Fatti Burke / Twitter
Fatti Burke / Twitter / Twitter
TODAY IS DECEMBER 8th and you know what that means — IT’S CULCHIE SHOPPING DAY!
1. Growing up, December 8th meant one thing and two things to you:
- A day off school. (Holy Day, you know yourself.)
- A big day out in Dublin!
2. And it also meant that the Christmas had ~officially~ begun
It’s not Christmas till us culchies say it is!
3. And so, every year you’d board the train/bus to the Big Smoke with all the other culchies to do your Christmas shopping
All while armed with a wish list and strict orders that you all be “back on the road by 5pm”.
4. At some point during the day, you’d visit a rammed Kylemore to have a bit to eat
A pot of tea, toast and big fat sausages served up on a tray. The glamour of it all.
5. The late, great Clerys was always a key part of the itinerary
Just walking around inside made you feel like you were in a fancy department store like Harrods or Barneys.
6. As was a nose around Boyers on Talbot Street
Where all the culchies congregated on December 8th and lots of Mams could be heard assuring their restless children that they’d be leaving in five minutes.
7. All the shopping centres seemed so… exotic
St. Stephen’s Green! ILAC! Blanchardstown!
“Why can’t we have marvelous places with loads of shops and moving stairs back home, eh?” you thought to yourself.
8. If you were lucky, you got to visit Santa Claus himself in Arnotts
Truly the most magical day of the year.
9. You enjoyed the experience of getting a double decker bus way, way too much
What a novelty!
10. The most magical part of the day, though?
Gazing with wonder at the window display in Switzers.
That’s when you knew it was really Christmas.
