Reflections

"Lauren!! It's so good to see you! How was your trip?"

Such a simple question, but such a complex answer. How can I sum up in just a few words what my trip was like?

I've gotten asked this question many many times since I've been home and I don't know exactly what to say or how much people want to hear about it. I can give the simple version, "It was incredible (or awesome, amazing, etc)! I had so much fun and got to see so many different things. In all I got to travel to 13 different countries." For some people that satisfies their curiosities, which is fine. For others they ask more questions... "What was your favorite place?" Again it's tough for me to answer that because there isn't just one. Within the first couple minutes I can feel out how much people want to talk about it and I enjoy answering their questions and sharing my experience! Even if I talked to someone about it for hours they wouldn't know it all. I especially get confused when people say "Tell me everything." I genuinely appreciate their interest, but where do I start? And if they want to know everything, they would be here for days. I love it when people ask me about my time abroad; it was one of the best experiences of my life :)

But what I find even more interesting than the questions people ask and the general interest they have in my trip is which people in my life didn't ask anything at all...

A lot of the times when I'm with my family or friends, we'll be doing or talking about something that reminds me of a certain random memory and I like sharing that spontaneous thought with them. It happens all the time when I'm by myself too; a memory will come to me and I'll smile to myself thinking about it.

It's hard to believe that I've been home for almost 2 months now. Even harder to believe I left for my trip abroad over 5 months ago. I remember all the anxieties I had before I left. The truth is I didn't fear the unknown, what was getting to me the most and making me upset was having to leave my family and boyfriend. Knowing too that communication would be limited and it would be even harder with the time difference of 6 hours. Even with those fears, I was beyond excited what this opportunity abroad would offer me. I was excited about the different experiences I would have and everything I would get to see. I know it sounds strange to some, but I couldn't wait to step outside of my comfort zone and do something completely different than the paths of others.

But no one warned me about how rigorous classes would be...

Yeah let's just say I had no clue that this would be my toughest workload and the classes would demand more of my time than any other semester. That's right, this was by far my toughest and most stressful semester. That contradicted everything I had heard before about studying abroad... "Oh, the classes will be so easy. You'll have no problem getting a 4.0 this semester." Uhhhh maybe it's that case with other study abroad programs, but ours was 21 credit hours (and some people had the option of 24). In all my previous posts I haven't mentioned anything about my classes, it may have seemed like it was one long vacation for me. But that's not true.

We were in class Monday-Thursday between 6 to 8 hours a day. Every Friday we had either a midterm or a final exam worth a huge percentage of our grade in the class. See each class was only two weeks. Two weeks to learn the material, read the book, do all the practice problems, and be finished with a course that normally takes a semester to learn and let the material sink in. It was nice that we only had one class to focus on at one time and that all 33 of my classmates were doing the same work, but I was always in exam mode. We'd start each new week with preparation for the huge exam we'd have in four days. And when we weren't in class, we were doing the homework and practice exams in our "free" time. During the weekdays, it was tough.

It was this way so we'd have our weekends free to travel! We never had any homework over the weekends besides reading so we could really be free to do what we wanted. The class schedule followed this: Intro to IT (two weeks long), then International IT (two weeks long). Then we had a 10 day traveling break before we did Intro to finance, then International finance. Another 10 day traveling break before Intro to management, then International management. Everything was super condensed to allow for these traveling breaks and weekends free.

It didn't help that I had no wifi in my apartment. I could not retreat to a silent room to get work done if I needed to use the internet. If I was in the Villa (the only building with wifi!), no matter where you were it was loud. I wish I could concentrate listening to my music, but I have a hard time with that. It was a hard studying situation for me.

Another thing to mention: during these intense weekdays, we also had to plan all of our traveling. And that could be (very) stressful sometimes as well. Plans getting mixed up, who you're going with, what you're going to do at each place, booking hostels and train reservations, and on and on. Stress management was absolutely crucial. It was also time consuming to write all of these blog posts. Each post took hours for me to write and I had to try to squeeze in time during my day to write them.

One way that I've always been able to relieve my stress is going to the gym. Well there was no such thing in Riva San Vitale. And even if there was, it was almost impossible to have free time to workout. The program offered nothing for people who are into fitness. No gym, no tread mill, not even a couple free weights. The town itself did not have a gym either; I would have paid extra if they did! Being healthy and working out is very important to me. Besides running, I had to improvise at times using a huge pot as a medicine ball, the couch ottoman for dips, etc. This is the one thing the program really should invest in.

I just said a bunch of things that are negative. It's true: classes were tough and stress was high. But I look back on it all now and am so proud of how I overcame all of it. I made it through my classes with good grades, even when I had to do school work for 10 hours a day, write my blog in the time I had between, plan my trips, try to work out, stay in touch with those I love half way around the world, and the list goes on. If something got me upset, I only let it get to me for a couple of days and then I forced myself to move on. I wasn't going to let anything or anyone put a damper on my time abroad. I solved all those stressful situations that popped up planning trips and during the trips themselves. And I made the most of every opportunity that presented itself, even if it didn't go my way.

What I will take away from it all is the feeling of confidence in myself and my abilities. And this is my favorite part of the trip. I have truly grown as a person. I have changed in such a positive way. My independence has increased and I feel self assured. It's the best feeling.

Now getting to one of the biggest reasons I went abroad: TRAVELING!! 

