Edinburgh, Scotland- My New Favorite Place

We arrived to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, around 1 pm on Wednesday and went straight to our hostel to leave our bags there so we could start exploring immediately.  Then began the long walk to the Edinburgh Castle... the long UPHILL walk.  Please bear with me as I try to keep the complaining to a minimum, but in all fairness I don't think I've walked that much, that uphill, for that long (over the course of the 3 days I was there) in I can't remember when.  ANYways, the Castle was probably my favorite part.  It was built on an old volcano so it is one of the highest points in Edinburgh, the view is absolutely amazing.

This picture is from a higher level of the castle so you can see a part of the castle, the lookout over Edinburgh, and the ocean in the distance.  At this castle is where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to King James VI&I.  There is so much more history to this place but I was pretty much overloaded with so much information I can barely keep it straight.  After the castle we walked down and went to the Scottish National Art Gallery for a while then back to the hostel.  

Hostels- theres an interesting topic.  The one my class visited was very nice but there are indeed questionable hostels in Europe.  Lucky for me my roommate does a thorough back ground check on hostels for our travels.  A typical hostel room hosts 4 or 8 people furnished with bunk beds, a cupboard for belongings, a separate shower stall, and a toilet room.  Unless you book your hostel with friends, you are subject to rooming with strangers.  It's a lot cheaper than a hotel and not a bad experience though I've only been to one, so I'll have to keep you updated on the subject.

The second day we visited the Scottish Parliament building and watched a live debate on regeneration.  The debate was interesting enough... but I'll admit my favorite part of it was listening to the awesome Scottish accents the whole time. After that we met a former Scottish politician who enlightened us with his Labor Party and Scottish National Party experiences (two of the main parties in Scottish government) in which the main topic was the subject of Scottish independence from England.  Which is so conveniently the topic of a paper that is due next week.  Then (I know you're all enjoying my play by play) we visited the Royal College of Surgeons where a lot of the information we know today in terms of surgery came from.  But it wasn't by fair play. What I mean by this is we learned about the famous "body snatchers" or "grave diggers" who would steal bodies from graves and sell them to people of this school so they could use the cadavers to practice and learn.  There was even cases of people being murdered so others could practice on them.  Dirty business if I do say so myself.  But honestly, I found most of the museum quite disgusting (with the displays of body parts and deformed skeletons) so I stuck to the corner about Author Sir Arther Conan Doyle who wrote the adventures of Sherlock Holmes in Edinburgh itself.  Arther Conan Doyle attended this college of surgeons where he met, and based his amazingly observant main character Holmes on, Joseph Bell.  The history behind Sherlock Holmes is quite interesting and much more my taste compared to body parts and needles lurking around every other corner of the muse.  We listened to a man lecture us on more English history (which I cannot even recall at this point because it was massive overload type lecture) after our visit to the College of Surgeons.

Now that was a full day. Me and my roommates decided, after we were free to do our own thing, to......... wait for it........ do nothing other than.......... take a nap!  It was 7:30 by the time we ate dinner and settled down and we all figured we would take a couple hours to unwind from the 8 hours of education we just endured, then go out for a night on the town!  I'd rather not dwell on the subject because it still upsets me to think about it, so I'll just tell you we didn't wake up from our "nap" until 12:30 am.  That puts a damper on a night.  Needless to say, I didn't paint the town red like I had originally planned.  Friday morning we walked more hills and scaled the town once more but we saw the unfinished National Monument as well as a cemetery where I saw this lovely monument-

-honoring Scottish American soldiers that died in the civil war.  And it was only after these endeavors, and many more, that our trip came to an end and it was time to pack up and head out.  I was sad to leave, Edinburgh was beautiful and the people were very nice.  I even had the pleasure of being complimented on my smile and at one point called gorgeous so the city treated me well while I was visiting.  I can't tell if I'm in love with the town or if it's just a crush that will fade once I meet Ireland :) Either way, it's a place I would love to come back and visit again someday.  I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in Scotland.

Although I feel like I've been babbling about what I did, then after that, then after that, then after that etc. I hope you all enjoyed reading about the history I learned and the sleep I unfortunately got caught up on and my favorite parts of this amazing city.  I miss you all and I hope you all miss me!!! (Oh and this is me in front of the Edinburgh Castle.)

-PRINCESS KYRA:)

I Heart York

From the lovely image above you can see the awesome shirt I got from York, England! Oh the irony :)

York was an amazing, tiring, wet trip.  The city is about 200 miles north of London and about a 2 hour train ride (my first train ride to be exact!)  We had to be up and getting ready by 5 a.m. to be at Kings Cross at about 6:30.  We thought our train was at 7:15.  We were wrong.  Our train to York didn't leave until about 8:00 so needless to say we had plenty of time to do... a whole lot of nothing.  We arrived in York around 10 a.m., bought a city map, which was HUGE and super embarrassing to pull out and of course I was on map duty, and set out on our first mission... to find the Jorvik center where the annual viking festival was held.  Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the exhibit but it was like a mini viking museum with the history of York and its viking habitants hundreds of years ago.  There was even a electronically toured guide which was somewhat like a carnival ride in that you sit in a seat that holds about 5 people and it moved you around the area to show you the way vikings lived with narration.  After that we set out to find something else to do.  We came upon the famous lookout castle built in the middle of York which is the second picture, on the right above.  Then we visited the Castle Museum which was fun because it was actually an old castle converted into a museum.  Even the dungeons and prisons were reserved so we also got to see that.  After the museum we set out to check out the Shambles area of York where tons of little shops were.  I ended up spending too much money on souvenirs and gifts but I'm glad I did!  We also went to see the beautiful York Minster... one of the highlights of the trip for me.  It's pictured below but, of course, the picture doesn't do this piece of history justice.

