Farewell, London!

It was hard to leave London. Everything was done in such a rush. I was up late packing and only got 3 hours of sleep before having to wake up to get to the airport. I woke up 10 minutes before my cab arrived that was supposed to take me to the airport. I said my goodbyes quickly, trying to blink away any tear that came to my eye. I rode away from my home in the cab by myself and got to see me last views of London. It was truly an amazing city. There was no way that I could have seen all of it in my visit. This is precisely why London is such a great place. It has everything--incredible theatres, free art and history museums, live music joints all across the city, beautiful gardens and parks, astonishing architecture, delicious food, interesting people, more history than can be absorbed and atmosphere. London is a place where you can find yourself and see how you fit in the world.

Sitting at home, it strikes me how easy it is to leave a country. I was packed, I said goodbye, I got on a plane and then I was gone. It was so simple--too simple. I miss it all already. The only solution is to revisit London. As sad as I am to be away from Europe, the more I can anticipate my return. And, to everyone out there who has read this blog, thank you. I've enjoyed writing it. Also, I hope that you don't think your own adventure in Europe is an impossibility. The only thing standing between you and the city you've always wanted to visit is an airplane ride. Don't get weighed down by the obstacles. Trust me, it is worth the cost... This has been an experience that I will remember forever. I hope you are encouraged to go have your own adventures in Europe!
All the best
-Ammanda

Proof that I "studied" abroad

I've heard many conspiracy theories that say I am doing very little studying while I am abroad. Some people have even gone so far to say that this trip was a prolonged vacation in disguise. I beg to differ. It is true that I have visited many new places. I had to balance my travels with time for studying. Since I had to keep up with the readings I was assigned, I read anywhere I got a chance: on the tube, buses, on airplanes, even on the beach in Barcelona. I even read in Regent's Park.

 Here I am in Regent's Park on a nice date in late March. It was one of the first days that the sun appeared for more than one hour. I took advantage of London's beautiful parks instead of reading inside.

This may look posed, but don't allow yourself to be fooled. I was working on a paper for my Shakespeare on Stage class and my friend took a picture of me. This is the computer lab we had access to as a part of our program. I am smiling because studying isn't as tiresome when it's happening in London! 

Today I submitted the last essay of my undergraduate degree! I was so happy. I am offically done with my coursework for my BA. What a perfect ending to a great semester? It doesn't get any better; submitting my last essay in front of Big Ben was priceless.

A Few Days in Dublin

Every weekend trip, I stay in hostels because they are less expensive. The accommodations are not hotel quality, but it's good enough to sleep and shower in.

 The city was in the first bloom of spring. The parks were lovely to walk through. The grass was lush and green and the flowers had bloomed.

 My first traditional Irish meal. This is beef and Guinness stew. It was so delicious! Irish food is now in my top three favorite types of food. It was hearty and reminded me of Midwest/Southern country style cooking.

 This is the Temple Bar that is famous. There is a whole area in Dublin called Temple Bar, named after this one bar. The Temple Bar area is touristy and expensive, with lots of pubs, restaurants and bars. Almost every place in Temple Bar has live music, usually traditional Irish music. I only ate in a Temple Bar restaurant once because of the steep prices.

 This is part of Dublin Castle.

 The lovely Christ Church Cathedral

This was my favorite part of Ireland. I took a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. It was an amazing place to visit. I was tempted to get very close to the edge. I guess being a little daredevil never hurts. It was worth it for the pictures I got. =)

Goodbye, Dublin!

Ciao Roma!

 The reason I came to Rome--the Colosseum. It's a grand building, but strange to think that gladiators once fought there. Visiting the Colosseum was the first thing I did in Rome. I spent most of my trip visiting the historical Roman sites around the city, and eating gelato. It was so hot in Rome that gelato was everybody's excuse to stop and rest for awhile. While in Rome, I also visited Vatican City and saw all the famous sights.

 In case it isn't obvious enough, I am pointing at the Colosseum. It was shocking to see how huge it was.

 Overlooking the remains of the Roman Forum.

 My first taste of gelato in Rome. I ate gelato every day after I discovered how delicious it was.

 My favorite place in Rome--the Trevi Fountain. I don't know its history or anything at all, I just love it for its beauty.