Oh and how spectacular it was!! 13 different countries!! 28 cities!! The fact that I've been there and done all that is still unbelievable to me. At times it seems like a dream. 

What more can I say about all the places I went to. Every place was truly special and unique from the rest. People ask me all the time what my favorite place was. But oh man that's a toughie! I will say that as time went on and I became a more experienced traveler, I came to find I enjoyed the smaller cities better. Don't get me wrong, the big cities like Paris, Barcelona, and Vienna were incredible! But with the smaller cities like Lisbon, Prague, and Edinburgh I felt more relaxed and I didn't have to rush to see all the big sites. There was still a lot to see in these cities, but I was able to take my time seeing it all. I also felt more authentic culture in the smaller cities because they were not commercialized.

Also sometimes it was the places I knew hardly anything about that became my favorites. I'd go in with no expectations and come to find out Wow, this place rocks! I enjoyed the couple times I traveled by myself as well. It's very peaceful going at your own pace and I was able to blend in with the locals. It took me a while to find that group of people to travel with who really cared about my opinions and what I wanted to see, but when I did finally find them, it was some of the best times traveling with them too! And on top of all that, getting the opportunity to travel with my family was so wonderful. We had a great time and grew closer while enjoying the sites (and food!) together!

Like I said earlier, I had to deal with a lot of stress. What really helped me was going into every city's cathedral or church and saying prayers. Some people viewed them as a tourist destination, and I did as well but I also used it as time to talk to God. A time to take a step back from everything and just be with Him. It refreshed my spirit and made me feel better. Besides, how could I not feel rejuvenated surrounded by such beauty? Every cathedral/church was gorgeous.
 
Jeez... I loved it all! It's hard to find the right words. All I can say is I am so blessed to have been able to have the opportunity to travel like this. I got to see more of the world than I thought I ever would.

One place that will always hold a special place in my heart... my home: Riva San Vitale. The best little town there ever was. A couple bars, shops, houses, and that's about it. I'd wake up every morning and could look at the Swiss Alps outside my window. I'd take a walk to the lake and sometimes just think about things. It was beautiful. Picturesque. I'd have to say as a whole, Switzerland became my home.

When I initially got home, I was a bit out of sorts. First of all, the jet lag seemed impossible to overcome. I would wake up at 6:30am (really 12:30pm according to Switzerland time) and fall asleep around 9pm. I felt like a little child. It took me probably two weeks to fully get over the jet lag. Another thing that was a challenge was resisting the urge to take pictures every time I ate. I got so used to doing that for my blog, it just seemed natural to continue taking pictures haha.

When I was abroad, I had three and a half months of missing my boyfriend. Three and a half months imagining the moment we would finally be together again and I could be in his arms. I loved him so much and could not wait to be with him. But when I got home, I soon found out it wasn't the same for him. Shortly after being home, my boyfriend broke up with me. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt and if I said that it doesn't hurt even now. It made me question a lot of things... but one thing it will never make me question is if it was worth it to go abroad. That will always be a yes. I have no regrets about my decision to go abroad, no regrets about my time over there, but it doesn't mean I'm not sad about losing my boyfriend. All that being said, he is a truly great person and I will always want the best for him. 

No more about that. I got to see all my friends again!! It was so good being able to catch up with all of them. I still have some people I need to hang out with! And also since it was the holidays (I was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas) I got to see most of my family as well! I had a 7 week break. I went down to Virginia Tech for a couple days, but mostly stayed at home. And gosh, it felt so nice being home! Sleeping in my own bed. Seeing everyone again. Going to the gym! (Thank goodness! I was out of shape!) And just everything. 

It's hard though, at times I really miss it all. I miss the freedom of going where ever I want. On the weekends it's strange to just stay home and not be traveling. I miss the people who went abroad with me. I miss the amazing food while traveling. And I really miss my town, Riva San Vitale. 

My views have changed. I feel more open to the world around me, more experienced in real life situations, and more grateful for everyone and everything in my life. I'm hopeful about my next chapter. I don't know where my life will take me, but I'm open to where ever it may go. I have a year and a half of school left, so I'll be focusing on that for now. But after that, who knows? I hope at some point I get the chance to travel more. Go to different countries and continents. See more of the world out there. I hope I can go back to some of the places I saw abroad as well, but it would be very hard to choose where to go back to since I enjoyed every place. 

But for now, I'm content. I'm so happy with my time studying abroad. What a positive influence it was for me. I made the most of my trip and I just can't believe it's over... it's unreal.

I also can't believe this is my last blog post either. Ciao! Au Revoir! Adeus! Adiós! Auf Wiedersehen! Afscheid! Sbohem! Goodbye!

To the top of the UK we go! Edinburgh, Scotland!

The train up to Edinburgh, Scotland was beautiful. I slept for half of the way there, but for the second half of the ride I was up chatting with my family and could not stop taking pictures of the scenery!

We arrived in Edinburgh mid afternoon. We got off the train and wandered through the city to find our hotel. I was immediately enchanted by the atmosphere, the buildings all bunched together, and the tiny streets in Edinburgh. It was unlike any place I had been to thus far and I already loved it! So did my family :)

We found our hotel pretty easily. The staff were very friendly and kept trying to help my mom pronounce Edinburgh correctly. They offered us a complementary drink (my dad and brother had a beer, my mom had hot tea, and I had hot chocolate!!)

