A Tale of Two Valentines

It’s Thursday! But there’s no looking back today, only  forward. Okay, I’ll look back a little bit but only to this past weekend. Because you see, I had two Valentine’s this year: Ireland and John. 

I’ve never had a valentine…until this year. And then I moved 3,000 miles away. Oops! With that being said, if I couldn’t be with my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day; I was going to do the next best thing. Wrap myself up in Ireland. I’ll be honest, I love Ireland. There is just something so warm about it. It hugs you. The people, the countryside, the Guinness!

So Friday I packed my bags, hopped a plane to the greatest place on Earth, and ventured out into the rain. I wanted something comfortable but whenever I travel I also want to do new things and see different places so I started my trip in Limerick. It was late by the time I got there and the rain was falling so I did what you’re supposed to do and headed to the pub.

The next morning I headed to the Milk Market to start my day off right. One latte and a maple bacon crepe later and I had the energy to wander the quiet and wet streets of Limerick. I even saw King John’s Castle. Up close you could see the visitor center that was built around the building full of modern amenities desperately calling people in to visit. “We have Wifi!” “Look at this impressive glasswork!” Of course there was a bar with the name Katy (close enough for me) right outside, so it gets points for that. But as with most things, the best views came from afar. This time on the other side of a river.

And wouldn’t you know, there happened to be a coffee shop on the other side of the river so I had to go in and check it out. I needed the jolt to keep me awake as I headed to Galway.

I watched Ireland play France in the rugby match. It appears that some Frenchman made the journey. Or people who really like berets

Sunday morning, Valentine’s Day. First things first, I was on the hunt for coffee. Then it was time. See I knew I wouldn’t be spending Valentine’s Day with John so I decided to treat myself to a spa outing where I had my first massage, followed by a hot date with some cookies and a mimosa. Treat yo’ self. The rest of the day was spent walking along the bay, watching the sun (yes, sun!) bounce off of the water. Oh and drinking more coffee. Hence the crazy eyes…

Rise and shine valentine!

Welcome to the jungle, welcome to the jungle…

No but seriously, this place was called The Jungle

And they had great coffeeee

The depth of the clouds just makes the sky look so big. Or is that just me?

This is what happens when you have two cups of coffee too close together

The next day I said farewell to Galway and headed to Dublin to be ready for an early flight the next morning. Since it had been a while I went to the Guinness Storehouse, learned for the millionth time how to make beer (and yet I still don’t think I could tell you how it’s done), relive some of the past advertising campaigns, and of course enjoy the perfect pint overlooking the city.

First things first, how beautiful is this sunrise outside of my window. Good morning indeed.

The Spanish Arch

Hmm does this look familiar?

Made it out to your house, mom!

And this would be your view. Not too shabby

I went for a hot chocolate and got to pick any chocolate for free.

I went with the hazelnut truffle. Gosh I miss my hazelnut lattes!

Made it to Guinness

The water of life! Okay, Guinness water but that is basically the same thing

The guy in the background definitely looks like he hates me. Don’t worry, there are plenty of pints to go around!

I could go on and on about my love for Ireland and I kind of already have. Although most of this is pictures. But that’s not really the main focus of this post. Remember I said earlier that I never had a valentine until this year? Yeah, let’s get back to that. I know, you thought you were done with the whole valentine thing but this is the first time I’ve ever had one so you’re going to hear about it and you’re going to like it. Or you’re going to stop reading now. And if you do stop reading, I get it. No hard feelings.

We met watching the Patriots which means that he is now required to root for the Patriots at all times. I included the caveat that he can root for the Eagles if they ever play each other because, y’know, hometown ties are tight. And wouldn’t you know, this year they actually did meet and the Patriots lost. In a miserable, head-shaking, “what-the-heck-are-you-doing?!” kind of way. And for a brief moment I can actually say that I was happy to be 3,000 miles away. In a bubble where the Patriots didn’t exist and they weren’t majorly blowing it to the lowly Eagles (that may seem like a low blow, but they did beat us. And I will have to live with that for the rest of my life so I’ll take my shots when I can get them). But I digress. Back to the situation at hand: my phone was blowing up with video after video of the Patriots being utter idiots. And of course I had to pretend that I watched them (just kidding, I watched every single one and cried a little bit inside). And like I said, for those brief, horrible moments I was happy to be far, far away. But only for those brief moments…

Once upon a time, it was the first football game of the year. The Patriots were playing the Steelers and I was at the bar admittedly nursing a beer. And that’s when John came over. We chatted for a bit but I was so shy and quiet that he walked away thinking I wasn’t interested. I also vaguely remember asking him in a slightly accusatory manner if he was a Steelers and (gasp!) Eagles fan. So that could have done it. See, deep down I knew that just a couple of months later he would be rubbing my face in an Eagles victory.

Although I have to hand it to Philly. They may be on to something with the cheesesteak

But a friend of a friend (of a friend? Maybe, I still don’t know ) came over and asked if I wanted to join their group. Since I had been secretly peeking over there every couple of minutes, I joined the group and got a date for the very next day. See kids, it pays to have no life. Fast forward to three weeks later, after one cancelled date (my bad) and two vacations and we finally had date number two. And then three. And then four. Because once we started, there was no looking back.

And then I moved away. We could have looked at the logistics, the numbers, the facts: 3,000 miles, 6 hour time difference and all of that after only a couple of months of dating. And that could have been it. But luckily that’s not where this story ends. Because what kind of Valentine’s Day story would that be? For the record, we also closed out the season by watching the Super Bowl “together”. Well, the majority of the Super Bowl. I maybe (okay, definitely) fell asleep during the fourth quarter. It’s not my fault that it doesn’t start here until 12:30 in the morning. But how’s that for coming full circle?

It’s now been about three months since I moved away and in just a couple of hours he will be boarding a plane to come visit me. So you see, this year Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day for me, it’s a whole two weeks! So I just want to warn you all now that when you start to miss my posts for the next two weeks (because I know you will), I haven’t been kidnapped and I haven’t gone missing. (This message is especially important for you, mom.)

That being said, I can say with full certainty that I will be in a whole other world.