Although I never found a leprechaun, spending St. Patrick's Day in Dublin compares to nothing I have done so far living in the UK.
Hostel- Katie and I arrived around 6pm on the 16th and checked in to our funky little hostel, Litton Lane, in the heart of the city center of Dublin. The hostel was previously the recording and rehearsal studio for Van Morrison, U2, The Cranberries, and more, and had murals on the walls of these artists. The hostel window was also big enough to enjoy a cup of coffee on while overlooking the city.
Night Life- Katie was exhausted from the 13 hours of traveling and passed out, but I was too anxious being in Dublin so hit the streets solo style, and stopped in a Starbucks to read up on some hot spots for night life. 
The Globe- Seemed to be a pretty spacious bar, minus that fact that it was full with two different crowds...young locals enjoying pints, coffee, free WiFi, tapas, newspapers, and live jazz....and then the St. Patty's tourists taking pictures and wearing green. Once it started to get later, the bar merged with club RiRi and was slammin' so I left.
The George- A really nice dance bar with a young crowd and DJs. There were statues of angels (which was pretty ironic considering it was a gay club) and greek-lookin' gods. There were chandeliers throughout the whole bar and upstairs there was a wrap around balcony overlooking the dance floor. Upstairs Also, off to the side a lounge with big red couches and a huge gold gaudy mirror the size of the wall. The club was really loud so I head outside to the back brick patio (designated smoking) and chatted up some local Dubliner's who describe St. Patrick's day "as just another day" and one of the girls claimed that she didn't celebrate, and that the only thing she did to celebrate was to drink, "but i do that everyday" she laughed. i then met a new friend drew, who of course was from America (because for whatever reasons Americans always gravitate towards each other)
St. Patrick's Day Parade- There couldn't have been better weather on St. Patrick's Day, as the sun-drenched Dublin streets were being filled with thousands of others (a reported 675,000...mostly tourists) all with the same thing in mind (securing a good spot to watch the parade). However, we were lucky enough to get almost all the way to the front (behind three guys with obnoxiously tall leprechaun hats). People were climbing trees, lamp posts, and statues to get the best view. Others watched from street windows.
After waiting for a painful two hours the parade began! The theme seemed to be surrealistic, which was right up my fantasy-pan's labrynth alley. From upside floating animals, to dancing butterflies, hippies, peacocks, creatures, and space-monkeys, the parade was widely entertaining but lacked somewhat of an Irish feel, minus a couple of floats. The parade was a lot more Global than I thought, with groups from Iceland, Germany, and high school bands from America. Overall, the parade was very creative and unique and set the day up nice for a pint of guinness (or two...or ten).
I have way more to say about Dublin, but I am staying busy and hope to continue to write more. Was in London the last couple of days with the rents and uncle and now am back in Swansea with them.
And to top it all off, Katie, her dad, Drew, and drank Guinness at a self-serve bar, and witnessed a dance off (irish jig-off). Check out the video!
haha i absolutely adored the opening of Katie going, "it is St. Paddy's Day in mothafuckin Ireland BEEITCH"
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