Did I mention that this trip was wet? It was very cold too, that being said after our trek across (literally) York we stopped in a cute gluten free bakery and I got some hot cocoa to warm me up!  We then began our journey back to the train station with an hour and a half to spare so we stopped in a pub at the station to watch some soccer (football) and have a drink.  When I say "we" by the way, I'm referring to my two fearless travel companions Paula, with whom I live with, and Jen, the gluten free girl =P  They're both so much fun, so flexible, and pretty travel smart so all that combined with my wits and charm we make the pretty perfect group! ;)

As a class trip, I will be traveling to Scotland next weekend with my peers so I hope to have some good stories to share with you about that!  I also hope to write one more blog this week possibly... if not then you all shall suffer withdrawals from my oh-so-captivating experience here in Europe!  I just recently finished the novel Jane Eyre, something I would never have read on my own but in the end am glad I did read it, and tomorrow I'm leading a seminar on the passionate reserve of the Gothic Romance.  This is my attempt to tear myself from facebook, skype, and this lovely blog which I actually wrote in to avoid homework.... but it can be avoided no more.  Miss you all, thanks SO much for reading!!  Cheers!!

-KYRA THE VIKING:)

p.s. If you would be so kind to include your name if you comment on a blog and your blog screen name doesn't say who you are, that would be super helpful.  I like to know who's reading my things n stuff! Thanks!

Ten Days in, I'm Still Kickin!

I've now been a resident of the UK for ten days but it feels like a month, and I've enjoyed 98% of it!  I've began my pub adventures with fellow peers of AHA, shared quality time with my host family and roommate, started planning future travels, and so much more.

Pubs certainly aren't what I imagined.  Unlike a bar, they are social venues for families and friends and people that want to relax, not necessarily party.  I've been to a handful and can say that I had a different experience at each.  Most are very chill since I go with a group of friends, but that's not always the case.  A few days ago two of my girlfriends and I went to a pub outside of Kings Cross train station for a drink before we went home not knowing, as we were later informed by our host mother, that Kings Cross is more of a "bad area." That being said, we walked in and my two friends went and got their drinks, when they got back I left to the bar to order mine.  A drunk man with an absolutely hardly understandable, terrible accent started talking to me.  While I was attempting to understand this man, another walked by me and slapped my butt then winked at me.  I was absolutely disgusted and walked away as quickly as I could.  While we were talking about travel plans, the ugly man approached us again and talked some small talk then said some inappropriate things.  I then bluntly reminded him that we were busy and he should leave.  But don't worry everybody! We will not go back to Kings Cross and we definitely always stay in groups, plus most pub experiences aren't like this one.

Last Sunday our host mother and her daughter invited Paula and I out for Lunch to a carvery. Basically at this kind of restaurant, it's an all you can eat potatoes and vegetables kind of deal and you also get meat but only one serving. There are men behind the counter to carve the kind of meat you would like off of a huge chunk of whatever it is. When I told the men that I wanted pork and beef they asked what kind of accent I had (which is usually what people say instead of "where are you from") and I told them I was American.  It was funny because one man started talking in a southern American accent and the other trying to imitate me, I had a good laugh at it.  The food was great and the service as well.  Our waiters name was Victor and he is Czechoslovakian, I really loved his accent and he was very talkative.  He wanted to know where in America we were from (recognizing our accents.)  Katherine (Jan's daughter) said that he was pulled to me I think was the term she used, because he kept staring at me while he was talking to the group.  It was quite flattering and he was very cute so that made my day!

As I said we were planning at the pub when we were so rudely interrupted, Paula my roommate and our friend Jen who is also in our program have made some exciting travel plans!  We purchased our tickets to York this Saturday to the annual Viking Festival there, and I'm sooo excited!!  We also purchased a guided day trip to Stone Henge, Bath, and Windsor Castle for next month.  We are going on a class trip next weekend to Scotland as well, two nights and three days.  We are currently trying to figure out what we'll do for our mid semester break at the end of March, when we'll do a trip to Paris, a trip to Ireland, and a trip to Germany.

School is on the roll but still just beginning.  My classes are at least interesting, but I'm still not looking foward to writing papers and doing presentations.  I guess thats why I'm here though? Overrated ;P My next blog entry will probably focus more on the culture I've experienced here and they way the people are, because I know many people are interested.  I'm afraid I'm still not the best of blog writers, but I still hope to get better. I miss you all!!

-KYRA:)

Jet Lag: Kyra's Worst Nightmare...

