This has gotta be the good life

Back in the USA, and missing Europe with all my heart.

2 August:

Class in the morning, back at ol' Regents. It was so nice to get back into our London routine. Back in the flats, back in Kilburn, back to the Queens Arms... Back home. :)

Tuesday afternoon we had a tour of the Globe Theatre, which was pretty awesome, since I'm a big Shakespeare nut. We saw As You Like It later that night, which was also neat. We were all dressed up in our Sunday best and had a lovely evening!

3 August:

Last class in the morning. I won't lie, it was rough to imagine that we would never be back in Regents again. We talked about all the ups and downs of the trip, everything we learned and thought and liked and disliked. I tried my best not to think about leaving, lol.

Tiffany and I went to the Tower of London after lunch. I definitely enjoyed that! Seeing the Bloody Tower and Wakefield Tower and the crown jewels, all of that had been on my list since the first day. It was a nice way to end the trip, with something I'd been dying to see since the beginning!

We went to the Old Bell for one last pub dinner and starting packing and repacking (and repacking). We stayed up the whole night, attempting to force ourselves to sleep on the plane (it didn't work, lol).

And that was our last night. Sitting up talking, laughing, joking around with SNL videos... Our last night together as family.

Kalen, Kristine, and Tiffany became some of my best friends in such a short amount of time. We don't understand it, but it works. I'm gonna miss you guys so, so much. Just like I'll miss London and Edinburgh and Dublin. And the tube. And our flat. And our pub and our school and our Tesco and everything else that made Kilburn feel like home.

I cried as the plane soared over England and headed home, just as I cried when it left Detroit on July 1. Culture shock is starting to set in here, just as it did when I got to London. Eventually it will settle itself out, just as it did there...

This experience changed me. This experience was the very best of my life, and I will never forget everything we did and saw and went through. I loved every single second!

But now it's time to be American again, to go back to my daily life just as it was before. Well, a little different, I suppose...but still back to real life. Back to reality!

Welcome home, love :)

I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you

Oh, Dublin.

Saturday was the craziest Irish day of my life. We got up in the morning and headed to Bewley's, a famous coffee house on Grafton Street (the shopping district). I had the very best coffee EVER and a delicious bagel sandwich, Irish style (I've really missed bagels!).

We headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral next and took plenty of pictures inside. I lit a candle there to send some Irish blessings back home, too. :) The Guinness Storehouse tour came next, where I learned that I LOVE GUINNESS--which is going to be a big problem lol--and that MSU students really do have an amazing drink IQ (dear Lord). We learned the bus system today too, after our little mishap on Friday with taking taking the 128 until it...ended in the suburbs. Hooray for directions from the locals!

We took a small siesta in the hotel after the tour, sipped on some Bailey's in drinking chocolate (again) and munched on a Cadbury mixed pack. I'm telling you, this is the life I was meant to live!

And Saturday night...is a story I don't think I should post on a public blog, lol. In short, we went out to explore the nightlife and had some drinks bought for us by some VERY cute Scottish boys (Scottish boys in Ireland, who would've thought). We danced and sang and had tons of fun. It was a great night! :)

Sunday was a much slower day for us. We strolled through St. Stephen's Green and then down Grafton Street again, popping in and out of stores and trying not to spend too much money. Dublin is such a fun place. I love it just as much as I love Edinburgh, but for very different reasons.

And today, we are resting just before heading back to London. I go home in 3 days...Wow. I don't understand what happened to my life. Where did July go?

Wherever I am, you'll always be

This is the life.

Sipping drinking chocolate with Bailey's Irish cream in my Dublin hotel room...after seeing Welsh countryside, hazy waters, and a brand new city all day...

I could get used to this!

Human, human of the year, and you've won

I am getting so bad about blogging daily!!

Our last two days in York were about as uneventful as the first three...I will probably never return to that city. Not worth a second trip. It has its history, and that's it.

27 July:

Last class in the morning, then we headed to the National Railway Museum. In case anyone doesn't know, I absolutely love trains--always have, ever since Thomas the Tank Engine--so this was a particularly happy day for me. Old trains, new trains, big trains, small trains... It was really cool for me to see the Japanese bullet train, since the last time I saw one was in Japan in 1998 (I rode it!).

Kalen, Tiffany, and I wandered off to get afternoon tea following the museum, which was delicious--as usual--and my favorite part of York, if I'm being honest! I'm going to miss those tea rooms.

Wednesday night, we had a classic girls night, something we haven't done yet here. It was...awesome. Ordered pizza, watched Pride & Prejudice, talked about all sorts of girly things, all the things you ought to do with girlfriends on a lazy night in York. I couldn't have been happier.

28 July:

Last day of English breakfast! I'm going to miss that, too. Who would have thought I would love baked beans for breakfast? Lol

We spent most of today on a train, which means I spent most of the time sleeping because trains knock me out. A nap was definitely needed though; I'm starting to run down a bit from always being on the go.

After what felt like ten years of travel, we made it back to Regent's to get our things, headed to the flats (where I now have a room with Tiffany, Kalen, AND Kristine!!) and managed to find time for the fastest shower of my life.

Why such a fast shower? Because I had to leave in a half hour...to go see my brother, dad, and Mo!! :D Seeing my family was definitely the highlight of my week. I've really missed everyone back home, even though I'm going to struggle to leave. If I could just pick everyone up and bring them here forever, I would!

Wishing I had more to say, but really, we've just been hanging out for a few hours planning our trip to Dublin. We leave bright and early tomorrow, and I'll try to post when I can, but no promises. Eventually I'll get to it! :)

Sending all my love back home!

We can't rearrange

Things are starting to get a little heated here. Class today was...a disaster, and quite frankly, if I get yelled at one more time by a specific person, there will be blood.

