Scotland: Unexpected Amazing

After coming to terms with the stresses and pricing of trying to travel abroad while in London, we realized that trying to book a trip for the following weekend would be extremely hard and pricey. After comparing a multitude of alternatives, we begrudging decided in a last ditch effort to invest in Edinburgh, Scotland. While this wasn’t the most desirable location for all of us, it seemed all our parents raved about it and it was the cheapest option. So we went for it. After a long week of classes and fun in London, a group of 12 of us made our way to the train station on Friday night to embark on our journey to our destination.

We did have the pleasure of getting to take the train out of Kings Cross Station, which as the Harry Potter fans out there know, was a real treat. As a tourist must-do, we took pictures at the customary 9 ¾ platform, just as Harry did, although most of us passed up on the optional scarf as we thought of the millions of people who had also donned it.

What we didn’t realize when booking the 5 hour train ride tickets was the option of choosing a seat for a higher cost. With the cheap tickets we got at such late notice, we were left with the other over-bookers and without a seat for the whole first half of the train ride.

After finally getting a seat and finishing the trip, we arrived in Scotland around 1 a.m., and we immediately made our way into the hostel across the street. After not knowing what to expect when entering a hostel, we were presently surprised with the girls on the trip getting a private room with a private bathroom. The boys weren’t as happy as they had to share a room with a couple unknown Asian men, who didn’t speak English…

After arriving, we decided to explore the city a little bit that night, and get a feel for what we were going to be experiencing tomorrow. And what we saw definitely got us excited for the weekend we had ahead.

After receiving a complimentary breakfast of yogurt, cereal, and toast from the hostel. We departed early to make it to the Edinburgh Castle and beat the crowds. What most of us didn’t realize was just how cold Scotland would be, especially the two guys who tried to wear shorts for the first half of the day. After touring the high castle and getting whipped by freezing winds, most of us had bought the tourist-cliché plaid cashmere scarves that about 1000 souvenir shops in Edinburgh carried.

After freezing our butts off, we finished our tour of the Castle and practically sprinted to the nearest good-looking pub for a traditional pub lunch. As a self-proclaimed foodie, I attempt to try the local delicacies of the places I go. Well this seemed like a tough one. Haggis. The name alone suggests its loveliness. What haggis consists of you really don’t want to know, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s ground up sheep’s liver, heart, and lungs traditionally cooked in a bag made out of the sheep’s stomach. After much convincing on my part, I ordered the dish for the table as an appetizer and we all had a try. What we didn’t predict was that everyone liked it! I personally would get it again in a heartbeat (get it…heart…)

While most of our group went for the traditional fish and chips, I furthered my food venturing and got some delicious lamb cutlets. (All of which I would definitely eat again.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I found the love of my life. I think my parents would approve, don’t you.

After lunch, we made our way to the Scott Monument, which is essentially this scary looking sphere in the middle of Edinburgh. We found out that you could climb to the very top using an extremely tiny set of winding stairs, and we all made the climb. The views were gorgeous from the top, something we all thought at the time unable to be topped. (until the next day…)

After this, we moved into our flat that we were staying in for the night. I found this flat on an amazing site called AirBnB, where you can rent places from locales at good prices. The extremely nice place we got was a two bedroom flat right on the Royal Mile, the perfect location for us. Even though there were 12 of us, we decided to just make it work and pay the low price of 13 pounds a person for the night.

After making our way around the random streets of Scotland a little more, we got dinner at this delicious burger place and then went to a pub to watch the 2^nd half of the Champions League game. As a soccer player, you become frustrated in America at the lack of public interest in the sport, but being in Scotland, I was blown away. The place we went to was packed wall to wall with futbol fans all screaming and cheering, enjoying the game that I love.

After a long night of fun, we all crashed at our tiny place. Although only some of us made it up early, I was enthusiastic to get up and make it to Elephant House for coffee in the morning. Another Harry Potter hotspot, this was the café that J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books in on napkins at a corner table.

After fueling up with some traditional Scottish porridge (also so good…), we decided to spend the day by hiking up to the National Monument and then eventually embarking on the long hike up Arthur’s Seat. All after Lauren and I completely the Edinburgh marathon! (Well our version, that was only a few steps long)

What we didn’t realize at the time was just how high Arthur’s Seat is (822 ft.), and the three-hour long hike up mountain trails that could barely be considered trails. After finally making it to the top, we realized that the whole Scotland trip had been well worth it when we saw the view. It was absolutely breathtaking and something I don’t think any of us are going to forget for a long time. If you have any time in Scotland, do this. It will be totally worth it.