It's about 5:30 a.m. right now and I can't decide if I'm still tired or not after sleeping 8 hours.
I naively thought I would be in the clear after sleeping nearly 16 hours (after being awake for 27) when I got to my home-stay, but unfortunately jet lag is a beast I think I'll be fighting for weeks.

I'd like to thanks everyone who wished me safe travels!  As my travels were certainly safe, they weren't necessarily the most enjoyable.  I think back and ask myself, what exactly had I been looking forward to on a 9 hour flight?  I mean, they played a couple good movies and I had a good book along with my Zune to keep me otherwise occupied (since sleep was not an option for me,) but I just couldn't bring myself to have fun as the huge man in front of me pushed his seat back as far as he could, the kid next me tried to roll up into an uncomfortable ball, and I had to hold my earphones in the plug in order to hear the movie because the plug in was broken.  Subtract sleep from this equation and Kyra was not a happy camper.  Though honestly I really have nothing major to complain about, and I'm thankful my flights worked out and I made it safely!

My first day in London was great!  After waking from my 16 hour slumber, I got ready for the day and my roommate and I had our first Tube adventure.  For anyone who's reading this and doesn't know, the Tube is one of London's main transportation systems.  It's sort of like a subway and a train mixed together.  Thank goodness for my roommate Paula aka my travel guide!  She's awesome at getting us where we need to go, which takes some stress off my shoulders!  I assured her I would provide entertainment in place of the usefulness that I clearly do not provide.  All this first week of school is just orientation.  We'll be getting more familiar with the program, what we'll be doing and where we'll be going.  We'll be going to lots of plays and visiting tons of cool places, not including our own travel plans! For example, tomorrow we're visiting Greenwich.  I also went to my first pub last night!  But I didn't have anything to drink.  I'm still a bit fogged and a little dehydrated from travels and pint didn't sound too appealing.  Plus I'll have plenty time for that later! ;) I haven't started taking pictures yet, but I certainly will.  Hopefully sooner than later I'll get used to this sleeping schedule and be less tired all the time!

And yes... the accents are awesome!!!  I haven't picked one up as quickly as I thought, but that's mostly because I'm surrounded by fellow Americans so it'd be weird to use the British accent.  I definitely can use it though, and I never get tired of it!  Anyways, this blog entry was pretty basic because I just wanted to give all my loved ones a quick update.  Hope all is well for everyone in the states, and I do of course miss you all!

-KYRA:)

The Wonders of Sea/Tac

Bear with me folks, this is my first post!

The past week has been busy, slow, sad, and happy as I anticipated this trip!  Not to mention the stress from spending so much time with my beloved dentist on account of my unwavering luck and grace.  But that is a whole other can of worms!  Reflecting on this past week I'm just glad to be finally sitting in the A8 terminal waiting for my flight to Dallas, Texas. (I know what you're thinking, WHY would she pick the place where the superbowl is happening tomorrow?!)  In my own defense I booked this flight many months ago before the football game AND the less than satisfactory weather in Texas at the moment.  I gave a sad see ya later to all my friends and co-workers at PLU and I hope they don't suffer too much chaos in my absence ;)  HAHA just kidding!  They're all so amazing, I'm pretty sure they just keep me around for entertainment!  Last night was my last hoo-rah with my WONDERFUL parents, relatives, and friends.  I can't even express how grateful I am for all the people in my life and everyone that came to dinner last night.  But don't worry, they only had to suffer my charades for so long before my parents fed everyone and made it all worth while.  My parents make the perfect kitchen duo and definitely didn't dissapoint anyone with a salmon/prime rib/ham main course combo with cheesy potatoes, green salad, fruit salad, and beans.  Needless to say my last "american" meal was tasty and I'm glad I got to share it with family and friends!

Nerves just started to hit me yesterday but I'm glad to say my tummy has calmed down and I'm ready to get on that plane and go!  I kind of cringed when I exchanged my american dollars though.  The exchange rate is about $1.85 for the equivalent of one pound, so I paid about $270 for $150 worth of pounds.  I know, ouch.  But I've been preparing for this so I was ready to fork out the bucks!  My total flight hours add up to about 12, I believe, but I'm actually looking forward to it. My host Mother informed me that she will be waiting for me at Heathrow Airport in London wearing a purple fleece and holding a sign with my name on it (like the movies! yes!).  Her name is Jan, she's 62 with two grown children and she's been hosting study away students for 14 years.  My roommate Paula (also a sophomore at PLU) is already in Europe and I will also be meeting her at the airport.

Eying the other passengers among me waiting for the same flight, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the seat by the lady with two young, restless kids.  This is a safe assumption judging by my luck.  I'm also getting nervous because our flight was delayed an hour and there's people lining up at the counter... What does this mean?  Oh well, I have a seat by the window and I think as long as theres no airplane outside I'm safe.  I'm not sure how well I'm doing this blogging jazz but hopefully I'll get better.  I'll write again of my travels to Europe when I get there and all settled in!  But for now I'm going to plot how to avoid the lady with the kids on the plane.......... Thanks for reading!

-KYRA:)