Edinburgh, Scotland

My next trip was to Edinburgh, Scotland.  This was done through my school, so there were over 40 of us who traveled by train to Scotland, located North of England.  I really liked traveling with other people from my program and it was nice to do towards the end of my semester.  Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is most well known for Edinburgh Castle, which overlooks the city.  While I was there I tried their most well known food called haggis. Haggis contains sheep insides as well as several other potent ingredients.  It surprisingly tasted not so bad, if you didn't think about what was in it. 

This was a common view throughout the city.  It seemed that every street we turned down you could see the giant hill with Edinburgh Castle sitting at the top of it.

While in Scotland, I participated in their traditional dance called the Céilidh.  I would say it is a cross between square dancing and ballroom dancing.  Some people get really into it and several experienced dancers were sporting quilts.  It was a great work out and I actually had a lot of fun.

This is the view of the city from Edinburgh Castle

This is the outside of Edinburgh Castle.  We had the opportunity to explore the inside of this fortress that sits on top of volcanic rock.

Myself in the castle

The typical Scotish bag pipe player

Me and my roommates at the top of Arthur's Seat.  Arthur's seat is at the top of one of the mountains surrounding Edinburgh, at 822 ft.  There is much uncertaintly about how it got its name, but it is most likely derived from the legends associated with King Arthur.  It offered amazing views of the city throughout our hike to the top.

 

The view from the top

Around London

The second half of my semester abroad has been full of traveling.  I recently had a few weeks of staying in London.  I took full advantage of my time to see more sites.  These are a few pictures from my last couple of weeks in London.

This is a picture of the Apollo theatre, where I saw they play 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.'  The Apollo Theatre is a famous West End theatre known for its tradition.  You can see in the picture, some of the four floors of balconies that are typical with this old-style theatre.  The play itself was amazing and was by far the best I have seen since I got here.

This is the outside of the Globe Theatre, known for the work of William Shakespeare.  It is not the original Globe Theatre, but is a replica of the original, which used to be a few hundred yards away.  The first Globe burnt down to the ground during a performance that included a real cannon.

This is the inside of the theatre.  It features seats three levels high and then a large central area where the poor used to view from.

This is the stage, from the view in the stands.

This is a picture of Portobello Street, the location of Portobello Market.  It is full of little shops that feature mainly antiques.

This is the outside of Harrods, which is an upscale department store.  It also happens to be the largest department store in Europe.  I walked through the store just to see what it was like, as I can't afford to buy anything there.

This is a picture of the tube stop that I live at, South Kensington.  All underground stations have this round symbol.  South Kensington is known for being an upper class royal borough; I'm still wondering how I managed to get a place here.

 

This is a picture from in Hyde Park on what seems like the first nice day since I've been here.  I was lucky enough to be a part of London's coldest winter ever recorded.

The Peter Pan statue located in Hyde Park

This is a picture of the Icebar in London.  Participants must where a black parka and gloves as they drink from a glass made of ice.  It really was cold!

Paris, France

My next trip was to Paris, France!  I went for a three day weekend and really enjoyed my time there.  I ate lots of French food and pastries and saw most, if not all, the biggest attractions.  My pronunciation of French words was a little lacking, but made for a unique and challenging experience.

 

 

This is the famous Louvre Museum.  The well-known glass pyramid is the main entrance.  While in the museum I had the great opportunity to see the Mona Lisa, which was much smaller than what I imagined.

 

I ventured back to the Louvre at night to see it all lit up.

Myself in front of the Eiffel Tower!

A close up

This is the Arc de Triomphe.  It is located at the end of the The Champs-Elysées, which is a famous shopping street in Paris.  It is in the center of a roundabout that is very busy.  The only way to gain access to it, is to walk through a tunnel under the street.

This is the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.  In addition, the Tower has sparkling lights that light up at the top of every hour for five minutes.  I was lucky enough to see it sparkling as I walked up to it that night, as well as when I finally made it all the way to the top of the tower.

 

This was my view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.  I guess this is why Paris is called the city of lights!

This was one of the many crepes I consumed while in Paris.  They were so delicious and cheap!  This one has two flavors of gelato inside.  I also particularly liked the nutella-filled crepes.

 

This is the Notre Dame Cathedral, from Lover's Bridge.  I was able to walk inside the Cathedral, which was very nice!  I then walked around it and stumbled upon this bridge.  The bridge is a well-known location, where it is said that love is locked forever.

 

This is a picture of the skulls from the Catacombs of Paris, which I toured.  The Catacombs are a tunnel system underneath the city.  It was originally a stone quarry, but would later become an ossuary.  Many of the Paris cemeteries had become extremely overcrowded and expensive to get barried in.  As a result, the parishes began moving bones and burrying people in the consecrated areas of the underground tunnel system.  The bones were arranged in a very artistic way, with rows of skulls and stacked bones.

This is one of the Port-Mahon sculptures that I saw in the tunnels.  They were sculpted by memory by one of the first quarry inspection workers.  The sculptures are of the Port-Mahon Palace, which was opposite the prison in which this worker was held for a long time.  Ironically he was killed by a cave-in, while trying to build an access stairway at this location.

This is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, or the Sacred Heart Basilica, located on Montmartre.  Montmartre is  the highest point in the city.  I walked around the little villiage up on the hill and I really liked this area.  There were lots of pastry shops, restaurants, and even a busy painter's square.

Dublin, Ireland

For my next trip, I had the rare privilege of having my brother in town to accompany me!  Alex visited me in Europe for a week during his spring break.  He flew into London and stayed with me in my flat for several days and then we travelled together to Dublin, Ireland for a long weekend.  Dublin was then where he flew home from.  To top it all off, it was St. Paddy's Day weekend!

 

 

We really wanted to see the Irish countryside as well, so we decided to take a bus tour that went to the west coast of Ireland.  This is a picture of the Cliffs of Moher on the Atlantic Ocean.  The cliffs had amazing views and also very strange weather.  While we were there, for less than two hours, two storm systems came through.  They appeared just as abruptly as they passed.  After a brief moment of high wind and rain, the skies cleared and the sun came out.

 

Myself near the cliff edge...

This is the Burren.  The Burren is a huge limestone rock-covered area on the Northwestern coast of Ireland.  It was originally the bottom of a tropical ocean before the tectonic plates shifted.  We had the opportunity to walk on the rocks, all the way out to the coast.

Alex and I by the Burren coast

A little leprechaun house!

This is Galway Bay, in the town of Galway.  We had a brief stop here on our way back to Dublin on our bus tour.  We also made a stop in the town of Doolin, where we ate lunch in an Irish pub.  We both had Irish beef stew served over mashed potatoes.

This is the outside of Trinity College in Dublin.  Since we were there for St. Paddy's Day, all the major monuments were lit up green as you can see here.  Trinity College is also Ireland's oldest university.

This is a picture of Alex and I pouring "the perfect pint" of Guinness.  We visited the Guinness Factory in Dublin, where we learned how to pour a perfect pint and then we did it ourselves!  There is a specific way to pour Guinness and we both mastered it.  And then we got to drink it!