The day begun like any other Saturday. I woke up around 10am, lazily made my way to the kitchen for breakfast, then finally wondered into the shower. I made sure to put my mohawk up, threw on my Ireland rugby jersey and headed out into town. There were a considerable number of people out. I have never seen so many people in the city before. The day's events begun in the early afternoon with a parade through the main street in town. The parade, to be honest, wasn't very good. The theme this year was the Olympics, which will be held in London this summer. I found it odd that a country that so despises the English would theme the St. Patrick's Day parade after an event they would be hosting. While at the parade, I made friends with a group of kids, average age 5 or so, who really liked my hair. I was known as "cool hair guy" and it was pretty cool. I also had to pose with a random couple from Japan (I think), they didn't speak very much English, but I understood enough to know that they wanted a picture with the guy with the mohawk. This happens more then you might expect. I am frequently pulled into random groups photos while out in the pubs and clubs. I was also commonly photographed in Hollywood by visiting tourist. Good thing I am not camera shy or anything. I seriously wonder how many photos I am in that are floating around Facebook.
After the parade, I made my way into one of the pubs to watch the rugby matches. The last round of the 6 Nations Tournament was the same day and featured France v Wales and Ireland v England. The Wales game was entertaining and got to see them win and achieve a Grand Slam (not losing a single match in the tournament). The Ireland game was a different story. Ireland started off bad, got slightly better, then stopped playing. It was sad to watch the mood in the pub go from joy and happiness to dissapointment and disgust. England ended up winning by a large amount and everyone slowly left the pub. I met up with a friend who had just gotten in from Dublin and we went to meet up with her friends at a pub just outside of town. This pub, The Franciscan Well, has become one of my favorite pubs in Cork. It is a microbrewery and they produce really good beer! We spent the rest of the evening there, until they closed. On my way home, met a random German who played me a song on his guitar while dancing around saying home much he loved Ireland. Needless to say, as I passed through town, everyone was drunk. It was like a typical walk home at 2:30AM, except it was only just after midnight and everyone was wearing green. A girl tripped in front of me and I helped her up. She asked where I was from and after I told her she explained that she works for Oakley in the Ranco Santa Margarita headquarters. Small world.
Over all St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is nowhere near the same scale of celebration as it is back in the States. Looking back, I would have to say that I preferred my old routine at Muldoon's in Newport Beach. This was the first year in 4 years that I did not enter the Sexiest Man in a Kilt contest. Though I commonly know no one at that event, it was always fun to wear the kilt, get on stage, and have a blast. Will have to enter again next year, and maybe I will finally win it!
Well, that's it for my St. Patrick's Day post. Below you will see a small collection of images from the parade.
Over all St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is nowhere near the same scale of celebration as it is back in the States. Looking back, I would have to say that I preferred my old routine at Muldoon's in Newport Beach. This was the first year in 4 years that I did not enter the Sexiest Man in a Kilt contest. Though I commonly know no one at that event, it was always fun to wear the kilt, get on stage, and have a blast. Will have to enter again next year, and maybe I will finally win it!
Well, that's it for my St. Patrick's Day post. Below you will see a small collection of images from the parade.
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