Paddy's Day

3/17 St. Patrick's Day 

In Galway this means waking up early... it is a Saturday of course so it is a must to go to the Saturday market and visit out favorite booths. We like to go every Saturday that we are in town, there are always new things to see. One of our favorite booths is the Donut Man. There is this guy who sets up every weekend and makes home made donuts right in front of you and you can get them with cinnamon or chocolate sprinkled on top. They are doughy and warm, when you bite into one it just tastes home made and fresh! They are also cheap, which makes it worth it. The Donut Man, aka Dan, also knows us and expects to see us every weekend that we are there. It is fun to become a regular somewhere!

After hitting the Saturday Market we made our way over to shop street to watch the parade!!! It was also necessary to stop off and buy a green t-shirt because if you can believe it I own nothing green. We got out shirts and went to wait for the parade to start. Let me just say that this day was also sunny and warm... Juliann was starting to get a sun burn after a while of being outside. 

Megan and I

Juliann and Megan

When the parade began it was so awesome. There were cute little Irish children marching for school and sports. The little ones marching for hurling were adorable. There were also bands and even Irishmen in kilts with bagpipes! 

Adorable little Irish Children

YES!!!!

And of course any Irish parade would not be complete without the Ploughing Society bringing in the heavy machinery to be put on display. 

She thinks my tractor's sexy.... haha

The parade was also very diverse. There were many different ethnicities present as well as many political groups. I don't think that many of the political groups would be allowed to march in a parade in the States they were very controversial... but entertaining.

At the end of the parade, this is Ireland of course, it started to rain a little. We headed over to our friends flat where they fed us breakfast of rashers, eggs, black pudding, and sausage (classic Irish breakfast). Yum! The boys cooked and would not let anyone else in the kitchen. After it was time to pull out the American beer pong. They play wrong. They do not use the proper rules but it was still fun. 

Boys cooking.

After breakfast it was time to get ready for the big game. This year England was playing against Ireland in the big Rugby game. I still have no clue how rugby actually is played but it is fun watching it with Irish people who are really into what is happening. Ireland ended up losing but it was still fun. The rest of the night consisted of drinking and having fun. Playing music and hanging out. We also ended up going to a pub and then it was time for some much needed rest after that night. 

Watching the Game!