Happy St. Patty's Day!

In 2005 a few girls and I decided we were going to take a weekend trip to Cork, Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We were fully prepared for nonstop partying, green everything and corned beef and cabbage.
We were a bit surprised to discover that the Irish do not celebrate St. Patty's Day in the same fashion we do. We went to the St. Patrick's Day paradewhich was Boring with a capital "B." There were some weird things and some super odd Catholic parts. We wound up spending most of the day drinking next to a river. The weirdest things happen in Europe, I swear. We did enjoy plenty of Guinness in the cutest pubs, however.
The night of St. Patty's Day turned out to be a blast. Turns out every night in Ireland is similar to the way we celebrate St. Patty's Day. Lots of liquor and lots of partying. We partied our butts off in true St. Patrick's Day (American) style.
Later that weekend I got to kiss the Blarney stone (if you guys had known me prior to this trip, I'm sure you would agree how much more eloquent I am). We found some corned beef and cabbage in an old pub. Turns out it's the poor man's meal in Ireland, and less than desirable. Not nearly as great as the way my mom cooks it here!
The fun part of traveling is how it pops the bubble of culture we actually live in. It makes you realize how huge this world we live in is and how many different people are living so many different lives. Our trip to Ireland on St. Patrick's Day was a blast, but also opened our eyes to how we Americanize holidays. I don't mind that we do, because the hype is great. I am a huge fan of corned beef and cabbage and heavy drinking, so lets go get us some green beer and enjoy that corned beef and cabbage!