February 10th- Adventure to Lindisfarne!

Before Lisa and I had even planned this trip to Scotland we had decided that we wanted to go to Lindisfarne- which is in England, about 45min or so from the border.  It's also called Holy Island, and is known for being the first place in Britain that the Vikings attacked,  because of the Lindisfarne Priory.  Also- it's famous because of the Lindisfarne Gospels- currently in the British Library.  Saints Aiden and Cuthbert are the most well known monks on the island.

It was an adventure getting there since it's an island for half the day, and of course the day we went, the castle was closed and it was super windy and rainy!  But it was fun and well worth everything!

We left Edinburgh around 9am for the 40-45min train ride to Berwick-upon-Tweed, where we would catch a cab, since the bus that goes over the causeway to the island, seemed very sporadic, if it ran at all, during the winter.  We finally got a number from the tourist info woman, and began the 20ish minute drive to the island.  It was around £22 for the one way, but totally worth it since our cabbie also played tour guide and told us a little bit of the history of the area and little facts here and there.

He dropped is off at the Lindisfarne Center, where we went through a little 3-part exhibit (that the woman at the front desk had to go in and turn on for us) about the island itself, the vikings, and the Gospels.  It was pretty interesting, especially the short videos they had here and there about the Vikings mainly- as well as the history of the Gospels, which are around 1300 years old...pretty neat!

From there, we walked to the Priory ruins, run by  English Heritage (I got in free because I'm a member- hooray!)  We spent 30-40 minutes wandering around taking pictures and trying to shield ourselves from the very gusty wind.  After that we, of course since I was on the trip :), went to find a souvenir store.  This store was closing as we got there (well, closing in about 20 min) because they wanted to leave the island before it flooded.  We should have thought about that before we made our plans...     And of course , as we left the store it began to rain, hard, so we ran back to the Priory to ask for a place to eat, and we were given directions to the Crown and anchor pub.  Best Steak and Ale pie I think I have ever had!  It was absolutely delicious!   Lisa had the fish and chips, and I even had a bite of the fish, and I didn't hate it!  

Even the pigeons were cold

 While we were eating, the local old boy's club came in and started drinking and talking about various things.  From them, we learned that the Castle was closed (even though it had said open on the website...) so we made ourselves comfortable at our table that we would sit at until the tide went out again- about 6 hours later.   While we were there, more and more people trickled in- some because of the rain, others because there was a big rugby game on- England vs. Ireland I think?I didn't pay attention because I don't understand rugby, and watching it just made me even more confused.

So as the old boys club saw that we were in the pub for the long haul everyone began to get a little more chatty and friendly, and I found out that one of the men had actually spent a day in Chattanooga!  What are the odds that I would find someone who had been there on a tiny island off the coast of England?!

Well, we decided to brave the wind and rain after a couple of hours of being in the pub, to go up and at least look at the castle.  The bartender said he would watch our things, and we bundled up to head out into the weather.  I think this wind was the strongest I've ever walked in (minus the straight line winds and tornado winds we had on Signal a few years ago).  Thank god for Eddie Bauer!  Their raincoat cut the wind to nothing! And my upper body stayed dry, as did my legs from the calf down....everything else- soaked, which made sitting kind of uncomfortable later on.

We made it to the castle after going through a couple of fences (No locks or signs that said we couldn't!)  We passed a lot of sheep, and even saw Bamburgh Castle in the distance.  It was pretty cool!

From Lisa (I'm not that fat, many layers!)

When we got back to the pub the crowd inside had grown considerably so we made ourselves comfortable between the two bigger tables on the bench, making friends with the family beside us that had two small, and progressively hyper, children- Ben and Zoe.  Ben was the funniest, because he kept saying things about his mom and dad like, how his dad liked to go to the pub and drink 4 or  5 pins, and how his mum ruined her shoes because she had to wade through the water because they got stuck somewhere.  They were cute.

From Lisa (I'm not that fat! Just layers!

Apparently, the people on Holy Island don't stand in front of fires to dry off, because I was asked if that's what people do where I come from- stand and warm their bums in front of fireplaces... seems normal to me! He also said I did not sound American...

The game ended around 4ish and the most people were gone by 5-5:30, and we still had about 1.5 hours to wait as our cabbie wasn't picking us up until 7.  Longest afternoon ever, but it was so much fun!

We made friends and had some good memories, and hopefully I'll make it back this summer!

Scotland Day 1: Edinburgh

Well, I'm back after a long break from blogging!  Sadly, there probably won't be too much for me to blog about this term, since I won't be traveling that much, and mostly researching which is boring to think about let alone write about!  :)

So, I went to Scotland from February 19-16, 2013, during my school's Reading week.  I went with a friend from my German class, Lisa.  We left on the train from King's Cross in London around 800 in the morning I think, and got into Edinburgh around 1-ish.

