A(classy)broad in Scotland

Here I am posting a casual blog about how I just spent this past weekend in Brussels, Belgium. Who would've ever thought they'd see the day!! Night 1 Okay, so Anna and I set off on Thursday night to the airport and boarded our (late, of course, shoutout to RyanAir) flight to Brussels. We had to walk out on the tarmac to get to the plane which made me feel famous. We arrive in Brussels and have to navigate our way to our hotel, which was right by the airport because we knew we would be getting in late at night (midnight-ish). However, we arrived to everyone speaking French. Obviously I think I've got this trip in the bag because I took French in high school (ha ha very funny of me). I don't recall too much of my high school French, but I got us to the hotel so that was a good sign. Day 1 City Hall We wake up in the morning and make our way back to the airport, on foot because we were much closer to our hotel than we thought-only about 15 or so mins of a walk. Oh ...

Hiii guys, So the other day the gals and I set off to climb Arthur's Seat at sunset (so basic, but come on we had to). The 7 of us set off to the bus and arrived at the base of the mountain. For those of you who don't know, Arthur's Seat is a hike to a dormant volcano in Edinburgh, very scenic and famous, and very beautiful. It overlooks the whole city, and it is kind of random to have this huge mountain in a city. So we had heard that if you keep climbing left, you will get on the best path up the mountain. We start, and some of us were leading the pack because we didn't want to miss the sunset. For some reason I was one of the leaders (I really don't love leading groups on activities such as this one, but oh well). We start, keeping with the left turns, and make it up to the top, which was not a very challenging hike by any means. We only had to climb at almost a 90 degree angle a few times (ok yeah that part was hard), but the rest of it wasn't bad!! We made...

Hi everyone! Okay so all of you who know me know that I come from Cape Cod. Which is very sheltered. A legitimate bubble if you will. The only excitement in regards to other people/visitors we really get is in the summer months. But the people who visit are obviously very wealthy and (usually) pretty well behaved. I then went to college, at UNH, which is obviously a little bit more "real life"-ish, but still very sheltered. I haven't really been outside of New England, except for vacations. So what I am basically saying is that I am very sheltered. Which I honestly love, because it has allowed me to live in the most beautiful place. But even going to Boston makes me a little nervous. I don't love cities because there is always so much going on. So now you may ask yourself.. why did she even study abroad?? In a city?? I recognized the fact that my eyes have been closed to the "real world" and knew that I had to experience it. I do enjoy living in a city, it ...

Hi all, happy Friday!! This week has been packed with excitement and I am assuming that this is going to be the new norm for the semester. Hopefully I will be able to find more down time to check in with all of you though! SO as I mentioned in my first post, I messed up my student visa. Before I came, I found out that you had to get a student visa to study at the university. Ok, I understood that for sure. There is a new thing in the airport for customs that is called an egate. Basically, you scan your passport and get let into the country instead of having to talk to someone. It is only for certain countries, with the United States being one of them. We were told countless times to NOT go through these gates because if you were to do so then you do not get a visa stamp in your passport. I fully knew this and was prepared to talk to a person, prove that I was a student, and get my stamp. Fast forward to my flight here. My flight from Boston lands in London where I have a layover. I g...

   Friends at Edinburgh Castle Hi all, I know I have taken a few days to get to my blogging but I have been so busy! So far I am LOVING Edinburgh! It is so lively and there are so many things to do. My flatmates (the cool way to say other people who live in my apartment) are awesome and we have been having a lot of fun. The first few days I have been getting to know the other girls in CIS and going on adventures with them and our program leader, Jeanna. Because Jeanna is a native of Edinburgh, she has been showing us all the sights and giving us the ins and outs of the city. We have gone shopping on Princes Street, explored Old Town, saw the castle, etc... and that was all on the first day. All the girls (8 of us) in CIS get along well and have been enjoying learning more about the city and each other. It is also nice because we have adopted some of our other flatmates into the group so they add some more excitement as well. We also had an orientation for international ...

Hi everyone, welcome to my adventures in Scotland. I am ready to give you all the ~unfiltered~ (or lightly filtered, hi nana) tour of my next few months across the pond. 10/10 would recommend this pudding. Let's start on good old Cape Cod. I put myself into this weird denial about leaving the country for hmm.. let's see.. yeah the entire summer. Everyone would ask if I was excited and I'd tell them yes, but it didn't feel real. At all. Until I was literally on my way to the airport with Sue (my mom). That was when it all hit me and I realized that I was about to be on my own. I'm sure that most of the people reading this know that my mom and I are incredibly close and you guys probably can't imagine us leaving each other for more than a week. Well we can't either. At least I know I can't. But anyways. I cried through security and probably looked like a psychopath but whatever. I waved goodbye to Sue one last time (I'm not crying, you're cry...