First things first- it appears that there actually are people out there reading this blog. I was amazed when I saw a stats report from the blogger website. My last entry got 3 times as many views as any other entry within the first 24 hours of being published. 

Could it be that I am on my way to the right person seeing this blog and my dream of getting paid to travel the world and blog about it coming to fruition? Or do you people just sincerely enjoy the misfortunes I encounter when maneuvering public transportation? OR OR OR- there's a few of you out there who are reading my entries many, many times? Either way, read on my friends. Read on. 

Keep sharing this adventure with all of your favorite persons if for no reason other than to allow others to find humor in my misadventures and most trying moments. I see what kind of audience I have here. 

Photo break right now though so you don't get tired of that activity called reading from the get go:

That's just me taking a few calls from my new landline. Actually that's the street our apartment was on for all of you super stalkers out there. And I use the term super stalkers with the most sincere and terrifying respect possible. 

So at last check we were in London, hanging with Ben. Well, stalking him really, but who's keeping track here? What else happened in London- let me think on this for a moment. Oh yes, MIND THE GAP. That's what happened in London. I learned that not only are English people extremely polite and helpful, even their public transit is extremely polite and concerned about your safety. "Mind the gap between the train and the platform" is forever burned into my memory as the theme of London. Mind. The. Gap. Just do it. Don't think about it, just mind it. 

Also, they understand the struggle that some of us have when remembering which way traffic is coming at you from, so they leave polite reminders for which way to look at intersections. 

Come on, it doesn't get more polite than that. They care about my life, that's what that says to me. Thank you England (and Ireland so far) for caring about my life and probably more logically, the prolonged life of your public transit and personal motor vehicles.

We ventured out to Baker Street to inquire about some detective services. Sherlock wasn't in at the time, but Ms. Hudson took down our contact information for when he returned. Still waiting to hear back. 

Also, I will use this moment as an opportunity to urge you all to watch the BBC Sherlock series if you have not done so already. You are missing out on so many amazing parts of your life if you have not watched this series. Do it. Do it now. Don't wait another moment. Get Sherlocked. 

We wandered around SoHo for a bit and that was absolutely wonderful. Found so many shops that just made me feel so at home with their quirkiness and so many pubs that felt equally as familiar. You've got to stop pulling at my heart strings like this, England. I can't take it. 

We saught out some award winning fish and chips at Poppies.

They were absolutely wonderful to tell the truth. This was also were we discovered that the area near Liverpool Street is the happening place to be and that Londoners enjoy not only drinking outside, but in large open courtyards nestled between business complexes. I certainly approve of this hobby. 

Additionally, we spent some time out at the Tower of London- which for the record is not a single tower. It is in fact an entire structure. A compilation of towers if you will. I mean, not everyone knows these things. Myself included. Imagine my surprise as I'm searching for a single majestic spire and stumble upon a castle complex. I will say though that my surprise over this situation was not as great as the surprise a young lady on our shuttle experienced when we arrived at Stonehenge- "Is it inside that building?" Those were the exact words out of her mouth. I kid you not world. I can't make these things up. All we can do is send positive thoughts her way for success in life folks. It's out of our hands from here.

The show stopper for me though was the Tower Bridge but that's probably just because I really like bridges. Like, it's a little strange how much I like bridges. They're just such a great symbol of all the possibilities in the world to me. It's like- Oh, you want to try and divide things with water? No way- I've got a bridge to remedy that. Solution finders, that's what bridge makers are in my eyes. Keep bridging those gaps, designers. BAM. Full circle on that one. Bridge:

We had a late lunch in this restaurant/pub in one of the bases of the bridge, which was kind of cool. Had a great view of the Gherkin for the duration of our meal and some rowing race that was taking place along the Thames. So that was fun. All in all London was a great success and I absolutely adore the country of England more so than I already did. I cannot wait to be back in the northern part in a few weeks. 

We made a quick stop in at Buckingham Palace for tea with the Royal corgies and unfortunately there were no guards out with furry hats and glamorous red coats. I guess they get weekends off for leisure activities? Well deserved I suppose after a long week of no laughter, movement or side kicks to tourists prodding you with comments and gestures. Since we had yet to take a taxi in London after having taken every other method of transportation offered by the city, we did just that from the Palace to the train station- all 4 blocks of it. But hey, live the transportation dreams. 

Taxie selfie:

So from there we embarked on what would turn out to be our greatest travel adventure of the entire trip. Leave it to the last city-to-city connection of our trip together to be the most emotionally and physically trying. So much so in fact that I started to write about it and it got so long that I had to make the executive decision to do an entire post just for that, so scurry through this post and read all about the perils of London to Dublin in the next post, yeah? Yes, never yeah. 

We spent most of the 4th of July traveling, but rest assured that when we got into Dublin late that evening we celebrated America with Oreos and Subway. So that happened. Happy Birthday, America. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you on your big day, but I feel confident in saying that you don't look as if you've aged one bit. 

So Dublin- Where do I start? I've find home. I really and truly have. I will speak more on that in a bit though. I'm smiling right now just thinking about it. 