 This was some cheesy lasagna. The Italian food in Rome was good, but not anything I would return for.

 A picture of me and Pinocchio. If you've heard rumors that he is a "real boy" now, they are all lies. I sat next to him and he didn't move or say one word to me!

 I don't know what this building is, but it was so beautiful with its waving Italian flags that I had to have a picture with it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing to see. The paintings jumped off of the walls at me. I got a funky crick in my neck from staring at the ceiling after that. After visiting the Sistine Chapel, my camera died and I couldn't take any more pictures. I also visited the famous Spanish steps, spent a couple hours sitting in front of the Trevi Fountain and ate even more gelato! Overall, I enjoyed the history of Rome. The ancient buildings were wonderful to see.

Cupcake Hunt in Central London

My cousin sent me on a cupcake hunt to find this place. I was willing to risk life and limb for a good cupcake, let alone the possibility of getting lost in a strange part of London. I was successful in my cupcake hunt... And afterwards, I went on a mini-adventure to find the perfect place to eat my cupcake.

The building was a cute shade of pink. It did look a little out of place next to the brick though.

Little did I know that if I walked down the street in the other direction, I would arrive at Buckingham Palace and St. James' Park. I sat amidst these daffodils to eat my Boffee cupcake (banana and toffee).

The cupcake was the best I've ever had. I thought the filling was a nice touch.

I couldn't have picked a better place to eat this cupcake. The sunset was lovely and that's Buckingham Palace in the background.

All that sugar made me want a picture with the palace guards. I did not tease them, although their hats were fluffier than mine. In fact, I felt so silly after this picture that I had the strangest urge to apologize to the guards for taking a picture with them. 

Future Olympic Stadium--In Progress

As you can see, the Olympics are being held in a degraded part of London. This is the East End, an old railway yard that was like a wasteland. The reason the Olympics will be held here is so that this area can be renovated.

The area isn't all bad. It at least has potential.

The 2012 Olympic Stadium

The Olympic building didn't impress me much. But then again, I didn't get to go inside. I hope it will look better by 2012.

Sunday in Spitalfields

At the Old Spitalfields Market. Spitalfields comes from the old Roman Hospitalfields, which was shortened to Spitalfields. There is a market in this area every weekend.

I was horribly attacked by killer bunnies. They may look harmless... but how do you think I got that red gash down my body? hm? Killer bunnies! Fortunately, I was in the old Spitalfields so a doctor patched me up.

The Up Market in the East End. This is on Brick Lane, one of my most frequented places in London. Brick Lane has lots of curry places. Inside the Up Market, there were food stands serving Jamaican, Ethiopian, Chinese, Indian, Spanish and any other type of food you could imagine!

After the Sunday Up Market, I went to Covent Garden for some souvenir shopping. At an outdoor stand, I ate this yummy dish of paella. I was so glad to try it, especially since I didn't eat any in Spain. Let me just say paella is (without any doubt in my mind) the best Spanish food ever invented. This multi-culturalism is one of the reasons that London is amazing.

I went for a walk through Regent's Park, but thought it'd be nice to take a picture next to a tube sign, which I see every day. They are as common to me as traffic signals or street signs may be to you.

After the walk through Regent's Park, my friend and I went on a quest to find "Nancy's Steps." Nancy, one of my favorite characters in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, was spied on here on these steps while delivering information that would save Oliver's life. The spy would have hidden at the spot that I did. That's why I'm posing in this peculiar fashion. These steps are located underneath London Bridge.

It's a Dickens World after all...

My first view of Dickens World. My first thought was, Wow, this is no Disneyland. I didn't expect it to be like Disneyland, I knew it was going to be smaller. But I wondered how I could do a boatride through the Victorian slums in this building. It was actually a fun place, very cheesy but fun.

When we walked inside and up the stairs, we entered a huge dark, gloomy room. This room was built like a miniature Victorian town. It was a dreary place to be. There was a haunted house, a boatride through the slums and two shows about Dickens life and writings. The boatride went under the bridge in this picture and was fun and creepy.

