Caldwell Takeover

I got home from my AMAZING two week spring break Thursday afternoon. I have SO much to write about it - there is so much I did and so much I don't want to forget. While I can't wait to do this, it's hard to find the time because CONOR AND KAYLA ARRIVED IN EDINBURGH YESTERDAY. I can't believe they are here! In the past day and a half we have done a ton of great stuff. Unfortunately it's been a little chilly but at least the sun has been out. Tomorrow afternoon my Mom and Dad arrive!!!!

I am going to try to update about Spain, Hungary, Poland, and Czech Republic soon, but until then, FAMILY TIME.

Spring Break!

Tomorrow is the day. I am headed to Glasgow to stay at my friend Alison's house where Sunday morning it'll be off to Barcelona! Followed by Budapest, Krakow, and then Prague. Unbelievable. I will be gone from the 15th to the 26th - and then Conor and Kayla will arrive in Edinburgh the 27th. Craziness. Mom and Dad will get here a few days after that!

It also looks like I'm going to Paris from the 6/7th to the 9th. Then it'll be my birthday the 10th! I hoping to squeeze in a quick trip to Brussels for some waffles and chocolate a few days after my birthday, but we shall see how that all works out. I have a final on the 22nd, and then it is back to the land of iced coffee, sweatpants, and super-sized laziness on the 26th. This is going to happen WAY too fast.

M.Ward - A Wasteland Companion

Hoppy Easter!

I am sitting in Starbucks sipping on an ICED latte (still not the iced coffee I'm looking for - too milky), listening to the new M. Ward album and really just procrastinating as much as I can to avoid my finals, when I realized...it's Good Friday. Meaning, Easter, is this Sunday! That is pretty hard to believe. Granted last year I think it was at the end of April, I still feel like it is too soon to be here already. This is the first Easter I have not been at home - the past two, I have still made the trek home from Vermont even though we don't get any time off for the holiday (last year to get Aretha!). I am a very sentimental person, but as much as it's weird to be missing, I really don't care. Unfortunately, a lot of holidays have become semi-depressing in recent years now that there are no little kids around and a lot of the magic is gone ):

I will miss you even though you taste awful

Even so, a small piece of me will be missing the Kit Kats, Starbursts, Lindt chocolate bunnies (Dad's being white), and some Peeps I won't eat (only Conor will really understand those references) that I won't be getting on Sunday! Speaking of Peeps, they don't have them here!!! I am in the land of Easter candy (Cadbury EVERYTHING) and they don't know what Peeps are. I guess Peeps to the United States are like the Cadbury Creme Eggs to the United Kingdom. The staple of Easter candy. Which is actually pretty funny because I don't really eat either of them...Creme Egg McFlurry's are yummmmy though!...However, they do have Mint Aero lambs. Mint Aero is another candy the US is really missing out on. MMMMM.

Other than Audrey, all of my American friends' parents are here this weekend/week, or have gone home, so we will be left to our own devices for the most part. I guess that isn't so bad because I REALLY need to finish my two take-home finals before next Sunday as I will be leaving for BARCELONA, BUDAPEST, KRAKOW, AND PRAGUE (: (: (: Leaving the 15th and returning the 26th - Conor and Kayla will arrive the next day!!!!!! My finals are due the 30th. I really need to focus more. From this blog you can probably see that it isn't working out so well at the moment. Anyway, Audrey and I are going to go out to a nice dinner on Easter, splurge a little for once, and wallow in our family-less loneliness....Only a little though, haha, because what is there to be sad about really when you are living in EDINBURGH! Our Easter weekend is actually kicking off tonight with a little Titanic 3D hahahaha

A Classic.

M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion

Free Cone Day!

Yesterday was the ever-lovely, arguably-best-day-of-the-year Ben & Jerry's FREE CONE DAY. Every year, in April or March, Ben & Jerry's celebrates their birthday and gives free ice cream to all! The past two years, I have been in Burlington for FCD, the birthplace of Ben & Jerry's, so I was a little sad when I saw on Facebook, through other UVMers that I was going to be missing it this year...This did not last for long! When I went to see The Hunger Games last week, I found that there was a mini-scoop shop inside the theater...with flyers advertising FCD all over it!!! So, yesterday, in the SNOW, to free cone day we went! While there is nothing better than an over-flowing Davis Center of UVM students waiting for their ice cream, I have to say, Edinburgh was a little easier to love with their COMPLETE LACK OF LINE.

Normally I deal with this (although worth it):

This year I had this:

SCORE!
Now if only they had Milk & Cookies...
We actually all had two (I had Cookie Dough and Appley Ever After)...hahahaha...America's fat. We're allowed.

Yes, I did mention that is was SNOWING yesterday. I woke up to some huge flakes and figured they would stop. They didn't. It snowed all day! And it has actually snowed a little bit this morning too. Free Cone Day (a Vermont origin) and the first Scotland snow on the same day? Coincidence? I think not.

