St. Paddy's Day in Dublin

St. Paddy's in Dublin was pretty low key for me. The city is full of tourist ready to party and absolutely every pub was packed. The festivities in Dublin begin the week before the 17th and there are lots of cool things to see, like traditional music and Irish step dancing. I missed these activities because I was in Spain, but my Irish friends assured me that I didn't miss too much and I'd have plenty of chances to see some Irish culture minus all the American tourist. Most Irish people are overwhelmed by all the tourist and the holiday is definitely not as wild for them as it is for all the Americans that come over to show their love for Guinness. I went out the night before with Jamie and some Irish friends and had a blast! Everywhere was really packed, but it was a lot of fun and everyone was in a good mood looking forward to their day off. I was advised not to go into Temple Bar on Paddy's day and to avoid the parade, so instead I went to a Rugby game with one of my friends and had a great time not being one of those stupid tourists that make fools of themselves in a foreign country. I did however wake up early on Paddy's day to check out town, at 10 in the morning the streets were already filled with people decked out in green, orange, and white with a guinness in one hand and an Irish flag in the other. Some other friends went to the parade and said that there was nothing to see because there were just too many people. For me, it was just another day in Dublin, I saw a great game, and enjoyed my guinness, for all the tourist though it was a crazy drunken escapade and I imagine they don't remember much about their holiday.