Although the celebration of St. Patrick's Day actually began officially on the streets of New York City, it is now a day of celebration of Irishness on the Emerald Isle. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday so all schools and most businesses (besides pubs) were closed yesterday.
The parade in Galway kicked off at 12:30 and drew thousands of people to the streets. The weather was absolutely brilliant, sunny warm and not single cloud in the sky. I went to see the parade with some friends. It was very ... interesting, and a lot different than I thought it would be. There was not as much traditional Irish music and dance as I thought there would be. The parade was very eclectic. It's one of the most international St. Patrick's Day parades in Ireland and this was clear by all the different ethnic groups marching in the parade. One part I really enjoyed was a visual depiction of Galway Bay. It started with a group dress like swans, since they waddle around the claddagh by the dozens, then there were people dressed all in black with black horns on their heads and drawings of clouds on posts in their hands, depicting all the rain Galway gets. Next came people dressed in all yellow as suns and then a giant rainbow to represent the rainbows that very often grace Ireland when the sun peaks through the clouds.
One section that caused a lot of "what the?" and laughter was a man on a giant trampoline attached to the back of a truck doing flips, appearances by Spongebob and Patrick and even a man dressed as Spiderman. Another part that I personally enjoyed was the first group of marchers that appeared -- they were Jersey City policemen!! How random, but gave me some Jersey pride.
The parade in Galway kicked off at 12:30 and drew thousands of people to the streets. The weather was absolutely brilliant, sunny warm and not single cloud in the sky. I went to see the parade with some friends. It was very ... interesting, and a lot different than I thought it would be. There was not as much traditional Irish music and dance as I thought there would be. The parade was very eclectic. It's one of the most international St. Patrick's Day parades in Ireland and this was clear by all the different ethnic groups marching in the parade. One part I really enjoyed was a visual depiction of Galway Bay. It started with a group dress like swans, since they waddle around the claddagh by the dozens, then there were people dressed all in black with black horns on their heads and drawings of clouds on posts in their hands, depicting all the rain Galway gets. Next came people dressed in all yellow as suns and then a giant rainbow to represent the rainbows that very often grace Ireland when the sun peaks through the clouds.
One section that caused a lot of "what the?" and laughter was a man on a giant trampoline attached to the back of a truck doing flips, appearances by Spongebob and Patrick and even a man dressed as Spiderman. Another part that I personally enjoyed was the first group of marchers that appeared -- they were Jersey City policemen!! How random, but gave me some Jersey pride.
After the parade was over town was absolutely packed so I went back to my friend Tori's apartment and she, our friend Colin and one of his friends from home cooked up a traditional Irish breakfast. This usually includes eggs, sausage, rashers (basically thicker bacon), beans and toast. It also often comes with black pudding (pigs blood and sausage, ewww) but we passed on that.
Later on we went down to the Crane Bar to see Paddy play a trad session. On the way there we had to cross the bridge by the Claddagh and due to the absolutely gorgeous weather it was FILLED with people. Everyone was shouting, cheering ans all clad in green with large green soft hats and holding beer bottles. It was craziness. We continued on to the Crane and stayed there for a few hours just taking in the music and a few pints, too. After that we went to the Kings Head to see Donegal Catch play. I've mentioned them in here before, and last night was one of their best performances yet! It was so much craic. They really get the crowd into their performances and everyone sang along to every song. We then went back to the Crane for another pint and finally decided to head home.
At the Crane Bar
It was a very long day, but a great time! The Irish definitely know how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day right.
2 comments:
Well that sounds about ten billion times better than my st. p's day! I was on duty, so I had to stay in and keep an eye on the drunkies.
There was no crazy drunken rioting in the streets? I read that happened in Dublin, or something.
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