I took this photo while drinking a pint of Guiness, with my best friend, 5586 miles away from home, from a skybar in Dublin, Ireland. 

Skybar, y’all!

Despite the weather, life was everywhere in the city. I think I’m more of a street music fan rather than a cricket one.

Dublin was one of the only places we visited where I could actually see myself living after college.

One day in Dublin and I’m in love. No one warned us how cold, rainy, or dreary it would be. No one mentioned how good the people are, either. I haven’t met anyone on this trip as friendly or accommodating as the Irish. Good on you, Ireland. Good on you. We stayed in a hostel in the center of Dublin, literally a couple blocks from Trinity College - which, fun fact: is where they filmed the library scenes in Harry Potter! (Oh, and also houses the Book of Kells but that’s not as cool.)

BECKY’S BLURBS

Our trip may be coming to an end but we refuse to stop eating gelato. Then again there’s not much else to do. It turns out Venice is run on gelato stands, souvenir shops and gondola rides. After seeing the entire city the first day, we don’t really know what to do with ourselves. So if we aren’t napping, we are walking and if we aren’t walking we are figuring out which gelato flavor to try next. Now that I’ve lost count of how many cones and cups and samples we’ve had, it’s time to say arividerchi.

BECKY’S BLURBS

Pretty little Venice.

Florence was like a fairytale. Cobblestone streets, little men building genuine leather shoes on every corner. The ice cream comes in every flavor - and that flavor is delicious. The biggest celebrity in town was named Pinocchio, you may have heard of him, and the only villains we encountered have been the waitstaff.

Florence was really good to us. We inadvertently saw all of the major sites (unfortunately the museums were all closed the day we were there) and the time we spent lost just led us to bigger surprises. Definitely my favorite city so far, wish I had some pictures to share!

Rome was like a huge party that you were invited to by a friend who’s pretty much just an acquaintance. You arrive late because you’ve spent half the night pumping yourself up and by the time you get there everyone’s already drunk and you forgot to bring your own beer so you just sit back and watch the show. You see some really interesting things unfold, maybe a fist fight or some thousand year old roman ruins, but for the most part you’re just tired and sweaty and kinda overwhelmed. The night finally caps itself off with your phone getting stolen by an African man selling fake gold chains, per usual. You end up passing out and wearing your pajamas on the first train out of there the next morning, thanking your friend for the invite but making a mental note to never make that pseudo friendship actually blossom.

Basically, Rome was wild. However, I’m bitter that I’ve got to buy a new phone.