Worst Blogger Ever Pt. 3: Dublin

Two weeks after Amsterdam, I went with four of my friends to Dublin for a weekend. Like Amsterdam, I was only there for two days, but I think I had a good taste of the city.

On our first morning, we went on a walking tour that taught us TONS about Irish history.

 

 

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Irish Potato Famine Memorial

 

Our tour guide was also THE COOLEST GUY EVER

 

He even showed us where to get Irish Coffee, which is hands down the greatest beverage of all time. 

 

 

Then we visited Trinity College…

 

The library there is HUGE!

 

Our second day, we took the obligatory to the Guiness Factory, marking the first and last time I will ever willingly drink Guiness.

 

 

Worst Blogger Ever Pt. 2: Amsterdam (February)

On Valentines Day weekend (yes, thats how long ago this was. I’m sorry mom…I’ve fallen behind) five friends and I went to Amsterdam. The group I went with on this trip was made entirely of TCU students. I was only in Amsterdam for Saturday and Sunday, but it was still a great experience, albeit a bit short. 

The View of the City Center from the top floor of the public library. 

 

The slogan on all tourism merchandise is “I AMsterdam”, which I found pretty clever. This life sized sign that we all climbed on is right outside one of the train stations near the center of the city. 

 

EVERYONE rides bikes in Amsterdam. Bikers don’t follow street rules, and are not the most welcoming to tourists on the sidewalks. I was warned that I would be in greater danger of being hit by a bike than a car, and this definitely rang true. I was almost hit by a bike…twice. 

 

On Sunday Morning, two friends from the group and I went to the museum in Anne Frank’s house. This was definitely the most interesting thing we did during the trip. Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside. I have read the book and heard the story multiple times, but actually standing where she stood and seeing the actual handwritten journal at the end was a very powerful experience. The part of the museum that stood out the most to me was in the very last room, where a movie was playing an interview with Anne Frank’s father discussing what he found when he read the journal once he returned to Amsterdam. He talked about how there were things in the diary she had never mentioned to him before, and it was almost as if he was reading the thoughts of a stranger. His statement that “parents will never truly know their children” left me in awe upon leaving the museum. 

 

With a few hours to kill before flying home, Conner, Brett and I took a boat cruise through the Canals. 

Wales

Let me start this off by saying; if you’re ever in Wales, make sure it is summertime and make sure you have a car. We had neither of these things going for us, so it was a bit of a bleak weekend. But I was surrounded by some great people, so the trip was a success in that regard. Wales wins the award for being the best/worst trip I’ve taken so far, all at the same time. 

 

Welsh is pretty shocking….vowels aren’t really a thing….  

 

 

The only time when it stopped pouring down rain while we were there was when we went to the beach. 

 

 

 

 

 

This trip to Wales also marked my first time using AirBnB, which essentially is renting a house from someone for a night. The woman promised us two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. Unfortunately, there was a mix up, so two rooms turned into one room with two mattresses on the floor for the boys…. we made it work?

 

 

 

This might seem like a pretty bare bones post, but there really wasn’t much to do in wales except walk…. a lot. Hence the comment above about needing a car. Definitely a car. 

 

 

Next up is Amsterdammmm! 

And the worst blogger ever award goes to…..

HELLO TO EVERYONE WHO ACTUALLY READS THIS! 

 

I am officially the WORST at blogging, and have been so busy/lazy these past few weeks that I haven’t kept this thing updated at all. So my apologies to everyone who has been waiting for a new blog post (hey mom). 

 

Since my last post, a lot of interesting things have happened. I’ve been to Wales, Amsterdam and Dublin, as well as a ton of really cool places in and around London, so get ready for a lot of photos all at once…. here goes nothing… 

 

Weekend in Scotland!

Hi everyone! Sorry this post has taken a while, but I’ve been super busy. 

 

So this past weekend I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend with two friends of mine. Unfortunately, since we all booked our flights on our own, we all ended up on different flights. Not so much because we all left at different times, just out of different airports. For the record, there are FIVE airports that serve London… who knew?

 

So last Friday once I got off of work, I navigated the tube at rush hour to a train, then took the train to Gatwick. Definitely not as easy to get to the airport in London as it is at home, especially at 5:30 in the afternoon. But everything managed to work out ok, and I met up with my friends at our hostel at around 11 that night. We stayed on the Royal Mile about a two minute walk from the Castle, so the location was absolutely perfect! 

 

 

On Saturday we decided to go to the Whiskey tour. This was partially because it seemed interesting, but mostly because it was UNBEARABLY COLD that day. Surprisingly though, we ended up being pretty cool, and they ended the tour with a whiskey tasting. I gave it a shot, but I don’t think I could ever be a whiskey drinker… sorry dad. 

 

 

 

After the Whiskey tour, we went back to the hostel and got ready to go out. 

