Since moving to Sweden in 2001, one of the things I miss from America is the wearin' of the green on St. Paddy's day. Up in the north where we live, Swedes barely know who or what St. Patrick is, so there is no green beer, no "kiss me I'm Irish" buttons, no leprechauns or shamrocks, no musicians eagerly playing foot-tapping jigs or reels in the corner of the local pub, no corned beef and cabbage, and no attempt to dye any river green (like they do in Chicago). So, my very compassionate and clever husband suggested to my delight that we treat ourselves to a trip to Dublin, Ireland - the St. Patrick's Day celebration capitol of the world!
The celebration in Dublin becomes a city-wide event lasting 5-6 days, and includes things like art shows, car shows, photo contests, carnival rides, a mini-marathon, workshops in Celtic arts, language, and dance, fireworks, a parade, and, of course, a ceilidh (big Irish street party with traditional Irish music and dance). Oh, and it goes without saying that lifting a pint or two is part of the fun.
Having departed from snow-covered Sweden earlier that day, it was like candy for the eyes to behold that emerald island from the sky as the plane descended for landing! We landed around 4 p.m., quickly got through customs, and eagerly boarded the bus that would take us to the neighborhood where I had booked a B&B for our 4-day stay. We had been told to watch for O'Maley's pub, then ring the bell to get off the bus! We smiled to ourselves to receive what sounded like "typically Irish" directions! We were amazed that it wasn't cold at all, despite the fact that it was in the middle of March. There were actually flowers blooming all over the place! After walking just 5-6 blocks, we arrive at our B&B, and were warmly welcomed with a cup of tea and a short introduction about the rules of the house, breakfast times, and some good tourist tips.
We got ourselves quickly settled in so that we could take a walk to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings before it became dark. The most interesting thing we noticed was that, when approaching a street corner, one must look to the right first before crossing, because the Irish drive on the left side of the road, as they do in England. The words "Look Right" were printed on the sidewalk at street crossings, so that tourists wouldn't step out into traffic after automatically looking left, as most people are used to. After a couple of hours walking, it was time to head back to the B&B and find a nice restaurant for a later dinner and a pint before calling it a night. We wanted to get a good, early start the next day, so that we could experience as much of Dublin as we could in 4 days.
Next story: Typical and not-so-typical tourists.
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