Okay, my blog updates are becoming few and far between and I promise I’ll change that. I’ve been working pretty long days (the usual) but my weekends are becoming more and more jam-packed with fun things instead of sitting in my bedroom blogging about random observations, so… forgive me.

Anyway, this year was my first St. Paddy’s in South America. It was my fifth St. Patrick’s Day in a row that I’ve been in a different city.
Here’s a breakdown:
2007 – NYC
2008 – Austin
2009 – Paris
2010 – Las Vegas
2011 – Mendoza

Let’s rank these now from most fun to least fun experience:
1. NYC
2. Austin
3. Mendoza (can’t decide whether it’s better or not as good as Austin)
4. Paris
5. Vegas (we were out really late the night before and none of us were in the mood to party)

So, as you can see, Mendoza St. Patrick’s day is pretty legit. Here’s why. There is one Irish pub here. One. And it’s called Believe Irish Pub.  However, since it’s the only one, you can say “the Irish pub”when you get in a cab, and everyone knows where you’re going. It’s on Av. Colón and it’s the place to be in Mendoza for St. Patrick’s.

The night featured some random guys playing the tin flute and other traditional instruments, but instead of being dressed like leprechauns or something, they were dressed like medieval serfs in brown and drab colors. They had on weird hats. And it was just strange.

No Guinness for me this year, because they only come in small bottles here. Instead we drank Stella Artois and Andes Porter (a Guinness substitute at best) because they come in the liter-size bottles and the bar was so crowded, we ordered 4 or 5 liters at a time.

The turnout was amazing – it seemed like every expat in Mendoza was there – plus any Mendocino ready to party. I’ll post some pics in a few days of the crowd and you’ll see. The normal size patio in front spilled over to the front of the shops on either side, and we took over the street in front so that one full lane of traffic was blocked by people standing around.

While there was no music outside other than Peter pan and friends, it was a great night out. They could do with some satellite bars for the occasion, but all in all, a solid experience.
Erin go bragh!