Scotland

This weekend I went to Edinburgh, Scotland! I love Scotland. It was a trip for my entire study abroad group. We took a five hour train ride back and forth, not exactly comfortable by extremely worth it. The thing about Edinburgh is it is built upwards. This causes the city to become very windy, so don't bother expecting to have decent looking hair. We arrived on Saturday and immediately went on a two hour walking tour of the city. We went to the palace, and my favorite part was going to the observatory. It was actually pretty scary because it is very high up and so incredibly windy, at times it felt like I was flying. Everyone I was with acted like little kids, jumping around, and pretending we were birds. That night we went to these underground crypts where our tour guide shared all these ghost stories with us. He wore this long black cape and enjoyed screaming in our faces, scaring the hell out of us. Unfortunately for him, during one of his stories, the song "I feel like a women" by Shania Twain was blasting because their was a wedding near by. This took away from the scare effect somewhat but our tour guide just took it to the next level in another crypt, where he literally was jumping at us. He was very strange but it was very effective. The next day we woke up early to go to Edinburgh Castle. It is huge! I wandered around with a few of my friends, and when we reached the prisoner of war dungeon, I locked my friend Sam in one of the cells. Lets just say he wasn't too happy with me, but I entertained many of the people inside the dungeon visiting. I think he was more upset when I wasn't actually sure if I would be able to unlock the cell door and announced this as I was locking him in.  Anyways after that we went on a Whisky Scotch experience tour. When we arrived we got to sit in this moving barrel and it took us around, explaining how whiskey is brewed and made. After we got to taste test. So I have never had whiskey before and not prepared for its impact. I took a sip that was way to big and I felt like my heart was on fire. So that got watered down immediately. Lesson learned, whiskey scotch is very strong and not very good. That night we went to a pub quiz near our hostel. My team didn't do so hot by another team from my trip actually won the whole thing. In fairness I did help them a little when  my team gave up. The next morning we took another five hour train ride back to London, and did school work the rest of the day. I recommend everyone should go to Scotland, it is absolutely beautiful with these giant grassy hills looming everywhere, and its amazing architecture.

Barcelona

Hi everyone, I apologize by being so behind with my posts but I've had a very busy couple of weeks! A few weeks ago I went to Barcelona for spring break! It was beautiful! We stayed in a hostel right by the water and walked around so much that the soles of my boots fell off! We went to every touristy thing you could possibly imagine. We took a tour of the Gothic city one morning, checking out all the cathedrals and towering architecture. We also went on something called a tapas tour. For those who do not know, tapas are pretty much appetizers, and you order a bunch of them and share. The only part I really didn't enjoy was there love of eating pigs. They would hang these giant slabs of meat all over their stores, including hoofs, legs ect. I couldn't enter these stores because it made me want to vomit. We went to Park Guell and took pictures of the lovely view after sweating all over place from the trek to get there. It was nice seeing palm trees and oranges growing. And just throwing this out there, but Sangria is probably the best thing that has ever been invented. One night my friends an I went to this place called Ovella Negra and thought it was a good idea to share a 5 liter jug of sangria.... Anyways they serve popcorn with all their alcohol which is interesting. Sadly the ocean was much to cold to swim in, although we attempted to, it was nice to sit by it and we even ate dinner on it one night. Thank goodness Barcelona is have economic issues because I could have spent so much more money then I did. And just a heads up the Sagrada Familia is this massive cathedra and it is still not finished after being started more then 100 years ago, however it is probably one of the ugliest buildingsI have ever seen (sorry Gaudi). I know this post isn't the most descriptive one but when you see me you can ask me anything you want! 1 more month to go!

