Weekend in Paris- The City of Lights

February 23, 2009

I had an AMAZING weekend in Paris! The city was by far one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. The "epic journey" began at 430am Friday morning, when we all met up to catch a taxi to Prestwick Airport. We checked in at the airport and then went through security. Our flight took off at 640am... I was kind of nervous about the flight, seeing as Ryanair is well known for cheap flights but not so much as smooth flights, but everything went great and we arrived at Paris Beauvais Airport after 9am and all got our passport stamped! From there we proceeded to catch a bus into Paris (the airport we flew into was 80km outside the city). The bus arrived in Port Maillot a little after 11am, and from there we had to use French to find the metro and meet up with my friend Kevin, whom we were all staying with. This is when I realized exactly how long ago high school and French class really was. We finally made it to the metro station Gare Du Nord around noon and met up with Kevin. He took us to his flat so we could put our things down before exploring Paris. Kevin likes to claim that his flat was in the "ghetto" however I beg to differ because the area was really nice. What I love about all the buildings in Paris is the iron wiring outside all of the windows!

























After we left Kevin's flat we decided to start walking towards the city. We stopped for lunch at a creperie to have our first experience with French food. Ordering in French was definitely amusing, but we all managed to order lunch crepes with the help of Kevin. After eating we continued to walk into the city, passing the Opera House along the way... We ended up walking to the park between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. We continued to walk towards the Louvre taking tons of picures along the way, and then relaxed for a bit at the fountain in front of the Louvre. We decided to save the Louvre for a different day and then went to walk along the Seine. It was really cool, there were lots of street stands selling posters all along the bridge. We walked down the river and then went to Notre Dame. It was free to explore, so we went inside to walk around and the stained glass windows were amazing. After spending some time in Notre Dame we decided to try dessert crepes from one of the street stands. We all went for the Nutella crepes, although I think I like crepes better with fruit, but I couldn't find any place that sold them with strawberries!






























After eating crepes, we explored the city a little further before heading back to Kevins flat. We met up with his flatmates and bought some camembert cheese, wine, and atleast 8 french baguettes and spent the evening talking and eating before heading out later on.


Saturday morning turned in to afternoon by the time we were all ready to leave the flat and go into Paris. The plan for the day was to climb the Eiffel Tower and then go to the Louvre in the afternoon. We took the subway to the Eiffel Tower and it was really exciting to finally see it! We split off to buy tickets, as Grace and I opted to walk up whereas Sal and Anisha took the elevator. We climbed 668 stairs before meeting them at the second level. From the second level we had to wait on line to take the elevator to the very top... the view from the top was amazing! I was able to see Notre Dame and the French Statue of Liberty. From the bottom looking up at the Eiffel Tower I had origonally thought that it was smaller then I expected, however from the top I quikly realized that it was still indeed very tall! By the time we got back down from the Eiffel Tower and took pictures, we realized we would need to save the Louvre for Sunday, and we met up with Amy before heading to a cafe. We were without Kevin so ordering food was interesting, but we all managed to order crepes, coffee, and tea. By the time we finished eating and left the cafe, it was dark, so we took a second round of pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower with it lit up.


After the Eiffel Tower, we headed back to Kevin's flat for dinner. The boys cooked breaded cicken and pasta with pesto and tomato sauce which was good, and we were joined by some other BC kids studying in Paris. That night we went out and found a place to sing karaoke which was definitely alot of fun. After my karaoke debut in Glasgow I definitely felt the need to sing in Paris. I sang "Your Song," with Kevin's friend Rob, while a couple other people sang songs like "Let's Stay Together" and "Man I Feel Like a Women."

Sunday morning we were all able to get up and leave the flat by 11am and to go to the Louvre. I was surprised to learn that the famous glass pyramid outside the museum was only added in 1988. But I was finally able to see the Mona Lisa in real life along with the Michelangelo's The dying Slave and Venus de Milo. The museum was huge and there is still so much more to see! But I left around 23opm to make sure I could buy a few posters from the street venders before leaving, as well as take a few photos for my black and white photography class. When we met back up with everyone, it was about 4pm and we started to head back to Kevins flat. Along the way we witnessed a proposal which was exciting. The guy actually got down on one knee which gave it away, and the the girl said yes which was good (and I took a picture for my class haha).





























Back at the flat, we packed everything up before heading out. On the way to the the bus station, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe to take a few pictures and eat dinner. The journey home was just as "epic" as the journey here with just as many different types of transportations. I definitely will miss being in Paris!

This Week...

February 19th, 2009

So not too much has happened since London, although the time really seems to fly here. I think having only four days of classes help. I have had a lot of time to relax since London... Last week classes went well. I am learning more songs on the practice chanter, and I finally learned how to play G and D grace notes. I have been practicing a song called "The Barnyards of Delgaty" which I guess doesn't sound that interesting, but it is better then the Christmas music I have been playing! My other classes are going well, I have printed some of my photos for photography and they actually seem to be coming out okay.

