Happy St. Patrick's Day! (yes, a bit late)

So...I've been overwhelmed with stuff.

But I had a lovely St. Patrick's Day!

Did you?

I can bet mine beat yours...for the simple fact that I'm in Ireland. Not Dublin, but still...

We celebrated. The French boys got all dressed up. See Tommy in the background with a hula skirt?

Aren't those some awesome glasses? Never mind that I haven't seen a single clover, let alone a four leaf one...

Not gonna lie. I find this odd. Really really big guns...and smiling soldiers casually riding next to them...he's about to wave...

A LEPRECHAUN!!! FOLLOW HIM!!!!

It was a very multinational parade. This is the Filipino group! There was dancing and everything!

That's right. It's not a St. Paddy's day parade until someone breathes fire.

Erm....Did we travel through space to Scotland? Who cares! Kids in kilts playing bagpipes (semi)decently!

Raise your hand if you dressed up your dog for St. Patrick's Day! Really?

You know what a national holiday parade needs? A protest.

What?!

Okay, these dancers had skillz. Sadly they did their dance before they passed us so I didn't get a great pic. Actually, my friend Magnus snagged this one for me.

Here's the rest: 

Click here to view these pictures larger

Afterwards we went home for a couple of hours to lay low...then to a pub for a couple of drinks followed by a trip to a friends apartment! Fun times. 

Hope yours was just as good ;)

Baci,
Mari

P.S. The past few days have been GORGEOUS. Definitely a mood improvement. It's been a hard past few weeks emotionally, plus midterms now followed by the wrapping up of a semester...eek.

Let's go to the Market!

I have a new Saturday morning plan...that doesn't involve sleeping to about, oh, 3PM every week.

True story.

So this past Saturday morning I managed to roll out of bed at 9:55AM. At approx. 10AM (i.e. 10:05) I walked two blocks up my street to the famous Milk Market! There I met up with some other international students and basically started to really appreciate Limerick more.

There were several garden stands set up.

Not only was the permanent market filled to the proverbial brim, the streets surrounding the market were filled as well with stands and people.

She had free samples of really really good chocolate.

There were all kinds of vendors - fresh produce, smoked meats, organic veggies, cheese, pastries...

My favorites as you probably know by now.

The most impressive part for me was the spirit. Rather than the tired Limerick filled with abandoned buildings and empty lots I was used to, here was a Limerick awake and bustling with a very apparent sense of community.

Fresh fish! Didn't smell that bad actually.

So guess what I'm doing this Saturday? Before taking the bus to meet my friend Natalie (of last semester's adventures) in Dublin I'm going to the market. I won't be buying anything - though that chocolate will be calling my name....

This is my tea guy. He sells high quality loose tea! And coffee beans...

I take that back. I probably will get a nice fresh cup of coffee. I'll have a breakfast of samples. 

The food everyone thinks of when they think of Ireland.

I must say, one of the things I will miss most about Europe is the prevelance of fresh food markets. It's one of my goals to shop Farmer's Markets when I get back to the States. It's about more than the food - it's for the sense of community and closeness as well. 

Baci,

Mari