17th March 2015 - St. Patrick's Parade in Galway

Just returned from the parade in Galway. I left the night before with a friend and stayed the night in the Galway Arms Inn at very decent rate of €79 for the twin room. I'm happy I followed a colleague's advice and left the night before. The driving was exhausting after all.

The next day, St. Patrick's Day, right after breakfast we already saw part of the parade's set-up from our hotel balcony.

After we checked out and brought our bags to the car we picked a good spot in the crowd and watched the parade.

After the town crier this was the first wagon to appear.

A paper version of St. Patrick.

There were a lot of local sports groups that attended and had prepared for the parade. A lot of kids attended from various hurling, dancing and judo clubs.

Somebody drove a nice old car right in the middle of it. I wonder what age it is? Can anyone guess?

 Followed by Bram Stoker's Dracula

The rest the parade consisted of different communities presenting their different events. It was all over almost in a flash. But thinking of parade's I attended this was one of the best. The weather was amazing, sky was blue, not clouds and the sun was already quite warm for early spring.

After the parade we had lovely coffee and cakes in a nearby bakery. Then we went shopping. I bought a lovely scarf in Swamp - I need to check their website. I tried on a lovely coat in teal in their shop but unfortunately the largest size was a little tight. Maybe I'm more lucky online.

I'm finishing this post with a video of Irish dancing I recorded in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre, returning to watch Doctor Who - bad habit, I know ...

Enjoy!