Saint Patrick’s Day, Salamanca Style

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Saint Patrick’s day Salamanca style was a great experience. However apart from festive hats, there was really nothing traditionally Irish about it.  The only thing that matched previous year’s celebrations for me was the groggy head and aching calves from a seriously poor attempt at Irish dancing. Since we arrived in late from Dublin the night before, the only stores open were the 24 hour ones, which don’t really have a great selection of fresh produce – so no traditional Irish fare was made in our kitchen. So what does a hungry Irish person do to line their stomachs in Salamanca?

20130317_184336Start the day off with some Mexican snacks, washed down with cold beer and margaritas. As you do.
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Impressively large tequila selection at Van Dyck Mexican, Salamanca.

We visited the 24 hour shop and stocked up on red wine, and made our way to Noelle’s apartment for some fun. Noelle is another Irish girl who’s here on Erasmus. We were joined by three lovely girls from Scotland and three crazy Spaniards (one who liked to remind us he’s half French) Sofia from Greece and Maria, Noelle’s roomie. The Spanish boys kindly made huge pitchers of Sangria for everyone, which never seemed to empty. Noelle made lots of delicious Spanish treats (no traditional Irish fare here either!)
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Noelle’s apartment has some really lovely views of the city.
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The sangria and red wine we were simultaneously drinking hit us pretty quick…
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..and Niall threw all ‘never mix grape with grain’ advice out the window when he took part in a beer tasting competition.
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Niall pretending he didn’t love the hat (he wore it the entire night..nobody was fooled)
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Before heading out for a dance to Murphy’s Irish pub (not my favourite in Salamanca, it’s dull and dark..but we were in good company!) Noelle serenaded us and Niall had a go too. A little bit of Irishness crept in here though – Noelle and I sang Volcano by Damian Rice with Niall on guitar.
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Faces of pure enjoyment.

I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to see the green lights in the Plaza Mayor, which was one of my goals for the night. By the time we walked through the plaza to Murphy’s, the lights had gone off for the night. This is what they looked like though!green pmayor

I really enjoyed being home just before the celebrations to see my family, but to return in time to experience how it’s done in another country. Niall went home a few days after me last week to see his beautiful new niece, Daisy. Isn’t she simply beautiful?

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♥ ♥ ♥