Mom's Visit and our trip to London!

Taylor left Sunday March 8th mid-day and then my mom got into Scotland that night!!! 

Since I figured my mom would be a little jet-lagged we decided to take it easy and ate dinner at her hotel (The Scotsman) and then just relaxed in her room! The next day, Monday, I had class so my mom met me at Peter's Yard for lunch in between classes!  After I finished class for the day I met up with my mom again, showed her my shoe-box of a flat, and then we got dinner at this really great Italian place on George Street, Gusto.  Honestly, it was one of the best meals I had had in Scotland so far! On Tuesday I met my mom for lunch at the Outsider before I headed to class! Once I finished class I met up with my mom again for dinner.  My mom took me and my friends from school to a great Thai place, Thai Orchid.  On Wednesday I didn't have class so I showed my mom the castle (I could now be a tour guide I know so much about that place) and then we just toured around the city a little bit before grabbing dinner in New Town at a sea food place.  

On Thursday we flew to London!!! I had not been there since I graduated from high school so I was glad to go back! We arrived and immediately went to Harrods (surprise, surprise) and then walked around a bit before heading back to the hotel.  The next day (Friday) we rode the London Eye which had amazing views of the city! After that we did a little bit more touring around before we got dinner and saw Hairspray! Saturday we did some more touring of the city and then saw Mamma Mia live!  Our last night we went to a really fantastic Indian food restaurant!  Then on Sunday my mom flew back to Texas/ I went to Edi.  

Tay's Visit to Scotland!

Hello again!

The weekend after my trip to Italy Taylor came all the way from Prague to visit! She arrived on Thursday March 5th around 10pm and we went straight to one of my favorite places, The Jazz Bar! They have this amazing guitarist perform every Tuesday and Thursday from 1-3am! 

On Friday Tay and I got breakfast at another great spot, Always Sunday, before we headed to the Castle! (shown below). 

 

After the castle I took Tay to what I thought was this really adorable cafe called Chocolate Soup.  Unfortunately we BOTH got food poisoning by 5:30 pm and literally did not get out of bed until around 9am the next day.  On Saturday when we were feeling better Tay and I walked around New Town and did a little shopping on George Street! That night we all went out to the 5-story club Espionage! Sunday morning Tay and I got some brunch and then Tay was off to the airport to go back to Prague! Other than the oh so wonderful food poisoning it was such a great weekend! 

My Fabulous Weekend with the Lafitte Family

(and the much needed life update continues with my recap of my Italy trip)

From February 25th-March 1st I visited Amy and her family in Italy! I arrived in Florence on Wednesday and immediately fell in love with the greatness that is Italian food! Amy took me out to a great restaurant my first night and then to her favorite little bar Kakuya! 

The next day we took the train to meet up with Amy's parents who were renting the most amazing house in the Tuscany countryside.  Amy's parents met us at the train and then, of course, we went and got MORE amazing italian food in Sienna before driving to the house.  I had, hands down, the most delicious, heavenly gnocchi I have EVER consumed.  hmmmm delicious. After dinner we drove to the house (after slightly getting lost).  The house was AMAZING.  The next day Amy's two friends from her program met us and we went to a little Italian town (which I know cant remember the name of... this is why you should not wait until two months after to blog) and bought wine and cheese.  Then we went back to the house and had a little wine/cheese before our big pizza feast later that night! The house had a massive pizza (pictured) oven outside so we cooked delicious pizzas (also pictured) for dinner and then went into food coma! 

Saturday we literally did not leave the house once.  Instead we based our day on eating!  I woke up and ate breakfast.  Sat around, ate lunch.  Watched High School Music 3 with the girls (yes we are in fact in college and watch HSM 3... and yes I put up pictures of this as well), then ate MORE cheese.  For dinner the Lafittes had an amazing Italian cook come in to cook us a wonderful traditional Italian meal! Finally on Sunday, after gaining what felt like a million or so pounds, we took the train back to Florence and then I came back to Scotland! 

Yes I am, in fact, alive

Hey Yall!

So its official, I am the worst blogger of all time.  Sorry family for being so absolutely lame but here here is a very longgggg post explaining all the fun places I have been since Copenhagen (which I realize was over 2 months ago.  whoops). 

For the weekend of February 20th I went to northern Scotland with a few of my friends from Edinburgh! We took the morning train and arrived in Inverness around lunchtime.  Inverness was amazingly beautiful and the pictures I took there don't even seem real! Below is a picture of the river that runs through the city! Later on in the day we visited the Black Isle Brewery.   