The staff showed us to our rooms and we were in awe! The rooms were super modern! A speaker system that could connect to our phones, high lofted comfy beds, a large flat screen tv, a huge flat shower head in the bathroom, and all the furniture had black and white furnishings. This was by far the nicest hotel I had ever stayed in. The hotel was actually an old bank back in the day and had been renovated and turned into the hotel it is today with only nine rooms and a pub on the ground floor. We were all very happy with the accommodations :)

By this time we were very hungry. My dad looked into good places to eat and read about a delicious potato bar. So we went there since it was a mid day snack. We all ordered baked potatoes with the toppings of our choice. The girl who ordered in front of us got one with guacamole on it. I thought that seemed like an interesting combo so I ordered my baked potato with guacamole and cheddar cheese. It was absolutely delicious, the best potato I ever had haha. The rest of my family got there's with chili inside.

We didn't have anything on the agenda for the rest of the day, so it was our time to explore the city just as the sun was beginning to set. We walked up and down what is called the Royal Mile.The Royal Mile is the main street in Old Town Edinburgh. At one end at the top of the hill is Edinburgh Castle and at the other end at the bottom is the palace where the royal family stays when they come to Edinburgh. The street is lined with little shops selling traditional Scottish scarves, jewelry, whiskey, and other items. There are also Scottish pubs along the street as well. The atmosphere is incredibly lively and welcoming for visitors. Our hotel was in the perfect location in the middle of the Royal Mile. :)

We took our time wandering the street, going in and out of stores. We made our way up to the top of the hill to see Castle Hill. It was cool to see it at night time because the following day we were going inside the castle!

Excited about everything around us, we made the walk down to the other end of the Royal Mile. As the name states it's not a long walk, only a mile. We went right up to the gates of the residence for the Royal family. Although it was dark, we could tell that the place was luxuriously  spacious. We enjoyed walking around and getting to see all there was to see in this area. 

Believe it or not, we still weren't tired. We decided why not check out the newer areas of Edinburgh. We crossed the street over into the new parts and we really weren't impressed. All of the charm of Old Town Edinburgh was replaced fancy department store shops and international food restaurants. We only spent a short time over here, finally the cold, all the walking, and our hunger was starting to get to us. 

So we crossed back over the bridge and went into a pub right across from our hotel to grab some food. The two workers from the potato bar were at the bar after their shift and they remembered us a couple hours earlier getting food there so that was funny. I wasn't too hungry since we ate a bit ago, but I was hungry for dessert!! I ordered some tomato soup, but my main meal was my waffle, ice cream, raspberry, chocolate and caramel sauce dessert!

That was the end of our first day. We went back to our rooms and relaxed. I showered under the best shower head in history haha. Then my brother and I watched some NCIS since it was the only thing on the TV until we fell asleep. I kept messing around with him and putting on a Scottish soap opera haha which he would quickly take the remote and change it back to NCIS.

Day 4:

After a very restful nights sleep, we woke up in search of a place to get breakfast. We walked a short distance down the street to a pastry shop. My mom and I were going to order a fruit cup with a croissant... but I happened to see the price was double for those items if you ate inside the restaurant instead of taking it to go. So my mom and I took our food back to the room and ate facing the window watching the street below. This is when we saw something I have never seen before...

I noticed the night before there was a young homeless man on the street corner across from our hotel. He was so young, I felt bad for him. I woke up the next morning and saw that he was still there. Or so I thought. Mid way through breakfast, the "homeless man" stood up and walks across the street. He hands off his blanket and a couple of other items to another man. This man then goes to the same street corner the "homeless man" was previously sitting at and takes up that exact same spot. He puts a cup out for money as the previous man walks away looking like a normal resident of the city. I was shocked!! Had I just witnessed a total heist?! It turns out I had. There were slightly different looking people on that corner the next couple times I had been by it. We asked our hotel receptionists and they said that it was most likely gang members that had to meet a quota of money. Looks like Edinburgh had a slightly other side of it than I had seen before! It was crazy to witness something like that. Needless to say, we did not give these "homeless men" any money.

The first stop of the day... 

We were all excited to see the castle during the daytime and go inside since it looked remarkable the night before. And it looked just as remarkable during the daytime! :D We got a very good family picture with the castle in the background!

Walking under the main gate, we paid for entrance and then went along the wall of the castle. We lucked out on the perfect day to go into the castle. It is full of fantastic views because it is at the top of the city. Although it was very cold outside, the sky was crystal clear.

We got in there in perfect timing for a tour of the castle grounds. It was the first time our tour guide gave a tour actually, but he was very informative. In his thick Scottish accent, he told us all about the layout of the castle. He also told us about past kings and queens, there are so many of them they blend together. 

He gave us a brief overview of it all before leaving us on our own to go into all the buildings for ourselves. There was so much to see!! The end of his tour was stopped in the main square of the castle. We went into one building which spoke about the lines of succession and about the crown jewels of Scotland. The jewels were actually hidden from the outside world for over 100 years so they would not be destroyed when the castle was taken over. Although maybe not as lavish as the Crown Jewels in London, the  Crown Jewels of Scotland (no longer used today) were a beautiful sight!

We went into different buildings afterwards. The oldest chapel in Scotland, the war memorial building, prisoner quarters, a whiskey tasting area, and much more. All of us enjoyed wandering around the castle :)

Every place we went, we got more and more history on Scotland's past and we all liked learning about it. It was medieval and old, but still felt alive. I could picture what the castle was like back in it's days of use. I was even behind bars at one point haha.

