Erin Go Bragh!! :)

As many of you already know, today is one of my favorite holidays... St. Patrick's Day! I love everything about it... The Irish culture, the shamrocks, the wearing of the green (it reminds me of MSU), the green beer, the great Irish quotes and sayings, and the general feeling of happiness associated with this day. :) For so long, a wish of mine has been to be able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland... I've always wanted to visit the "Emerald Isle" and I've always been curious to see how the Irish celebrate the holiday (being that my only experience is celebrating the "Americanized" version of St. Patrick's Day). Well, part of my wish came true last weekend! :)

We headed to Munich bright and early Saturday morning to participate in all of the St. Patrick's Day activities that we thought were taking place. Our plan was to take part in the festivities that we thought were taking place in the downtown area, do a little sightseeing, watch the parade, and then take part in the St. Patrick's Day kick-off party that was scheduled for 7 p.m. that evening... However, upon our arrival, we discovered that the actual celebrations didn't start until Sunday and then they carried on to today (the actual holiday)... Oops! The only St. Patrick's Day related activity taking place on Saturday was the kick-off party that we were planning on attending later in the evening... But, that didn't deter our St. Patrick's Day spirit... Instead, we headed out to do some sightseeing and shopping... Definitely no complaints there! :)

By mid-afternoon, we were quite chilly and were ready to sit down... So, we found ourselves an authentic Irish Pub and headed on in... We soon found ourselves surrounded by Irish folk, drinking beer, and watching Rugby (how much more authentic could we get?! :))... We spent the majority of the afternoon and evening making some new Irish friends and getting a crash course in the culture... All in all, it was a very fun time! After we left the Pub, we then headed off to Hacker-Pschorr Brauery to participate in their St. Patrick's Day kick-off party... We spent the rest of the night listening to Irish bands, watching Irish dancing, and having a grand ole time! :) Overall, it was quite a fun day! I can now say that part of my wish of celebrating the holiday with the Irish came true... Yay!! Now, if only I could convince Brian to take me to Ireland!! :)

I hope you all have a very Happy St. Patrick's Day! Make sure to wear lots o' green and drink lots o' green beer today!! Slainte!! :)

Our annual St. Patrick's Day pose... :)

Brian, me, and Maike making up part of our St. Pat's crew...

Majella and Tanya making up the rest of the St. Pat's crew... :)

Guinness... Real Irish beer! :)

Gotta love all of the Ireland decor! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!! :)