Ireland and Goodbye

Well, my flight was supposed to leave in an hour but the plane decided not to show up so it will leave in four hours. At this point I just want to go home so it’s going to be a long four hours, but it gives me time to write this post. Shout out to Dublin airport for having free wifi, O’Hare could learn a thing or two from you. Aaaaand American Airlines gave me a meal voucher ticket for 8 euro, but all that got me was a cup of yogurt and a croissant.

I decided not to take my computer to Ireland and instead left it in my luggage, which I stored in the airport. My back is about ready to collapse on itself from all the weight I’ve been carrying over the past two months. So, in effect, this will not be as detailed a post as the previous ones because I need to jog my memory from a few days ago.

I arrived in Dublin on Tuesday night and went to sleep almost immediately. All this traveling exhausts me. On Wednesday I bought a ticket for the hop on hop off bus because I didn’t want to walk everywhere. This was a great idea, let me tell you. I hopped off at a bunch of different places, including Trinity College, Dublin’s art museum, and St. Stephen’s Green. I sat and read at St. Stephen’s Green for a while, which was a much needed break from all the hectic traveling I’ve been doing. I read Looking for Alaska by John Greene, which I’ve been meaning to read for some time now. I finished it yesterday, and I’m still not really sure how I feel about it.

I also went to the Guinness Storehouse to take a tour, and it was actually so much fun. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was so interesting. I love factories, like the Jelly Belly factory or the Krispy Kreme factory, so seeing how Guinness is made was really cool. I’m still kind of confused though, like how does grain turn into alcohol? Someone get back to me on that.

Dublin was a great city to just exist in. I didn’t feel like I had to DO everything to get the full experience, for a lot of the day I just rode the double decker tour bus around and  listened to the guide. I just loved riding that bus, I don’t know why. At night I went to the Temple Bar area, where there were tons of pubs with live music performances. This area of the city was just electric: people everywhere, music, street performers, you name it. I went into a couple of pubs, but they were so crowded and I was alone and I was wearing running shoes and cuffed jeans with a backpack. So I didn’t really fit in.

The next morning I took a bus to Galway, where Matt studied abroad and also the county some of my ancestors were from. I went on the free walking tour, which was actually pretty boring because we only went to a few places, and the guide talking at each one for forever. The city is lovely though, it reminds me of Cambridge. It is obviously a college town because National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG, where Matt studied) is basically central to the city.

However, the coolest thing ever happened. On the tour, we went to Galway Cathedral, a beautiful church near the university. The guide was explaining the history of the church, etc. and I saw a girl taking pictures of the stained glass. I realized it was Christine, my cousin from Arizona. Our moms are sisters. I went up to her and we both freaked out and couldn’t believe it. I knew she was going to be in Ireland at the same time as I was, but I didn’t know where in the country she would be and when because she hasn’t had internet. She is living there for a year and will be teaching kids through a religious teaching program. We only had about 15 minutes to talk and catch up, but it was such a surreal moment and the fact that it happened in a church is truly magical. So thank you, God for bringing us together. I wish her the best in the rest of her endeavors!

After the tour was over I wandered around the city a little bit more. I went and explored NUIG for a bit, which was a very nice campus. Then I walked over to the coast and read my book for a while until it started to rain. This rain was terrible because it came from the side. There was no way of covering up from it. The rain fell in a mist, but eventually I realized that the mist had soaked me. Oh well. I had dinner and then went to a pub and watched a soccer game for a while. I asked the bartender when the live music came on, and she said 10. Since it was only 8 and I’m an old lady, I decided that was too late to wait and wandered back to the hostel.

I met two girls in the hostel, Sarah and Lauren, who are both from Ireland but are working in Galway for six week in the hospital. They said staying in the hostel is cheaper than getting an apartment, so they stay there during the week and go home on the weekends. I talked to them about the Irish culture, and I was especially interested in the language. All of the signs in Ireland are in both English and Gaelic, but no one really speaks Gaelic as a first language. The girls said that they are mostly fluent because they learn it in school from a young age. The also said that it’s called Irish rather then Gaelic, and they had no idea where the term Gaelic even came from. Huh.

Thursday morning I departed for a tour of the Aran Isles and the Cliffs of Moher. The bus driver was a riot and I really enjoyed the day, even though it was quite long. Our first stop was the smallest of the Aran Isles, but we had to take a ferry to get there. The sea was quite choppy, and I forgot to take a Dramamine, so it almost ended very badly. But I managed to control my stomach so no cookies were tossed. When we got to the island, I rented a bicycle and rode around. It’s a strange island because only half of it is inhabited. One side has houses and stores, but the other is mostly grass, cows, and stones. As some of you probably know, I love riding my bike around campus so naturally I loved riding my bike around the island. I got to see a shipwreck, a lighthouse, a beautiful view of the ocean, and of course, many cows.

