confirmed along with the rest of the crowd that Jameson was her brand of choice. We went out with my ultimate Frisbee team that night to celebrate the women’s 1st place finish in the Outdoor Intervarsity (All-Ireland) Tournament the weekend before (Go Trinity!!) where the gals confirmed their newfound affinity for Irish whiskey.On Friday we continued our city tourism by bus at decided that our favorite stop was probably the Guinness Storehouse experience. I say ‘experience’ rather than tour, because it took up the better part of our day. We started off with lunch at the café where Helen tried the beef & Guinness stew, Julie a traditional Irish baked potato, and I had seafood chowder with Guinness brown bread, and we split a slice of Guinness chocolate cake for dessert (sense a pattern here?). Then there was the museum/tour portion where we learned about the brewing process and the 9,000 year lease that Arthur Guiness signed in 1759 for just £45 a year while the Mizzou Marching Band played in the background, brought in especially for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Another special addition for the day were face-painters, which of course we couldn’t pass up,
followed by the interactive portion of the tour, where we all learned how to pour our own “perfect pints” (a perfect pint of Guinness takes 119.5 seconds to pour and the head will peak if touched), and ending with the beautiful view from the top.While Guinness is certainly a staple in Irish pubs, it’s not the only local brew, so we headed to the Beerfest to try some lighter local options,
and found one or two that I’d like to try again. There was a pretty good Irish duo on stage too – you could tell that this event was more geared toward locals than tourists since the music selection was songs by Irish artists, but more contemporary than traditional selection. Still, when in Ireland, the traditional music is worth enjoying, so I took the girls to hear some “trad” nearby (left) and they noted that unlike American bars 
that tend to attract the 20 – 30 year old crowd, Irish pubs are frequented by people of all ages. Also, people here are so friendly! This was a recurring theme throughout the weekend. That pub was less touristy than in Temple Bar and the locals were all singing along, which added to the atmosphere. Still, the Temple Bar area is worth seeing so we stopped by Oliver St. John Gogarty’s on our way to meet up with my friend Siobhán, but decided to take a pass since it was just too crowded for conversation. Julie did find herself a leprechaun, though! As avid sports fans, Helen and Julie were missing March Madness, the NCAA college basketball tournament in the States, so I figured if anywhere would be showing it, O’Neill’s was a good bet.
We didn’t find the basketball there, but we did get a seat next to the big screen showing the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells where Rafa Nadal was playing, so Helen was a happy camper. We were also able to stream some of the games on my computer throughout the weekend, so the girls didn’t miss all of the basketball and we were able to cheer on my Iowa State Cyclones v. Kentucky – a close game for a while, but heartbreaker in the end. St. Patrick’s Day took us to the parade where we saw some good costumes and were relieved not to be pelted with candy the way we had been at Carnival.
We got there early enough for a good view, too – an important factor in enjoying parades for those of us who aren’t the tallest in the crowd. Naturally, we were surrounded by primarily American accents, and the girls kept seeing friends of theirs left and right – it seems every American study abroad student in Europe found his/her way to Dublin for the weekend! We also met up with Kate and Woody, two other Rotary Scholars, 
and later managed to introduce my friend Siobhán to the American tradition of a Shamrock Shake, which we were able to find at McDonalds on Grafton Street. As much fun as Temple Bar looked, we opted for a less crowded scene and visited two of my local public houses for Saturday night, where the girls again noted how friendly the Irish are! We stuck out like sore thumbs in our green shirts and facepaint, so got a few curious questions about our nationalities (Ranelagh isn’t as big with tourists), but all were followed by warm welcomes, despite what the bathroom signs might have indicated (see right), and it was fun to have more of the local experience. Sunday was Mother’s Day in Ireland, but we were able to find a nice brunch place where I ordered green eggs and thought of my uncle Joe’s bakery – he always used to dye his English muffin bread green in honor of the weekend.
We spent most of the day wandering around through the gardens at St. Stephen’s Green and taking in the carnival and cherry blossoms at Merrion Square, and then made our way over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the evensong service. The choir really did sound heavenly and the sun streaming through the stained glass lived up to every rave review I’ve read. The girls are heading home tomorrow to continue their study abroad ventures, but have a look at Julie’s and Helen's blogs too for their takes on the weekend. All in all, the weekend was all I’d hoped for and more, and I can’t think of a better place in the world to spend the feast day of Ireland’s patron saint. Sláinte!
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