Black Isle is an organic beer brewery a few miles outside of the city.  We got to see where the beer was made (they hand bottle their beers!) and tried a few of their brews (my personal favorite was their red kite brew).  Below are some pictures of the brewery and the surrounding scenery! That night we got dinner at a traditional Scottish pub, Hootananny's.  Oddly enough this little pub is famous for its Thai food so we ate and then enjoyed the traditional Scottish music (which included a man on a fiddle and alot of dancing).  On our last day we took the ferry to Loch Ness and went Nessie spotting! Sadly Nessie was a little shy and didn't show up, but we still got some great pictures of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.

Skaal! (cheers in Danish)

Hey Yall!

I hope everyone is doing well! 

I just returned from Copenhagen, Denmark and had the best time! I got in Thursday evening with Amy and met up with a couple of my guy friends and went out to the bars there and then met up with Taylor and her friends from Prague.  We went to this one really fun place where you pay when you enter, they hand you a beer mug, and its all you can drink! Definitely a lot of skaaling! Copenhagen is honestly one of the cleanest places I have ever seen! Not to mention every Danish person looked like a model.  All of the girls and guys were about 6 feel tall (I basically looked like a wee person all weekend which was great for my self esteem haha)

Friday we woke up, got lunch, and then walked around the city.  We went to this one section called Christiania which is an old military base that was taken over by hippies in the sixties.  It was probably the most bizarre/ interesting place I have ever seen.  As you enter there is a sign welcoming you to Christiania and once you get inside it is honestly like another world.  They have their own form of government, their own school system, and the hippies live in little huts along the lake inside.  There are random pieces of art everywhere throughout the little village and HUGE DOGS that just roam around... the size of horses.  Oh and we werent allowed to take pictures there or apparently the hippies will break your camera... but I managed to sneak a few...(see below) After that we went to the most amazing bakery and then walked around the city some more.  That night we got sushi for dinner (which I hadn't had in FOREVER because I am pretty sure Scottish people don't eat sushi).  That night we went out again to a few of the clubs in the city and somehow ended up eating pizza at 5am.  How healthy. 

Saturday we grabbed lunch at a traditional Danish restaurant and then walked around the city some more and saw the changing of the guard and went to this really interesting Danish design museum where they had like... a MILLION danish chairs.  All of them were so unique I didnt think chairs could even be that interesting! That night we went to a big Valentines Day dinner with the group and then hit the bars/clubs again! 

Today before our flights we went to the castle and saw the Danish crown jewels (see below and note that my birthday is June 21st if you would like to buy me that green crown).  

Well thats all for now! It is "reading week" this week so alot of my classes are canceled which is great because I need a week to relax! 

Cheers!

Hey Yall!

So it has been a while since my last post!

Lets see what have I done in the past two weeks...

I went back to Glasgow last Wednesday for the Rangers vs. ac Milan soccer game! We got to the city and explored a little bit before the game and went to the Gallery of Modern Art too! 

Thursday I left for Prague to meet Taylor and Jarrett and had absolutely the best time! I got in Thursday night and went out to dinner and then walked around the city a bit before we went out. Oh and we went to the club where Rihanna shot her "please dont stop the music" video! In reality its not as fabulous as they make it look in the video but it was still super fun! 

Friday I walked around the city a bit and explored.  I walked across the Charles Bridge and took a bunch of pics and then met up with Tay and her friends for lunch! Friday night we went to the state opera.  The building was actually AMAZING.  Every building looks like its from some fantasy land it is insane! After the opera we went to a traditional Czech restaurant and I ate goulash! (it is definitely better than Scotland's traditional meal...haggis).  

Saturday we woke up and got a delicious breakfast and then explored the city some more.  We went to the Lennon wall which was so cool.  It has all these amazing quotes and designs on it from over the years.  That night we went out and got the biggest drink I have ever seen.  It was basically a bucket with straws.  Sunday we went to the National Museum and flew home 

Little did I know that a snow storm was in the forecast... I landed in London fine but when we tried to land in Edinburgh the airport was shut down so we were sent to New Castle.  We sat on the runway there forever while they figured out what to do and then flew to Glasgow.  From Glasgow we were taken by bus to Edinburgh and finally a Taxi took me home! So the trip that was supposed to take 6 hours took 11.  Good times while traveling.  

I leave for Copenhagen on Thursday and am sooooo excited! 

I hope everyone is well back in the states! Love yall!

Glasgow

Hello again, 

Last night I took the train to Glasgow with some friends to see Bloc Party and they were absolutely AMAZING! oh and I finally tried fish and chips... delicious. Here are a few pics from the concert!