First of all, we have been hitting home runs when it comes to food. I do not think we have had a meal since Paris that was sub-par. The Dublin food scene is no exception. Yes, we ate traditional food, but their modern food scene is phenomenal as well. So high five for you and your food, Dublin. Make that ten. High ten. One of my favorite places that we ate was this old local family run place called The Hairy Lemon. It was here that I tried my hand at bangers and mash thanks to the helpful persuasion of Darren, one of the keeps. He and his sister Melissa run the place- at least the food side from what I gather. The bread pudding I had for dessert was even better than the bangers and mash. I kid you all not when I say that it was in the top 5 for best meals of this entire trip. That says a lot. We're talking nine countries and two months worth of meals here, folks. Go there. Go there now. Eat all of the things, meet Darren and Melissa and then send them postcards from your travels so they will put them up around the place. 

Melissa or Darren if you are reading this- HELLO! Thanks for bomb food and light-hearted banter. I can't wait to visit again. I expect to see my postcards proudly displayed and I will send you all something UAB as soon as I return home in August!

So what else did Dublin hold for us? Beer, of course. Brussels was about learning the history of beer and all the things that I'm sure bore most of you, but Dublin was definitely about drinking beer. I'm not talking about getting sloshed and stumbling home every night. I'm talking about really and truly enjoying a good beer. I had no idea craft beer was so big in Dublin. It was like winning the lottery every single day when we walked out of our apartment. Of course you can't be in Dublin and not visit the powerhouses of alcohol- Guinness and Jameson. We did just that. All in one day. It was like tour power hour, except an entire afternoon. 

They were both good tours and we met some really great people at both places. At Guinness we met Nate, an aspiring travel blogger who quit his job in San Fransisco and just started traveling. We chatted for a good long while and he was absolutely delightful. I'm still searching for his blog or else I would share it. So if you read this Nate, send me the link- I can't find it! 

At Jameson we met Linn and Mark. Linn is a part time food critic, so we got some really great recommendations on places for brunch and drinks and dinner. It was Mark's 23rd birthday, so they were doing touristy things that he's never done before even though he's lived in Dublin all his life. 

We did a lot of just wandering in Dublin and it was great. Found our favorite statue:

and then hung out in the garden at St. Patrick's Cathedral

We discovered Dublin doesn't play when it comes to booting your tires

Even more fun than that, we stumbled upon a movie being filmed around city hall. BUT, the best time had of all was watching the Women's World Cup Final. Did you all think that I would let that game happen without my watchful eye tracking the ball's every movement? Come on now. You should know me better than that. After wandering for a solid 45 minutes to find a place open late enough and actually showing the game since it didn't start until midnight local time, we found a dapper little place with projection screens and all kinds of cool things. 

So that's where we watched a team of American women show the world just how kickass we are at soccer. And wearing red white and blue. 'Merica. Frick yeah. 

So that was Dublin. I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. So much so that I am almost one hundred percent sold that it's where I will look for my first International School assignment after I graduate next year. So, hope you liked me Dublin because you might be seeing a lot more of me in the near future. Imagine this with your fantastical brain-

Me standing on a street corner in the middle of Dublin after having left the movie theatre (we saw Spy with Melissa McCarthy- hilarious- go see it) and all of the sudden I get the biggest smile that runs across my face and then before I even realize what is happening tears follow that smile. WHAT IN THE WORLD. WHAT ARE THESE THINGS COMING FROM MY EYEBALLS?! MAKE IT STOP. Pure bliss. That's what. You know that moment in life when things click and you realize that you are exactly where you need to be. When something feels so right that it literally moves you to tears? That happened right there on that street corner outside a movie theatre in Dublin, Ireland on a brisk Sunday evening. I am very thankful no one called the police on me though because I can only imagine what kind of maniac I looked like standing on a street corner simultaneously laughing and crying. Who does that? Apparently I do. I swear I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested. 

So all the feels for Dublin and everything that it entails. This morning Gentry left to go back home which means the second part of my summer travel came to an end and the third part began as I hopped a train to Waterford to take on the rest of Ireland, Scotland and England for a few weeks. Here's a shot of us celebrating everything we have accomplished in the past month, mostly just the fact that we did not physically injure one another, get arrested or end our friendship. We like to keep it simple. 

We may hate each other a lot some times and we have certainly had trying moments on this trip, but we made it out alive and have some great memories as well. Thanks for traveling with me, bro. Mind the gap on your way home and leave the roundabout at the second exit. All the loves and safe travels.

So the majority of my day has been spent in Waterford. It is an absolutely gorgeous little town. And when I say little, I mean little. I walked the entire place in under two hours. 

Of course I visited the crystal factory. I do not know that my mother or Granny Reba would have allowed me back in the states if I hadn't. I would have been a disgrace to the family name.

That brings you all right up to this very moment where I am sitting outside a cafe along the river in Waterford, Ireland updating my blog. Larder. That's the name of the establishment and it is run by the most charming gentleman named Patrick Murphy whom I had a nice chat with while deciding what deliciousness to order. Turns out the street behind the shop is called Coffee Lane and it's where the first cup of coffee was ever sold in Ireland. He also told me that tipping was invented here as well. You wouldn't lie to me now would you, Patrick? I'll consult The Google on this one just to be certain. 

So here I go- the biggest solo adventure I have ever embarked on begins today and of course I had to go all out and do it halfway across the world because why not. I can't say that I am scared, because there's no sense in being scared. I am more excited than anything. I have learned so much through the summer so far that I can't wait to see how it all helps me in these next few weeks. 

Life is happening, people. Life is actually really happening and I am truly enamored with it. And with that, I will leave you all to your own life happenings now. That is all. 

Mind the gap.