Prague (Days 63-66)

I took my trip to Prague for my fall break during the London portion of our program. My friend, Caroline Blake, and I made the journey to the Czech Republic not sure what to expect… but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my entire semester! 

our shabby chic (mostly shabby yet wonderful) hostel!

There is a magical quality to Prague! Autumn was in full swing when we arrived, and the gorgeous red leaves perfectly matched the red rooftops which blanket the city. The cobblestone streets (which are both quaint and treacherous… I had more than one painful/very public wipeout) and antique architecture add to Prague’s fairytale appeal. 

Caroline and I did so much in our short visit! We especially enjoyed a few of Prague’s many art museums, seeing a wide variety of fantastic art. The historic Charles Bridge, just between our hostel and Old Town, was another great spot for art-viewing as dozens of artists take advantage of tourist traffic to sell their work. 

at the Gallery of Art Prague's Warhol exhibition

And its no wonder that so many artists flock to Prague for inspiration! The city is breathtaking, even during the chilly season when I visited. From the many parks throughout Prague, Caroline and I got to experience the beauty of the city from above, with all of its spectacular castles and churches.

the stunning view from Petrin Hill

We also visited the incredible library in Strahov Monastery, one of the most beautiful and lauded libraries in the world! 
The Lennon Wall was another favorite stop we made. Since the 80’s, the wall has been used as a public canvas; even today it is still regularly gratified with John Lennon/Beatles-inspired art and messages of love, tolerance, and solidarity. 

Finally, Caroline and I attended vespers at St. Vitus. St. Vitus is, without a doubt, the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever seen. The outside is covered in an elaborate, gold mosaic, and the stain glass is the most brightly-colored and breathtaking that I’ve ever seen. The entirety of vespers was in Czech, but it was still worthwhile just to be in such an ornate building. At the end of the service, the congregation was led through a series of rooms that are normally closed to public viewing, each one more beautiful than the last. Such an experience! 

When Caroline and I weren’t exploring the city, we were eating. Czech food is so homey and comforting: lots of meat and potatoes and stews. Everything we tried was delicious, filling, and warm. Between meals, there was gingerbread and trdelnik, a yummy cinnamon-sugar-coated treat served on nearly every street. I already miss trdelnik. 

In fact, I miss all of Prague! This short trip was such a special experience, one I will remember for a life-time! I’ve only even mentioned a few of the things I got to do and see during my visit. I feel thoroughly satisfied and blessed by my fall break adventure! 

London (Days 44-89)

How do I even begin to sum up the past 45 days? In London I visited museums and churches, attended nearly 30 plays, explored the historic streets, and had my 21st birthday out on the town! All between classes. You could definitely say I’ve been busy. 

It was here that I really encountered the study part of the my “study abroad” experience. In London, all of the due dates we’ve all tried to ignore all semester sprang upon us as suddenly and cruelly as the English rain. 

When I wasn’t doing work, I was typically in the audience of some magnificent production. I saw so many show in London! 29 plays in 45 days, and I’m not sick of seeing shows yet! I could gush about the incredible performances I saw at theaters all across the city. I saw everything from Shakespeare and Sophocles to contemporary premiers; huge budget musicals on the West End to a play in a warehouse. Going to the theatre was possibly my favorite part of my time in London. I have been inspired by the excellent productions I attended, and I feel so blessed to have had that experience! 

Oh! And I got to see two celebrities: Lindsay Lohan made her stage debut in Speed the Plow on the West End (And it was rough. Bless her heart). I was on the front row so I was less than a foot from Freaky Friday herself.
I also got to see Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow from Batman Begins among other things) in Ballyturk at The National Theatre. Cillian Murphy was outstanding! He gave one of the best performances of the entire semester. 

Besides hitting the books and seeing shows, I did a lot of exploring around the city! Here are just a few of my favorite things I did in London…

1. British Museum with Mel and Bob! Oh, did I mention my amazing parents came to London for a few days?? We had so much fun. It was one of the highlights of my semester! 
   
2. Tower of London
   
3. Covent Garden. This is my favorite part of London.! There are so many great places to each and shop, there is a musical quality to the hustle and bustle of the crowds, and the area always features the best street performers and artists! 
4. Westminster Abbey 
   
5. Hampton Court. A beautiful castle, stunning gardens, and a hysterically cheesy guided tour made for a perfect Sunday afternoon.  
   