I was sad to leave the castle because I was having such a fun time inside, but it was time to go. The coldness of the day was starting to get to us and it was time for a good lunch in a nice, warm place. We ate just a ways down the street on the Royal Mile and I ordered a delicious club sandwich with chips (aka french fries in the UK.) The restuarant was beautifully decorated for Christmas! We stayed in there for a while until we were all thawed out and ready for the next adventure of the day!

For this we had to head back over the bridge and cross into the newer area of Edinburgh briefly before continuing farther. We were heading to Calton Hill which is the headquarters of the Scottish Government and a hill full of famous monuments.

There were a bunch of sites to see up here. The first thing we did was go to the left and look at the overview. From up there we got a great view of the royal family's residence and also the inactive volcano just beyond!

Then moving back to the middle, the coolest monument I've seen thus far being abroad was just standing alone. I found out later it was called the National Monument. It was really fun because we could climb on it and take some neat pictures. It overlooked a beautiful view to the left... and that view went as far as the eye could see. Those two little figures in the pictures are my brother and I. And the last one is an epic pose of me showing off my nicely sculpted muscles haha.

Being on that hill was pretty much incredible. The wind was whipping and bitter, but the views were unparalleled. A big smile came across my face when I looked over to my family at one point and saw them standing close talking and pointing about something in the distance. It just felt so good to be altogether. I missed them so much.

The sun was beginning to set and we definitely did not want to be caught on our walk back to our hotel without the sun, it was just too cold. As we were leaving the hill, I got an epic shot.

We walked quickly back to our hotel to warm up. I drank some hot cocoa to help myself thaw out. Once we were all warm enough, we set back out again. Not on another wild adventure, we were pretty tired from the day. Instead we took a quick walk to part of the University of Edinburgh. If I pictured what a traditional college would look like, I would picture something like this one. It had that college feel and the buildings were old brick architecture. It was also a perfect location right in town. Philip said he could have seen himself going there.

It was now time for dinner and we were having a bit of trouble finding a good place to eat. We finally came along this tiny Scottish pub on a side street. I ordered the vegetable pie with peas and chips... it had to have been one of the best meals I had this week traveling! It was so tasty! The food got everyone back in high spirits and we ended the night on a great note :)

We hurriedly walked back to the hotel as it had gotten even colder outside. Once inside, I think I had more hot chocolate and took a shower before going to bed. Today had to have been one of my favorites from my trip with my family. We all truly had a great day and loved all the sites we got to see. It made me feel very blessed for the opportunity to travel with them.

Day 5:

We woke up and went to a different place for breakfast this morning. Again, the place had pretty Christmas decorations and the morning we were there they had gotten their Christmas tree in. I decided to order the pancakes with banana and strawberry. That had to have been one of the best breakfast choices I had made on this trip haha.

That morning we took it easy. We went to the St. Giles Cathedral which we had passed several times on the Royal Mile. Man was it something else. We were all silent as we took our time going through the church. The stain glass was very impressive and colorful. There were also Scottish banners and flags throughout; it added a unique feeling to the church. The organ dominated a side of the church with it's massive silver structure. My family had not seen a European cathedral before, I loved getting to see their expressions to it all.

After our time in the cathedral, we walked up and down the Royal Mile one last time. My mom and I got soft cashmere scarfs with tartan prints, my brother got two really nice ties with the tartan prints as well, and my dad got Scotch! The man selling the Scotch was very challenging to understand. He spoke so quickly in his thick Scottish accent. But nonetheless, he was able to help my dad get what he wanted. We were all very happy with what we got :)

But now the sad part... leaving Edinburgh. I think we were all sad to leave. We were all pleasantly surprised how much we loved this city. Like I said, this city was unlike any I had been to before and I hope that at some point in the future I get the chance to go back. Although we were leaving, we left on a very happy note. And it wasn't like our trip was over yet! It was time to head back to London for more adventures there! So we got on our (delayed) train and made our way back to England. We picked the perfect day for our train ride as well... it was the only time during our whole trip that it stormed! So we missed out on that while we were on our peaceful train ride back and got to see more of the great scenery we saw on the way to Edinburgh a few days earlier!

MY FAMILY IS HERE!! :) London, England

Day 1:

With heavily mixed emotions, I left Riva San Vitale on the morning of November 16th. The previous night was full of sharing memories, laughs, and a few tears as well. There was a delicious good-bye dinner and a PowerPoint full of pictures from the semester. Afterwards, all the students went out for one last night in the town. I think I was ready to be done with school and not have anymore work to do, but I wasn't ready to leave such a beautiful, peaceful town. However the following morning, I did have something very exciting to look forward to... I had a lay over in London for a week and I was going to be meeting my FAMILY there!! :D I was beyond excited, after 3 and a half months I was so anxious to finally see them again!

I had a short delay in the Milan airport, but that felt like forever to me. When we finally touched down, it was time for me to say good-bye to the Riva students that were continuing home. I thought I would be able to see my family right away, but I had to go through London Border Check, wait for my luggage, and then go through customs. As I left customs, I could see people lined up along the railings waiting for loved ones. I scanned the crowd and then I spotted her... my mom! I instantly started tearing up and called out to her. She looked at me with zero recognition on her face. I had my hair in a pony tail, my glasses on, my hiking backpack on my back, my school backpack on my front, trailing along my suitcase, and with all that it was hard to recognize me. But as soon as she did, she ran under the railings and gave me a hug. We both cried. Then I hugged my dad and cried more. And then my brother and cried some more.

