ST. Patrick's Weekend!

Two things I learned in Dublin:
1. Irish people virtually disappear from Dublin on St. Patrick's
2. There is a high probability that I am allergic to beer

Well, I really couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend St. Patrick's in Dublin! So Elizabeth and I headed out there for the weekend.

Our first day there we headed down the river and ran across a parade almost entirely composed of kids. Technically it was the only parade we saw because I couldn't find away to see the actual St. Patrick's Day parade. There were just too many people, and I am too short to see over anyone's head.
Since it was still early, and the beer village wasn't set up yet, we headed towards Merrion Park to explore the wonders of the Dead Zoo. On our way we just happened to run into our friend Emily who goes to school with us in Arkansas. We knew she was in Dublin, but we never made any plans to meet up. It was just one of those crazy random happenstances.
After our quick hello and picture we made it to the Dead Zoo and it turns out there is a second floor! It was probably the coolest part of the trip. There were just all of these ferocious taxidermied animals and they even had live snakes that you could hold in honor of St. Patrick. Elizabeth was basically in heaven. Turns out all you need to do to please Elizabeth is give her some sort of animal to play with. really anything will work: snake, duck, squirrel.
However, we could not stay there forever so headed into the park and enjoyed the wonderful greenery. oh, and did I mention there was sunshine?! Yes, these poor English eyes were scorched by the sun because I don't even think to bring sunglasses with me anymore. Thanks, England.
Next stop was the beer village because what is St. Patrick's Day without alcohol? We even got a bunch of free samples at this beer history talk, but Elizabeth had to carry my weight. It made for some entertaining times at 3pm.
To work that off we headed to another park and tried to participate in a ceili. We danced alright, but perhaps a giant crowd isn't the best place to learn a line dance type thing. We did our best, but the time came for us to head back to the beer village and grab ones of those pies we had been thinking about.

The next day was just as jam packed! Clearly the first thing to do in the morning is head over to the Guinness  Storehouse and learn about brewing before sampling a beer. That was followed by a some delicious pig from a food stall near the Dublinia. Well actually, we first stopped by this pretty creepy yet totally awesome indoor market. I would have walked right past it if it wasn't for Elizabeth, and that would have been a shame.
While the day and the evening were wonderful the early morning kinda sucked with me glued to the toilet because my body can't process beer or because I am allergic to it. YAY!!

But I didn't let that stop me...or at least I tried not to. That morning Elizabeth left, but I headed out to the St Patrick's Day parade. To be honest I didn't actually see the parade. I am just way too short to see over people's heads, and too tall to walk through their legs. However, it was entertaining just watching the crowd and seeing their insanely green outfits. I then grabbed a bite to eat and napped in a bookstore until it was time to make my way towards the airport.