   
6. St. Paul’s Cathedral might have the most stunning ceiling I’ve ever seen! I also climbed 528 steps to the top of the dome. I can't say I found the view worth the perspiration, but at least I got a much-needed workout! 
7. Borough and Portobello Markets. Borough features big crowds and restaurant-quality foods. Portobello is out of the main city area and is mostly for trinket shopping. I had a blast at both! 
8. Abbey Road. It's out of the way and it appears no different from any other cross-walk, but I’ll be darned if we weren’t going to go anyway and get this picture! 
   
9. Harry Potter Studio Tour. This is a must-do for any Potterphile. I got to see the sets, costumes, props, and creatures of the legendary Harry Potter movies. The coolest attraction is gigantic model of Hogwarts, coated in snow to celebrate the Christmas season. More info HERE for anyone curious to know more! 
   
10. Acting on The Globe stage. This was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. Our group participated in a private (and incredible) acting workshop on the stage of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. At the end of the workshop, we were given the opportunity to perform scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream in pairs. You know what that means? I can officially say I’ve performed at Shakespeare’s Globe! Pretty cool, right? 
    
    
    

I hope that this post gave you a taste of my very special London experience! Only a few more posts left: from my fall break in Prague and my end-of-the-semester trip to Paris and Cornwall, so look forward to those in the near future! Thanks for reading! 

York, Wales, Bath, and Stonehenge (Days 33-44)

Friends! It seems I have fallen behind on my blogging responsibilities and have failed to post in over two weeks. I am so sorry. Time is absolutely flying over here and keeping up with this blog has become less of a priority as normal, scheduled classes have started up (and homework assignments have become increasingly time-consuming).

I am now in the fabulous London, meaning our tour of the British Isles is now over and I'm going to be stationary for the rest of the trip (besides Fall Break and Independent Travel). I've only been in London 17 days, but already the travel portion of the trip seems so long ago, like a completely separate experience. We have just done so much in our now 61 days abroad! It's hard to believe we're already over halfway through. 

But I last left you off on day 31! So I have a lot to fill you in on before I can get to today. So here's a summary of the last leg of our tour of the British Isles! 

After Edinburgh, our group kissed Scotland goodbye and re-entered England for the first time since Stratford! As we crossed the border into England the skies immediately turned grey and it started to pour... a comical and almost poetic English welcome. 

While in England, we made trips to Rosslyn Chapel, York, Hadrian's Wall, Manchester, Wales, Bath, and Stonehenge before reaching London. I am just going to blog about the highlights of a few of those places...

York

• Our first night in York, my foursome of friends- me, Caroline, Kenzie, and Clare- went out on the town for dinner. We split a pitcher of fruity, girly cocktail between us and chatted with each other and the locals at neighboring tables. I know that's not exactly an only-in-York experience, but it really was one of the highlights of my time in the city. Just a special girls' night and a sweet memory with some of my favorite people. 
• York Minster: York Minster is a must-see of York! We toured the large, ornate cathedral during the day (with an incredible, informative tour guide who absolutely made the experience for me) and revisited it in the evening to attend Evensong, a service featuring a brief sermon, a series of prayers, and a magnificent performance of a variety of hymns by the York Minster choir. To be in such a gorgeous church with so much history and cultural significance, worshipping where thousands of pilgrims have worshipped before me, was truly a spiritually moving experience. I felt so blessed to have had the opportunity to attend. 
  
  

Wales

• Our visit to Wales was spent mostly in Llandudno, a small resort town right on the coast. The best part of Llandudno was just walking down the main strip in the evenings. Our first night there, a few friends and I walked down to the pier where an old-school carnival was set up. It was late so everything was closed, but the lights on the water in this quiet, tiny town made for a perfectly picturesque scene. I'm sure my friends and I were the loudest ones in the entire town (okay, just me) as we died laughing at the silly stories we made up in what felt like a storybook setting. 

I didn't get a picture of Llandudno, 
but I did get this from Snowdonia National Park, also in Wales

Bath

• The Roman Baths: the city of Bath gets its name from the ancient Roman baths that are found there. I spent the better part of a day touring the baths with fascination.  When I think of English history, I've never thought much about ancient Rome, but I really have learned so much about that long-ago time while in Bath. The technology alone is an incredible aspect of the Roman Baths, but the cultural, spiritual, historical, mythological, and religious all come together in these ruins as well. 
  