When I was settled down enough to figure out what we had to do next, we got all our luggage and caught a bus to a tube (metro) station. The unfortunate thing is the tube was not working from the airport that night, so we had to get the bus. There was an incredible amount of traffic on the roads, so it took a long time to get to the tube station we were heading to. And then lugging luggage around was quite a challenge as well trying to figure out their metro system.

We caught the right metro and were greeted by a man who had clearly been drinking before he had gotten on. He was shooting welcome to London to us and befriended my dad. It was a funny welcoming to the UK.

Stopping in Victoria Station, we were incredibly confused which way to exit and by the enormous amounts of people bustling about. We left and it took us some time to find our hotel (and yes I said hotel!! Finally no more hostels!!) and when we did we were so relieved. It had been a long day for all of us, especially my family who had a long plane ride getting to England. We settled into our rooms (my mom and dad in one and my brother and I in another) and then went back out for food!

We got recommendations from our hotel for a good close place to eat and went to The Belgravia. In there I got a big burger and a side salad. Felt good to have food like that! My brother got a burger as well and both him and my dad ordered beers... a trend that happened for most of the trip haha. It was funny that the sport on the television was darts. You would not see darts as the sport to watch in many American bars.

After a big dinner, my dad and I took a walk a couple blocks down the street. It was so good to talk with him and catch up on how we've both been. Although cold, the walk was very enjoyable. We passed by a house where Mozart once lived and the streets were full of Christmas lights. This was another thing we'd noticed throughout our time in the UK. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so once November hits they start setting up for Christmas. So Christmas decorations were set up everywhere we went. It just made the whole experience more enchanting.

After our walk, we went back to the hotel. I took a nice, long shower and then went to bed. We had a day of sightseeing ahead of us and we were all tired.

Day 2:

We got a continental breakfast at our hotel, so we woke up and headed down there around 9. Boy oh boy, this breakfast was amazing. We got our choice of the traditional breakfast (sausage, bacon, eggs, grilled vegetable, and beans) or the continental breakfast (choice of cereal or porridge, fresh fruit, and yogurt). We also had an abundance of toast and jams, small pastries, orange juice, and coffee or tea. It was the breakfast of champions to say the least! Throughout our time there, I mixed up what I ate every morning.

On this particular day, our main plan was to see the Tower of London! I just thought it was going to be some big tower and that's it... but I was totally wrong. It was the old section of London, full of different buildings, castles, and the residence of the Crown Jewels all surrounded by a large stone wall.

When we got in the gates, our first stop was in the White Tower. This building was the old residence of past kings and queens. It now holds a huge amount of used armor and old battle weapons. We went on a tour of the building and learned a lot about what it was like back in its days of use.

Our next stop in the gates was the building that housed The Crown Jewels. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside, but I don't think pictures would have done the jewels justice. We walked inside the building and were shown family diagrams of past rulers and how the jewels had changed with time during the different reigns. Then we saw a video of Queen Elizabeth II's from 1953. The rituals and outfits all seemed so lavish and powerful. I couldn't imagine the amount of pressure put on her at only age 25. 

Then the best part of the building: the jewels. Before we saw the crowns, we went through an area of jeweled swords and sabers, gold plates and serving dishes, and beautifully decorated robes. On a conveyer belt around the corner, we moved through the section with the crowns. They are almost indescribable... huge gemstones of various colors aligned along the crowns (emeralds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, etc). They're structures were made of gold or silver with a backing of plush fabric of royal colors such as red, purple, or blue. It was truly special. My mom and I went back to the beginning of the conveyer belt to see it all one more time. 

I exited that building in shock. I had never seen anything like that. The Crown Jewels were incredible and far exceeding my expectations, but at the same time I couldn't help but feel like the amount of money for all their jewels was absurd. I would see throughout my time in London that pomp and circumstance was a common theme. 

We walked around the Tower of London for a bit longer. We entered into an area that once held the exotic royal beasts of the kings and queens. Leopards, lions, elephants, zebras, ostriches, monkeys, polar bears, and grizzly bears were all once "pets" in the tower. We also went into the area where prisoners were held and torture was conducted. Some of it was sickening to read about. The last area we went in the Tower was an old chapel used for protestant ceremonies. Although it was cold outside, we enjoyed exploring this historic area.

 

Just before we left this area, we got an amazing view of Tower Bridge. A truly elaborate bridge, my brother and I got a really good picture with it in the background :)

ostrich

We left this area all hungry and made the mistake of not getting something to eat right away. Our moods all drastically changed as we walked around on empty stomachs and we learned that on our next excursions we needed to make sure we ate more often. It was not worth getting in grumpy moods. 

Our next plan was to walk across London Bridge! I had high hopes of what London Bridge would look like... except when we got there, it was nothing special haha. It was a simple concrete bridge. The bridge we probably should have explored is Tower Bridge, but we got a good view of that bridge and the city while on London Bridge. We strolled along the bridge as dusk was setting in.

