March 17th every year is St Patrick's Day, celebrated in Ireland and all over the world, with green clothes, green hats, shamrock patterns and flags.
In Ireland you have a day off. Plenty of time to drink Guinness, which is sold everywhere, even in tailors' shops!
In Northern Ireland, it's a day to relax, before or after seeing the Giants' Causeway dramatic beachside rock formations, the Titanic museum in Belfast, the movie set sights.
In Dublin, so much. Where to start? Some great statues and authors. And songs. In Dublin's fair city, where the maids are so pretty ...
In London, England, expect the tube trains (underground railway trains) to be packed with good-natured revellers dressed in green and singing songs. https://www.rotita.com/St.-Patrick's-Day-vc-1043-1.html
When I first went to Singapore we lived near an Irish pub in the central Orchard Road area - Orchard road being the main, wide shopping street running East-West, like London'd Oxford Street. I recall being surprised at seeing so many people wearing green hats toppling out into the street. tTe hats were given away free by the pub to patrons.
A year later I was in London and went to a Toastmasters meeting in Watford on St Patrick's Day. The restaurant where we met before the meeting had a restaurant and several bar areas with green and themed decorations. On our way from lunch to the meeting we passed an even busier pub, packed with revellers. I could not get in because a good-natured doorman told me that tickets were sold out and the place was already full. Fire regulations limit the numbers of people allowed in buildings so that in an emergency you can evacuate in a hurry. (If you look carefully, you will see that lifts (Americans say elevators) as well as buildings and rooms often have a displayed sign telling you the capacity of the building.
You might be lucky and find an abandoned item in the street or in a wastebin. (Americans say trash can.) A pub or restaurant might be throwing them out at closing time and be happy to give you something which you can keep for next year or display on your travel blog.
But there's no need to rely on the hope that a put or restaurant will give away paper or fabric seasonal souvenirs. Online you can buy not just flags and hats but whole outfits, tee-shirts, dresses and even swimwear with a large shamrock or repeating pattern.
I find the advertising that tracks your interests is a blessing. I hunted for St Patrick's Day online to find make a poster for the meeting of one of my Toastmasters' International speakers' clubs, Braddell Heights Advanced, which had meetings on the evening of Wednesday March 2nd, before St Patrick's Day, March 17th, and after Patricks Day March 17th, our meeting being March 19th.
Up popped a plethora of advertisements for swimsuits and swim dresses and dresses in St Patrick's day patterns and themes.
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