The boat ride back wasn’t as bad as it was on the way there, but it was very cold and windy, with the tides hitting the side of the boat and splashing me. I was unimpressed. However, we did ride along the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher and got to see the cave where they filmed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m shocked that some of my pictures turned out alright, because I was trying to aim the camera while not being thrown from the very unsteady boat all at once. I added the blurry picture because it’s one I took while falling down after one particularly rough wave. Oops.

 

When we got to the shore, the bus driver/tour guide brought us to a cute little pub for lunch. Afterwards, we headed up to the top of the cliffs to get a different perspective. I loved walking along the cliffs, though it was a bit scary to be so high up with essentially nothing between me and the edge of the cliffs. I didn’t fall in, don’t worry.

 

After a long day, we made it back to Galway safe and sound. The next day, I went on another tour to Connemara and Cong. I was not a big fan of the bus driver on this one; he had really bad jokes and was overall kind of irritating, but maybe that’s because we didn’t stop for lunch and I was hangry most of the day. Our first stop was at Kylemore Abbey, where Benedictine Nuns used to live (I think?). It also used to be a school. The Abbey was beautiful and surrounded by mountains, but the inside wasn’t so great. There was also a Gothic church and a mausoleum, both relatively unimpressive. I did have a scone at the tea house, but not a full meal, hence my hangriness. While the scenery was beautiful, there wasn’t much to see at this location, which was the main stop on the tour.

We got back on the bus and drove up and down a mountain road, featuring many, many sheep, lakes, rivers, etc. It was very beautiful. Soon we arrived in the town of Cong, which I’m pretty sure was just included to give the bus driver a break. There was not much there, it was just a little Irish town. The 1952 film The Quiet Man was made there, and they are still holding on to that claim to fame. There was a small museum and gift shop dedicated to this movie, which I’ve never even heard of. We stopped in Cong for 45 minutes, and I found a little hiking path and just walked along there for the remaining time I had there. I’ve started to like hiking since being abroad, which if you know me well, is kind of a small miracle.

As soon as we got back to Galway, I hurried to get food and then go back to my hostel to pick up my bag to ensure I had enough time to make my bus to Dublin. This bus was two and a half hours long, but the sunset was so beautiful I didn’t even mind. When I got to Dublin, I decided to walk around the Temple Bar area one last time as my final European hurrah. The pubs were even more crowded, since it was a Friday night, and I had to show my ID to get in, which I didn’t on Wednesday. I still think it’s funny that I’m old enough to get into bars here, such a new world. The music wasn’t as good as before, so I just walked the streets for a while taking everything in. I went back to my hostel to pack and get ready for my 6 AM departure from Dublin to the airport. By some stroke of luck, my suitcase weighed less than 50 pounds (although the weight of my two carry-ons could crush a small human).

So I guess I lied; that was still pretty detailed. And in fact, this post is longer than a lot of papers I’ve written. If you have read this whole blog, thanks for following my European adventures. I’m not sure if anyone but my parents reads this, but if you do, yay and thanks. I’m excited to go home and eat some healthy food (all I’ve had the past week is chicken and fries), relax, and get ready for the school year. Europe was fun, but Chicago will always be home to me.

Now, I have another two hours in the airport. Hopefully I won’t eat all the Belgian chocolate I brought home as gifts for my family. So if you’re mom, dad, or Matt, sorry in advance. Goodbye Europe, it’s been real.

 

August 22, 2015August 23, 2015 by rosemcbride 2 Comments

Brussels

I was only in Brussels for a short time, but I feel like I saw much of what it had to offer. I arrived at my hostel a little bit too early for check in, but I put my bag into the storage room and signed up for a free walking tour. Then, I walked into the city (only 15 minute walk!) to get food and start the tour. My impression was that I would walk into the city center and immediately see food trucks selling waffles everywhere, but I couldn’t find any. I was so bummed, I wanted to have a nice, unhealthy, sugary waffle for lunch. Instead I wandered into a place called Mannekin Frites and ordered a cheeseburger. It was not like any cheeseburger I’ve ever had, it might even have been a veggie burger. I have no idea.

