I had been travelling throughout the UK for just over two weeks with a friend and we had just touched down in Dublin, Ireland on the 24th November, 2013. The weather was cold and miserable however my spirits were as high as ever. This was my second time in Dublin and I was dying to get out amongst the bars of the Temple Bar District once again. With the memories fresh in my mind I knew exactly where I wanted to be heading. My fellow traveller since arriving in London in the middle of winter had discovered how much he truly disliked the cold and wet weather and had been having some issues. He didn’t seem to be feeling the vibe of getting out amongst the crowd and having a good night out on the town. After checking into our 24-mixed bed dorm and an hour of convincing and promises of a great night, we decided to jump aboard the Dublin Pub Crawl.

We strolled to the meeting point at the Mercantile Bar where we would meet our fellow partygoers. Not going to lie, this place was a ghost town, so we parked our selves at the bar and I proceeded to purchase myself a beer. My buddy had come out however told me repeatedly that he would not be drinking and would only come to the first couple of bars then would be going back to the hostel. This was ok with me because I was thinking, “Hey there will probably be some cool people out here that I can keep partying with into the wee hours of the morning”. After some time the host of the bar crawl rocked up at the bar, and we paid in exchange for a promised night of awesomeness and a mini Guinness. Sorry to say I poured it down the sink in the bathroom.

So here we were sitting up at the bar, my buddy with his arms crossed staring blankly at the TV and me on the edge of my seat eager to meet some interesting people and make something of the night. A little while after we had arrived at the bar, out of the corner of my eye, I had noticed a young blonde hair, blue-eyed girl sitting at a table with a young guy. I had thought to myself “She is stunning.” Soon after that, another young guy joined their table and I thought what are the chances these guys are out on the pub crawl as well. However I continued to remain in my seat sitting next to Mr. Grumpy. After finishing my pint, I stood up and walked over to the bartender who was serving one of the younger guys from the girl’s table. I heard his American accent and just said to him “Hey mate, are you guys out on the bar crawl?” To my delight, he replied with “Yeah we are. Come join our table”.

So after purchasing another pricey pint, I did just that and sat up at their table; however, the young girl was no where to be seen. I started to chat away with the young guys about the usual things like where are you from, where were you before here and what are your plans while you are here. After some conversation, the young girl named Kelly arrived back at the table, and we all continued to chat. They were all in Ireland for a family wedding, and Kelly had come along as one of their dates as they had been friends and studied abroad in Switzerland together.

We all hit it off and decided to make the most of the pub crawl which was a mere 14 people, but I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of bar goers for a night out. The entire group made the most of the free drinks at each bar, live music, beer pong and flip cup and feeding off one another’s excitement.

Once we left the second bar and headed to the third bar we were all chatting and I am not going to lie I could not keep my eyes off Kelly. She truly kept me intrigued and wanting to learn more about her. The key moment to the night is when I was standing outside with Shaun, who was one of the young guys with her, and “BOOM” the door is kicked down. Kelly comes running out and goes to me “Where have you been I have been looking for you everywhere!!” and proceeded to hand me a beer. For a moment I can honestly say I was shocked and taken aback. I thought to myself, “Had I missed something? Was this my girlfriend? Who is she? What just happened?”

After a few moments, I knew this girl is something special and I had to know more about her.

Throughout the night, we had our own deep and meaningful conversations, and I was lucky enough to steal a kiss from her. Everything she was telling me was so similar to my own views, beliefs and morals. I almost felt like it wasn’t real life, had I met my match, I mean this girl was a female version of myself to a tee. As the night came to an end, I thought there would be no better way to continue the night than tell a little white lie that I needed to find a cash machine and draw out some money. Little did she know, I had money in my wallet and just wanted to spend more time getting to know her. We walked through the streets of Dublin as they were all lit up with the Christmas lights and we had to sadly part ways once I had walked her back to her hostel. We made plans to meet up for breakfast at 8am the next morning.

I woke up in a panic at 10am to my alarm sounding like a horn and thought to myself “Oh no! I slept in and wont be able to see her again.” I immediately texted her a cover up message saying my phone died and I was in the shower. She quickly replied with something very similar. We hung out the entire day jumping onboard the Hop On Hop Off service ending at the Jameson’s Distillery. That evening we decided to dress in groovy Christmas sweaters and hit Temple Bar attempting the 12 Pubs of Christmas. We made it through the night in the process being titled ‘eyesores’ at a local club for our chosen attire and danced the night away.
The morning came and this was a sad moment as Kelly was heading off to Cork, Ireland with her friends for the wedding. I was to say goodbye and travel to Switzerland. I walked to Kelly’s hostel where the car was already packed. We gave each other a big cuddle, and I told her to have safe travels and I would see her soon. Off she went.

Now I was left speechless and all I can remember thinking in my head as I walked back to my accommodation was I need to see this girl again. We continued to talk each and every day as I travelled throughout Europe and would joke about her coming over and visiting again. Her trip in Dublin ended and she flew back to the USA. After all of this, my friend I was travelling with was getting to a point where he didn’t feel like he could continue travelling and decided it would be best if he flew back to Sydney and end the trip early. I was now to be a solo traveller, and I saw no better opportunity than now to get Kelly back over to Europe. I suggested perhaps she flew over to Europe to hang out and spend New Years in Berlin with me. To my surprise she thought exactly the same thing, and after an intimidating Skype interview with her father, the tickets were booked.

Does love blossom in Europe?…Read my next post to find out!