Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone! The festivities have been taking place in Vancouver since Friday with a section of Granville St closed off to be filled instead with stalls selling merchandise, krisy cremes and a stage for Irish dancers as well as some fiddle playing! Canadians love the Irish here and everyone’s been in really good spirits! Tommy lee has been showcasing various acts throughout he weekend. I saw Kalissa Rander, a fiddle player since the age 2 perform a few songs which was very lovely. She was fantastic at playing the violin and had a beautiful personality but she did keep making a few mistakes and then stopping and saying sorry which I kept thinking can you do this when playing professional?! Then again it was a pretty informal event so I’m not going to judge since I would probably break some windows if I picked up a violin! When played well though it is such a wonderful instrument and just seeing her play made me think, ‘Right Fiona pick up that guitar again or even go back to playing the flute!’I could be the next Michael flatly! There have been a few times while here I’ve wished I had my guitar with me to practice but I know what I’m like and it would probably sit in the corner of the room.  It looks like quite a common thing to come to a new town and want to learn an instrument. I’ve seen at least half a dozen people on international travellers in Vancouver try and sell their instruments off. So anyway that was all pretty lovely. I was slightly suffering from partying the night before in would you believe the Irish bar Dollins. It was my first proper night since getting here that I went out and had a fun night dancing until late in the morning. It does catch up with me though and I have to remember I’m not 21 anymore! Continue reading →