the largest Brewery in the world, but is now only the largest brewer of stout. The entire place was so cool, with so many interactive things and explanations as to exactly how Guinness was made. They even let us taste the barely used for the Black Stuff.






At the end of the tour through the factory, we got a free pint of Guinness. Let me tell you, Guinness in Ireland is far superior than Guinness in the states. I actually like it! I even pulled my own perfect pint, and got a sweet certificate for it.





We enjoyed our free point in the Gravity Bar, the bar at the top of the factory which provides the best views of Dublin in the city.







After the Guinness Factory, we attempted to go to the Jameson Whiskey factory, but unfortunately the tours were booked for the day. So instead, we walked around Trinity College for a little. Beautiful campus.



Monday morning, my friend Laura and I decided to start off St. Patrick's Day right by catching the first tour at the Jameson Whiskey family. We were both chosen to be tasters at the end of the tour! We walked through the factory, learning how Irish Whiskey is made. It was a cool tour, very informative. For example, did you know that Irish Whiskey is distilled three times, Scotch Whiskey two times, and American Whiskey only once? That accounts for the different tastes of the three, which I got to taste at the end of the tour. Laura and I were among 6 people who sat at the front of the tour group, trying 5 different types of whiskey. We tried three types of Irish whiskey, one type of Scotch, and Jack Daniels to understand the difference between the whiskeys. Great way to start of St. Patrick's Day!





After the Jameson Factory, Laura and I walked to meet everyone at the St. Patrick's Day parade route. We found them in front of O'Sullivan's, naturally, and bought fun little St. Patrick's Day hats to get in the mood of the day.







After the parade started, we tried to watch for a little but realized we couldn't see anything, so we went into O'Sullivan's to watch the parade on TV.


Enjoying a beer with black current juice in it! A great way to sweeten it up.

After the parade, we ran into some BC friends in the Temple Bar area who are studying in London. I swear, it is such a small world. For example, on our way back to the hotel, my two friends and I went to Quizno's to grab a sandwhich, and while sitting there, Laura mentioned something about driving to Notre Dame for the football game this year, and a girl sitting behind us asked us where we went to school. Turns out she goes to Boston College as well, and is in the Cork program. She told us that at a pub 10 feet away was every single BC person who is in Ireland right now. We followed her to the bar, where we found a ton of BC kids. I swear, 90% of the pub was BC students. I ran into a bunch of people I knew from school. It was insane, and obviously what would happen. I always seem to find BC students all over the place.

St. Patrick's Day was a ton of fun, and it was a great experience being in Ireland. Dublin is AMAZING, and I'm slightly obsessed with the country. Everyone there was super nice and so friendly all the time. Everyone just enjoys life there. I can't wait to go back!