I am very lucky to have a boyfriend who would come visit me in Ireland after leaving him for his last semester at school! He is very supportive however and now he sees why I am so in love with Ireland.

Last Saturday, March 2^nd, I left my apartment in Galway at 6 am to meet Reilly at the airport when he landed at 9. The timing was perfect and we took a cab to the Temple Bar District in downtown Dublin where we stayed for the night to allow Reilly to “catch up” on the time difference. He said he loved the international flight (it was his first time to Europe) and his trip went smoothly. Knowing me, I did not let him go to sleep the first day because he had to get on my time schedule! We enjoyed walking around Grafton Street which has a lot of shops and street entertainment. We had a nice lunch at O’Neil’s pub which allowed Reilly and I to have our first “legal” drinks together and his first Irish pint.

On Saturday night we went out for an Italian dinner at a place called Carluccio’s in Dublin. I did not think to make a reservation, so it took us awhile to find a place. However, we were able to sit right down and enjoy homemade pasta. Our meal wasn’t really “Irish” but it was delicious! After dinner we had fun the Temple Bar district at “Gogarty’s” pub and we enjoyed two live bands and Irish dancing! The Irish dancing was my favorite part because I had not yet seen it since being here. Now I feel obligated to see RiverDance while I am here.

On Sunday, after a much needed night of sleep, we did a repeat of the tour I did back in December with my Dad to show Reilly the Guinness Factory and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This was very special to him and we got some good pictures together. We had lunch at the Guinness Factory and the same pub band was playing during our lunch that was playing at the pub the night before! How funny, and they remembered me for requesting “Galway Girl” so many times. Sunday night we took a bus back to Galway because I had to go to school on Monday.

Monday-Friday in Galway we did a range of sightseeing, shopping, and hanging out! Reilly was very impressed and in awe of Shop Street, the main district with pubs and tourist stores. Half of the nights we cooked at home and the other half we went out to dinner and tried different foods. We had Italian, Irish cuisine, and even French! Each night out was then followed by some good craic at the pub which all had live Irish music.

Tuesday, Reilly and I enjoyed watching the “football” game on TV in the pub “The Kings Head.” There was a lot of good craic! Just imagine a lot of people sitting around the TV for an American football game. The atmosphere was the same only a different sport and different country! “Real Madrid” defeated Westchester and therefore the crowd was unhappy because a lot of Irish players are on the Westchester team, which Reilly explained to me. He is already used to explaining to me what is going on. I still think it is so hard to watch soccer in that is it boring!

Wednesday, we did a trip to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher which he loved as well, especially his cabbage and bacon dish for lunch! I have done the Cliffs of Moher tour so many times now I think I have it memorized. Galway Tour Company should hire me!

Reilly was a good sport while I did go to some classes this week. He was a teasing distraction to not think about anything else! Friday, our final day together we went to a movie to see Arbitrage with Richard Gere, it was great! Go see it! And we had a nice pub dinner at the “Skeff” Hotel followed by a nice time at the pub “The Front Door” which had the PGA golf on TV from Miami, Florida. He could not get over how friendly the people were here and how lucky we were to meet so many nice travelers. Just about every day we had a nice conversation with total strangers whether on a tour or at the pub. We were even very lucky to have conversed with a priest from Boston in St. Patrick’s Cathedral who gave us a special blessing.

I am very sad to see Reilly leave today. We did a lot of celebrating while we were here for our birthdays coming up (His is April 1^st, mine is April 9^th) and his graduation from Penn State in just about 7 weeks! With a “See ya later” and a hug goodbye, I know I will see him again soon this summer. It is not just Reilly, I miss all of my friends and family. These past 3 weeks between Mom/Yiayia coming and Reilly were a great break for me from being on my own.

In the upcoming week, it is time to get ready for St Patrick’s day! I am again hosting this week, this time my friends Katherine and Lizzie from high school who are coming for the craic this weekend. We are going to stay in Dublin for the parade festivities. I am so excited! Katherine is getting in on Monday, I feel like a hotel, cleaning and turning over the apartment from Reilly to prepare for her stay! Lizzie is coming later in the week.

I have been productive today because I have been up since 6am to say goodbye to Reilly, so now that my cleaning is done and blog to be next, I plan on grocery shopping and doing homework this weekend. However, I am extremely tired and will probably be passing out shortly for a much needed nap. Thanks so much Reilly for coming to visit and for spending your spring break with me! This will be a week that both of us will never forget. Wish we me luck as I strive to do my best in school these next 7 weeks. Cheers!

Location: Galway, Ireland