• Another really fun part of Bath is the outdoor marketplace! There have been so many great outdoor markets on this trip-- York had a really good one as well-- but the one at Bath features more than the typical flowers, fruits, veggies, and sausages. This one also had people selling everything from baked goods to collections of antique silverware to records. I really enjoyed milling around that area and I even made a small purchase which may or may not appear under the Christmas tree in a couple months!
  
  

Stonehenge

• What's the meaning of Stonehenge??? I've been up all night asking myself that question ever since our visit nearly 20 days ago! Well, that isn't really true. I've been able to sleep just fine, but the mystery around Stonehenge's meaning really is its greatest draw. There were tons of tourists visiting with us on that beautiful day, all taking pictures and asking the same questions: How did they build the Stonehenge? Why did they build the Stonehenge? The world may never know. 
  
  

Well those are just a few highlights covering the best of the final leg of my travel study experience! But really, our group has done so much more than I could ever recount. I feel so blessed as I write this right now; I can't get over how many things I've seen and how many wonderful experiences I've had with this incredible group of people. I am definitely sad that the travel portion of the trip is complete, but I am also loving being here in London, getting to know this city as we stay here long-term! Expect another post soon about my London adventures! 

Edinburgh, Scotland (Days 29-31)

First off, this city is pronounced ed-in-burrow for those that (like me) might have been confused.

Edinburgh! How do I even sum up Edinburgh in a few sentences? I love this city, and I’m definitely coming back some day! Edinburgh is a pretty big city in comparison to some of the other stops we’ve made recently, but its not quite as busy and metropolitan as Dublin. I don’t know what exactly it was about Edinburgh, I just really loved the way it felt to walk around that city. There was a really nice energy everywhere I went. There are castles, statues, and cobblestones just as there are clubs, art galleries, and designer brand stores. 

...And it's all covered in plaid.

We were only in Edinburgh for a brief time, but I could definitely see myself living there. I’m not sure if its just the city or if I have some undiscovered Scottish in me, but Edinburgh felt more like home than anywhere else we’ve visited. (Seriously considering purchasing a Scottish Terrier, naming him Eddie, and keeping him in my apartment next year as a living memento. Hope my roomies will be cool with that.) 

We did so many cool things in Edinburgh… A few of my favorites: 

• The National Gallery— currently divided into two buildings: one featuring modern art and the other featuring classic works. I explored both buildings with a few of my friends, and we enjoyed the entire collection! 

As we walked out, we were greeted by a street performer with bagpipes in a kilt.
Every Scotland stereotype is real.

• Shopping— Edinburgh has some adorable boutiques, designer stores, and tacky (but fun) tourist shops for Scottish knickknacks

shop til you start to lose your mind and get really goofy, right?

• Edinburg Castle— The best birds-eye view of the city 

• Delicious Indian cuisine for dinner with my best friends (not pictured: the friends) 

• Elephant House— I only stuck my head in, but this is the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first couple of Harry Potter books

fan graffiti covering the walls in the bathrooms

But of all the cool things we did in Edinburgh, I think my favorite was just the wandering the spectacular streets and getting lost… It is a beautiful place. 

Belfast (Days 27 and 28)

DAY 27
My first night in Belfast was the most incredible night! Like Dublin and the spots I last blogged about, Belfast is a stop I’d made back in March over my Spring Break trip (follow the links to two separate posts about my March visit to Belfast). The last time I went, I was really interested in the history and politics of the city, but I didn’t really enjoy it as a place to hang out. To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to being back in the city. Imagine my surprise when, our first night in town, I happened upon Belfast’s Culture Night! 

After dinner, a couple of girlfriends and I heard Dancin’ in the Moonlight playing somewhere, and we followed the sound to what we thought would be a street performer. We turned a corner and found an entire party in the street! There was a parade and food stands and musicians… It turns out that one night a year is Culture Night, and everyone in Belfast comes out for an epic festival. How lucky am I that I happened to be there for it? 

