I would walk 500 miles...

I am finally back home from Scotland and let me tell you, it's been a rough ride. Starting with last Tuesday when we decided to book this trip and all it cost us was a ton of stress and money but either way we were going to Scotland which made me happy. Our train left from Worcester and 10:24 AM and we were heading to Birmingham to catch our next train. Taking the train was an experience for me and I loved every minute of it. We had an hour wait in Birmingham until our next train left and decided to get something to eat. After lunch we boarded our next train which would take us to Edinburgh. This freaking train ride was 4 hours long but I slept for some of it. Not comfortably but still slept which was good.

Finally after a creaked neck and my feet asleep we arrived in Edinburgh where we left the train station and were officially lost. We happened to be smack dab in the middle of the city and we just decided to walk to find someplace that would have tourist information that would be somewhat helpful. We didn't know how to find our hostel and we had till 6 o'clock to check in, which put us on a time limit. After many searches and some blonde moments we found the information center which gave us directions and we took off towards the hostel.

The city in itself is absolutely beautiful. I love all the structures and the city life during the day. It just makes everything more fun and exciting. We were walked for about 25 minutes and where we thought the hostel would be...it wasn't. So again we walked into a Baskin Robins and asked for directions. Apparently we turned left instead of right (don't ask me how we didn't know) so we turned around and headed the proper way. We made it to the hostel and walked into reception.

Problem number one: (or I guess two if you count us getting lost) apparently our reservations were booked for July and not June. So of course we didn't have a room. The guy at the counter did have one opening that night that had three beds and he thankfully said he could put a mattress on the floor for us to sleep on if we wanted it. Of course we took it. He was very friendly, as was everybody in that city. We moved into our room and took a breath. One down. The only problem we had now was we didn't have a place to stay Saturday night. Our plan was to stop at all the hostels we passed as we walked through town to see if there were any opening and of course there wasn't. We were homeless for Saturday.

Later that night we walked down the main strip and went shopping and ate dinner at this wonderful burger place and decided to call it a night because we were exhausted. We decided to wake up early and check our then get on the computer to check if there were any cancellations. Of course there weren't. There was a woman, her name is Dee, she worked at the hostel and was talking to us. She saw that we were looking for a room and she said she would try and help. She called the hotel that she worked at, bar tending, and she called to see if there were any rooms. This wonderful woman who is our savior found us all beds in the hotel. We officially love her.

We dropped our bags off at the hotel and they told us that four boys had just dropped their reservations right when Dee called and he gave us their last beds. It was awesome. We couldn't check into the hotel until 2 PM so we decided to do more shopping. Heading back to the hotel we decided to do one of the tours at 3 PM that would take 3 hours but everything was very informative. After we checked in we decided to take a bus that would take us to the meeting place of this tour. After waiting at a bus stop for like 20 minutes, little me saw a sign that said that the bus stop was closed. Really? So we continued to walk down to the next stop and catch that bus. We arrived at the spot where the tour was to take place 25 minutes last. Poor us missed it. It was the last tour of the day.

We decided to do our own little tour. Yay! We saw a tower called the Tron Kirk. Awesome name, isn't it?? Well I thought so anyway. We traveled up and down the Royal Road where almost everything is in Scotland worth seeing. We watched a 3D half hour film of the mysterious Loch Ness Monster, called Nessie. I believe in her. After that we headed up the road and came to the Edinburgh castle. It was absolutely beautiful and too wonderful for these crappy adjectives. We walked around the massive thing looking at the history behind it, and I do have pictures so everything works out. The only thing I couldn't take a picture of was the jewels (the crown and scepters) and the Scotland War Memorial Building. Lovely.

We headed back to our hotel where Dee was working and we decided to have a drink and dinner. I had a chicken salad that was the best salad I've had in my life. Yum! After dinner we kept drinking and just having a good time in the bar. Dee was working the bar, Colin was managing, and Michael was a funny Scotsman. These people were amazing. After a while these two elderly ladies came in all dresses up and fancy looking. Apparently they just finished visiting and shaking hands with Prince Charles! I thought it was so cool. They had pictures they showed us and everything.