On a more positive note, here's what we did yesterday!

We had our first class in the morning, and although it's not my favorite style of class (so much tedious lecture) we did learn quite a bit. I knew next to nothing about English history up until yesterday at 9:30am, so I suppose it's all worth it.

We then wandered the ruins near the York Museum and stopped for afternoon tea at a little tea room called Baileys (unfortunately, no Irish cream involved...and yes, that's sans apostrophe). The Shambles were further explored--considering our first day, most everything was closed--and we found a sweet shoppe with some delicious rum truffles. I'm going to miss spoiling myself here.

And then last night, another hospital run. Not for me though, and nothing too serious. Just another day in the life, lol.

And now, today...

Just got back from class and I'm going to do my best not to ruin this post by discussing the events that unfolded in the room. Let's say that not everyone here is worth being my friend, and it absolutely amazes me how hurtful and condescending some people can be. Makes no sense.

York has proven to be a bit of a downer so far. Wishing I was back in Edinburgh, where everything is beautiful and not covered in goose poop...

I'll be the last train home

We left Edinburgh for York today. I don't know how I feel about this transition... I haven't posted since 23 July at midnight, so here's a recap of the last two days.

Yesterday, 23 July:

Our last day in Edinburgh, my favorite city on the face of the earth. We rose at our normal early time and headed to the National Museum of Scotland, where we saw a million and one different things, as usual. Then off to an underground tour of the vaults, which were pretty creepy even in the day (I have no idea how some people did it as a ghost tour!). It was disgusting to think that people actually LIVED in the underground vaults below Edinburgh... So gross and inhumane. But then again, Edinburgh was a pretty gross city to begin with back in the day (always smelled bad, apparently) so I supposed the vaults are exactly what would be expected.

After the tour, we got a shot of whiskey and some shortbread from the tour guide (standard procedure) and then headed off to lunch. Kristine and I are getting pretty good at splitting dinners (since we never finish a whole one on our own anyway) so we tried steak & ale pie, a UK classic, and it was absolutely delicious. I know some people complain about the food here, but honestly, I think most of the traditional stuff is pretty good!

Following lunch, we went back to the museum to finish up what we'd missed in the morning, and then we headed home to relax a little and catch up on sleep. I took a well-deserved nap (unintentionally, actually, but that's beside the point) and had a bunch of crazy dreams about museums and architecture, lol. Talk about my brain sifting through my day.

Dinner that night was at the campus bar, which is a place I'm really going to miss. A little slice of home, kind of--except nothing like America, not at all. We then wandered down to the Salisbury to get Pimm's (which I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to drink legally in the USA, it's so quenching and delicious).

Of course, with a few drinks, everything starts getting pretty sentimental... And I started realizing how much I'm going to miss everyone here. I know I've spoken of it before, but it's really starting to hit me; these girls are some of my best friends now, and Magee and Rebekka have become constant factors in my day that I don't know how to go without at this point. We've been bonded by a unique experience, and that gives us some sort of weird place in each other's lives. For us students, we are best friends that didn't expect to become that way; for Magee and Rebekka, we're their first study abroad students and very much their friends in lots of ways. I'm going to miss everyone so, so much when I go back home.

I skyped my best friend Laur last night though, and I know I have to go home. I love them all too much. There are bits and pieces of me back there, too.

Speaking of leaving bits of myself in places... Edinburgh. You will always have a part of me. I have never been as happy as I was in Edinburgh, and I don't know how I will ever achieve that feeling again. I will always be trying to get back to you, always reaching out to touch the sky from the top of Arthur's Seat and feeling like the whole world could crumble and I'd still be smiling. I love Scotland, more than I can even fathom.

And now, to York. 24 July:

To be honest, nothing about York has really impressed me yet. Perhaps it's just the contrast between Edinburgh and here, but truthfully, I don't think this place is quite as rewarding for me. It's pretty, I suppose, and the old buildings and the wall are kind of cool, but it just doesn't get me like Edinburgh or even London did. Just not for me, I guess. I think it'll get better with some sightseeing.

We went to Yorkminster for Evensong, which was an interesting experience. The music was beautiful, and there is definitely something to be said for seeing a service in a very old Church of England. Exploring the church afterward was fun, too, and we stopped at a little pub for a bite before heading toward the Shambles.

The Shambles are a row of shops from as early as 1434, all cramped in together with old and new. It's apparently the basis for Diagon Alley (from Harry Potter), and it's easy to see why. We also saw the shortest street in England, conveniently named "Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate" for some absurd reason. Its only addresses where 1 and 1 1/2. Crazy stuff.

And now, hopefully to skype my brother in Paris along with the family and my baby French cousins! Hope everyone in the USA isn't dying from the heat!

Ain't no mountain high enough

We climbed Arthur's Seat this evening at sunset. Arthur's Seat is an inactive volcano (that looks mostly like a GIANT grassy mountain), and from the peaks you can see the entire city of Edinburgh, the ocean, and the farms and hills beyond the city's edge. You can see for miles and miles and miles.

(Side note: We almost died in this endeavor. Never follow a crazy Scottish runner in the attempt to find a smooth path back down a mountain. Apparently runners here have some sort of magic power that allows them to shimmy down vertical slopes. We had to slide down on our bums, panicking.)

At the top of our climb, my heart melted, I think. It was so awe-inspiring, so...I can't even come up with the right word. Exhilarating? Gorgeous? Breathtaking? I feel as though none of them do it justice.

So combine all of those words, plus the majority of their synonyms, and perhaps then you will know how I felt on top of the world.

I am going to cry when we leave Scotland, I can already see it. I am in love with this city. Madly and irrevocably in love.