St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin

I have a good story that took place in Ireland. I don't like posting travel stories without pictures, however, this is another area I visited that I lost my digital pictures. Many pictures were retrieved from a crashed hard drive, but also a good number lost.

Anyway, this took place in Dublin during St Patrick's Day a few years ago. I was staying in a hotel near St Patrick's Cathedral. This is also the area where the parade terminates.

I was there for a bigger trip of Ireland but I timed the trip to coincide with the parade as I knew it would likely be the only time I ever had the experience. Staying in the heart of Dublin during St Patrick’s Day beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a unique experience.

Anyway, on to the Parade. I had chosen a good viewing area where I could be close to the roped off area. I had to travel a bit from my hotel to find a suitable location where I could stand unobstructed next to the rope, but I was indeed able. Quite a chore in itself.

The Parade started and was a little bit underwhelming to me anyway. I guess my expectations were high as I had visions of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in my head, so it was hard to live up to that image. Please don’t misunderstand me, it was still an excellent parade with bands from all over the world participating, but I just had too much anticipation of grandeur.

The point of this story, though, is really to relay what happened at the end of the parade. As the parade was marching past my location, and as I looked out over the crowd on the streets, I knew it was going to be quite a task to make my way back to the hotel next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. but I also remembered that this is where the parade ends. So I got the idea of why not just go under the rope and join the tail end of the parade and follow them back to the cathedral?

I didn’t witness any security guards or anything that would prevent such an event. So I quickly ducked under the rope and just started walking at the tail end of the parade. Nobody took notice, no one said a word. And so I just marched on towards the cathedral and my hotel.

At first, I was just walking along, trying to mind my own business and hoping nobody would pay attention to me. But then I noticed the young kids were holding out their hands so that I could give them a high five as I walked by. They thought I was part of the parade and they wanted some attention of the people in it. I was happy to oblige.

Quickly, I got into the mood and just pretended. I was part of the parade, giving out the high-fives to the kids as I walked by and they stretched their arms across the rope. I was in the parade itself, with no particular uniform or anything distinguishing myself as somebody who should be in the parade. But it didn’t seem to matter to the kids who were watching it.

I eventually made it to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and ducked back under the rope near my hotel. I had made it in record time I believe. I don’t think I did anybody any harm by my stealthy deception. In fact, I think I made even a few kids happy by giving them some attention along the way. And I certainly gave myself a big boost in saving a boatload of time making it back to my hotel.

Anyway, that’s the most memorable part of my visit to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin Ireland. An event that will stay with me for the rest of my life.