Day 9/Castle Party

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  Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Saturday, June 11, 2011

The group was picked up this morning to go to another town over called Armagh. a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh.

On the way we stopped and got ice cream. It was interesting because they put a hole in the soft serve and put flavored syrup in it. It was divine.

We first viewed the Protestant Church and the Catholic Church. They both were beautiful in their own ways. We also ate at a bagel place that just hit the spot.

A few of us decided to explore the town while the rest of the group stuck around to get communion from the church. We found some interesting sights.

We then were done for the day and found out we were invited to a Castle Party in Killyleagh. It was once again part of the weekend celebration to celebrate the 90th Poppy Party. We had to stop at the store to get food for our little picnic at the party.  We arrived at the Castle Party with our picnic food and found ourselves listening to Irish Marching Bands, Irish Dancers, and Army Drills. It was a really interesting time because there was a huge Castle in the background of all the festivities.

We met up with our friend Basil chatted with him for a bit before we realized it was freezing and decided it was necessary to warm up at the local pub Dufferin Arms. We ended sitting by a wild group of 30 something year old men who were out to celebrate the one man's birth of his first child. They were wild to say the least, and we referred to the night as Father of the Year. The guy's older brother was a complete wreck and kept dancing, doing push ups, and taking his shirt off. Somehow he did not get kicked out. Only in Ireland. We shared some drinks with the men and other friends at the bar.

I also preceded to dance to Galway Girl which made my night.

Well, until we could not get a taxi back because you apparently have to call two hours beforehand. We did not know this in advance and were at the bar long after closing time hanging out with the bartenders. One of our housemates fell asleep in the booth while the others were not too happy. However, Patrick and I convinced the bartenders to let us have a few more pints. We also made such great friends with the bartender that he offered to give us a ride back so we did not have to wait for a taxi. Us two took him up on the offer.

We made it home safely and made a pizza while waiting for the others to return. We stayed up late and had some more laughs. Great night.

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