It's about that time: spring is starting to peek through the clouds, clocks go forward an hour for Daylight Savings Time and St. Patrick's Day--which is smack in the middle of the work week this year.

No worries. Weekend celebrations are going full blast.



Certainly the most famous tradition here in Chicago is dyeing the river green. Like, radioactive green. The South Side Parade is also a huge event, which came dangerously close to not happening this year.

But the longest-running St. Paddy's Day parade is actually in New York City. It will take its 249th run on Wednesday. It's not the oldest--that belongs to the city of Boston who did it first in 1737--but NYC's got the franchise on most participants and most spectators with around two million.

And here's just a random clip from a celebration in Tokyo:



I find it amusing that Wikipedia describes the holiday's observers as "Irish people, people of Irish ancestry, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, English-speaking countries" even though it is most notorious for attracting celebrators who are none of the above.

As we do for any holiday that involves copious libations, we at AG Traveler urge all you goddesses to be safe as you celebrate the day St. Patrick drove the serpents out of Ireland. No matter where you are in the world, travel in a group, know your limits and DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!!! Driving when you've had one too many green-tinted beers absolutely isn't worth risking your life or someone else's. Take public transportation. Swallow the cost of a taxi. Enjoy the day and the traditions wherever you are, but always take care of yourselves and your friends.

Slàinte! (That's 'cheers' in Irish)

Many of you many not know this but I am lucky enough to work at a small travel agency in New England. My boss is very kind and, besides providing me with a paycheck in these hard times, does awesome things like send me on all-expense paid vacations. Technically, these trips are supposed to be “business trips” but when you get to go snorkeling in the Red Sea it doesn’t really feel like work.

I just wanted to share with you some thoughts I had on my recent trip to Egypt. It was my first time in that part of the world (North Africa) so I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to explore on my own since I had a tour guide with me the whole time, but it was still pretty unbelievable. I don’t care how many pictures you see before you go, the pyramids will still take your breath away! They are just so huge!!!

My favorite place by far was Philea Temple. The cool thing about Egypt is that they have no sense of preservation. (I guess if your architecture has survived for 4000 years it can survive a few extra tourists.) They let you climb all over the temple like it’s some kind of jungle gym. Every now and then some long-suffering guard had to shoo me out of a broom closet that I thought was a secret passageway.

Before I left I had a picture in my head of what I though Egypt would be like – modern and European with a twist of history. Not so. If you’re going to make comparisons, Egyptian culture is probably closer to Indian culture then anything else. So don’t tack Cairo onto the end of a European tour and think you’ll be OK. You’ll be in for a rude awakening, my friend.

When you do finally get to Egypt make sure you carry around American money. Egyptian shop owners, taxi drivers, hotel bell hops, even the guys who sell the entrance tickets to the temples will accept American money. Some people will even give you strange looks when you insist on paying in Egyptian Lira. I found that paying or tipping in US singles will actually save you money in the long run.

Put Egypt at the very top of your “Must Get To” list. You’ll be glad you did!