Markets and Greenwich

"Spring Break" officially started last Saturday but we did not leave for our trip (next blog) till Tuesday. My roomies and I figured it was time to start that whole touristy thing again and we filled all day Saturday by going to a ton of different markets. The first market we went to was called Borough Market. This is a food market that sells as many different types of food you can think of. I tried all different things such as samosas to rice balls and other very friend and unhealthy types of ethnic foods. And the samples were sooo much better then Costco samples.  The other market we visited was called Portebello Market in Notting Hill. On different days this market sells different things and Saturdays they sell antique everything. It was absolutely huge, we couldn't even get through the whole market. On Sunday my roomies and I decided to head to Greenwich. We started the day off with yet another food market because we are now addicted. Next we visited the Royal Observatory. This is where the Prime Meridian is held, and you can see the most magnificent view of Greenwich, North Greenwich, Canary Wharf and more. We walked past the National Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College, and Cutty Stark(fastest sailing ship in its day). In the end it was a nice relaxing/ touristy weekend before our big trip to Barcelona, which will be my next blog post.

Ireland

       So truth is, there is actually no pot of gold, nor a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow. Believe me, I checked. On Friday I went to Ireland, and had more fun that I could possibly express in a blog post. I have never been around such happy and warm people like the Irish. My roommates and I stayed at a little Bed and Breakfast about thirty minutes by bus away from Dublin, in a little town called Swords. The name of the B&B we stayed in was called the Glenshandan Lodge. It was so quaint and fabulous and the family who ran it were so kind to us. By the time we were settled at the lodge we were too tired to head to Dublin so we went for drinks and dinner within Swords. We found a place called the OldBoro which had the best pies and service on this planet. We made friends with all the waiters, actually playing bar games with them, and listened to live music, of course all classic American songs. At one point, a man of about thirty came up to our table, placed down a giant pitcher of beer, and said "I was a student once," and left before we could even say thank you. We were accepted by everyone, and I couldn't have felt happier. The next day we actually went into Dublin. Our first stop was the Dublin castle, originally built in the 16th century, but modified throughout generations. We took a tour, and attempted to take silly pictures in almost every mirror we encountered. My favorite room in the castle was the throne room. My roommate and I even acted out a scenario where she was the Queen and I her lowly peasant. We silly Americans. After the castle, we went to the Guinness Factory. We took a tour of the brewery which was gigantic, but my favorite part was when we were taught how to pour the beer. They have this really technical way to do it (which I find ridiculous) but anyways I received a certificate saying I was an expert. I doubt I can put it on my resumé, but pouring Guinness could possible be a good party trick so it's all good. Once we poured our own beers we were able to go to the very top of the factory to a place called the gravity bar. The gravity bar looked out over the whole city of Dublin and you could see Christ church, the castle, and other iconic sites from there. To get back to the center of town we took a horse and carriage through the streets, which was definitely a different experience. Didn't have to worry about gas money so theres that. We eventually made it back to our lodge only to head back to Dublin about an hour later to a place called the Temple Bar District. This part of Dublin is the touristy section where a ton of bars and pubs are. We had a lot of fun times (most I can't mention in this blog) and met a lot of great people. The next day (Sunday) we decided to go to this place called Malahide, which is on the shores of Ireland. Malahide is famous for their castle, which was family owned up till the 70's then donated to the state. We got to go on a guided tour of this castle and its botanical gardens. After the castle we went for a walk along the marina on the coast of Malahide, which is where I saw the lovely rainbow mentioned above. I guess it's only fitting I would see and rainbow in Ireland, but like I said, no pot of gold. I may or may not have kept some sea shells I collected on the beach, because yes I am a hoarder. Our flight was later on Sunday and we were all so sad to leave. I am making it my mission to head back to Ireland as soon as possible because their is so much more I would like to see and so many more wonderful people I would like to talk to.

     I also can't forget the fact that on Monday night I was able to see Wicked in London with my program. The last time I saw this play I was about ten years old and completely forgot most of the key elements of this play. For example I thought the witch actually did turn bad, and I totally forgot the ending (I wont give it away for those who haven't seen it). It was soo good and I was mouthing all the words to most of the songs with little or no shame. It's been a great couple of days, and sorry to overwhelm you all with this giant blog but I have so much to tell and I want to make sure everyone gets to be a part of my journey. One thing I have always been sure of in my life is my dream to travel, and I can't believe it is finally happening. I'm even at the point where I wish I had more time here so I can see even more places, but I guess I have the rest of my life for that.

Malahide Castle

Malahide Castle

Queen and Peasant

Pouring Guinness

Rainbow