Spring Break: Edinburgh

The last few days of the trip were spent in Edinburgh. The grand finale of the tour of Castles and Palaces stopped at Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, the Queens official residence in Edinburgh.

Despite the sun, Edinburgh was still quite cold, although every shop owner and taxi driver thanked my parents for bring the warm California weather with them. We walked the Royal Mile, had tea at a palace (alright I had tea in the cafe next to the palace), and saw plenty of tartan trousers.

An art installation in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh

View from the top of Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Palace in front of Arthur's Seat

The inside courtyard of Holyrood Palace

Our trip ended with a nice stroll around Arthur's Seat in the sunlight. It's been almost two weeks since I left Edinburgh and I haven't seen the sun since then.

Spring Break: St Andrews

The weather in London was certainly a tease for my parents, they thought the sunshine would last as we got into Scotland. It rained on the drive from the airport in Edinburgh to St Andrews, and in the next four hours it went from rain to sunshine to hail. Welcome to Scotland!

I took my parents around my small little town and made sure they got a little taste of Scotland, which included eating haggis, drinking whisky, and going to a ceilidh! I gave them a tour of the University, saw the ruins of the Cathedral and Castle, and made sure dad saw the Old Course. St Andrews was a nice, relaxing change of pace from the hustle and bustle of London.

Dad atop the pier on our pier walk

Mom was always behind the camera

Inside St Salvators

Spring Break: London

I apologize for my gap in blogging, I was out enjoying my two weeks of spring break (which I will get to in a moment) and then trying to get back into the school grind with lots of reading to do. St Andrews really does it right, two weeks of spring break. Plenty of time to go out and unwind from the term and extra days to recover from all of it. 

My spring break started last on March 15, when I took a 7am train out of Leuchars to start my trip down to London. I arrived in London in early afternoon and met up with my friend Taylor who is in her second semester abroad from UC Santa Barbara at Kings College London. She lives in the cutest little area of London, Hampstead. 

The view from Taylor's room in Hampstead

My parents also flew into London. It was their first time in the United Kingdom. They rented the coolest flat in the West End. We made sure to take in as many sights as possible and the weather in London was absolutely wonderful. We had a leisurely Sunday, as my parents were trying to adjust to the time change. But we had a nice walk seeing Buckingham Palace (the flag was up, so the Queen was in), 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.

Outside Buckingham Palace

Mom and Dad enjoying the nice weather in Westminster 

I spy: the London Eye

Taylor play tour guide for us. She's become quite the Londoner.

The London Eye

On Monday we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw a wide range of art from Japanese Samurai armor to Medieval British Art. We spent hours just trying to take it all in.

Art installation in the entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum

On Tuesday we got an earlier start on the day and were able to see St Paul's Cathedral, where Diana married Prince Charles, and the Tower of London. Unfortunately, St Paul's doesn't allow photography inside, but Dad and I clamored up some 700 steps to the top of the dome and got some pictures. Luckily, at the top of the stairs, they have a well placed defibrillator. The Cathedral is absolutely massive and beautiful, I would recommend a visit the next time you find yourself in London.

At the top of St Paul's Cathedral

The facade of St Paul's

Next, we rushed over to make it to the Tower of London before it closed. We admired the Crown Jewels and enjoyed seeing the the suits of armor that belonged to Henry VIII as he began to expand.

The Tower of London

Continuing our great tour of castles and palaces, we went to Kensington Palace on Wednesday. Unfortunately, we didn't see Harry, William, Kate or little Prince George, but we saw a very nice display of keepsakes belonging to Queen Victoria and even a fashion exhibit with dresses that belonged to Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales. We took in the sun in the gardens on our  final day in London.

Kensington Palace

The gardens outside Kensington Palace

On our last night, we went to see a West End show. It was my second time seeing Once, which I saw last summer on Broadway, but we all enjoyed it the same. It's based off a 2007 Irish film of the same name, and the music is more folk based. They even invite the audience up on stage for drinks before the show and during intermission!

The next morning we packed up and headed for Scotland!

 

 

 

Overnight in Glasgow

The motto of study abroad is

Always Say Yes*

*within reason

So when my friend Aubree asked me last Tuesday if I wanted to go to Glasgow with her to go to a club that one of her favorite DJs was going to do play at set at, I hesitated because in dancing settings I'm an awkward wallflower, but ultimately had to say yes. So on Friday afternoon we caught the train to Glasgow from Dundee and spent two hours standing on the crowded train. My standards for Glasgow were not very high after spending a night in the nastiest hotel there nearly four years before (I'm talking leaky pipes, mystery stains, the whole ten nasty yards), so getting off the train at Queens Street Station I was pleasantly surprised to find that Glasgow had more to offer. Our hostel was on the  ickier side, but for £30 on short notice, it was pretty good. 

Glasgow, and especially the area we were staying in (City Centre), actually has a number of vegan restaurants, which was perfect for Aubree who is a gluten-free vegan. We enjoyed amazing cajun chips, entrees, cider, and the most delicious soy ice cream for dinner at The 13th Note. Then we leisurely walked around City Centre to take in the nightlife that St. Andrews is unfortunately missing.

Lights strung off the Gallery of Modern Art

We rested up a little bit and then headed up the street from our hostel to the Sub Club to see DJ Koze. It was my first nightclub experience and it actually was pretty fun, we ended up dancing until 2:30am!

Inside the Sub Club

We got as much sleep as we could with a 11 o'clock check out time. We wandered around a little bit more, taking Glasgow in during daylight hours. Ate lunch at a sibling restaurant to the The 13th Note, Mono, which also boasts a record shop and a press. The vegan/vegetarian restaurant scene in Glasgow is now my favorite hidden gem of the city, even as a carnivore I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. Too tired and full with food to do much exploring we decided to drag our bags back up to Queen Street Station and get an early afternoon train back to St. Andrews, plotting our next trip to Glasgow.

Our hostel was to the left of the bridge on the other side of the river

I was a little too tired to do any good sightseeing or picture posing

Putting the Study in Study Abroad

Not much to update on as I've just unburied myself from the pile of books I've been trapped under for essays in both of my classes, but I hope to have some posts of interest in the next few weeks!

The Joy of Care Packages

I received my first care package from the States on this overcast Scottish morn, thanks mom and dad! Nestled in with new socks, my favorite tea, and macaroni and cheese were my favorite seasonal treat. Yes, I do believe that Girl Scout Cookie season is one of the officially recognized American seasons, it helps us Southern Californians know that we are moving towards summer once more, as the weather leaves little indication. 

In the true spirit of international exchange, I made certain that both my roommates from Aberdeen, Kathy and Mariella, tried their first Girl Scout Cookies. They were both quite taken with the peanut butter in the Tagalongs. Although I am able to buy peanut butter in great variety from Tesco, peanut butter still really hasn't caught on here. Kathy admitted she hadn't liked peanut butter until last summer and Mariella hadn't tried it until last fall! Anyway, I have made two Girl Scout Cookie converts and that's all the really matters!

Poll: What's your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

My First Ball

Study Abroad is all about doing new things, so I went to my first ever ball last night! St Andrews has tons of balls throughout the academic year that are very much a part of the student culture here. This ball was hosted by the student housing buildings that I live in. The apartment building complex I live in has the most university students in the town. Attire was black tie and a few people went all out!

The quality is a little rough, but a few of my friends rented kilts for the ball!

The ball was not quite like they depict in Cinderella, but still a good time was had by all*!

*There may be some people who are feeling the effects of last night and thus may not be having a good time today.