So Many Places to Travel and So Little Time!

Hi there!

First off, let me apologize for the delay in recent posts; this past week I have been swamped in writing papers for three different classes (I guess this is the studying part of studying abroad...) on top of getting this crazy horrible cold that caused my voice to be MIA for several days (much to the amusement of my friends who thought that I sounded like I had inhaled a helium balloon).

These past couple weeks have been chocked full of amazing traveling adventures, including Scotland, Ireland, and Belgium! I could go on forever about all the things I saw in these fabulous places, but that would take us into next week, so I will just highlight my favorite parts of each trip for everyone's sake :) Suffice it to say, that I spent a day and half in both Scotland and Ireland and then just a day in Belgium... not nearly as much time as I would have liked, but I am actually running out of weekends to go traveling! My semester is completely booked up except for one weekend in May...hence the title of this post, "So Many Places to Travel and So Little Time!!"

Edinburgh:

A group of six of us ASE girls decided to be incredibly ambitious and see Edinburgh and Dublin in one weekend, which made for a jam-packed few days, but it was completely worth it. Edinburgh reminded me so much of Bath, especially in the old historic city vibe that it gives off naturally through the architecture. Our first stop of the day was Edinburgh Castle via the Royal Mile, located atop this huge cliff looking out over the entire city... it definitely made for some great pictures and a fabulous workout walking up the huge hill to get to it! We made our lunch stop at the Elephant House, which for all the Harry Potter fans out there, is where J.K. Rowling did the majority of her writing for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. They even had a little picture collage dedicated to her and the other writers that frequented the establishment during their writing ventures. I can definitely see how she got her inspiration, peering out the café window and imagining Edinburgh Castle as Hogwarts. The rest of the afternoon was spent moseying up and down the Royal Mile, which connects the Queen's Palace and Scottish Parliament on one end and the Edinburgh Castle on the other, checking out the shops and tiny museums that we could get into for free. That evening was spent participating in a ghost tour of the Blair Street Underground Vaults, which are said to be one of the most haunted places in the UK. Now, I personally don't believe in ghost stories, but even I will admit that my roommate and I were clutching each other at times for the tiniest sense of security :P

Group pic in front of Edinburgh Castle! 

Looking up at Edinburgh Castle

The streets of Edinburgh...very similar to Bath.

The view from the top of the Castle.

Another view of the city.

Melanie taking a picture of me while I took a picture of her :)

A legit Scottish bagpiper!!!

Harry Potter, enough said.

The inside of the Elephant House was dripping with elephant decor from top to bottom.

The Royal Mile, leading from the Queen's Palace to Edinburgh Castle.

I have never seen more kilt shops in my life...

The Queen's Palace.

The Mercat Ghost tour served us a complementary drink while we listened to more ghost stories in the Blair Street underground vaults.

Dublin:

Our flight for Dublin left at 8am, so it was a 5am wake up call for all of us in order to get to the airport with plenty of time to get our passports stamped and get through security (let me just say that I am ecstatic about my growing collection of stamps as I visit more and more countries! Spring break in Italy and France can't come soon enough!). Dublin was significantly more metropolitan than Edinburgh; honestly, you wouldn't feel any different walking the streets of Dublin as you would in Philadelphia or New York... the only difference is that now you get the lovely Irish accent coming from all the locals! Trinity College was definitely the highlight of the trip for me; besides the beautiful historical campus, I got to see the Book of Kells (an ancient account of all four Christian gospels, decorated with tons of intricate Celtic artwork) and the Old Library (for all my fellow book fanatics out there... it was BLISS). Perusing the streets of Dublin, we were able to take a turn around the St. Stephen's Gardens and walk past the famous Temple Bar area at night. We also trekked over to the Guinness Storehouse to tour the museum (7 floors, all describing the history and the process behind the Guinness label, with a skyline view on the top floor and complementary pint of Guinness to boot!). With a half a day left in Ireland, we all decided that we wanted to see some of the countryside, so we hopped a train to a little town on the coast called Dalkey. It was really nice to get out of the city for a bit and Dalkey was a great choice, with the Bullroch Harbour as a gorgeous backdrop for tons of pictures. Of course, we managed to walk into the only American diner in the entire town for lunch (by accident, I swear!), but at that point we were a little crunched for time and decided just to live it up and pig out on a big stack of real American pancakes for lunch. Just a head's up for future travelers to the UK... what Brits term 'pancakes' are in fact crêpes, served with fruit topping and whipped cream. Just like how football is 'American football' in England, fluffy pancakes with syrup in the morning are actually called 'American pancakes'. But I digress... Overall, I really loved both Edinburgh and Dublin, and was absolutely exhausted by the time we arrived back in Bath later that night.