On the other side of the water, my dad had looked into a pub crawl we could go on. It centered around pubs that famous people often frequented. The first one we went to was called The George. This pub was the favorite of none other than William Shakespeare! It was exactly what you'd picture an old London pub to look like. It was cozy on the inside and my dad and brother enjoyed a good beer here.

The next stop on our pub crawl got us to The Market Porter, a pub where scenes of Harry Potter was filmed. It was very quaint inside, full of liquor/beer labels. We got a small nook in the bar to sit down and my brother and dad enjoyed another beer. They started to make a list of all the different beer they tried while over there.

Our stomachs started to really give us trouble because we were really hungry, but the problem was that a lot of these pubs did not serve dinner. We ventured around a bit more, passing by a bar named The Anchor (which reminded me of my sorority since our symbol is the anchor) and going inside a bar called The Black Friar. This was such a strange little building... it made me feel like I was truly in London. It was a small triangular structure that was in between two roads. We tried to eat here, but it was very crowded and understandably so since it was so unique.

We finally settled on getting back on the metro to go back to our hotel area. We ate at a place called the Traveler's Tavern which was really close to the train station. I ordered probably the most traditional food there is to have in London: Fish and Chips!! So yummy! The cod was huge and very tasty and the chips (as in French fries) were good as well!

After eating until we were content, we headed back to our hotel pretty wiped out. We were tired from the long day outside in the cold, but we had a great day! We got to see the Tower of London and experience some of the traditional pubs. I would say it was an awesome first full day in London.

Day 3:

We woke up to another wonderful breakfast. We packed up a couple things and checked out of the hotel because we had a great adventure planned! We would be leaving London for a few days and going up to Edinburgh, Scotland!! It was a good way to break up the trip and we didn't know what to expect from Edinburgh. We rushed a little bit to King's Crossing train station to catch our train. I got to see a special sight even in the train station...

I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan, but it was still a cool site to see!! We boarded the train and had about a 4 hour train ride ahead of us...

...

Day 5:

We arrived back in London a bit later than expected because of the delayed train. At this point it was only drizzling outside and we made our way back to our hotel. It was convenient we got to store all our big suitcases here while we were in Edinburgh. For these next 3 nights the family room was available so we all stayed in one room. We resettled our stuff before taking a walk to go find food.

It was dark outside as we walked through the neighborhood of Belgravia (where our hotel was). Let me just say this was one expensive place to live. We looked at house listings outside the realtor and were blown away by the prices. This area is also the home to many foreign embassies. One thing my brother and dad could not get over was the exotic, expensive cars that lined the streets in this area. Porsche's, Ferrari's, Audi's, BMW's, and some things I had never heard of before!

My dad heard of a pub he really wanted to check out. When we got there it was super packed, but it seemed like a fun atmosphere. The place was decorated so cool, with old photos, old news clip, and other knick knacks. The only problem was they only had about 3 things on their menu that they actually served at dinner. I was pretty disappointed in my meal and I felt bad because I made a big deal about it. But I guess over a week long family vacation, something is bound not to go well... I'm just thankful it was only one meal that I didn't like.

We got back to our room, showered, and hung out together watching tv and chatting before going to bed.

Day 6:

After eating another yummy continental breakfast, we left to visit the British Museum. The outside was impressive, but I found the inside ceiling to be the most unique architectural aspect of the building.

This museum was full of historic artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, China, India, etc. We walked through these exhibits for a bit, but it was quite overwhelming because there was so much to see in this area. Before we got too tired, we changed course to check out other areas of the museum. We went into a section dedicated to old clocks and how they looked internally. That section was so cool and the clocks were very intricate. Another area we went into was about money throughout time, focusing on ancient currencies and preventing counterfeit currencies today. But eventually my family and I got tired so after an hour or two we left to get lunch.

We went to a place called The Museum Tavern which a pub visited often by Karl Marxwas again decorated for the Christmas season! Before our meals came out, there was the game pick-up-sticks sitting on the cabinet behind us so my brother and I played a game of it which I hadn't in quite some time. (I won!) The food was very good, I ordered scampi and chips this time!

My dad and I got a great picture together at the table. A good father-daughter picture :)

After lunch, my dad wanted to find another pub he had looked up. It is one of the oldest pubs in London, dating back to 1623 called The Lamb and Flag. The famous Charles Dickens enjoyed going to this pub! My dad and brother drank a beer while my mom and I got hot mulled cider! It was very very good! We drank up and headed for the direction of the London Eye.

When I first heard the name "London Eye" I really had no clue what it was haha. But as we planned our trips I found out it was the famous, giant Ferris wheel that provides one of the best views of London! We could see it from far away and I was very excited to go on it. The sun was beginning to set on the city and we wanted to make sure we got to the Eye with some daylight left. The London Eye itself was a cool site to see, much less be able to go on it!

My brother and I went on together. We got put in a big bubble capsule that is almost all window so anywhere you are inside you can get a view of the city. London is one huge city, probably the biggest I visited while abroad, and I couldn't wait to see it from above! To make a complete rotation takes about half an hour. There were little screens you could navigate to tell you what buildings and areas of London you were looking at. We ended up going on the Eye at the perfect time! Just as the sun was setting, we got a view of London with the last glimpses of daylight and as the wheel came to the end of it's rotation it was dark out. We got to see the city lit up and Big Ben was in clear view. My brother and I loved it. We kept taking pictures but eventually stopped because we wanted to take it all in. It was sincerely phenomenal!