 

Word to anyone traveling in the UK: Just sign up for the pub crawl. It is a million times easier to pay someone 10 pounds to take you to bars and drink for free than it is to wander around an unfamiliar city like an idiot trying to find a place to go that is age appropriate and not insanely expensive. So take it from me; do the pub crawl. 

 

The next morning we wandered around the city and escaped the royal mile for a while. There is so much old architecture woven in between more modern buildings. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To end the day, we finally caved and bought tickets to see the Castle. We figured you can’t go to Edinburgh and NOT go. The view from the top was AMAZING!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we had some time to kill at the end of the day before our flights home, we stopped by the Elephant House, which is technically the “Birthplace of Harry Potter”. Once J.K. Rowling confessed in an interview that she wrote the first few pages of “The Sorcerer’s Stone” there, the hole in the wall coffee shop turned into a tourist sensation. So while we had every intention of actually eating inside, after we saw the line almost out the door we opted to take a picture, then head over to the pub next door… Besides, five pounds for a latte is a bit ridiculous. But now I can say I’ve been there, so I guess that’s worth something?

 

 

Overall thoughts on Scotland: LOVE THE ACCENTS, and all the merchandise with Kenzie on it, but overall, its too cold. I had a fabulous time, but I was ready to come back to London. 

 

The next trip on the agenda (for now) Is Dublin at the beginning of March. But hopefully something fun will pop up between now and then. 

 

Until Next Time! 

Xoxo 

Week One!

Sorry I haven’t posted anything this past week; the first week of school/work was crazy! Definitely a huge adjustment from student life at TCU. 

 

My very first class on Monday is a survey of Shakespeare, located at Regent campus which is roughly a 20 minute walk from my dorm. Unlike at home, where one class is held two or three times a week, all of my “modules” only meet once a week for two hours. Can’t decide which system I like better yet. The professor was nice enough, and didn’t seem as strict as I expected. We are expected to read a play a week, but those assignments aren’t as rigid as they would be at school. The way classes are graded is also completely different here; my final grade for the class is made up of only two papers; one worth 30%, the other worth 70%. 

 

 

Tuesday was my first day as an intern at London & Partners. The office is fairly easy to get to by the Underground, and it takes me about 20 minutes to get there. It is located right along the Thames overlooking London Bridge, so the view is amazing. It also is right next door to the London City Hall building that everybody calls “The Egg”. Everybody at the office is incredibly nice, and I really think my intern experience will be a good one. For now though, learning all the intricacies of British foreign direct investment is still pretty overwhelming. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. I work every Tuesday morning, then all day Wednesday and Friday, giving me close to 20 hours a week. 

 

On Thursday, I have my “Art and Society” class in the mornings, and then another English literature course in the afternoon. Art and society is designated only for study abroad students, and each week we travel as a class to one of the multiple museums or galleries around London. For our first class we went to the British Museum, which was HUGE! We were only able to stay for an hour and a half, so I will definitely need to go back on my own to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I did get a chance to see the Rosetta Stone, which was incredibly interesting. 

My English class later on Thursday afternoon seemed pretty standard, but the grading scale is also completely different from what I am used to. It doesn’t seem to unmanageable though. One bummer about taking all english classes is that there are only girls in my classes…. guess I may have picked the wrong minor. 

 

All in all, it was a successful, albeit hectic, first week of school. Hopefully as I move forward I will become more confident with my schedule. Here’s hoping this next week runs as smoothly as the last. I also just booked tickets for a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for next weekend with a few friends, so planning for that should be interesting. 

 

Until next time!! 

 

 

 

 

Typical Tourist Pt. 2

This afternoon we went to see Big Ben and Westminster Abby. All of the major buildings are set up around a large square, so many of the major landmarks are all in the same place. Unfortunately, the Abby was closed for the day so we couldn’t go inside, but we still managed to take some good photos. The architecture in the square is amazing, and standing under Big Ben was totally surreal.

 

 

To get home, Elizabeth, Kassie and I navigated the bus routes back by ourselves, which was a major accomplishment. We finished off the afternoon with some crepes from the vendor across the street. Great Saturday of being a tourist. 

Day at the Market

Today, five of us all walked to the Camden Markets, which were about a thirty minute walk away through Regent’s Park. They went on forever, and there was so much to see! Tons of interesting food and vendor stalls that went on for miles. Even though it started raining on our walk back, it was still a great afternoon. 

 

Day in the Park

Today some girls from the TCU program and I went to Regents Park, which is literally RIGHT across the street from my dorm. The place is huge, and even though the trees are bare now, it’s still gorgeous. Will definitely be spending some time here.

 

 

Room with a View

This is the view from my desk in my dorm at Marylebone Hall; I’m all the way up on the 14th floor!