Heading off to our hostel, finally in Dublin.

Walking into Trinity College.

The book store where I got a Trinity College t-shirt :)

Trinity College's gorgeous campus.

Shakespeare's bust in the Old Library; one of 37 busts of famous authors, playwrights, and musicians.

Now this is my idea of a library!

St. Stephen's Gardens.

About to go in the Guinness Storehouse.

Top floor of the Guinness Storehouse.

Although I've decided that Guinness is really not my drink, I couldn't refuse a complementary pint at the Guinness Storehouse!

Dinner at an authentic Irish pub, listening to traditional Irish music!

Walking past The Temple Bar in Dublin.

On the train to Dalkey!

The Irish coastline! 

Bullroch Harbour in Dalkey.

We all couldn't resist the awesome photo op with such beautiful scenery.

Brussels:

The following weekend was spent in Brussels, aka the land of waffles and chocolate, in honor of Melanie's 21st birthday, which was on March 10th (honestly, I can't think of a better way to celebrate your birthday than consuming vast quantities of chocolate and not feeling the least bit guilty considering we walked 15.5 miles in a total of 26 hours that we were there). Some of the most famous sites we saw were the Gran Place, the Palais Royale, the Place de Petit Sablon, and the Musée des Instruments de Musique... in case you haven't noticed, everything was in French and if labels had a second language listed, it was German, so basically I spent the entire time relying on Melanie's high school French capabilities with lots of pointing and smiling to communicate :) My favorite part of the entire experience was definitely eating four authentic Belgian waffles, topped with all sorts of amazing things like bananas, warm nutella, and powdered sugar. For those who don't know, a Belgian waffle IN Belgium is actually a cross between a waffle that we Americans have for breakfast and a funnel cake. It is made with a thicker batter than we would normally use and the waffle maker is coated in a thin layer of sugary syrup that gives the waffle a bit of a crunchy shell. Then the Belgians get creative and top it with all sorts of deliciousness. They have whole shops dedicated to just selling waffles, similar to what we have in my hometown for Philly soft pretzels.

On the train from St. Pancreas station in London to Brussels-Midi.

Finally in Brussels, in the center of the Gran Place.

Gran Place, the scene of a medieval marketplace.

The Gran Place all lit up at night was absolutely gorgeous!

Another night photo of the Gran Place

In front of the gates, leading into the Palais Royale.

Selfie in front of the Palais Royale!

I think it would be cool to live in a palace...

In the Place de Petit Sablon.

The Place de Petit Sablon, a small park that Melanie's friend who lives in Brussels recommended we see.

A city that sleeps... these are the streets of Brussels at 8am. Nobody but street cleaners and tourists that don't know any better are up and about at this time :)

The chocolate shop that I blew all my money at... well worth it!! 

Another view of Brussels. 

The accordions in the Musical Instruments museum! In this museum, Melanie and I both got little hand-held audio guides that played a recording of each instrument as you walked by it. The accordions were one of my favorite sounds, surprisingly!

A curved piano.

Their display dedicated to the evolution of the clarinet!!!

The silliest looking trumpet I have ever seen.

Looking down into the city.

I have no words for this :)

A Belgian breakfast looks eerily similar to Belgian dessert...

So far, I am absolutely having the time of my life and I really can't believe that I've hit the half-way point of the semester. Who knew that something could actually top Gettysburg as my second home. All of next week I will be studying in Oxford at University College, so my next blog post will most likely be coming from there! Then after that, it's only one more week until Mackenzie arrives and we will be off and running around Rome, Paris, and Normandy!!!

Cheers!