I walked to the Grand Place, which is the big city square where everything goes down. I met up with the tour group and we began this three hour walking tour. I talked to three other girls who were all traveling alone too. One from the US, one from the UK, and one from Canada. On the tour, we pretty much saw everything, as was to be expected. We saw lots of architecture in the Grand Place, and then walked over to Belgium’s pride and joy, the Mannekin Pis. This is a small statue/fountain of a boy peeing. The tour guide started off by saying, “Each city has something it is known for. In Paris, it’s the Eiffel Tower. In New York, it’s the Statue of Liberty. In Brussels, it’s the Mannekin Pis.” I thought it was funny that the symbol of this city was a small statue of a boy peeing. We walked along and saw a cathedral that looked kind of like Notre Dame, and we stopped and took a break at a pub.

Next, we talked about food. The guide explained that French fries are actually Belgian, but I don’t remember why they are called French fries then. She also said that beer, waffles, and chocolate are huge parts of the culture, which anyone would be able to tell after walking down a street. Our tour also included some political history, and ended at the Palace, which was closed, unfortunately.

I went with the girls I met on the tour to get dinner and we talked about life in our respective countries. Afterwards, we split paths and I went back to the Grand Place to see an exhibit in the town hall. Every two years there is a flower show set up, and people make installations made of flowers. It reminded me of a show I was in once called Fleurotica, where designers made clothes out of flowers. These installations were very lovely, but everything was SO crowded and everyone was fighting to get photos.

Afterwards, I walked down the busiest street and that’s when I found the waffles. There were shops left and right selling waffles, chocolate, and beer. I waited in line for my waffle with whipped cream and strawberries, which definitely lived up to the hype. I spent the next half hour just walking around; the city was bustling at this point. Earlier in the day, it was so dead. Since it was Sunday, a lot of the shops were closed. But at night, at least in the center of the city, shops were up and running.

I went back to the hostel pretty soon after that because it was getting dark and I still needed to iron out some details for my Ireland trip. My room was a six bed mixed room, which made me a little nervous because I’ve always stayed in all female rooms before this. When I got into the room, there was a couple in their late thirties/early forties there. They went to sleep at 8:30 and I was very perplexed. The rest of the people were guys, and they all had no qualms about walking around in just underwear, which made me pretty uncomfortable, not going to lie.

I went to sleep, only to be woken up at 5:30 AM by a bunch of people speaking VERY loudly in Spanish. Only two of them were actually staying in our room, so I’m not sure who the rest of these loud people were but it was a little upsetting. When you are in a room with four other people, you have to be respectful.

In the morning, I went to the breakfast buffet, which was pretty underwhelming. I had some watermelon, bread with jam, and cereal. However, there was a machine with completely chocolate drinks, so I got a hot chocolate which was delicious.

I walked into the city and took a train to the airport, which is where I am writing from now. I’m super early for my flight to Heathrow, but I didn’t want to risk being late. From Heathrow I’ll pick up my suitcase and fly to Dublin. I am looking forward to Ireland, because I anticipate that it’ll be more like Scotland – scenic and peaceful. I’m kinda over visiting big cities so I’m very excited!

Again, pictures will be added when I can upload 🙂

August 17, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Paris

Paris was an adventure, no better way to describe it. Like many of my trips, it started out badly but turned into a nice day. I left Cambridge at 4:45 to catch a bus to Heathrow, where I had to drop off my huge suitcase. Then, I had to take the underground to Victoria coach station where I would get on the bus to Paris.

The bus was miserable. First of all, it was a bus from England (an English speaking country) to France (a French speaking country) but for some reason, the bus driver only spoke Spanish, so no one could understand him. We stopped about an hour into the trip on the side of the highway for a reason I’m still not sure of. The driver was on his phone and from what I gathered something was wrong with the engine. But then we eventually kept going so really I have no idea. We got to Dover (I finally got to see the white cliffs!) and were supposed to take a 20 minute stop, which somehow turned into a 1 hour and 20 minute stop. I was so frustrated. Then, FINALLY, the bus moved onto a ferry, where we got off for another hour and a half to ride across to France. Normally we would have gone through the chunnel, but there is still international turmoil with immigrants that caused it to shut down.

On the ferry I sat and read my British Vogue, while two little girls and their parents next to me were talking to another family about their impending trip to Disney. All of the little girls said their favorite princesses were Elsa and Anna. Of course, everyone is obsessed with Frozen these days. But it’s about female empowerment and the love of family, so I’m all for it.

We got back on the bus and eventually got to Paris, but about 3 hours late. I booked a night bus tour for 9:30 pm and bought my ticket online, so when we got to Paris at 9 I was panicking a little bit. After deciding that I didn’t have time to figure out the metro at this point, I took a cab to the Arc de Triomphe, where the bus was waiting. By some stroke of luck, I got there at 9:27 and made it. Finally, a break! But, no, of course not. I went to the top of the double decker bus and a few minutes into the tour, it starts raining. Ugh. I put my umbrella up, but the woman in back of me complained that it was blocking her view. I also had my laptop and all of my baggage with me, and I didn’t want it to get wet so I went to the lower part of the bus. I couldn’t really see everything, but I still listened to the audio and sulked a little bit.

