Ireland

I want to start by dedicating this post to my favorite redhead/Irish of all time (minus my dad, obviously ;)), Mariah Scilley. I have never wanted to go home more than on Wednesday night when Mariah was at Reds Opening Night without me. I miss my wife so much and cannot wait until we can do all things Reds baseball together when I get home. Somehow I was still able to be at the game on Wednesday in spirit. My heart and joy in one picture (Mariah and Great American Ballpark).

Thursday night after everyone finished their classes for the day, all of us Regina Margherita girls (Tina, both Christines, Megan and Debra) took off to catch our flight to Dublin, Ireland. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 9:55 but unfortunately, we had almost a 3 hour delay and didn't take off until almost 12:30. Luckily, we gained an hour traveling to Ireland so we still got there late, but not as late as it seemed. We stayed at the Spire Hostel which is in the city center and is named after one of Dublin's most famous monuments that is a large stainless steel needle and also referred to as the Monument of Light. 

(Photo creds: Tina Beamon)

For our first full day in Ireland, we were scheduled to take a 3 hour walking tour around the city. We had to get our Starbucks before we started our day. Just like in Paris, we had to get it as much as possible since there are no Starbucks in Italy.The weather for us was perfect for the walking tour and not rainy and cold like most days in Ireland. The tour took us to all major spots around the city. Including, The Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College, the stairs that P.S. I Love You was filmed at, and Temple Bar area. 

Dublin Castle

Christ Church Cathedral

Trinity College

Temple Bar Area

Later that day, we had free tickets to tour the Guinness Factory which is the number one tourist attraction in Ireland. The seven floors are continuously updated, telling the heritage of Guinness and how it has spread its popularity all over the world. The seven floors make a full pint glass and on the top floor is the Sky Bar that gives you a panorama view of Dublin. 

Later that night, the girls and I hung out around Temple Bar to check out the nightlife and live music. We got dinner and hopped from pub to pub to see as much as we could and still get to bed at a decent time. 

 Early the next morning, we got up to catch a bus that took us on a full-day tour to the Cliffs of Moher. As we took the 4 hour bus ride, we got to see some beautiful country away from the city life. We took a pit stop on the way and stopped at the Barack Obama plaza in Gallway between Dublin and Limerick. LOLOLOL. The bus driver told us that Obama is said to have a great-great-great grandfather that immigrated from Ireland to New York years ago and in 2011 Obama visited Gallway while him and the First Lady visited Ireland.

Once we finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher, the sun was shining and we were able to have great (but extremely windy) weather. We saw some storm clouds roll in at one point, but it blew right over us and barely missed us. It was amazing to see the rain blow over the Atlantic Ocean like that. 

The Cliffs were so beautiful and one of the coolest things I've ever seen. We spent some time there to see both views, but after a while of that wind, we were ready to warm up and keep going. We stopped for lunch at a local pub in Doolin. After lunch, we made another pit stop along the coast to see the limestone shore at Galway Bay. 

On the way back to Dublin, we all knocked out since we were running on just around 4 hours of sleep. We took some time to recharge our phones, lay down for a minute, and rejuvenate to go back out for dinner and music again.

Sunday was our last full day in Ireland, and we had nothing planned but to shop and walk around on our own. We got some Irish breakfasts, souvenirs, postcards, more Starbucks, etc. and had a relaxing, last day.  

Ireland has been surprisingly my favorite trip that we've taken so far. Everyone in Ireland was so nice and friendly, the food was amazing, all of our travels went smoothly and we all had a great time together as usual. Anytime all of us are together, we have a great time and I think we can all agree that this is another trip we will never forget. There are so many more great pictures that I haven't even included. 

As they say in Ireland, "THANKS A MILLION"!

And I can't forget my girls back home. Brooke, I wish so badly that somehow I could have still made it to your bridal shower on Saturday. Seeing pictures of all of you together without me was so hard. But I absolutely cannot wait to stand next to you as you get married in June. I love you all to the moon and back and miss you every day!!!

GREECE

"We're 1,000 miles from comfort, we have traveled land and sea, but as long as you are with me there's no place I'd rather be.."

There is no two other people that I would rather have spent the last 5-6 days on an island that had no wifi with. Tina and Christine S and I have had this trip to Greece booked since the second week that we have been in Milan and it has been one of our most anticipated weekends. On Wednesday we left Milan, took a train to Florence and stayed the night there so we could meet the Bus2Alps group early in the morning on Thursday. Since Tina and I have never been to Florence, Christine showed us the Duomo and a little bit of the main square that night. 

Thursday we got up and we met the group early in the morning at the Florence train station and took a 4 hour bus ride down to the coast. From there, we got on the 17 hour boat that would take us into Greece. After the boat ride, we took another 2 hour ferry to Corfu where we took a bus to the Pink Palace. The scenery of every boat, bus, etc was so so beautiful and was great to see. A lot of traveling, but definitely worth it. After we finally got checked in our room, we decided to relax on the beach the rest of the day. It wasn't very hot outside, but warm enough to get some sun and it was the best day of weather we had so we made the right decision.

The second day we were in Greece, the hotel was offering a 6 hour boat ride to see some more parts of Greece. The boat took us to our own private island for a couple of hours. The weather was cooler Saturday, but Christine and I braved the cold and jumped in the water anyway. The water was so clear and we got to experience some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

After dinner that night the Palace put on a toga party for all of us and did some traditional Greek dancing / plate smashing. Unfortunately, the hotel had terrible wifi so the whole night my stomach was in knots because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get to watch the Kentucky game. Because we were with a trip of all study abroad students, there were more people that wanted to watch the game so the lobby streamed the game for us and got it on the TV so we were able to all watch it. Because of the time difference and running on very little sleep, I woke up around 5am and made it down at halftime to finish the rest of the game. Very disappointed with the outcome, I couldn't go back to sleep and just roughed it the rest of the day.

Once I started to recover from the Kentucky game (couldn't even focus on the fact that it was Easter Sunday), we signed up to go four-wheeling for the day. It was rainy and cloudy, and Christine fell off her four-wheeler, but it was such a beautiful way to spend our last day in Greece. We got to ride through the town and stopped a several scenic views to see the ocean. We also saved 3 puppies that were abandoned in the cold. We named them after Greek gods (only fitting)- Zeus, Poseidon and Hurcules. 

Not only did I miss Kentucky in the Final Four, but I also missed Reds Opening Day for the first time in 3 years. AND it quite possibly was one of the best Opening Day games in years. BUT, who can say that they spent Easter Weekend in Greece with two of their best friends? And who can say that they watched Kentucky play in the semi finals on a 10-inch tv in the lobby of a hotel with only 5 other people in Corfu at 5am? I'll take it. 

After 8 buses, 5 different beds, 4 boats, 2 hostiles, 1 train and 6 days later, we FINALLY made it back to Milan safely. It was a crazy adventure and extremely tiring, but we will remember this trip forever. Some of the craziest stories that you only had to be there to believe. I love both of these girls and we spent half of our time talking about how lucky we are to have each other. Next stop in two days.. IRELAND. 

Still bleeding KENTUCKY blue (not Duke) 'til I die!