DAYS 42 - 48: Recap of a Week

Apparently I've been a bad blogger. A whirlwind weekend of travel to two different countries really has a girl tuckered out! I updated all of my travels and then the blogger site decided to have issues uplaoding photos so now, unfortunatly that takes FOREVER.

The last week has been exceptionally uneventful. There were a few exciting moments, but all in all very little happening. Thursday night Cassidy, Shelise and I went to a double feature of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows pt. 1& 2. I was so excited to see the last movie but at the same time so sad that it was ending! I've heard a billion people say the same thing but it feels like a chapter of your life has ended. I know, I'm a huge nerd.

Friday I woke up pretty late because we didn't get home from the movie until 3:30 in the morning. Friday night was Sam's official last night in the UK (though we've already celebrated it 4 times) so Whitney and I met him and went to dinner at Wahaca. There was an insane wait to get a table so we had a few drinks before hand at the bar. After dinner we went back down to the bar while we waited to here from Jeni. After Wahaca we met Jeni and Olivia at the World's End in Camden, which is so freaking awesome and I can't believe I haven't been there before. We were there for one drink before moving on to KOKO. KOKO was amazing. I'm assuming it was a theater at one point in time, but now it's a venue/ nightclub. We stayed there untli they closed at 4AM, saying goodbye to Sam in true London fashion.

Saturday we were all pretty useless. Everyone has a paper due this week so all 8 of the girls in my flat stayed in their rooms working on it, but we would all come out periodically to bitch and complain about the assignment. There was more staring at computer screens happening than anything. We're really good at homework...

Sunday Whitney and I had cabin fever so we ventured out to find the Shireditch Festival that we read about on the Time Out London website. After an hour of being lost in Shoreditch we found the festival. Completely underwhelmed we did a once-though and left. From there we went to the movie theater in Islington to see Bridesmaids. The one we went to see had already sold out so we bought tickets for the next showing and went home and napped before the movie. Bridesmaids was absolutely hilarious. I loved it. Just when you thought it couldn't get more raunchy or awkward, IT DID!

Today, all the girls went to their internships while I stayed here to try and get mine figured out. At least I know about when I'm going to start. Hopefully I'll either start Thursday or next Monday. I'm getting really frustrated because I just want to get in there and learn as much as I can. I'm trying to be patient. Whitney doesn't have to work on Wednesday so we talked about taking a Trapeze class! How awesome is that?! I'm pretty excited.

I know that's not much of an update for how long I've been MIA but truthfully, you're not missing much! Promise I'll try harder <3

FRIDAY

I LOVE WAHACA!!!

Whitney!

Sam!

These chairs were awesome. I want some in my house!

Whitney, Myself, and Jeni at KOKO

Until we meet again!

SUNDAY

The mythical canal that none of the locals had any idea existed... we eventually found it!

fail.

They sure do have a way with words here...

DAYS 40 & 41: SCOTLAND pts. 2-3

Monday was a really long day! We took a cab into the city to get breakfast, which we were all in dire need for. From there we met up with Sam and his parents to visit the Edinburgh Castle. The tour of the castle took a few hours. One of our cab drivers told us that there has been a castle on that spot since 600AD. That’s really crazy if you think about it! There were lots of separate buildings on the grounds and we got to go through them all.

After the castle we went to Leith, the town next to Edinburgh closer to the water, to eat lunch and walk around. We ate at this little pub with a restaurant attached to the back. At first we were a little skeptical but we were pleasantly surprised of how delicious the food was! The menu of the place is set everyday with the freshest ingredients sourced locally. I had bacon wrapped chicken over mashed potatoes covered in a light mustard sauce. The presentation of the dinner was on the level of an overpriced five-star restaurant.  From lunch we walked to the docks to lie around in the grass and enjoy the views. It’s a very different feel than the city.

We took a bus from Leith, back to Princes Street, one of the main streets in Ediburgh.  A little rest was much needed so we went to Sam’s hotel to refresh and regroup while his parents went shopping. After about two hours of napping and watching TV, it was dinner time. We ate at a different Mexican restaurant than the night before, sharing another pitcher of strawberry margaritas (that weren’t as good as the ones from the first night, but still very yummy!).

The next destination was Finnigan’s Wake, the first Irish pub from the night before. The last place we was this bar called Espionage. On the sign of the bar, the O is a scope with crosshairs. It was obviously referencing spies or 007, but we walked in and the place was like a normal little bar. I was a little confused by the conflicting images but didn’t really think twice about it. After Sam came back from the bathroom he told he there was another bar below the one we were in that had a different look. Once we went downstairs, we found another set of stairs going down to yet another level, revealing yet another themed bar. Turns out this place had for different levels, all different types of bars. The one we settled in was mostly stone, and looked like an underground Russian grotto. It was very cool! We ended the night earlier than the night before. Sam will be back in London for one day on Friday before leaving to back home, so we said our goodbyes until Friday before heading back to our hotel.