My impression of Belfast has totally changed. While my focus back in March was on the sometimes bleak history of Belfast and the current political and social divide, it was so nice to get to see the other side of this city this time around: the progress that has been made toward peace and the growing prevalence of the arts. 

DAY 28 
The next day, we did a short bus tour of the city and visited the Titanic museum (which was very strange… Interesting, but very strange) and an art museum. Afterwards, a small group of friends and I found a park where some of the Culture Night festivities were still being celebrated, and we lounged in the grass, making friends with a ridiculous puppeteer and eating Dinky Donuts. That night, a few friends and I went out for pizza and live music. 

greatest slogan for a donut shop ever

I’m so glad I was able to come back to Belfast for this second, and completely different, experience! 

Derry, Giant’s Causeway, and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (Days 26 and 27)

Since I’ve gotten a little behind on my blogging and I wrote about these three stops back in March, I’m going to keep this post brief, but please check out my March entries for more about this culturally and historically rich city and this mysterious natural wonder/gorgeous landmark. 

My trip to Northern Ireland last Spring Break was one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve had since starting college, so returning this week was such a beautifully nostalgic experience for me.

Our first stop in Northern Ireland was Derry or London-Derry. The thing that really struck me about Derry on my last visit is how much significance they give to the arts as a means for healing and community building. As a theatre major, I love seeing society really respond to theatre and seeing artists respond in turn. My visit this time around was brief, but I was still able to see the influence of the arts in Derry, and I had a lovely time exploring with my friends! We wandered the city, got a delicious lunch, hung out in a great used book store, and listened to a harpist on the peace bridge. I definitely could have used another few days in Derry! 

The Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede are two of the most beautiful spots in Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is a section of mountain and rock on the coast that has formed into small hexagonal pillars. No one really knows exactly how this happened (although folklore ascribes it to a fight between two ancient giants, as described in my previous post on the Causeway), and the mystery draws visitors from all around the world. 

Carrick-a-Rede is a nearby rope bridge between the mainland and a tiny island. From the bridge and attached island, there is a gorgeous view of the ocean and the cliffs. The water is absolutely clear. On a low-tide day like this one you can see straight to the bottom; on a clear day you can even see Scotland on the horizon! 

All three of these places were just as gorgeous and exciting on my second visit, and it was especially nice having a prior knowledge of the area so I could point out some cool and more hidden gems at each location! 

Aran Islands (Days 23-24)

The Aran Islands are the most quiet and secluded place I’ve ever visited. We stayed on the island of Inishmor (as in Lieutenant of Inishmor, the play), a tiny island that is about a half hour bike ride from one end to the other with one restaurant, one coffee shop, two pubs, and one hotel. After moving in to our hotel (the hotel, I should say), a few friends and I went out for some lunch before I made one of the greatest decisions I’ve made in my almost 21 years… I decided to go on a bike ride.
To be honest, it was not actually my idea to rent bikes and set off on this epic bike ride, it was Clare’s, but the great decision I made was to join her (along with friends Kenzie and Caroline)!

This bike ride was pure magic! It was a glorious day, and Inishmor is an island of rolling hills and unbelievable sights. I remember coming up over that first hill and looking out over the incredible view of the ocean around me and the rest of the island, with its unique rock fences created fantastic patterns on the land, below me.

We made several stops on our gorgeous journey. One stop was at a rocky cove where we climbed over mossy boulders to get as close as we could to the sunbathing seals in the ocean. 

Another required us to hop a stone fence to rest on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. The last stop was at a white-sand beach where the sky seemed bluer than ever before and the water was crystal clear. We sat on the soft sand and sang songs about Ireland and beaches and friendship until it was time to return our bikes.  

We visited the much smaller island of Inishmaan the next day to see John Millington Synge’s cottage. I had no idea what an influential playwright Synge was until I visited his cottage, the place where he stayed after completing his education and where he found the inspiration for many of his plays. The woman who is in charge of the upkeep of the cottage today is incredibly passionate about Synge, his work, and what he stood for, and it was such a treat to learn about the man from someone who cared so much and is such an expert. She really got me excited about reading more of Synge’s work, and I feel like I will appreciate it more now that I’ve been to the Aran Islands and Synge’s cottage and have seen them myself. 

The Aran Islands were breathtakingly beautiful and very relaxing. A much needed chill weekend in what has been a crazy busy but fantastic schedule!