I’ve never really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in the States, so my opinion might not be valid, but I think I had the best St. Paddy’s ever! I’m told that the festivities in Dublin are much more extravagant than in Belfast, which is in part due to The Troubles in Northern Ireland’s history; St. Paddy’s is seen as a very public display of Catholicism, so it is celebrated but with an air of caution. The day didn’t pass without its share of drunken and violent riots, which just so happened to take place near Queens University, the neighborhood in which I was out and about…yikes!
Our day started at the Jordanstown Train Station at 10:12 AM. We took the train to Belfast Central and then the bus to the city centre. We wandered around the city centre for about an hour and a half, checking out souvenir shops and purchasing some festive hats and face paint to wear while watching the parade. The parade started at noon from the city hall. We staked out a spot in the middle of the parade route on the corner of Donegal and Castle Places. The parade was much smaller than I had anticipated, but just being in Northern Ireland for this Irish holiday trumped any disappointment. Everywhere I looked I saw green and orange. The theme of the parade was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, so everything was very colorful and vibrant. Unfortunately, no one threw any candy to the crowd.
When the parade had finished, we walked to Victoria Square to grab lunch at O’Neil’s Sandwich Shop. Then we took the train back to Jordanstown. I had a few hours of down-time before a few friends from CU – Stu, Kathryn, Sharon and Jonny – and several of their Irish friends arrived at our apartment for dinner. Kari, Lauren and Megan were our chefs and made Caesar salad (with green lettuce), chicken alfredo (with white sauce dyed green), and garlic bread. Amanda baked a scrumptious chocolate cake (with green frosting). A very festive dinner indeed!
After dinner, we loaded up in cars and drove to Sharon’s apartment in Belfast. From there we walked for who knows how long, in our high heels, to the first pub of the night – The Parlour. It was packed when we got there, so packed that we couldn’t get upstairs to the dance floor. Instead we each had a couple drinks and then decided to leave and walk even farther to The Empire. We stayed at the Empire until it closed at 1:30 AM. I’m so glad we left The Parlour because The Empire had a fantastic DJ (dressed in a leprechaun costume) who played Irish music all night. We literally danced till we dropped. Never again will I wear high heels for a night out! My feet were screaming in pain. Four of the girls took a taxi back to Sharon’s because their feet hurt so badly. Kari and I walked back with the guys. Kari had blisters from her flats and decided to walk back barefoot, which meant I got to take off my heels and walk back in her flats. It was quite the adventure. I walked in front with Stu and every time we saw a piece of glass on the sidewalk we’d yell back a warning to Kari. We finally made it to Sharon’s at around 2:30. Everyone was exhausted! Kari, her two friends and Jonny had to take a taxi back to Jordanstown that night because they had to catch a bus to the Causeway Wednesday morning. Amanda and I spent the night at Sharon’s and Stu drove us back to uni in the morning.
Reading about my day probably doesn’t make it sound all that exciting. I think it’s one of those days you had to experience in order to truly appreciate. It’s because of days like that, that I know I’m going to have the hardest time leaving in May. I won’t think about that now though. Right now I’m just going to enjoy every minute with my friends here!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment