Fin

My trip to Glasgow has sadly come to an end. After returning from London I spent the last week studying and taking 3 exams, one for each class. My Archaeology exam was in the last possible time slot on the last day... 4:30-6pm on Friday, December 20th. As Megan left the next morning, Flat C began to feel a bit emptier. That day Shannon and I headed to Edinburgh for the day to explore and see the Christmas markets.

I flew home on December 24th by which all of my friends had already left. I spent the last day shopping for a few gifts and packing. I squeezed in 2 hours of sleep before my taxi to the airport at 3:30am. I was up for somewhere around 24 hours after the full day before and only fitting in around 1 hour of sleep on the plane.... but, I won jet lag and adjusted back to Edmonds time quickly!

Goodbye's are challenging when you are unsure of your next return. Leaving Glasgow was no different for me and I would love to visit Scotland and Glasgow again in the future. I don't think visiting Glasgow could ever be the same as living in Glasgow, which is what made my experience. Originally when I told people I was studying in Glasgow I got many strange reactions. Some people were excited, one person told me "I'm sorry", another said "That's a bad city". The stereotypes of Glasgow are of an industrial, dirty, working city, that would not be ideal to live...or so think some people. Saying goodbye to a city known for it's 'industrial and dirty feel' was a challenge for me because I found so much more depth to Glasgow. I am certain if I return here the city will have changed dramatically for the best. I found Glasgow to be a city with a high potential. In fact, I don't know if I've ever been to any city that has much potential....Glasgow's rougher past gives it the capability of this potential, but the people are making this change happen. Glaswegians are some of the nicest people to come by and until my next visit, I suggest visitors don't push Glasgow aside and only see Edinburgh.

Scotland was great too, really visit the UK. It's neat and I will miss it dearly.

 I am now in Denver after spending a little over a week in Edmonds and will start classes on Monday. Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it! 

London Calling

I had time to fit in one more longer trip to London during my “study week”. Megan and I left on Monday Dec. 9^th and stayed until Friday Dec 13^th. Our days here were full and lots of fun. After we got off the plane we took a bus, train, the tube, and finally made it on foot to our hostel! That night we met up with a friend of mine, Julie, from DU (also from the Seattle area!). 

On the first day we accomplished walking from Waterloo station all the way to Camden town making stops along the way. The day started by walking past Big Ben towards Buckingham Palace. There was some sort of event going on so lots of dressed up people were entering through the gates with pink tickets in hand. Perhaps a Christmas party? All of the cars and taxis entering had to be searched before driving through. 

Harry Potter being searched.

After, we headed to Hyde Park to see Winter Wonderland! This is a huge Christmas market/amusement park. It was HUGE, and I was very thankful to see it in the morning when very few people were around. Next, we went the Sherlock Holmes museum, Regent’s Park, Primrose Hill, and to Camden. Is a neighborhood in the north part of London. The Camden Lock Market is here, and it is enormous. There are large horse statues throughout the market too! That night we went back to Hyde Park which this time was filled with people. Megan and I enjoyed mulled wine in the Bavarian Village and Nutella crepes after! 

Winter Wonderland!

 View from Primrose Hill

The next day started at Pax Lodge, one of four Girl Guide World Centers! I originally signed up for a tour but it happened to coincide with their annual Christmas party so Megan and I attended this instead. There were crafts, food (yule logs, scones, and carrot cake), tea, and carols. We didn’t get an official tour but were able to look around the ground floor after. I am halfway done with visiting all the centers now! Visiting Pax Lodge made me want to volunteer at center, perhaps one day. 

Contribution to the hand wreath.

After, we went to the British Library and National Gallery (both free!). I would highly recommend both. That night we went to dinner at the Lehore Kebab House, as recommended by our free map. It was a shot in the dark that turned out to have really good food! We had seekh kebab, bhindi gosht, sag paneer, and garlic naan.

Our final full day started the in the South End at a smaller Christmas Market at Gabriel’s Wharf by the London Eye. We continued walking along the river to the Borough Market. I had been here previously and remembered it having lots of good food. I bought a slice of cheesecake and sampled lots of tea. 

Millennium Bridge in the fog, not snow.

After, we went to the Tate Modern. There was a lot of strange modern art...I took a serious of photos I call “Turds of the Tate”. 