The tour ended around 11:15 and I had no idea where I was. I tried finding a metro station, and after a little DM* I went back to the bus where the tour guide people told me where to go. At this point, it’s late, dark, and pouring. I walked through the neighborhood where my hostel was, which didn’t look like the best area. I located the hostel and pretty much went straight to bed. It was actually a decent hostel so that was lucky at least.

In the morning, I went to get the complementary breakfast, which was literally croissants and baguettes with orange juice. The French love bread, which was reaffirmed throughout the day. I got ready for the day and took the train to my first stop: Notre Dame Cathedral. However, I made a terrible fashion feux pas on accident. I planned to wear my blue paisley pants I got in Madrid with a simple white v neck and converse, thinking I would look like a cool European. But when I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror later in the day, I realized I looked more like a mom. Whoops. And to make matters worse, it was cold and I hadn’t planned for cold, so the only coat I had was a blue polka dotted one. I tried toughing it out, but my body’s temperature sensitivity is bad, so for the rest of the day I wore horribly clashing prints. In one of the world’s fashion capitals. I’m gonna go die now, see ya.

Just kidding I’m back. I got to the cathedral, and it was beautiful. I stood in line for free entry, and somehow ended up going to a mass. It was in French, but very beautiful. I mixed up some parts of the mass because of the language barrier; I ended up saying the Our Father four times on accident. I also realized it was the Solemnity of the Assumption, so that’s probably why there was mass in the middle of the day on a Saturday. I walked over to the love lock bridge, something I’ve always wanted to do.

Afterwards, I walked along the river towards the Louvre. I stopped at Sainte-Chapelle because I remember loving the stained glass windows and architecture from when I took AP Art History, but there was a line and you had to pay to get in, so I moved on. I went into the Louvre and spent about three hours there and didn’t even scratch the surface of everything that is there. It is the biggest museum I have EVER been to. Obviously, I saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Somerthrace. It’s pretty funny how many people are crowded around these fighting each other for pictures. All of the art in the Louvre is pretty old, which again reminded me of why I love the modernity of the Art Institute. Literally the paintings went: naked woman, Madonna and child, naked woman, Madonna and child with angels, naked man, Madonna and child. I was excited to see Vermeer’s The Lacemaker, but it was very underwhelming. It was less then a foot squared. Also, as kind of a funny coincidence, the DePaul basketball team was there as well. I saw the DePaul logo and asked some of the people (coaches I think) if they were from Chicago. They said yes, they were with the basketball team and they were playing games in France, which I think is pretty cool.

After I left the Louvre, I walked around looking for a metro station and ended up at some sort of summer fair/festival with rides and tons of sugary food. I found the stop and went to one of the little islands of the Seine and went to the famous Berthillon ice cream parlor. I had chocolate ice cream and it was delicious. Somehow after walking by Notre Dame again I ended up in the Latin Quarter so I got a crepe because France. Then, after a train mix up, I ended up at the Eiffel Tower.

At this point, I pretty much haven’t talked the whole day. I pointed at food I wanted and then said “merci.” I’ve heard so much about French people being rude to people who don’t speak French, and I was very wary. For some reason, I was thinking in Spanish for much of yesterday, which makes no sense at all.

Along the road from the train to the Eiffel Tower, there were TONS of street vendors, all selling the exact same thing for the same price: little miniature Eiffel Tower figurines and key chains. Also, there were SO many vendors selling selfie sticks. I’ve never seen so many selfie sticks in my life. There were also other street vendors selling things you would actually want, like good food and crafts.

Let me tell you, I don’t know what it is about the Eiffel Tower, but I’m obsessed with it. It is so gosh darn beautiful. I stood on line to climb to the second tier, which was only 4 euro cause I’m #ballinonabudget and the elevator was more expensive. Besides, I didn’t mind walking. The wait was an hour long, and by the time I got to the front of the line to start the climb it was dark out. But the tower is beautiful at night too; it lights up and sparkles. The views from the top were absolutely magical, and being on top of the Eiffel Tower looking out on Paris, a city I’ve always dreamed of visiting, was a surreal moment. There was a restaurant on the first tier, and a meal cost 105 euro. Wow. If I could ever afford that, I would do it. That’s like honeymoon goals right there.