Led Zeppelin - D'yer Maker

Elephants & Bagels

My last day of Scottish class is tomorrow....thank god! Of course I still have three finals, but still, this semester is...over??? Luckily, I still get to stay here for another 2 months. Although, I don't think I could take another semester of their University system. I knew it was going to be different, and I really didn't like it at the beginning - and a semester later, I still don't like it. It's kind of hard to explain unless you are also in class here, so just trust me on this one. There's really no motivation to do any work (and I'm not just saying that as a current study abroad student, haha). Oh well!

I am actually working on my finals now, about half way done with the first, sitting at the lovely ELEPHANTS & BAGELS. It is the sister cafe to The Elephant House (JK Rowling cafe) - with very similar decor...my favorite! Unfortunately, the bagels are not the best. Bagels just don't really happen here (at least in Scotland). Yet, I can pretend that it's way better than it actually is (:

John Mayer - In Your Atmosphere

English Homestay Weekend: Liverpool & Southport

This past weekend I also went away - through Arcadia, a variety of FREE weekend homestay options were available at the beginning of the semester, if interested. After looking at the different options my friends and I decided on Southport, England.

Lucking out on weather (AGAIN!), Southport was absolutely beautiful. Used in the summer as one of Britain's many resort towns it was full of shops, miles and miles of beach, carnival/amusement parks, water sport facilities, lots of candy and ice cream etc. etc. etc. There was an AMAZING botanic garden park - full of flowers, PEACOCKS, and happiness, haha. I could've spent a whole day there alone! Southport is also know for its golf. There's six courses including the Royal Birkdale. I can only imagine what the place is like in the middle of the summer. Apparently it is also "the Florida of Great Britrain" as the average age is 65 or something along those lines. I tell you, I would live there too if I was retired...or even if I wasn't!

Audrey and Bill 

It was also really cool to see how different England and Scotland really are. It is a difference that I can't really describe in words for others to understand. I guess you would have to live here for a certain period of time to REALLY "get it" - but it was a interesting comparison regardless.

While the majority of my friends came on the homestay, we were all split into houses. Audrey and I DEFINITELY got the best host family though!!! Bill and Pat Bamber were some of the nicest, most welcoming people I have ever met. The majority of the weekend was just spent talking to them...for HOURS. It was a little unnerving at first, but as we learned that they have had over 50 students stay with them, from all over the world so it quickly became comfortable! Both 75, and married for 48 years (originally pen pals, then married ten days after they met! awwwww), with two grown kids, and two grand kids, they had a lot to say! I loved every second of it. While they are both Southport natives, Bill was in the Navy for many years so they had lived all over the world - and therefore had a lot of stories to tell.

Audrey and I so quickly meshed into their everyday life, even though it was only for two days. We watched TV with them (the first time since being home that I have watched a real TV), listened to their favorite country western singer Daniel O'Donnell (and saw Bill dance to it...hilarious), but moreover ATE AMAZING FOOD. Pat grew up in her father's hotel and later opened a restaurant, so she was an AMAZING cook. With three courses for each meal, I knew this was the best I was going to eat for a VERY long time. I could list out everything that we ate but that would be way too depressing now that I'm back sitting in my flat with apples and Special K (although I did write it all down in my journal), so I'll just name a few...and remember...all FROM SCRATCH: Apple pie crumble with vanilla custard, fruit meringues, chocolate rum truffles, mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots, corn, sage stuffing, roast beef, yorkshire pudding, croissants, CRUMPETS (my new favorite), etc etc etc etc...even that depressed me! I am hungry already...

I would like to point out that I had tea and crumpets for breakfast one morning in an English home. I HAD TEA AND CRUMPETS IN ENGLAND. I loved every second of it. They were SO SO SO good.

The homestay also sponsored a day trip to Liverpool (about 30 mins away) for all of the Arcadia students. With it being the birthplace of the Beatles, as one can imagine, we saw a LOT of Beatles stuff: their story exhibition, Mathew Street, and Cavern Club.

the yellowduckmarine, haha

Liverpool is also the birthplace of the TITANIC, and with it being the 100 year anniversary they had a huge exhibit in the Maritime Museum. It was really interesting since a lot of my previous knowledge of the Titanic was the result of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Clearly not the best source. The museum also had so much other info about the sister ships of the time, and the Lusitania tragedy. Upstairs from all of this was the International Slavery Museum. AWFUL. So depressing. Up there with the Anne Frank House and Holocaust Museum. So so so awful. In the limited time we had, we ventured over to the two main cathedrals as well. The Liverpool Cathedral was absolutely MASSIVE, and very classic. The Metropolitan Cathedral, on the other hand, while massive as well, was ROUND. and modern. So weird.

The weekend turned out to be so much better than I initially anticipated! Moving into someone's home, even if only for a few days, is pretty scary - but Bill and Pat were more than amazing. I really wish there was some way to repay them for all they gave Audrey and I, and I just don't mean the material things they gave us, either. I will never forget this weekend!

