St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

St. Patrick's day is my favorite, favorite, favorite holiday! I made a pact to myself that while in Europe I wasn't going to pass up the chance to be in Dublin for the holiday! Good thing Amanda had the same plan and after a week of knowing each other we had planned where we were staying and booked flights!

We arrived in Dublin late in the afternoon on March 17th. The atmosphere was amazing. Everyone is out in their green and Irish paraphernalia, proud to be Irish, and spending time with their fellow countrymen. The streets are lined with families out celebrating, carnivals, live music and dancers. It was an absolutely amazing thing to be apart of! We walked around for ages that night just soaking it all in.

For dinner we settled on traditional fish and chips at the famous Leo Burdock's. This stand is your typical fish and chips stand, but the wall of celebs that have popped is pretty impressive. This was also a momentous occasion because it was my first time having real fish and chips.

After that we found ourselves passing the night away at Vat pub. We spent about half our time speaking french (the french were EVERYWHERE!) and the other half mingling and enjoying our Guinness! It was a great night!

Friday we got up at a reasonable time and headed out to all the tourist sights. We managed to pack in Dublin Castle, Beaty Library, Bank of Ireland, Trinity College, Book of Kells, the wool shopping district, and lastly St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a great day! Trinity College was definitely a highlight. I have never seen a more beautiful campus and serious would transfer there in a second.

That night we went to the Arlington Hotel's Dinner, Dance, and Traditional Irish Music show. It was great fun. Sat next to my new Northern Irish grandpa/best friend and his wife. The two of them were telling us all about their comedy routine at their bar north of Belfast. They were great! So was the dinner, dancing, and music.

The next day we headed off to London. I was so excited to go back. I had been with my mom, and absolutely loved it. Being back was great we just spent the afternoon visiting a few sights: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and the Thames River. That night we ate at a great Thai restaurant... I was insistent that we eat some kind of international food while in London, and then me and Amanda went and saw Chicago the Musical at the West End!

Quite possibly was my favorite weekend in Europe... and special thanks to Amanda's camera for all the snaps!

Here are more pictures from Dublin (there's a lot): http://s1098.photobucket.com/albums/g378/Avery_Mayne/Dublin%20and%20London/?albumview=slideshow