When it was close to midnight us girls decided to finish our drinks and head to bed. We had gotten pictures with everybody and I tried many new drinks. I had and Illusion which was blue and so good. Then Colin suggested a drink that you had to have a pitcher of, so Nikki, Natasha, and I shared. It was milk, baileys, kahlua, and a vanilla drink. It tasted like chocolate/coffee milk. It was soooooo good. Before we went to bed Colin wanted to give us a goodbye shot which was on the house and him and Michael decided to drink with us. I had my first shot that was lit on fire. It was absolutely brilliant. After this we decided to call it a night and headed off to bed.

Now we were in a room with 9 beds and we had 4 of them. We fell asleep and woke up with all the beds full. They were guys :)) They were very nice and were very helpful. And to top it off very cute which was a bonus. :))

So when we left we shopped some more and headed to our train. We're finally back in Worcester and as much as I love Scotland and could live there one day, I'm happy to be back in my flat.

TTYL!

Classes Galore

So I think I'm getting used to the whole time change thing over here. It's been difficult but it's getting easier and easier each day. I'm trying not to think about going home in 5 weeks which in itself is a very short time. It seems that everyday is going by so quickly and I just don't want it to end so soon.

I had my first two classes these past two days. Yesterday I had my English Literature and Performance class and today I had my Contemporary British Life and Culture. They were both very interesting and engaging but I could do without the poetry lessons in my English class. Poetry is my enemy above all things. I could live a very happy and eventful life if I never met poetry. My British Life and Culture class is definitely interesting. Learning about the culture here and seeing that it's so much more different that at home in the United States.

Everyday I'm also getting to know everybody who came on this trip. They are all so nice and welcoming and we always hang out with each other. It's so much fun. I'm so happy that I've been able to be a part of this group and being able to experience this wonderful city along with the countries surrounding it.

I wrote the first three paragraphs days ago and just got lazy, so I'm just going to continue writing about these past few days. Monday and Tuesday I had classes in the morning and afternoon. Sometimes I keep wondering why I'm a literature major. I love English but I could do without poetry. I seem to be allergic to it or something because I just don't understand nor can I write it. It's all we're discussing this week.

Tuesday night Natasha, Nikki, Olivia and I booked tickets to Scotland this weekend. I'm so excited about being able to leave and travel to different places around Europe. This country is so beautiful and I cannot wait to explore most of it. After a stressful night of trying to find train and hostel tickets we decided to go to Lloyd's which is a pub in Worcester. I tried a few new things and I know for a fact I drank too much and experienced my first hangover in Europe. Thank God it wasn't Bangkok.

I had four hours of sleep having to wake up at 6 o'clock to get breakfast and then at 7:30 we left for Bletchley Park where the World War II codes were cracked. It's where Enigma was cracked. If you want to learn more about Enigma and to understand my pictures more fully I would watch the movie Enigma, it has the actress from Titanic, Kate Winslet, in it. It's an interesting movie.

After Bletchley Park we headed towards Oxford which I was very excited about. We toured the history museum which was pretty awesome. After that a few of us went shopping where I bought an Oxford sweatshirt and t-shirt. Then we walked around the university and the buildings are absolutely beautiful. If I could attend that university I would in a heartbeat.

Another big step I want to accomplish is the red carpet premiere of Harry Potter. Since I can't watch True Blood this weekend :(( I'll probably post at least twice a week. Monday's after the weekend trips and Thursday's after the Wednesday's trip.

Let the Good Times Roll

Another day has gone by and so has another adventure. Yesterday we took a walk through town just to get out bearings about us. We learned where to go to go shopping if we wanted to, we learned where to buy cell phones if we needed them here in the UK, and we also learned where to get the best chocolate. Now I didn't try any but I saw and learned from most of the kids here that's it's the best tasting chocolate ever, at least Sid said so.

