Whoops! Been awhile since I updated! I got back from half term and had a hectic couple of weeks, and now its less 2 weeks until my next break and a 7-country expedition! I have to pack up my whole room for the break so I'm already in the process of packing! Anyway, over half term, I visited Brussels and Bruges with mum and Jake and then I went on to Edinburgh and St. Andrews with some friends. I had a great time both places and ate loads of delicious food (which pretty much made up for the last few months of boiled veggies!) It was nice to see my mum, Jake, and a couple of my American friends who I haven't seen in a long time.
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| The Atomium |
Brussels was as gorgeous as any European city, and uniquely; absolutely full of waffle and French fry stands! (Jake and Mum respectively were very pleased!) We walked around the main square area several times and visited the Atomium and the Comic Strip Museum (which I thoroughly enjoyed). The Atomium is a giant structure designed to look like an Iron atom. It was built for the 1958 World Expo and was initially supposed to be taken down after the World Fair but came to represent the power of the Belgium steel industry. We went all the way to the top (unwillingly on my part) and ate lunch in the top orb! The comic museum was massive and really interesting. There were extensive Tintin and Smurfs collections and also some really gorgeous original panels centered around animals. There was even a section about manga (I was ecstatic)! Afterwards I bought two French copies of my favorite comic strip of all time, Calvin and Hobbes! For the record, they’re funnier in English!
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| The Palace of Brussels |
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| A Canal in Bruges |
Bruges, also known as the “Venice of the north” because of its series of canals, was smaller and instantly struck me as a more stereotypically “European” city. We arrived by train in about an hour from Bruges; and then took a bus to the town center. The bus dropped us off in a cute little square with a beautiful clock tower and a large palace-like building. We rode around the city in a horse and buggy and saw many little streets and churches and walked around a convent. We also found the "Frites Museum" (French Fry Museum) where we learned all about potatoes and how french fries are made before enjoying some french fries ourselves! We had yummy Italian food for lunch and visited Jack Wolfskin for some European outerwear before heading back to Brussels on the train!
After leaving Brussels, I continued on to Scotland where I was to spend the weekend at St. Andrews University with a friend. Once I arrived in Edinburgh, two friends who were going to join us later in the weekend asked if I wanted to meet them and look around Edinburgh a bit. I ended up seeing the whole Edinburgh Castle and exploring a large part of downtown Edinburgh. Edinburgh very much looks the part of a traditional and old city. There are many grand gothic buildings and statues all over the city, and even an underground city complete with horror tours designed to explore Edinburgh’s more brutal past.
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| There's the Prince! Smiling and Waving! |
Upon arriving in St. Andrews, I was immediately struck by the rather small-town feel of it. The famous golf-course was beautiful and well kept and I could see it from the window in my friend’s room. I got there just in time to do a little Royal-Stalking! The Prince and his fiancée were in St. Andrews on Friday (the 25th). It wasn’t terribly exciting, we lined up for a three hours only to see barely see them go speeding by in a car. However, I did manage to get a picture of the Prince through the window!
That night, we went to my friend’s “Indulgently Scottish Ball” and learned some traditional Scottish Kayleigh dancing! It was really fun actually even though we were terrible. Saturday, we explored the St. Andrews castle and walked along the pier and the town centre. The weather was beautiful and I got some great photos. We ate brunch in the diner were Kate supposedly met Will and had dinner with some of the other students at St. Andrews. Sunday, I spent most of the day on various trains in transit back to Eastbourne. Now, just 3 weeks later, I’m already well into packing for my next trip! Miss you all! Can’t wait to be out exploring again!
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| The Americans in Scotland! |
