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Published: March 18th 2005
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I have officially survived an Irish St. Patrick's Day celebration, and what a day it was! First of all, it's a national holiday, so no classes-- awesome! Second of all, I got to spend the whole day with Irish students (and one American), which was totally awesome, too! But, before I get into details on the funness here in Limerick, let me tell you about last weekend.
Last weekend, I went to Clare Glens and Killaloe with the International Society. Several people I knew went, including my former flatmate Oscar and my French friend Audrey. Also, Rose, Sara (USC girls), Laura, and Liz went, all of whom I went to Doolin with. First, we went to Clare Glens, which has an absolutely gorgeous nature trail! Everything was so lush--it was terrific! Even with the 50 or so international students who went, the forest was so peaceful, and there was this beautiful stream that we walked along for half of the hike that had waterfalls and everything! So that was loads of fun! Then, we went to Mountshannon to spend a little time for lunch by the lake (Lough Derg). After that, we went to Killaloe for several hours (although it
At the Clare Glens
Audrey, braving the chilly morning air actually takes much less time to explore the place than the time we were allotted). First, I went to a cafe with Audrey and made some more new friends (two Germans and two French). We chatted over coffee and then went out to explore the town. There were some pretty churches, and it's right near the river, so it's quite quaint and cosy. After we were done exploring, we went to a pub called Molly's and had dinner and had some more fun chatting away. Yay for more new friends!
The week progressed as usual from there (the weather's been marvellous) and then-- ST. PATRICK'S DAY! A lot of international kids went to Dublin for the day, but as I'm saving up money for Rome and will be going to Dublin in a week or so, I figured Limerick would suit me fine. And I was quite right! I wasn't sure what I was going to do when the day came, but I knew I wanted to check out the parade downtown (they have big parades for the occasion in about all the towns and cities here). After missing a couple buses (I was at a bus stop the
Pretty Waterfalls!
The Clare Glens- Tipperary, Ireland (Photo by Oscar Ruiz) buses evidently decided not to come to on Thursday), I finally caught a bus that took me down to the festivities. On the bus, though, I met Anna, one of the girls who is in the Christian Union society with me at UL. She was going downtown with three Irish friends (Damien, Maria, and Dave) who had decided to "adopt" her finding out she's really cool. So, they decided I should hang out with them all day, so I did! The parade was really cool-- quite a different thing from American parades I've been to! They had floats, but most of them were inside the beds of semis, and they had people walking around in these giant costumes; the pictures (which should be up soon) don't do the celebration justice! Anyway, after the fun parade, the Irish folks took Anna and I to a deli for lunch and then to "The High Stool"-- one of their favorite pubs. It was this really cool, highly original, alternative rock but down-to-earth kind of place. We sat on a giant sofa there and chatted away; later, a live ska-punk band called The Splitters played its opening set, so we stayed for that. After
The Clare Glens
International students hiking beside some interesting rock formations our adventures at The High Stool, my new Irish friends suggested getting milkshakes at one of their favorite restaurants downtown called Luigi's-- and boy was that shake delicious! Once finished there, we headed back to Maria and Damien's house (which is in the same neighborhood as mine) because they said that after 7 (when we left) things just started getting ugly on Paddy's Day. So, instead, we went to their house, chilled, got a bunch of movies, ate a dinner they kindly cooked for all of us, met some more Irish people, and watched Saving Private Ryan. By the time the evening was over, they'd decided that I was pretty cool, too, and that Anna needed a younger "sibling" in their adopt-an-American family, so they have officially adopted me, too! Hopefully, I'll be able to hang out with them more in the future, because they're really loads of fun!
Tomorrow, I'm going to Waterford with Rose and Sara. It's a 2.5-hour bus ride away, but it sounds like it's a really cool town. We'll see, I guess! Then, on Sunday, I'm volunteering with Rose and two girls from Malta at a nursing home just a couple blocks from my
The Lake!
Lough Derg--Mountshannon, Ireland house. Way cool!
And on the housing front, Istvan and Oscar officially moved out, but our landlady is looking for more tenants, so hopefully I'll have more roomies soon. But, at least if anyone comes to visit me, they can have their own bed! ;-)
Well, as usual, I know there's more going on (including me actually doing work like reading and writing papers), but that's all I can think of for now! I'll update you on the Waterford trip soon and try to get more pictures up! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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anonymous
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Hello!
Hey Alexis! I'm glad you're having a good time.. I thought I'd check in to see what you do in Ireland on St. Patrick's day, so I'm glad you updated. :) Take care! - Stephanie