Two days after getting back from Paris, I anxiously awaited the arrival of my boyfriend, Jason. I had been so jealous of all of my friends on the trip as their boyfriends and families had come for visits, I was so happy to have Jason coming. After a long trip from Newark, he was exhausted and spent most of the first day napping. But I forced a tour of my new campus and city. We got hot chocolate at one of my favorite places before heading back home for dinner. After dinner we ventured over to my favorite Irish pub, The Franciscan Well. The Well is like the apex of Irish pubs, it doesn’t get more traditional than this. We sat outside under the heat lamps with our beers before meeting up with the rest of the group at Reardon’s, our usual late night bar.
The next day, we headed over to Middleton, which is the location of the Jameson Whiskey Factory. We went on the tour of the distillery and even participated in the whiskey tasting at the end. We had a lot of fun. Since it was Thanksgiving, we headed home to cook! Being our first time attempting to cook a thanksgiving meal and without our families in America, it consisted of chicken instead of turkey, potatoes, corn, stuffing and an apple pie!
We woke up very early the next day to catch our six-thirty a.m. flight to Rome. I slept on the plane but woke up as we were flying over the Alps. It was an amazing view. When we got to Rome we found our beautiful hotel in the perfect location. Jason and I got ready for dinner in Campo di Fiori, a square in the middle of Rome with all outdoor restaurants and musicians. The food was amazing! Afterwards we went off to find the Trevi fountain and Pantheon.
On our second day in Rome, we decided to take a guided tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. All of the ancient ruins were incredible to see and what I think makes Rome the city it is. We learned so much on the tours. I was excited to show Jason my favorite part of Rome for dinner, Trastevere. He loved it just as much as I did and we had another delicious meal followed by gelato.
Our third day in Rome was a Sunday, so we made our way over to the Vatican to hear the Pope’s blessing at noon. The square was filled with enthusiastic people ready to see the Pope. After he spoke, Jason and I headed for the line into St. Peter’s Basilica, which gets long very quick. We luckily got into the breath-taking church pretty fast and were able to take some stunning pictures and say a prayer. Afterwards, we headed back over to Campo di Fiori for a late lunch. When it was time for dinner, we opted out, still being full from lunch and decided to just get gelato and a bottle of wine. We celebrated our last night in Rome drinking vino on the rooftop terrace of the beautiful hotel.
We woke up, finished packing up our things, and headed back to Cork! Back in rainy Ireland, we relaxed for the rest of the day until dinnertime. I planned to take Jason to my favorite restaurant in Cork, Bodega. It did not disappoint. It was all decorated for the holidays and the food was delicious. We then headed over The Well, where we listened to a live band. It was a great night in Ireland.
The next day we ventured over to Blarney. You can’t come to Cork and not kiss the Blarney Stone! So on Jason’s last full day I made sure this was in the plans. We spent a lot of our time there wandering around the beautiful property. Once it began to rain, we headed inside the castle where we both kissed the stone. We got hot chocolate and coffee in a nearby café to warm up and then did some shopping at the gift shop. After the long day, we came home and started packing up all of Jason’s things for his return to the States in the morning. We ended the night with one last trip to The Well.
In the morning, Jason said goodbye to the rain and grey skies as he left Cork on the bus to Shannon airport. It was a great trip and I’m so happy and thankful he was able to come to Ireland!
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