~February 10th/11th/12th, 2017~
I’m not going to lie to you, when I realized that I was going to be abroad for my 21st birthday, I was a little sad. In Ireland the drinking age is 18, so turning 21 in Ireland literally means nothing in Europe. However, by some sort of sheer luck, Lily, my roommate turned 21 on the 11th and my birthday was on the 12th. So of course we decided to turn the weekend into a full on birthday bash. We started out on Friday, the 10th, with a afternoon tea. It makes sense to have a tea party for your 21st birthday right?? We went to Tara’s Tea room, one of our favorite places in Cork and feasted on an assortment of finger sandwiches, scones, pastries, cake, and of course tea! It was fantastic fun.
Then that night, we went out for Lily’s birthday, because she turned 21 at midnight. So fun! Even though we have been legal to drink here since we arrived, we still decided to treat it as if we were in the states and celebrate once the clock struck twelve.
Then Saturday morning, we went to brunch at the #1 brunch place in Cork, Liberty Grill (delicious of course). Then from there we ran errands for our PARTY that night. Earlier that week we decided to have a joint celebration at our apartment for our birthdays and have people over before going out to the pubs. That way, we could celebrate the end of Lily’s birthday and the beginning of mine. We got a homemade cake from the English Market and made a “photo wall” with balloons, just as we would have done in the states (we even found 21 birthday sashes!). The party was a success! We had many friends come and then had a big group to go out with at midnight. We stayed at our apartment until it became the 12th, cut the cake, and then went to Rearden’s, a bar near our apartment. We danced the night away and had an absolute blast. Then, of course, Sunday morning, we went to brunch, because brunch is what we do best. There, I ordered my first drink as a 21 year old, a breakfast martini!
I had the best birthday weekend. It was so fun to celebrate with Lily and be here in Cork. Now, looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way 🙂
