Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is pure awesome for so many reasons! Eight years ago (pre-marriage, pre-kids, and pre-mortgage) my sister and I backpacked through Ireland for a month and were there for this wonderful holiday so I thought I'd reminisce and share some pictures from our trip.

This first one is in the Aran Islands. These three islands are off the West coast of Ireland. Even though it's just a ferry ride away from the mainland, it has a very isolated feel (and it's very beautiful). I thought it was pretty cool that Irish is the main language here as opposed to English being predominant.

This second one is a statue in Sligo. I'm not ashamed to admit that my sister and I did a bit of drinking in Sligo so our brief stay there was a bit of a blur. The hostel we stayed in was also a little suspect with a gross public shower (I've got pictures of us shaving our legs in the sink b/c we were too terrified to brave the public showers...but I won't share those beauties).

This is on the grounds of the Blarney Castle (where the Blarney stone aka the Stone of Eloquence is located) very close to Cork. Some legends say the Blarney Stone was the Lia Fail which served as the coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland. I don't care where the stone came from, I didn't kiss it. I trekked up the stairs and laid down, dipped my head backward and acted like I did, but my lips did not touch that thing. My sister and I met this guy while at a bar one evening who told us that after everything closes the guys who work there 'get pissed and piss on the stone' so.... I wasn't taking the chance even if he was joking. ;)



This picture is in Belfast, the second largest city in Ireland, and seems pretty self-explanatory. It's a picture of one of the 'peace lines' separating neighborhoods. I'm not going to get started on the irony of the title 'peace line' because I could blog all day.






And last but not least, this is a picture of my first Guinness in Belfast. Holy Moses I look so young! Some days it's hard to believe seven years have passed since this trip. I have a ton more photos but these are some of my faves.

Hope everyone has a fun, safe St. Patrick's Day! There's a parade downtown tonight but I won't be making it. Luckily they're having another one this Saturday and I'm sure it will be just as much fun.