I met a fantastic guy while in Dickens world. As you can see, we got along splendidly ;) You might recognize the name Bill Sikes from Oliver Twist. Thankfully, he has given up murdering women. It was bad for his health and fortunate for me... Actually, this man was originally from Liverpool. He has been living in London for about two years and tried to tone down his Liverpool accent, called Scouse, because he didn't like it. Besides the costume and makeup, he was interesting to talk to.

 Here's what the "town" looked like. It wasn't cheesy looking because the whole town was built with great craftmanship. Obviously, my outfit doesn't go with the time period at all. Dickens World was interesting for anyone who is obsessed with Dickens or the Victorian era.

No Rain in Spain

Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. It is the perfect city for a vacation, even if it's only going to be the weekend. I stayed in a quiet hostel and only had two full days to explore Barcelona.

 I felt like I saw a lot of the main attractions, even in a limited time. I went to Parc Guell, which is on top of a steep hill. After climbing to the top, I got to see stunning views of Barcelona.

I'm smiling because the hike is over and I made it to the top.

After the hike up to Parc Guell, we headed down to the bay and to the beach. It was perfect weather for getting our feet wet in the ocean. I got to eat tapas that night as well. Tapas are Spanish appetizers. We went to a restaurant that brought us a selection of all different kinds of tapas. All of them were delicious, except the sardines on bread. I didn't even try to stomach that one. My favorite tapa is patatas bravas, which are fried potatoes served with a spicy sauce drizzled over them. Yum!

My second full day in Barcelona was a lot of fun as well. We got to visit an outdoor market. The fresh fruits were so tempting. I bought mango, pineapple and a kiwi fresh-blended juice cup while in the market. It was such a treat to have any kind of fruit I wanted.

There were many beautiful buildings in Barcelona, but this one was my favorite. It is the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, or National Art Museum of Catalunya. I didn't get to go inside. I just came across this building after visiting the Barcelona Olympic stadium and thought it was the best example of Barcelona's architecture and landscaping. As I was admiring this view, a photographer walked by with a bride and groom to take their wedding photos at this museum. It was that gorgeous. Overall, Barcelona was an amazing place.

Shakespeare's "Might-have-been" Birthplace

Here I am in the town Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and married his wife Anne Hathaway. This is the house where scholars believe Shakespeare was born and lived while he was a child and young adult.

This window is the original window from the room that Shakespeare "might have been born" in. The best part of this window were the signatures on it. Famous authors (that I love) such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain signed this window when they visited this same place.

Here is a photo of Anne Hathaway's cottage. At least they actually know she lived here. It was surrounded by wonderful gardens that were just beginning to bloom. I enjoyed this trip to the countryside. It was like a glimpse back into Shakespeare's time.

Brighton's Beautiful Shores

It's been a long time since I've seen a beach. The shores were not sandy, they were rocky. It was my first time visiting a rocky beach and I loved it. Maybe it was bearable because I wasn't walking across them barefoot. The sea smelled lovely, air was so fresh and the shore was so clean and litter-free. The views were wonderful here. 

The sun came out the whole time I was on the beach. I had a great time collecting rocks and shells.

My friends and I spent a lot of our day on this pier. I rode several carnival rides and even ate Haddock and chips here. The pier was a big attraction. All around the pier, there were little shops selling paintings, arts and crafts and postcards. After a full day of walking around and window-shopping, we headed back to the pier at night. It was lovely at night. This view was a perfect ending to a fun-filled day.

A Wee Bit of DSL: Deep Scottish Love

Cuith-Raing, an old volcano in the Isle of Sky.

A waterfall in the highlands of Scotland

As our tour guide said, once you travel to the highlands of Scotland you will start to get butterflies in your stomach. This will be a new feeling called the DSL or Deep Scottish Love. This is the feeling of falling completely and entirely in love with Scotland and it's natural beauty. I must admit that I was feeling the DSL. I got muddy and wet hopping across rocks to get the best views of waterfalls.

I loved each new part of Scotland that I saw. The history is so violent in Scotland, but when I reached the Isle of Skye, our tour guide told us stories of faerries. The Isle of Skye's inhabitants mingle their history with stories of the faerries to the point that fact and fiction are indistinguisable. I also went to the site of Lochness and Nessie, the Lochness monster. However, she didn't show up to say hi. I thought it was quite rude of her.