After the Tate, I went to Paddington Station where I got on a 25 min train ride east to Reading! My friend Penny (or as I know her, Queenie!) who I have worked with for 2 summers at Robbinswold lives here!! Reading was a bigger town than I thought, I learned the only reason it’s not a city is because it doesn’t have a cathedral. She had 3 hours off from work so we went out to dinner and then I got back on the train to London. She is headed off soon on a 5 month trip of her own to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand (and maybe more...). 

I got back to Waterloo station on the tube and heard some members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing Christmas songs in the station to raise money (I can’t remember the charity). 

We left our hostel at 4:30am the next morning to catch a bus to the airport... There was minimal studying had during this trip but it was worth it. I studied the rest of the weekend and all of this past week for 3 finals, the last of which ended at 6pm on Friday!

Lancaster, Lakes, and York

The morning after Thanksgiving I took a trip to visit Joe in Lancaster! Joe unfortunately broke his foot 8 weeks ago and is still on crutches, something I can relate to very well. The bus on Friday from Glasgow to Lancaster was about 3 hours and dropped me off at Lancaster University which was convenient. Joe and I took the city bus to city centre and spent a few hours at a coffee shop and a bar before we met Dan at the train station. The next morning we took a bus to the Lakes District! December is definitely an off season to visit, but the weather was nice and we even saw sunshine on the bus ride there. I would have liked to see Beatrix Potters' Hill Top farm, but it is closed in the winter. Our first stop was in Keswick. Here we ate a long lunch and walked around a Christmas market. After Keswick, we took the bus to Ambleside where Alice and her Dad were staying. We met up with the shortly before getting back on the bus to Lancaster. It was a long day of bus riding but the scenery was beautiful!

Crooked view from the bus

Another bus shot

Market in Keswick

Sunday morning we took a train from Lancaster to Manchester, then Manchester to York where we would stay for the night. We ate lunch in at an Italian restaurant in a building from the 1700s. This site has much better pictures than what I took... http://www.york360.co.uk/restaurants/ask. 

Shaun in the water pitcher

 After lunch we found our hostel, The Fort Boutique, it was one of the nicest hostels I’ve stayed in so far. We were in an 8 person mixed room with only 1 other American girl. We could walk to everything from the hostel too, or crutch... I visited a store called, The Cat Gallery, it had a mix of cat toys and cat artwork and did not live up to the Katten Kabinet in Amsterdam. 

Creepy cats...

Joe has 4 blankets on top!

Dan, Joe, and I went to a few English pubs before we ate dinner. I had Yorkshire pudding for dinner! Aka Thanksgiving in a pie crust! It was very good. There was a live band playing at the restaurant below our hostel, we enjoyed a few songs while eating sticky toffee pudding before we were all off to bed. But sleep didn’t come quickly as the band played for a while and we could hear them very well being situated just above.

Hmm...looks like Amsterdam. This is River Ouse which runs through York.

A strange window display.

Turkey Yorkshire pudding!

On Monday we spent a few hours at the York Minster, the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe. Dan and I payed a little extra to take 275 steps up into the tower. It spiraling steps and width of the hallways didn’t allow for Joe to make it on crutches :( The view from the top overlooked all of Lancaster and the surrounding area. The weather was not great, it was cloudy, but it was worth all the steps! That afternoon we took the train back to Lancaster, and Dan and I took the bus back to Glasgow! 

Store on Shambles street

Shambles

Everything is crooked!! Including the camera...

View from the tower

 A sample of all the steps

The city wall

Shaun rides the train!

 Fortunately, my 1 class I did have today got canceled due to strike action so I had time to write this post and sleep in!! Thankfully I was in England when the Glasgow helicopter crash happened. The city cancelled the St. Andrew celebrations on Saturday because of the crash. If you did not hear about this you can read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-25195952

Friendsgiving!

My flatmates along with a few other friends were able to celebrate an American Thanksgiving! There were 4 Americans present, 1 girl from Edinburgh, 1 guy from Latvia, and 1 girl from the Czech Republic. I made 2 pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce for the dinner. We had a late dinner and enjoyed mulled wine after. I am very thankful to have celebrated Thanksgiving in a new way this year. After accepting the fact that Thanksgiving would not be close to what I am used to at home, it was fun to share what Thanksgiving is with new friends in their first Thanksgiving experience!

A candy corn turkey from Wisconsin, thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Friendsgiving!

Turkey!