 

I took like a million selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower, because that’s what you have to do when you travel alone. I headed back to the hostel and skyped my parents. I went to bed at 1 AM and had to be up at 5 AM to take a bus to Brussels, so that was not the best idea on my part. I took the MegaBus to Brussels, which wasn’t bad because I got to sit on the top level of the bus and I was all like I’M ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD so that was fun. I made it to Brussels, which you will hear about it in the next post!

*DM is a term that Emily taught us in Cambridge meaning Disney Meltdown. It basically describes when you go to Disney with your family and you’re a little kid and you just can’t anymore. Many DMs were had on this trip, particularly in response to the metro system.

August 16, 2015August 23, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Goodbye, Cambridge

Today is my last day in Cambridge. I leave tomorrow morning at 4:45 to begin my journey to Paris, Brussels, and Ireland. To be honest, 1% of me thought I would fall in love with a Brit and stay here forever. But alas, no 😉 I have so many mixed feelings about leaving; I absolutely loved my time abroad, but I’m ready to be in Chicago with my family and friends. I already have a list of things I want to do when I get home, the first of which is to watch season 2 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It is only available on Hulu, which doesn’t exist here.

I will miss the charm of this little English city and being able to walk anywhere I need to go. I will miss the little shops and the market where I can get crepes any time I want. I will miss running along the river and through the pastures of the English countryside. I will miss the complete independence of traveling solo. But most of all I will miss the friends I’ve made. These funny, wonderful, charming UNH students who have become great friends to me over these six weeks have taught me so much, and I can’t imagine Cambridge without them. I feel completely and utterly myself around them, something I don’t always feel at home. I will try to bring the positive vibes I’ve gotten here back to the USA with me, because I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Today has been a whirlwind of packing, printing boarding passes, and figuring out what I’ll be doing for the next week. Sarah and I went to Harriet’s, the afternoon tea shop, to get some macaroons as a last hurrah before leaving. I also got a crepe for lunch, so as you can tell it’s been a very healthy day (not).

Tonight we had the closing banquet, which was similar to the opening banquet. We had a fancy dinner and everyone dressed up. I had to say my goodbyes here, and I couldn’t be sadder to leave my friends, but I know I’ll visit New Hampshire and I can always talk to them via Facebook.

This has been such a wonderful experience and I will be forever grateful for the time I’ve had here. Thank you to everyone who made it happen, I’m so happy.

August 13, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Starstruck

I cannot believe that we only have two days left in Cambridge. I will miss this place so much. It’s been a whirlwind summer but a great one nonetheless. Today I have my last classes, and my last paper is due tonight then I’m done with school until September. For my last graphic narratives class, we went to get tea and scones and talked about our final projects.

Yesterday we finally went punting, after 6 weeks in Cambridge and multiple people badgering us on the streets to go. For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t before I got to Cambridge), punting is essentially riding in a gondola along the backs of the colleges. We had thirteen people, and boats only fit twelve, so we had a bit of a problem. Nine went in one boat, and then Sarah, Lauren, and I went in another boat with a family from Greece. We convinced Dennis, or program director, to come with us, and he even took a selfie on his phone with the eight others in his boat.

The three of us had a lovely time on our punting tour, with our adorable tour guide Charlie, whose accent made the whole tour better. Selfies were obviously in order.

 

Afterwards, we went to dinner and had fish pie, which was questionable at best. Half of the group didn’t even come to dinner, but the menu said chocolate cake for dessert, so I had to brave the fish to get the cake. At dinner we taught Dennis some hip phrases, like “Did you see my snap?” and “Toss me an L on the gram,” because he said that when punting he was confused by some of the lingo we were using.

After dinner, a few of us went to the JCR to do homework and something magical happened. As we were writing our papers, a certain famous physicist rolled by. Yes, that’s right, we saw Stephen Hawking. He is a fellow at Gonville and Cauis, and occasionally comes to the college for dinner or events. I never thought he would actually be there when we were though. I’ve seen his office, which is right across from our classroom, before, but this was just surreal. The six of us who were in the JCR obviously freaked out, and ran outside and peeked around the corner to watch him roll out of the gates. Then, we went to ask the porters if that was in fact Stephen Hawking, and they said yes unexcitedly, all while we were are starstruck and our hearts were racing. What a great moment to nearly end the program.

August 12, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Scotland part 2

Part 2 of the Scotland trip was much more relaxing than the first. After climbing to Arthur’s Seat, I took a nice little nap before we went back into the city center. When we got to the city, we went on the Potter trail tour. I didn’t know that J.K. Rowling had lived in Edinburgh and wrote many of the Harry Potter books in spots around the city. We went into a graveyard where she got inspiration for some of the names of characters in the books. We saw the famous Thomas Riddell grave. She had to change the name to Thomas Riddle so that the anagram spelled “I am Lord Voldemort.” We also saw the school that Hogwarts was loosely base off of, where Rowling’s kids also happened to go to school. We also saw two coffee shops where Rowling wrote some of the books, and the street Diagon Alley was based on.