After making our way down the mountain, we checked out of the hostel and made our way grudgingly to the train station. Luckily this time we had seats and we got to enjoy the beauty of the Scottish countryside on our way back.

Although the guys on the trip came up with many phrases to characterize our Scottish experience by, such as “Wrestlin’ Nessie”,  “Hey Brother”, and “The Cloud”, I think I can only describe the experience in one phrase: unexpectedly amazing. Scotland did not disappoint, and if every travel trip is like this while I am here, then I will never be left disappointed. Until next time…

Cheers,

Elyse

That's How Much...?

Well, we officially made it through the first full week in London, and I can honestly say it has yet to disappoint. With so much to do and so much time, the possibilities this city has seems to be endless. We all came to find a glitch in our limitless possibilities though, the money…

We all had an extreme culture shock when we came to find that the conversion rate of dollars to pounds is actually awful, and that everything is twice to three times more expensive here. We have all resorted to buying groceries and making our own meals about every day. With such restraint, we were all pleasantly happy to accept a free Sunday night traditional pub dinner from our program, and I think we were all licking our plates by the end of it.

We have been able to accomplish many things in the short time since my last post. Here are some highlights:

We took an afternoon trip and visited the lovely Kensington Palace where we babysat Prince George for an afternoon!  But actually we got there and saw the tour price and decided to just view it from the outside.  I have also decided that I am going to have these type of gates outside of my house.

Since we had some extra time to kill, we also decided to take some extra touristy pics of places around our flats so that you can get a feel for the area we are living in. You might recognize a few of the landmarks.

Also, Ben and I are best friends now. Big Ben and Lil Elyse!

For one of my classes, we visited the National Gallery for the second time and the Tate Modern, which are both absolutely amazing. The view from the Tate Modern alone is enough to knock your socks off. 

Also, ten points for whoever can name the movie that bridge is featured in. (Hint: it involves wizards!)

Lauren and I made a trip to our new favorite store, Harrods, where we bought absolutely nothing at (besides a delicious lunch), but we enjoyed it just the same! Also, we have been driving around all of London in our new car, well we wish…! (Of course, found outside of Harrods)

I enjoyed one of the best lunches that I’ve ever had at a local street fair featuring some of the best Indian food you can get anywhere. I know it looks kind of weird, but this chicken curry put me in literal food heaven.

One feature of London we are loving is seeing all the kids in their cute little uniforms and hats. I can’t get enough of the little Madeline look-a-likes running around everywhere, like this group.

We also had the pleasure of viewing a random fireworks show on the Thames River two nights ago, which we ran to after hearing the first ones go off from our flats.

A very large part of our week has been planning the trips we are going to be taking on the weekends while we are here. This has proven to be the biggest stress in the world, with our eyes being opened to the sheer hassle and costs of booking everything ourselves. But we completed it all and are super excited about what we came up with. (Just for everyone’s future knowledge though, I will never be a travel agent.)

Here’s the itinerary for the weeks to come:

This weekend of the 23^rd: Edinburgh, Scotland

June 5-9: Milan, Italy. Lake Como, Italy. Cinque Terre, Italy. Florence, Italy.

June 14-15: Paris, France

Well that’s it for now, but I will update after the weekend in Scotland! We promise to stay safe and keep killing it as always:

Cheers,

Elyse

London at First Glance

Only two days down, but it feels as though a month has flown by.

After spending all day on a plane, I arrived in London at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. And the only word that could be used to describe making it through Thursday would be: the grind. After enduring the extreme jet lag and hours of orientation, most kids were down for the count by 6:30 p.m. It is even surprising to me that I was able to make it past that wall and enjoy the rest of the night, even though it seems like a complete blur at this point. Although Thursday was such a hard day to get through, several highlights of the day included:

Moving into our new flat, in which I have 5 roommates. My room lucked out for some reason and ended up getting the biggest room with so much space we don’t even know what to do with. But hey, I’m not complaining.

Grocery shopping. Due to the high prices of well…everything in London, we are all trying to be thrifty and make our own food for most meals. The trouble with this is attempting to master the different grocery stores in London. Unlike the US, there isn’t one large grocery store that supplies all your needs. You have to go to different stores for different items. One of which being tuber ware to store food, which no one has still been able to find anywhere.

Walking around London for the first time. Our flat is located in Waterloo, which for those who don’t know is about a five to ten minute walk from the London Eye/Big Ben. Between our flat and where we take classes, we are pretty much located in the center of London.