My brother and I didn't want it to be over when the time came. I'll always remember our awe each time we looked out a different part of the capsule and saw a new view. It was something special.

We met back up with our parents full of cheer telling them how amazing it was and thanking them for the experience. Before we went on the Eye, we walked through a Christmas market. Now we had time to go through it at a leisurely pace and see what vendors were selling at each stand. I love looking through stuff like that, but it wasn't long before the chill of the night got to us and we were ready to head back to our hotel. We had to cross a bridge to get back to the metro station and I was able to capture an awesome photo of the London Eye with the evening skyline.

We caught the metro and asked our hotel receptionist for a place near the hotel he'd recommend for dinner. We ended up going to a very fancy restaurant and I could hardly understand some of the things on the menu. I ended up getting very embarrassed asking the waiter what items meant and if there was just a normal salad I could eat. He seemed so confused by a "normal" salad. Meh! After all the pub food, I just wanted a healthy salad. Well he was a nice guy and whipped up something special for me. I had a very good spinach salad with pumpkin and pear soup. I was very pleased with my meal, but man was it a struggle lol.

Once back in our hotel room after dinner, we kind of crashed. We were all starting to feel a little worn from the trip and traveling, but we were having a wonderful time together. We took showers and watched the UK version of "America's Funniest Home Videos". Laughing together was a great way to end another great day :)

Day 7:

Again another day of good breakfast! We planned this day to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. For me, I thought it was going to be a quick ceremony as the guards of the gate changed out and we'd mostly be going there to see the palace itself. I didn't expect the Changing the Guard Ceremony to be as long and drawn out as it was. First, about two or three different battalions with maybe 30 guards each and a couple horses as well marched in separately through the main gates. Then a process of about 30 minutes takes place in the gates as the guards switch places and trumpets blare. Then another long process as the guards leave the palace with the music sounding. The whole thing took at least an hour if not more.

I don't want to sound negative, it was a pretty cool sight to see! But I felt like it was a waste. This happens every other day during the winter months and every day during the summer. To me I just couldn't believe that. Personally, I feel like the government and royal community need to evaluate the necessity of it. The ceremony felt very pompous to me, especially since it happens every day (or every other day). If they cut back on the extravagance of it all, I'm sure it would save huge amounts of money that could help the countless homeless people we encountered in the UK. It was all just too much. But that didn't stop the crowds of people from coming to see the ceremony, just as we had.

Since it was a very long production, by the time it was over I was freezing. My toes had gone numb at this point. I made us stop in a little souvenir shop before continuing. Afterwards we walked a ways to Westminster Abbey!! I was excited see what it looked like inside because walking up to it the outside was already beautiful! When we got up to it we saw that for this particular day it was not open for another hour... well that just gave us the perfect opportunity for lunch!

We went to a pub close by to the church and sat at a pretty cramped table. But that did not matter too much to me because the food was so good! I ordered a falafel burger! I had only had falafel's two times in my life, once in Amsterdam and once in Berlin. I really liked it so a smile came across my face when I saw it was one the menu.

Once finished, we left and went back to Westminster Abbey. There was a bit of a line so my dad struck up a conversation with the people in front of us. The woman casually said she did not know how to react when she met Charles so all she said was "Happy birthday!" We were like "huh?" And she went on to explain they were at Prince Charles birthday dinner last night like it was nothing haha.

We were pretty close to the entrance of the church when we noticed something we had not before... the prices. My entire trip abroad, the only church I had to pay to get into was the Sagrada Familia (because they needed the money to pay for the continued construction cost as the church is still being built. I think I had been about $12 USD). Well the price to Westminster Abbey was 16 pounds... that's close to $30 USD. Each. Are you kidding me? For our family to go in it would have been more than $100 USD. We all were in mutual agreement that it was extremely overpriced and in our eyes not worth it although to many people it is. It was a shame but I liked seeing the outside. Even that is very elegant.

We left and strolled just across the street to see the Parliament buildings and Big Ben! We explored this area for a bit with fascination. I do not know a whole lot on architecture, but these buildings were very cool looking. I liked that we got to see them up close.

And with that big icon, we decided to call it a day. Like I said earlier, we were starting to get a bit worn out. We went back to our hotel and my mom and I drank hot tea to warm ourselves up. When we felt warm again, we took a stroll together through the neighborhood we were staying in. We walked down the street, looking into the little shops that were closed for the day. There were clothes, furniture, random trinket stores, all sorts of things. We spent a long time peering through the windows of a place that sold ancient fossils and crystal rock formations. It was a simple thing, walking down the street, but I really enjoyed just chatting and looking at what there was to see together. It started to drizzle so we decided to get dinner.

We actually went back to the place we ate the very first night in London, but it was a full house. With no seats available, we went looking for somewhere else to eat. Well it was busy everywhere. We walked back to the original place and got so lucky! There was a big group of people leaving and we snatched up their table. And believe it or not it was the same table we sat at the first night :) I had to order fish and chips since it was our last night in London. Philip ordered that too except the huge size haha his fish must have been double mine. (So big part of it was cut out of the picture!)

My brother, dad, and I all drank a beer. We had a cheers and reflected on our family trip. I felt so blessed to have this experience with them and I know we all enjoyed our time. My favorite part was how close we got during our week vacation together. It was a much more mature trip than we'd been on before (normally it's the beach or something like that) but this was different. It was something unique and exciting that we got to experience as a family. And I couldn't have been happier.

