As you can probably imagine, St. Patrick was celebrated up BIG this weekend. According to the Irish Independent, half a million people traveled to Dublin for the festivities, so I was content to stay in Galway, where the crowds were also crushing but not as insane. There was a parade through town and the boats in the bay were lit up with green lights. 

That night, some friends from the IFSA program and I went to the Crane Bar, which is known for the traditional Irish music scene. There was a trad session upstairs with 5 or 6 musicians, and the joyful music only stopped when someone in the bar felt moved to stand up and sing a song. There were beautiful voices in the pub that night, some that even brought me to tears. 

The next day was the 6 nations rugby game, Ireland v England. This game was a big deal because if Ireland won, they would be crowned Grand Slam champions, meaning they won all the games. An Irish friend of mine took me to the best bar in town to watch the game and thankfully explained the rules (which are very similar to American football). We drank Guinness and ate the best chicken wings you could ever imagine and cheered with the rest of the bar as Ireland made rugby history!