Picking up the newest in phone technological innovations. LOL.

Finishing the night at a local hotspot called O’Neills, which is a three-story joint with a variety of musical options included a live band on the third floor, which we rallied to and danced to all night.

            After getting minimal amount of sleep, we all had to wake up Friday to start our first day of classes. While I am here, I am taking two classes: London as Arts Capital and British Moral Philosophy. While the philosophy will be a more challenging class, the fine arts class seems exciting with a visit to a different museum almost every class. Even after our first class, our assignment was to experience the National Gallery (located right next to school) for the first time. Word to the wise though: Photos are not allowed, something I was promptly scolded for after attempting to get this picture.

            After enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather we’ve been having and having a lovely lunch in Trafalgar Square, I had my second class, and then Lauren and I took to exploring some of the city. Highlights of Friday included:

Getting lost. After walking for ten minutes longer than we were supposed to be, we realized we were actually moving in the opposite direction of where we needed to go, but hey, it was gonna happen at some point.

Seeing Buckingham Palace and waving hello to our favorite lady, the Queenie.

Making fun of the guards. Unfortunately, we have yet to make one of them laugh (a goal of mine for the trip).

Mastering the subway system for the first time. We only went from one stop to the next, but hey we did it on our own.

Ending the night by going to a Hole in the Wall (which is the actual name of a literal hole in the wall type joint) and then once again dancing the night away at the interesting establishment called Zoo Bar. (I still don’t understand the Zoo reference, as I did not see any zoo references anywhere.) Side note, London is also just as gorgeous at night.

            We don’t have anything planned until a little later this morning, so Lauren, Meg, and I went to a big food market called Borough Market about a mile from our flats and enjoyed a great breakfast of tomato, mascarpone, and pesto quiches. YUM.

            So far everyone in the group is getting along really well, and we are all fully enjoying the experience that has been given to us. With a full weekend of activities and trip planning ahead, I honestly have accepted the fact that sleep will be hard to come by while here. Well thats it for now, but I will keep updating as much as possible. 

Cheers,

Elyse

Au Revoir, Cheers, and Goodbye!

            After an extremely testing and rough year, where I can say I was mentally and emotionally put to the test on a regular basis, the summer could not have come quick enough. And with the dawn of the summer also comes one of the most exciting adventures I will ever have the opportunity to partake on. A group of kids from Notre Dame and I will be spending the next 6 weeks taking a couple classes at the ND school in London and living the dream. Included in this group are a couple of friends I already know, like my roommate and best friend Lauren Groody, and people I am surely to get to know very well.

            After coming to find out that we were accepted into the program, Lauren and I had been desperately attempting to keep our focus on our current classes and not think too much about our European quest. With finals taken and grades calculated, the past week we have been pouring ourselves over packing details and trip “must dos” using resources from everywhere like past London students and random buzzfeed articles.

            Within my final’s studying struggles, I was able to make a list of all the things I needed to do once arriving home to ensure that this trip would be one I would be fully ready for and one I would never forget:

1.     New Hair, New Mindset

This year definitely brought me some of the hardest obstacles I’ve ever had to encounter in my 20 years of life. After dealing with a multitude of injuries that stopped me from playing the game I love, a mild depression, the death of a loved one, my hardest academic class schedule, and a few other setbacks, I am simply proud that I made it through the year still standing strong. With that resolution holding fast, I decided that I needed an outwardly change to show that if I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. I firmly believe that I made it through by relying on my own values and beliefs, which carry me through every day life. After considering it for over a year now, I decided to make the plunge and color my hair. With colored hair and a fire in my soul, I now feel outwardly and inwardly the same, that I am ready for anything this summer (and life) wants to throw at me.

2.     Shopping!

Now, what would a trip be without seemingly endless amounts of shopping to prepare for anything ahead of time. (Not to mention all the shopping that’s going to be done in Europe J ). If you know me well enough, you would know that I usually reside in athletic, issue gear, garb (aka sweats, shorts, and tshirts). Well, I am making the pledge, and Lauren can hold me to it, to only wear athletic wear when working out, and look normal whenever possible. So new clothes have been bought and my new European wardrobe awaits.

3.     Hello, Blog

With all of this, I wanted to have an easy way to allow friends and family to track my adventure as I make my way across England and Europe, so this blog has ensued. I promise to try and update it with pictures and stories as often as I can to keep you all up to date on whatever awaits me in the coming weeks. I can’t wait for my adventure to start and I hope you follow me along as I go.

Cheers,

Elyse