My bed was Little Miss Bossy

We checked into our hostel- Royal Mile Backpackers (Fully recommend them- it's pretty awesome!  The rooms were set out to different themes.  The only other one I remember was Gotham City.  Ours was Little Miss, and since I loved the books when I was little, I was super excited- not going to lie!  Breakfast was cheap and good, the beds were comfy and warm, and there's a fireplace.  All in all, not bad for ~£10 a night!), left our stuff in the room and set out for Edinburgh Castle!

Some pictures of the castle- description of day is after!)

View from the Castle wall

So, while it wasn't raining, it was a grey day, as you can tell from the pictures- yet still fairly clear!  It was foggy at first, but by the time we left, no fog!  The castle was literally 10min from our hostel, if that.  Our hostel was directly on the Royal Mile (High Street) so 10min one way was the Castle and about 15min the other way was Holyroodhouse Palace at the opposite end of the Mile.  Pretty decent location!

We spent about 3 hours at the castle, including a late lunch which was pretty decent.  This was my second time in Edinburgh, so my second visit to the castle, but it was still very interesting!  I went in to a couple of the little museums located inside that I hadn't been to before, they were all about war- mainly Scotland's role in various wars throughout history.  It costs about £14 to get in (Only seniors get the concession price, but as an English Heritage member I got 1/2 off!)

Another very cool part of the castle, is that they have the Scottish Crown Jewels- The Honours of Scotland- which are nothing like England's.  They consists of a giant sword, a scepter (I think) and the Stone of Scone! (That's the nickname, the real name is the Stone of Destiny).  No pictures allowed, but here is the website should you wish to know more about them! The Honours of Scotland .



After the castle, we went to the Scotch Whiskey Experience.  We paid for the 'attraction' and got a little ride in a cask to hear, and see, how whiskey was made from a dapper looking ghost.  The main part was the tasting experience and learning a little bit about whiskey.  I tried the lowland whiskey I think, whatever the one was that they suggested for beginning Scotch drinkers...well it tasted exactly like whiskey to me- no hints of whatever it was they said there would be....just whiskey and it was gross.   While there, we also saw the world's biggest collection of whiskey bottles!  This was actually pretty cool- everything from the cans of jack and coke, and normal whiskey bottles to bottles that look like nuns, and chess sets that are really flasks...crazy stuff but really interesting!  No idea how much it's worth- but it's a lot!

For dinner, I have found my ideal traveling partner, because she suggested the Hard Rock Cafe!  And those of you who know me well, know that I absolutely love the Hard Rock!!

After that we back to the hostel  to go to sleep to be well rested for our adventure to Lindisfarne (The Holy Island) the next day, and what an adventure it was!

My (3rd) visit to Bath 27 November 2012

I've been to Bath twice before- once with just my mom, and the second time was with my mom and my little brother.  The differences this time are: 1. I was by myself, and 2. I was not connected to any kind of tour like the last 2 times, so I had all the time I wanted.  Until things closed, at least.

So I got on my train to Bath, and it started to rain.  Of course.  However, by the time I reached my destination, about 1.5 hours, it was only cloudy.  After talking to the guy in the glass store at the end of my trip, I discovered I was actually very lucky as it had rained for the last week, and had just stopped on Tuesday (the day I was there).   Looking back, I could believe that because the river I saw while walking to the Fashion museum looked swollen and fast and cold.


It took me about 20-25 minutes to walk from the train station to the Fashion Museum...I had not counted on the amount of hills in Bath...   and wearing Wallabees was not the smartest idea I've had...again...  I was excited about the Fashion Museum because I love historical fashion!  And on the other 2 trips to Bath, I'd never been able to make it up to this museum, it's kind of out of the way.  I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw there!   A lot smaller than I was imagining, but packed full of cool things- at least to me, the average traveler is usually not as enthralled with historical clothes as I am!  It started with an exhibit on Sports fashion, which was semi-interesting....the historical clothes more so than the hideous current ski/tennis/etc... "fashion".  Then it went into the oldest clothes all the way to the present.

The Silver tissue Dress on the right

One of the coolest exhibits there is one that's not normally on display; I'm not sure how long it will be there, or how long it has been there.  It's a glove exhibit.  I know, I know, you're thinking...gloves?  wow...exciting...  but it really was!  Especially since the newest of those gloves is about 300 years old.  the oldest was from the early 1600s.  I think that's pretty damn cool!  Another really cool exhibit that's right at the beginning was one of dresses.  It has a special dress in the case- called the Silver Tissue Dress- from the 1600s, one of the most complete dresses from that era anywhere!  Again...pretty cool!


