Had we bothered to look around the neighborhood before we asked to be seated at an outdoor table at this authentic looking Irish pub, we might have looked elsewhere for lunch.  Next door to Mo’s Irish pub is Mo’s Cucina.  Across the Street is Mo’s Steak House, and on the opposite corner is MOcha –…

It feels like we’ve been planning this for a long time, and now that we are getting so much closer and stuff kicks into high gear, I hope it all comes together! We spent some time this weekend working on the centerpieces, visiting the guy at the shop that is getting us the materials for…

We went into this pageant thinking it would be a good experience – a way to boost self confidence, practice public speaking, and show diversity on college applications.  We never expected Brighid to win, especially when she came home from the first practice claiming to want to abolish imperialism as her platform. She looked gorgeous,…

June 7th – although honestly, yesterday and today run together a bit because we were up so early and got so little sleep.  It feels like I had about a 20 minute nap between the time we got off the ship and our arrival in London. So, we arrive at the airport at pretty much…

We wake oh so early this morning to head up to breakfast at 6:30.  We have to eat a quick meal and head back to the cabin one last time for our carry on bags.  We arrived early at the Rendezvous Lounge, which is where our group is supposed to meet, and we sit to…

Today is June 5th, and it is a very sad day for me.  It’s not sad because it’s the last day on the ship, but today is the last day for Eilis at kindergarten.  I am missing her end of the year The Cheese Stands Alone production, and I am missing the reception to celebrate…

It is June 4th, and we have had several days of long tours in a row.  Brighid and I both feel like we could just stay in bed this morning, and the old cliche about needing a vacation after your vacation seems to be ringing true for this trip.  It’s an early tour again today,…

June 3rd, and we wake up this morning in Livorno, Italy.  We are about an hour away from Florence, and we have booked another full day tour.  We are on our way to Florence by 7:30 AM after a quick breakfast at the buffet.  Our tour guide today is Ignazio, who will explain that he…

June 2nd, we are supposed to be the first ones off of the ship so we can meet the tour bus organized through Omni tours for our excursion into Rome, The Eternal City.  This is the only tour we have booked that is not a Celebrity Cruise shore excursion, but there was quite  a large…