After the tour was over, Sarah and I went back to the Elephant Cafe, which was one of the spots on the tour. We ordered coffee and sat in the room where Rowling used to write. The most interesting part of the cafe was oddly enough the bathroom, which was completely covered in HP graffiti.

We walked over to a shop and got dinner, then walked back to the dorm to take a break before out next activity – the Edinburgh ghost tour. At 10 pm, almost all of us from the program went on a ghost tour that visited the two supposedly most haunted places in the city. The first location was a tunnel under a bridge. When we were in the tunnels, the tour guide told us about the history of the tunnels, where homeless people used to live and there was supposedly a lot of paranormal activity. She also said that sometimes after the tour people found scratches that they didn’t have before or that while in the tunnels they felt drastic temperature changes, etc. I’m not sure how much of that I believe, but they were cool stories nonetheless.

The next part of the tour brought us back to the graveyard we went to for the Harry Potter tour. We were brought into “the most haunted mausoleum” in the graveyard, where she continued telling us the history. Suddenly, a man in a mask popped out of nowhere and screamed, scaring me half to death. I’m not sure why, but my instant reaction was to fall to the ground, and I nearly dragged Sarah down with me. The tour guide was then like LOL got you ps the tour is over. So that was pretty frightening, but the rest of the tour, not so much.

We walked back to the dorm, and a lot of people wanted to get up early to hike to Arthur’ Seat and watch the sunrise. I set my alarm for 4:15 AM, but when the time came, I shut it off and fell back asleep. We left in the morning, and after a short stop in York, made it back to Cambridge just in time for dinner. Scotland was lovely, and honestly on of my favorite places I’ve been.

August 10, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Scotland part 1

Last week, I watched a movie on Netflix called What We Did on Our Holiday, which was about a family who went to visit the husband’s sick father for his birthday and wanted to pretend everything in their lives was fine despite an impending divorce. It sounds a bit sad, but it was quite charming and the three young kids stole the show. The family was coming from England, but the sick father lived in Scotland, which is why I bring it up. The scenery in the movies was breathtaking, and it made me excited for our trip to Edinburgh.

We arrived in Scotland on Thursday night after eight hours in a bus and a stop at Hadrian’s Wall. After a delicious burger and ice cream brownie, we came back to the room to crash from exhaustion. We are staying at the University of Edinburgh, and these dorms are essentially hotel rooms. European students have got it so good here.

Yesterday was an adventure packed day. After breakfast, we took our bus into the city center to see the Edinburgh Castle. This castle was at the top of a hill, giving it a Hogwarts-esque feel to it. The views from the top were amazing, and we saw pretty much everything in the castle, from the royal jewels to military prisons. I came into the trip thinking that I was more Scottish than I was, but after confirming with my dad, it seems I’m only about somewhere between 10-25% Scottish, which is a bummer because I love this country and its culture.

After the castle, we went to a cat cafe. What on earth is a cat cafe you may ask. Well, it is exactly what it sounds like. We made a reservation and then had an hour time slot to play with cats and order coffee and cakes. In the moment it was so calming and fun. We pet some fluffy cats and I had hot chocolate and a shortbread cookie. After we left, we realized what a strange operation that this cat cafe was. A variety of people come in for an hour, pet cats they don’t own, then a new group of people come in for an hour. These cats probably have some severe trust issues.

We are conveniently here for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which means that there are TONS of shows going on all over the city. Comedy, dance, music – basically if you think of it, it’s here. Sarah and I went to see a three person sketch comedy group called Giraffe. I think they were British, but they did a lot of accents during their show so I can’t be sure. It was a great show in a small venue, so we were close to the action. Right after, we went to another venue to see an a capella group perform (Aquapella from Bath University in England) and they were SO GOOD. I was jamming in my seat. My favorite was a mashup of Don’t by Ed Sheeran and No Diggity.

Afterwards, we got dinner at a place called the Boozy Cow that we decided was way too hip for us. They served Sarah a Diet Coke in what seemed to be a Cambell’s soup can. The chicken sandwhich was amazing though. Next, we met up with Lauren, Hannah, and Hallet before we headed back to the castle to see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We had to walk back up the hill to the castle. In fact, this city is all one big hill. It’s a two tier city, with shops all up and down the hills. I thought Boston was hilly but this…this was insane.