We also visited the Cathedral here in town. It's beautiful. I believe it's more beautiful than the Cathedral in Washington DC. Like I told many people here, if I don't want to live here for the people and the things you can do, I would live here based on the amount of history the city has. We also visited kind of like City Council here. The mayor stays in that building and does all his work. There's this one room that's absolutely huge and has a bunch of chandeliers and portraits of the past Kings and Queens. It's just amazing.

When we arrived at the Cathedral I was floored. The ceilings were high and painted beautifully. There were arches that were individual in there own way and there was also a crypt underneath the church that had history built into it. I took so many pictures of the place which at the moment I'm uploading to Facebook so by the time I finish this they are going to be up and loaded.

There was a part in the Cathedral where you can climb to the top of the tower and look out upon the city of Worcester. It was worth the 236 stairs that I had to climb. Oh that was horrible. And like I told Sid it had better be worth the climb and it was at the moment. Today though my body is protesting against everything I did yesterday. I also went grocery shopping and we bought some weekend food.

So I was hoping when we came back to the flats my luggage would be here and go figure it was not. I didn't really think that it would be here in a day and so I wasn't freaking out too much. After that we decided to head back to a restaurant where they serve Fish and Chips. So I got my fill of Fish and Chips which was one of my goals here in the UK. After dinner we came back to the flats we decided to just hang out with each other and party and drink and play games. I wanted to crash probably around midnight so I decided to head back to bed. I don't even remember what time it was last night but Meredith was banging on my door waking me up. After five more minutes I decided to walk out and Kaitlyn was bouncing around excited.

Apparently one of the security guards here on campus was calling around looking for them. He texted Sid last night and told him he had found 3 luggages and they were torn and looking beat up but they were at the Main Campus and we could pick them up tomorrow. So this morning the guard came over and told me that they were at the city campus reception which is like a building away from us. Us three girls walked over there along with Sid and lo and behold there was out luggage. Kaitlyn's luggage, the pockets in front, were ripped apart, and Meredith's and my luggage were just dirty. Thankfully not ripped. So I know have luggage and clothes and make up and shower stuff and different shoes and it's just absolutely brilliant!

Well that's it for today. I might be going out tonight with a couple friends but other than that I'm not doing anything. Byes :))

My Home Away

So I've finally made it to the UK and I couldn't be more happier. We had finally packed into the plane that would take us finally to Atlanta and from there we were supposed to take the 7:30 flight to Minnesota for our next flight but my Uncle Matt told my mom there was no way were going to be able to make that flight. So us three girls spent a half hour trying to find our professor in the airport. Now Atlanta is freakin' huge so we gave up pretty easiliy. We were just going to head to the the gates that were leaving at an earlier time but as we were riding the subway we saw our professor walking with his family. Stroke one of luck.

We decided we were going to try to be put on stand-by for the 5:15 flight to Minnesota. The other two girls were able to get on but go figure I couldn't. Apparently my ticket to London wasn't complete from the other night when Dr. Emert spent 4 hours on the phone getting us these tickets again. So I spent almost an hour listening to annoying music while being on hold. They finally told me that everything should work and I walked to the counter again and I was finally able to be placed on stand-by.

We watched as so many people boarded the plane and then crossed our fingers hopefully. Me and Meredith were placed on the plane but we knew there was no way we were going without all three of us. So we walked to the counter and explained. The guy only had a smirk on his face while he tried cleaning up most of the counter. Probably 2 seconds later she was added to the list. All three of us got on that flight early. Stroke two of luck.

We made it to the last airport and after that we headed to our gate. Sitting there for probably a half hour they started boarding the flight to London. It's just so scary that is none of us made that early flight we would not have made the London flight and we would still be stuck in the United States. So thank God we had all that luck at the end.