Today was a very laid back day. It was nice to sleet in and take our time getting back into the city. We dropped our bags off at the train station and went out to seek lunch. We ended up going to the Food Hall at Marks & Spencer and grabbed sandwiches and snacks to have lunch in the park. After lunch we went in Topshop and I did a little bit of shopping. I haven’t really done much shopping since I’ve been in London because I’ve been saving all my money for travel. The train left Edinburgh at 5:00PM. It’s now 8:30PM and I’ve been working diligently on these posts since we left.

Edinburgh was honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. It’s not like being at a beach, but is just as gorgeous. It’s such a small city and everything there screams heritage. The people were so incredibly nice and took so much pride in their city. It was an really fun weekend!

WELCOME!

The views from the castle were amazing!

See the ruins on the far hill?

This cannon is fired everyday at 1:00PM on the dot.

Cheese?

Our personal tour guide... Sam playing the role of Tony Skitt

Looking down one of the cannons at the ruins and the sea

Sam, Whitney and Jenny manning their guns

Some of the smaller buildings on the grounds

Inside this buidling was the war memorial, very moving.

Blue skies, finally..

The lower levels of the castle, too bad they were blocked off

Lots of stained glass throughout

Heading out of the castle

Lunch on the water

Bacon wrapped chicken breast & Cheddar cheese served over mash with a light mustard sauce
SO DELICIOUS! The presentation at this place was like a 5 star restaurant!

The lovely sides

Sam's dad's handcut "chips".. I love that he wasn't wierded out that I wanted to photograph them! Thanks Mr. Silver!

Moving on to dinner... Strawberry Margaritas!

Chicken Burrito

The full spread

Hip Hop night at ESPIONAGE

Straight out of the Russian Underground

Cheers to such an amazing experience!

Whitney and Jenny enjoying our lunch in the park before catching the train home

Back to London...

DAY 40: SCOTLAND!!!!

Sunday morning, we got to the station at 8AM to catch an 8:40 train to Edinburgh, Scotland (pronounced EDIN- BURRA- roll the R’s a little- you MUST say it right!). I fell asleep for a couple hours on and off but the train had several delays and the trip ended up taking longer than anticipated. I spent a good amount of time on the way there writing blog updates from my massive loss of momentum.  Every now and then I’d get distracted by the gorgeous scenery flying by – rolling hills, stone cottages, fields of sheep, cliffs and the sea. Six and a half hours later we arrived in Edinburgh, delayed about one and a half hours. 

The train station is right in the middle of the city. As soon as we walked out of the station we dropped everything, including our jaws, and took in the city. I can’t even describe how beautiful that city is. It was built around 7 huge hills, and the train station lies in a valley with huge, gorgeous buildings all around it, and on the farthest hill- Ediburgh Castle. Aside from the modern cars and dress of the people, you’d really think you were transported back in time.

We were totally starving after the long train ride so priority one was finding food. A little Italian place was calling our names! Then we took a cab to our hotel. We were able to get a discount on our hotel from Jeni’s mom.  There were two Marriott’s to chose from , a modern one in the heart of Edinburgh and one a little outside the city that resembled a mini-castle. We chose the mini-castle. It ended up being further outside the city than anticipated. It was about a £20 per cab ride to get to the hotel, but it was in the middle of rolling green hills and was completely quiet and worth the commute. It was really nice to get out of the city for a bit.

After checking in and dropping out stuff on in the “castle”, we headed back out to the Edinburgh to explore and meet up with Sam. He was only enrolled for the 5 week program and left London with his parents Saturday to travel around the UK before going back home. We went to a place called the Grass Market, where there were a bunch of bars and restaurants.

Whitney, Jeni and I had the brilliant idea of doing a “world tour”… We had lunch in an Italian restaurant, and started our evening in an Irish pub. After a round in “Ireland” we went next door to Mariachi, a Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed chips and salsa and the best strawberry margaritas ever. Leaving Mariachi, we ran into Sam and his parents leaving dinner. He joined our International pub crawl and we went to a more traditional English pub. From there we went to another Irish pub where Whitney was “salsa-ed” around the dance floor to live traditional Irish music. We hung out there for a while before going to church converted into a club. Sam really enjoyed the lasers at that club. The last stop of the night was another dance club where we claimed a couch and people watched.

It was such a great night, probably one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had.

Scotland bound!

Scenery from the train

One of the first things we saw leaving the station... a guy playing bag pipes

lunch!

Our mini-castle hotel - the Dalmahoy Marriot

The room

Our sweeping views

Grass Market- where are the pubs and bars are

Up the hill from grass market - more bars!

another view up the hill ... we walked this MANY times

Hotel Missoni - as in the Italian fashion house Missoni

The wonderful doormen in their Missoni Kilts

Interior of the Hotel Missoni - see the fashion show playing in the mirror?

The Royal Mile

Edinburgh Castle

All of the buildings looked like this- amazing

First stop of the evening (second stop on our "world tour") - Ireland!
Finnegans's Wake Irish Pub

2 Cider & black (black currant liqour)  please!
CHEERS!

Next stop, MEXICO!

Amazing guac, and the most delicious strawberry margaritas ever

Stop number 3- now you see it...

... now you don't!

Last stop of the evening.. must have been number 6? Sam, Whitney and Jeni

Whitney, Jeni & I  - probably laughing about "joutfit"