The Beatles - Something

DSL: Deep Scottish Love - The Isle of Skye

The weekend before last I went on a trip sponsored by Edinburgh University's International Student Center. Away from Friday to Sunday night we traveled up and around the AMAZING Scottish Highlands to the Isle of Skye. While the trip was organized by the ISC it was actually run through the group Haggis Tours - "Wild & Sexy Scotland!" -- I went in not really knowing how everything was going to be set up, but I was SO happy to find that we had a "real" or professional tour guide for the weekend. Kay, our guide, was absolutely hilarious and sooo passionate. It was amazing how much she really knew about Scotland. It must be such a cool job. Ray, our driver, was equally great.

After a LONG bus ride Friday, we arrived in Portree, the capital of Skye. Other than Lochs and Glens, much of the Scottish Highlands consist of many islands - or Isles - Skye, being one of the most beautiful. While I call Portree the capital, do not get the wrong picture. It was very much of a "one horse town" - which I , of course, LOOOOVED. Appropriately, much of Skye's market is holiday and fishing. Everything there was so cute - SO many little bed & breakfasts, and so many nice people - and of course an absolutely breath taking landscape. It reminded me a lot of Ireland.  I could totally see myself staying there on a relaxing break for a week or so! Our hostel was absolutely adorable, with rainbow paint (weird? haha) and a nice kitchen and lounge, it had such a family feel. Saturday morning we woke up nice and early to begin our journey all over the island! First, although, we were told by Kay that it was absolutely necessary that we get some Scot pies from the bakery across the street. TO. DIE. FOR. So delicious. Not to mention, the bakery itself was a great experience on its own. The women working there with their funny little hats made me feel as though we had traveled back a few decades. 

We spent the whole day on a very extensive stop and go tour of the beautiful island - and somehow completely lucked out on weather!!! Up in the mountains we managed to get blue sky and sun, I didn't even need a jacket. Being Scotland this is a very rare occurrence. I guess mother nature is trying to make up for the huge slap in the face let down I received in Ireland. Anyway, it is hard to remember the specifics of everything we saw - if only I had written more down - but I do have a lot of pictures to make up for it (see facebook). There were so many historical and geographical highlights - Kay really had the story for everything we saw. A few of the places included: A hike up to the Storr rock formation (to see the old woman who lost her knees - cursed by the Faerie King Elvin!), Peat farms, waterfalls, ocean cliffs, Kilmuir graveyard (Flora MacDonald's grave), the Red Hills and Cuillin Traverse, the River Sligachan, etc. etc. 

In the next picture I am sticking my face in the freezing River Sligachan. Tradition has it that newcomers to the Isle of Skye must dip their faces into the icy water of the River Sligachan for eternal health and beauty. This stems from the legend of a princess (MacDonald) whose eyes were ripped out; when she dipped her face into the water, she was cured. Really feeling the DSL in this one... I mean, when is the next time I am going to be in Scotland? I HAD to...

Upon arriving back in Portree for the night we went out to dinner (delicious fish & chips), ice cream (obviously), and a good ol' Scottish pint. While looking around for a pub to go into we were pretty limited. Upon finding the one with the most people in it (no more than 15 or 20) we settled with The Skye. I'm pretty sure the people in there that weren't on our tour probably didn't even know what the internet was hahahaha...Even better.

The majority of the next day was spent driving home, but it was designed really as the rest of the tour. We stopped many many times to see various places and hear more Scottish history from Kay. Eilean Donan castle was absolutely beautiful. It's used in a few movies, although I forget what they are - I want to get married there!! We saw Ben Nevis - the tallest mountain in the UK, SO many different Lochs: Katrine, Lochy, Garry, etc, the Commandos memorial, Stirling bridge and the William Wallace memorial, Cullodean battlefield (last major battle on British soil)...but my favorite was GLENCOE. Wow. If only the pictures could do it justice. Glen means valley in Gaelic and wowww I felt like I was at the Grand Canyon. We hiked a little through it and it honestly felt fake! So unbelievably beautiful (the back drop is used in all of the Harry Potter movies, too). In fact, pretty much all of what I saw over the weekend felt fake. Not only did the perfect weather make it 100x better, but the Highlands themselves really do have this mystical feeling of beauty. Not to mention the amount of history I learned also made it all the more better (#nerd), a lot of people do not understand Scotland and it's sad history - the poor poor clansmen and Bonnie Prince Charlie ): - Mel Gibson's awful and incorrect interpretation does not count! I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope I can make it back up there before I have to leave this wonderful country!!!

Glencoe Panorama - Thanks Merr!

William Wallace Monument - Stirling

Loch Garry - The shape of Scotland!

I was really feeling the DSL all weekend (deep Scottish love according to Kay)

The Beatles - Paperback Writer

The Beatles - You Really Got A Hold On Me

The Beatles - Helter Skelter