The show was essentially an hour and a half of performers from all over the world showing off their musical or dancing talents. At the end of the show, there were fireworks and all the performers came together to dance to some “we are the world” songs. It was quite good. There were bagpipers form Scotland, Bollywood dancers from India, marching bands from the USA, Scottish dancers (similar to Irish dancers), Swiss drummers (SO GOOD), Chinese dancers, Scottish dancers performing a number to Jai Ho fro Slumdog Millionaire (which was a bit confusing) and so much more. Afterwards we walked the mile and a half back to our dorms.

This morning, we woke up and climbed to Arthur’s Seat. To do so, we climbed up this huge mountain, which is an extinct volcano. I cannot describe how incredibly beautiful everything we saw was. The views from every part of the journey took my breath away figuratively and also literally because it was wicked windy. It was about a two hour journey but worth every second. I’ll just let these photos speak for themselves.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen scenery that was this beautiful in my life. I’m still stunned. Later today we have some more fun activities planned, so stay tuned for a second Scotland post.

August 8, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

Tidbits of Life

Things are finally back to “normal” this week until we leave for Scotland on Thursday, which will start a whole new chapter of European traveling. We are staying at the University of Edinburgh for three nights, and our days are pretty much our own.

I finally finished the book I brought to start on the plane ride here. It is called Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, and I highly recommend it. The book is about a mixed race family in Ohio in the 70s whose daughter is found dead in the nearby lake. I’m into thrillers and mysteries, and I thought this was more of a mystery novel than it is. It focuses more on the family and the struggles they face rather than the mystery of what happened to the girl, and it was a powerful and interesting read.

All these New England kids say “wicked” all the time. Like, “it was wicked good” or “I’m wicked tired”. At first I was like, pretty sure wicked means evil or sinister. But now, I think it’s starting to rub off on me. Maybe. We’ll see. I’ve been told I have a Chicago accent though, which I thoroughly enjoy.  I’ve had an unreasonable amount of Chicago pride on this trip, bringing the city into multiple conversations and freaking out whenever I see anyone wearing something that says Chicago on the street. At the Dover Castle, I saw a man wearing a Bears hat so I asked him if he was from Chicago. In a British accent he said no, he just liked the Bears. I was v confused because why would you like the Bears if you’re from the UK?

Another note: All of the people here are so good looking. The boys are mostly all inexplicably attractive and the girls are like stylish supermodels. They put Americans to shame. I seriously wish I could be as stylish as these girls, but shopping is hard.

August 4, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

The Grantchester Group

Today was a lovely day all around. The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we went to an adorable little tea and scone shop. I went to church this morning in the beautiful Our Lady and the English Martyrs. I’m still trying to find out if this church is more of a visitors church or a local parish.

A few weeks ago when I went for my hour run, I came across an orchard that looked a bit like a restaurant, but I was running so I didn’t investigate any further. Apparently, the place was called the Orchard Tea Gardens, and Virginia Woolf and the rest of the Grantchester Group used to hang out there. It took me about 25 minutes to run there, so the walk was an hour long. A group of us walked all the way there and back, which was somewhere between 5.5 and 6 miles total. It was well worth the walk though; we brought packed picnic lunches to eat there and bought scones there. I got a toffee cake instead of a scone, because it was my favorite dessert that I’ve had in the hall at Cambridge thus far. We had a wonderful time hanging out at the same place some of the greatest intellectuals of their day did.

After dinner, I went for a run and now my legs are pretty dead but my mood is happy. Since coming to England, I’ve had a very positive outlook on life. That positivity has just been solidified over the course of the program and now I’m dreading leaving in less than two weeks. I’m happy and at peace here, as opposed to the sometimes suffocating and hectic world of Northwestern. Don’t get me wrong, I love it there, but between midterms every other week, working two jobs, balancing student groups, helping to ensure that the ES house is in a state of peace, and trying to be social, I get a little overwhelmed and the negative energy just creeps in. Here, I have no real obligations and my job is to explore and learn new things.

I’ve had a hard time living in the moment, because I know that it will all be over so soon. I had these grand romantic ideas of what study abroad would be like, and everything is wonderful, but not what I expected. Like today, when we were walking back from the tea garden, there was a nice breeze near the river, weeping willows were swaying in the wind, and everything was just so serene. But still, I couldn’t find myself totally satisfied because it knew it couldn’t last forever. Ideas are often better than reality. I get feelings of melancholy when I’m truly happy, because I know that it won’t last forever. So my goal for the rest of this trip is to live in the moment. I don’t want to think that in two weeks this will be over and I’ll be back in the swing of reality.