Entering London we had to go through Customs which really was not horrible at all. Although after that...my luggage didn't make the plane. Go figure. So while I'm typing this I have no luggage and we're set to tour Worcester at 10 o'clock. Thank goodness I was able to shower at least. After meeting up with the rest of the gang we met Sid our Student Ambassador who is partnered up with Katie the other Student Ambassador. They are wonderful and very helpful. We rode in a bus for probably 2 and a half hours thanks to all the traffic but we finally made it to our destination.

We recieved our room keys and were able to rest for an hour before we were given a hot dinner and were fed. After that we headed back to our rooms or to the computers where we were given an hour or so to do whatever. We left around 8 o'clock to walk the main street of Worcester. We changed over some money and then Sid took us to a pub. I've never been more grateful to be 18 over here!! All of us were at one table drinking and just hanging out and getting to know each other. It was absolutely brilliant. I had three glasses of wine and they were all delicious. Although it was so weird being able to drink in front of a bunch of people when I know in the United State we are definitely not allowed. So much fun!

So I've decided ever since I watched High School Musical and Troy had always gotten Gabriella Margarieta (that's definitely not spelled right and since I can't find a spell check...that'll do) pizza. So from then on I've always wanted to try it but could never find a pizza place to try it at. Found one!!! And oh my goodness it's now my favorite pizza. From now on that's the only pizza I'll eat. Yum Yum.

Last night when I went to go to sleep I was able to lay down and my eyes closed and I was Dead to the World (You know part of me is excited that I was able to use a Sookie Stackhouse novel title :))) Woke us this morning at 8 o'clock, walked over to the reception hall and ate breakfast. Now I'm totally on the computer writing this. The top two things I wish at the moment would have to be my luggage so I can change clothes and for my body to not be this sore. I don't know what the hell went wrong but my body is killing me. AHHHH!

So just for ya'll's information. I won't have my own internet password and username until probably Monday so I won't be regularly on Facebook or here till then. Another thing is that I DO NOT have a cell phone. I'm not planning on getting one but if I do then I'll let you know. So I think that's all I have to report for now. Yes mother I took some pictures of the place I'm staying and the buildings around it. They'll get posted online. I have some pictures of us at the pub but since there's alcohol and we aren't 21 in the US they are not getting posted just because I want to be curtious to some of the kids here. You can see those when I get home in July.

Well I'm checking off and hopefully I'll have more information about what I'm doing and what has happened here on Monday or hopefully sooner. We're about to head to the Cathedral (spelling ? it's really bugging me that I don't have a spell check) and walk around the city. Then we're taking a boat down the river for lunch and then we're going food shopping where hopefully I'll be able to get shampoo and stuff. Yay! Okay, signing off now. Love you!!

North Carolina Blues

So being stuck in North Carolina when I'm supposed to be on a flight to Atlanta then which will take me to London. I'm so excited about exploring London and it's surrounding landscapes but right at this moment I would love to have a bed and some food. This is SUCH a wonderful way to start this little adventure but I guess I'll just have to stick through this and tough it out.

I've already met some cool people on this trip and I've realized that people who are stuck on a plane for like five hours do become closer and will look out for each other. We joked around and talked to each other, keeping each other company and it was the most entertaining thing to witness. Makes the story about the couple that had fallen in love on the one flight that landed in the water more believable and more likely.

I am so not the only one who watches High School Musical as a twenty year old. My dad bought me a mystery ink book that was based on High School Musical and you would not believe how flippin' excited I was to have that. The guy next to me on the flight actually watched me work in the book and helped me with most of problems that I had become stumped with. Even though I shouldn't have gotten stumped in the first place seeing as how the book was made for children waaaayyyy younger than I am.

I give credit to Dr. Emert who is actually still on the line with the 800 number they gave us to fix our flights which Delta totally canceled on us. I get that it's not Delta's fault but instead of keeping us on the aircraft for 5 hours they could have at least gotten us off the plane quicker. I'm so exhausted and ready to just crash. So much for me getting more used to the time in London. This is just going to so make it worse. AHHH