Before we left the pub, there was a dessert that caught my eye the first night we were there and I knew I had to try it out. I think more because of the name haha it was called the "Traditional Spotted Dick Dessert". I ordered it and it was absolutely delicious! A type of cake with raisins smothered in melting custard sauce. I made everyone try a bite and we all liked it.

We went back to our hotel room, took showers, and made sure our bags were mostly all packed for the following day. It was weird for me to think this was the last time I'd be packing my bags for a trip during my time abroad, this trip for the way back home. 

Day 8:

We woke up and had one last satisfying breakfast. Since our flight was not until the early evening, we had some time to go out for a little bit. My mom wanted to see Harrods, this well-known upmarket department store just a few blocks from our hotel. We walked there and along the way we saw some of the most luxurious stores. You name just about any high end designer brand and it was along these streets. And most certainly no ordinary person walking the street could get in or be expected to get waited on. There were men in suits standing by the doors, only to let the well dressed and high class people into their stores. As I walked by with my yoga pants on and zero make up, they just stared me down. It actually made me feel very self-conscious and I know they were looking at us like no way are you getting in. It reminded me of Pretty Women and the scene when she's trying to buy clothes from a store but isn't helped because of the way she was dressed. Such a classic scene when she walks back in all fancy and shows them off... but this is exactly what these stores were like.

Harrods is a huge store! As we were walking up to it, there were crowds of people outside. We made our way inside and were overwhelmed. When we had space to ourselves we tried to sort out where we were in the store. Believe it or not, they handed out maps as a guide. We decided to go to the fine jewelry section. Wow, was the stuff there absolutely gorgeous. We were not allowed to take pictures, but the jewels were so lavish and large! And from the ceilings hung crystal chandeliers. Moving into the next room were expensive watches. There was one that cost over 750,000 pounds which is over $1.2 million USD. Seriously, who needs a watch that expensive? Donate some of your money if you have that much extra cash lying around you can buy a watch over $1.2 million. And it wasn't even a good-looking watch! haha

My parents went into the food section of Harrods (which was packed!) and got my grandpa some items. He used to live in London for a time and remembers the store Harrods, so we thought it would be a nice Christmas present to surprise him with a few things from there. We tried to go to the toy section because we were interested what we might find there, but it was just super crowded. We had our fill of the hustle and bustle of the store and decided to leave. My mom and I were fascinated by the beautifully decorated window displays lining the building of Harrods. It was quite an experience going to a store like that.

Something caught my dad's eye just across the street. Cars. And no ordinary cars. It was a McLaren car dealer and to get into the show room it said by appointment only. No Joe Schmo was going to get in there. The cars were so exotic, my dad looked like he was star struck!

And with that we headed back to our hotel. We walked through the streets of London one last time and I could not help but feel sad to be leaving. The hotel got us a cab to get to the metro with all our luggage and we were on the metro for about 40 minutes to take us to the outskirts of London to the airport. The guy sitting next to me had his music blaring, which must have been killing his ears because we could all hear it quite easily. His choice of music was techno, but I heard Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball in the mix as well.

We got off the metro and had a few errands to take care of while in the airport. My dad went to a place to get a tax deduction on his whiskey and then they had to return our metro Oyster passes. Trying to get through security, my boarding pass wouldn't scan (stuff like this always happens to me) so I had to go to another place to get my pass validated. We ate one last meal in the airport and used up the last of our UK pounds. I had a quesadilla and a smoothie!! The first I had either in months! And I kept the little giraffe :)

Before we knew it, it was time to head to our terminal. It was too surreal. I did not know what to think. My thoughts were all jumbled as we got closer to departure. It was hard for me to know what to do. I'm leaving? But wait... it feels like I got to Europe only a couple weeks ago. 3 months can not have already gone by. It was difficult to come to terms with that. I did not want to leave, but at the same time I did. There were so many people I could not wait to see back home, so that was what I focused on. We passed underneath a sign of a solider saluting us goodbye, that was strange too.

As we were about to board the plane, of course I get pulled aside for a "random" search. Like I said, this type of stuff always happens to me. So this lady patted me down, searched my bag, and I was free to board. My family got better class seat than I did; I had to sit in the crowded back of the plane. I go up to my seat (which was an aisle thank goodness!) and someone was sitting in it. When I told him that was my seat, he got all huffy. I stood my ground and people started to stare, but no way did I want to sit crowded between people on an eight hour plane ride. Finally he moved over.

For the ride home, I could not think about anything. I wanted to go over my time abroad in my head, but it was too overwhelming. So I decided not to think at all. I watched two movies, Man of Steel and Monsters University and ate the crappy airplane food. I just was in a daze. When our plane touched down, I felt in a bigger daze. I was mechanical getting my stuff together. This was really it. Despite the feelings of sadness, there were those of excitement as well. I was home.

Honestly though, my family meeting me over in London was the perfect transition for me. I was still traveling, but I was with my family. So instead of going home abruptly and all of a sudden seeing my family, I eased into the situation. It all worked out so well for them to come over and I can speak for all of us when I say it was such a fun trip together. The best part is how close we got through the week. We got to experience so much as a family and the sites we got to see were really amazing. I will always remember this trip with my family, and little details about it that made it such a wonderful time. I could not have asked for more, I loved it <3