I think part of my good mood has to do with the fact that I’m consistently running for the first time since I graduated high school. It’s just a huge mood booster. So, if you are one of the 35 wonderful people I live with at school and you need me to emit more positivity, just tell me to go for a run and I’ll get the message. 🙂

August 2, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment

The European High

It took four weeks, but I finally understand what all those people who went abroad mean when they say being abroad changes you for the better and gives you a “European high”. I’m starting to feel at home here, even though I leave to come back to the states in three weeks.

Thursday was a rainy day, because we’re in the UK and it rains most days, so we stayed in and got some work done and watched Midnight in Paris. I want to prepare for my trip in two weeks to the great city of lights, and I’m so much more excited after watching Owen Wilson stroll through the beautiful and vibrant streets of the city. We also went out to a dance club called Ballare. For being called ballare there wasn’t much dancing going on, unfortunately.

On Friday we went to Dover Castle and Canterbury. I was so excited to go to the white cliffs of Dover, but to my dismay I found out we would not be going to the cliffs, only the castle. Dover Castle was similar to a small medieval city, and there was so much to see. Since our bus had to make an unexpected maintenance stop on the way there, we didn’t have too much time there. This castle was a little bit different than the others that we went to because not only did it have medial roots, there were also WWII sites to explore. I went on a tour of an underground hospital that was used in the war, and it was incredible. There was a whole lot going on down there during the war, but I expect it was very cramped.

The views from the hills were so beautiful as well; the town of Dover could be seen from above and I just wanted to go down and explore. Unfortunately, our time was cut short because we had to get on the bus to go to Canterbury. We all agreed that out time would have been better spent staying longer in Dover. In Canterbury, we had tickets to see the Canterbury Cathedral. It was definitely one of the nicest churches I’ve ever been in. I felt in my element because it was a Catholic church and no one else was Catholic so I was like, I got this. The stained glass was enchanting and the architecture was just stunning. There were little candle lighting stations for different saints, and I lit one for Our Lady of Canterbury. I also picked up a prayer card with a sweet little prayer that really resonated with me. It reads:

“Eternal God, in the quietness of this moment and the holiness of this place be with us. We thank you for all that is good in our lives. We ask forgiveness for the times when we have failed to love you, each other and ourselves. We pray for all who need your comfort and your care. Enfold us in your love and fill us with you peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

After the cathedral, I got a milkshake and basically just waited until the bus came. We went into a few shops, but there wasn’t much to do and everything closes pretty early here. Time would have been better spent exploring Dover, but alas.

 

Today, Sarah and I went to a little beach town called Southend on the sea and it was a much needed relaxing but fun day. It was the quintessential pier town that I’ve only ever seen in movies. It was super sunny, and somewhere between when I left for Madrid at 4:30 AM and when I arrived there at 10 AM, my sunglasses disappeared. They could be in my room, or lost forever, I have no idea. I can’t find them though, and this week I truly learned to appreciate a good pair of sunnies. I always though I just wore them because they made me look cool but now I realize that I also wore them because my eyes were in physical pain from not wearing them. Luckily, there was a man on the street selling sunglasses for three pounds, so I obviously took advantage of this great offer. And they were actually pretty cute! Score.

There was a little amusement park next to the water, as well as a beach, the longest pier in the world (actually though), and fish and chips as far as the eye can see. We walked along the beach and went to an aquarium first. It was a quaint aquarium, but it did have a lot of fish and other sea animals. After we left, we sat on the beach for a good 45 minutes just enjoying the weather and relaxing. I also hunted for some shells and cool rocks to bring back home as a souvenir.

Then, we went to get lunch, which obviously had to be fish and chips. Mine was a little underwhelming, but the experience was necessary. After lunch/dinner we walked the mile and a half long pier to get to the end, which just had a restaurant and some beautiful views. I cannot even express how peaceful it was, especially at that time of day, which was almost 6 o’clock. The sun was lower in the sky and shining on the water making it glimmer and sparkle. We took the train back to the shore (yes, there was a train down the pier). It was very tiny and reminded us of one of those trains in the mall.

 

We decided to go on one of the amusement park rides, and chose the swings. It was a lovely way to end the evening. We got ice cream and headed back to Cambridge on the train, which was about a 2.5 hour ride, but we didn’t mind because we like the train. Looking out on the English countryside has a calming effect. It’s hard to believe that we spent 5 hours traveling today, because every 2 hour train ride in America feels like eternity. Maybe it’s just the kind of trains they have here, they kind of look like the ones in Harry Potter (as does everything in this country).

 

August 1, 2015August 1, 2015 by rosemcbride Leave a comment