Hi friends,

Over the past two days I made the venture out of England and into Edinburgh, Scotland. And let me tell you, it was an amazing time. The trip itself was entirely impromptu--Lizzie, Catherine, Ailee and I booked our train tickets the night before, and I packed in about three minutes. We stayed with one of Catherine's friends, Richard, who is studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh, and were warned that our accommodations would be less than ideal (which I later found was a massive understatement). After the four hour train ride there (which I might add was about a million times better than the flight from Houston for those of you who read my last post), Richard met us at the train station and led us back to his flat where we dropped off our things. We then headed straight over to King Arthur's Seat, a hill in the center of Edinburgh whose peak has arguably the most gorgeous view I have ever seen. While the view from the top was stunning, the trek up was miserable. The hike was steep and physically demanding, and we were straight off the train, so none of us were in hiking attire. It was foggy but not too cold, which made the weather what I can only describe as clammy once we started to sweat. I actually think that these conditions almost made the view more beautiful once we got to the top. 

After we took in the view, snapped our pictures, and rested a bit, we hiked back down the hill, which was actually more precarious than the way up, because the combination of the steep incline, loose dirt, and relatively quick pace we were moving at created the perfect atmosphere for me to slip and fall. Once we reached the bottom, we headed straight to a local pub for a drink, and then back to the flat to freshen up before dinner. Dinner itself was really fun, and afterwards we went to a club called Why Not?, where we somehow ended up on the VIP list. There were a lot of locals our age there, and loud music and colorful lights made for a fun atmosphere. 

Lizzie, Catherine, me, and Ailee at dinner

We started the next morning with a coffee at The Elephant Cafe, where J.K. Rowling wrote the beginnings of the first Harry Potter novel on a napkin. The cafe itself looked pretty normal, until I got to the bathroom, where all of the walls were literally covered by Harry Potter themed graffiti. I let my nerd flag fly and etched my initials into the wall. 

This Way To The Ministry

We then walked over to the Edinburgh Castle. It was so cool that there was this giant piece of history in the middle of this bustling city. We walked around the outside, and then headed over to the National Museum of Scotland, where we got even more history after exploring the Mary Queen of Scots Exhibit. The exhibit was fascinating, and I learned so much about the Scottish queen who sacrificed her kingdom and ultimately her life because of her passion for two men.

Outside Edinburgh Castle

We decided to make dinner instead of going out, so we all pitched in for ingredients and had our own Taco Tuesday dinner. I have only known Ailee and Catherine for a week and a half and they already know me well enough to demote me to cheese grater while everyone else did the real cooking, which was it's own perfect storm. Lizzie was in charge of the meat, and that was the meal's saving grace. Catherine tried to make rice without instructions, and we ended up throwing out what became a big blob of white mush. We didn't have paper towels, so we got creative and used a roll of toilet paper for napkins, which was actually a hilarious experience. After dinner, we met up with a friend of Lizzie's and mine from UT, John Melvin, who is studying abroad in Edinburgh this semester. He is a part of the golf club, and we tagged along with the whole group and played Pub Golf, which was essentially a pub crawl with specific scoring rules for the drinking. It was a great way to see a wide variety of Edinburgh night life!

Texas pride in the UK!

After an uncomfortable night's sleep on two chairs pushed together (Richard wasn't kidding about those less than ideal accommodations), my seat on the 8:30 am train ride back to London felt like luxury living. All in all, I had a fantastic time in Scotland--it was a perfect mix of culture, history, night life, and fun memories!

Hello friends who like me enough to read this blog! As you may have been able to tell from the title, I have indeed gone to London to study abroad for the fall semester (with my one of my very best friends, Lizzie Spence). I've been here for about two days, but I feel like enough has already happened to keep me busy for a week. I'll spare you the gory details and just give you the spark note version of the past 48 hours or so:

Phase 1: The Journey

Lizzie and I at the airport before our flight.

The only reason I look even remotely happy in this picture is because it was taken before any traveling had started. For those of you who know me well, this won't come as a surprise, but I am horrendously uncoordinated. This makes me an awful traveler. I spent basically the whole time in both the Houston and London airports juggling my three bags, plane ticket, passport, and phone--actually, juggling implies that these items remained in the air (they actually spent most of their time on the floor). I made the mistake of looking forward to the flight, because it meant that I didn't have to trip over myself through the airport. However, once I sat down in the center seat in the heart of the coach section, I quickly changed my mind. My knees started to hurt after an half hour of sitting down, I wasn't comfortable for more that ten minutes at a time, and time moved at a glacial place. We landed after what felt like an eternity, and surprisingly baggage claim and customs took about 5 minutes each. It seemed like a good omen, and I thought my bad luck might have been reset by a new country. But then we spent an hour and a half in the cab towards our flat and I was put back in my place. 

Phase 2: The First Day

Lizzie and I were dumbstruck when we finally got through student residences and into our flat. It's massive! It is actually the biggest room I've ever had. The pictures don't do it justice, but I am not about to take a new one in the messy state that it is currently in. Living here really makes it feel like we are living the quintessential study abroad dream. 

Our stoop at 119 Gower Street

Lizzie's (much cleaner) side

We dropped our bags off and left to explore the city so that we wouldn't fall asleep and succumb to jet lag. It wasn't too cold when we left, so we made the amateur mistake of leaving our coats in the flat. We quickly regretted this decision when it started to rain 20 minutes later. Nonetheless, we shopped around, ate, rode the tube, met one of Lizzie's friends in Notting Hill for dinner, and after what felt like a year, finally were able to sleep. 

Phase 2: Settling In 

The next couple of days have been spent settling into our flat, running errands, and attending our respective department orientation meetings (Lizzie is studying Anthropology here, and I am studying Political Science). It was surprisingly sunny the second day, so we took advantage of the nice weather and went to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. The architecture was beautiful, and being near these landmarks was when it really sank in that I am actually living in London. 

(Side Note: I am stealing a lot of these pictures from Lizzie, who is also keeping a blog, which you can find at http://lizziespence.blogspot.com)

There is a lot more that's happened the past three days I've been here (check out Lizzie's blog for details), but I am late for dinner and everything has pretty much blended together anyways. I promise I will be more punctual about posting from now on so that my posts are a bit more detailed. Until next time!