It ended with the most awful, hideous, and ugly fashion from the 20th-21st centuries that I have ever seen.


From there I walked back down to the Roman Baths, which is the main reason people go and have historically gone) to...Bath...     The Roman Baths have been there for about 2000 years, give or take.   It's a pretty cool experience to see a place where people socialized for so long!   While a lot of it is in ruins, or disappeared, broken, etc... there's a lot that is intact, including the main bath, and a few of the others- to an extent.

The top picture is of the main part of the Baths, the second is of a smaller hot bath, and the 3rd is the head of Minerva, who the Baths were dedicated to I believe.  Even though it was the 3rd time around, it was still pretty cool!


After that I went to Bath Abbey which I had never been in, because I think it was closed both times.  Either that or we didn't have enough time to go through it.  It's a gorgeous abbey!  Not in a way like the cathedrals around England and Europe, but it's very big and has some cool stained glass and other little interesting tidbits, including a really big organ- I forget how many pipes it has.

I concluded my visit to Bath by walking around the Christmas Market that is set up there until January something.   I bought a delicious meat pie and some Christmas presents!  I walked back to the train station, and got on my train and went back to London!  A pretty good way to spend a day I think!

Wingardium leviosa! Harry Potter Studio Tour- 28 November 2012

Well, the Harry Potter studio tour is pretty damn amazing!  (Pardon my French)   It's expensive to get it- £28.   But it is so worth it!  Its about a 15-20min train ride out of London to Watford Junction- easy, about 6-8 pounds.  Then you board a special purple Harry Potter double Decker bus that will take you to the studio- £2 round trip.  

You pull up to the studios, which look like normal ones you might see on the news or in a magazine or something, although these used to be aircraft hangars, so that's what they look like I guess...   You walk in and see the gift shop and so you start salivating at everything you can see as you walk past it to get in line to go into the studios.    

The tour is almost all self-guided except for the beginning 20-ish minutes or so.  You first go into a big room with about 50-60 or so other people and listen to one of the employees and watch a short film on the walls- the producers, etc... are talking about making Harry Potter.  You then go into a big auditorium and sit down and watch Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk about the sets, the experience, etc...  and then the screen goes up and you see a huge door that leads into the Great Hall! Yes, the Great Hall from the movie- the real one that they used....no magical ceiling though :(    That's the last bit of guided tour- an employee talking about the different props/clothing/etc... that are in the Great Hall-including details you don't see in the movie, like the seal inside the big fireplace that you don't see because there's always a fire going!  

After that you walk around the corner and it's like a Harry Potter dream!  So many props, parts of sets, buildings, wands, clothing, and on and on and on!  You even get to fly on a broomstick and in the Weasley's car!  In between Studio J and studio K, you can buy some butterbeer!  And see some outside sets, like #4 Privet Drive, the bridge, and the Potter's house, along with the Knight Bus and Hagrid's motorcycle.

Me trying butterbeer- surprisingly good!

The main model for outside shots of the castle!

The second half of the studio tour involved the creating of the various creatures, animals, or shows the pictures of the real animals used- like for Fang.  I think there were 8 or 9 different dogs used for Fang if not more?   It showed how the animatronic stuff worked,  Hedwig, the weird Voldemort thing in Book 7, etc... also how they did the dementors when it wasn't shot with CGI, how they did Gwap, Hagrid, and the ghosts!  

This was so much fun!!!  I highly recommend this to anyone who visits London, and if you visit before July 1- I will totally go again!

Thanksgiving 2012- London, England

Well Thanksgiving over here was very, very different than any I've had before- even the one I spent alone in Italy...  but this was better because I was not alone!  But it was also not traditional as we (two friends and myself) went to the Hard Rock Cafe...because when you can't have a traditional table-breaking under the amount of food, Thanksgiving, then a restaurant that serves American food is the next best thing!  We would have stayed at our hall, Lillian Penson (LPH) because they were having a Thanksgiving dinner....but the success rate of the food here is not so good, so we didn't want to chance totally ruining Thanksgiving.   I also gave myself a holiday from school because I have never had to go to school or work on Thanksgiving, and so I didn't want to this year :)

For starters we had:

Minus the jalapenos!  (Courtesy of: http://www.praguedining.com/files/user/27/Hard-Rock-Cafe-Food-Nachos-l.jpg)

And this was my meal.  Twisted Mac and Cheese with Chicken.  This is what I get at every single Hard Rock I have been to, all over the world, with very few exceptions.  It is delicious, and I love it- i don't care what anyone says! 

Twisted Mac and Cheese (Courtesy of: http://www.urbaneapts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mac-chz.jpg)

   It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with two friends!