Last Wednesday (the 11th I think) I was supposed to travel up north to Aberdeen for a hockey game, but the pitch was covered in snow so that didn't happen... I didn't mind though because we got to play in Ayr on Saturday for Valentines Day (we won 4-2). I would like to add here that Valentine's day in the UK is HUGE. When I left that morning to walk to campus for my game, I must have passed a thousand couples strolling through the park... That night a bunch of us went out to dinner at Bar Budda for our own Valentine's Day gathering. To keep the food theme going I would like to add that I had the red pepper and goat cheese pizza again... still so good. And being Valentines Day, not only did I have peacan pie for dessert, but when I met up with my roommate and some other friends after dinner, I joined them for crepes!

Sunday was peaceful, and I spent the day catching up on some work. This week I finished the third Twighlight book and am looking forward to starting the final one! Yesterday we were supposed to have another hockey game but the team didnit show. Today I went to class and then booked a flight to Dublin which was exciting! I am going there the weekend of March 5th... And then tonight at 4am the epic journey to Paris begins!! I am so excited, although it should be an interesting trip there... our flight leaves around 630am... ahhhh!

LONDON

February 9th, 2009

I had a fabulous time this weekend in London. The food there was amazing. The crazy journey all began Thursday night as Sal, Grace, Anisha, and I left to catch the Megabus from the Buchanan Bus Station around 10pm. The bus departed at 11pm and arrived in London at 7am. Now I can usually sleep on any bus, car, plane, or train trip but this journey may have been the first exception. The bus we were taking was a double decker, and when we sat down on the top level, Anisha and I sat in the third row. The driver came up to us before we left and told us that we were in the "crash zone" and that our seatbelts must remain on at all times, while everyone else has the choice to wear their seatbelts, but if the bus were to crash and they chose not to wear seatbelts then there would be no insurance. So that was something to look forward to...

We arrived in London on time and went to Victoria Station to get breakfast. London was freezing!! We then made our way toAnisha's sisters appartment to drop off some luggage. After freshening up we set out to explore London, first stop Abbey Road. It was slightly amusing trying to figure out which crosswalk was the correct one... I guess I thought it would have been obvious. Along the road, there was a wall that fans got to sign which was probably my favorite part of the attraction. After adding our names to the wall we did the tourist thing and walked across the road... in the wrong direction I might add.

After Abbey Road, we took the Tube to London Bridge and then went to Borough's Market for lunch. This place was really cool and there was a ton of food. They had just about everything there including TONS of cheese. After eating some lunch we decided to walk along the River Thames towards Westminster Abbey. Along the way we saw London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globes Theatre, the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.














Westminster Abbey and Big Ben were huge. We bought tickets and went in to walk around inside Westminster Abbey. We saw the tomb of Mary Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth. I think my favorite part though was the coronation chair that they still use today!

After exploring Westminster Abbey I went off to meet Jamie at Queen Mary! It was really exciting to see her and Jill! We met back up with the BC group (including Amy now!) and had dinner at Pizza Express. Pizza Express is now officially my favorite restaurant... it sounds like fast food, but it is actually a really nice sit down restaurant and the food was AMAZING. After dinner we were all beat from the little sleep allowed on the Megabus, and I went back to Queen Mary with Jamie and Jillt to watch Blue Crush (Keels I am sure you would have appreciated that).





Day two London was exciting and seemed to fly by. I met up with the BC group at Victoria Station and we went to check out Buckingham Palace. The palace was huge! I was actually surprised to find that the guards were inside the gates and not outside of them but they were still pretty cool. After the palace, we went to see "Spring Awakening." Are seats were on stage and it was pretty cool to watch the play from this view. It amazed me to see how young the actors and actresses were!


That night we went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant where the food again was really good. For some reason I have been really obsessed with food here in Europe... but anyways, after dinner we went out to a club in Covent Gardens and reunited with some other BC math majors visiting London as well haha...





It was kind of sad waking up the third day and knowing it was the last day in London. The city is HUGE and I still feel like there is so much left to see. Jamie, Jill, and I went to Piccadilly market and walked around and shopped most the morning. The market was definitely one of my favorite places in London. There were tons of venders set up on the streets, and you could just walk down the streets browsing at all the clothes and jewelry. After shopping we spent some time in Cafe Nero relaxing before heading back to Jamie's dorm. We watched Into the Blue while I packed up my things... I met up with Sal and Amy for our last dinner in London. We ate at Pizza Express again... I'm telling you it is SO GOOD. We then caught the midnight megabus back to Glasgow. We arrived around 8 in the morning and I sprinted to my 9am class! Definitely a great weekend!

AC Milan vs. Rangers

February 5th, 2009

I have finally caught up to date with all my posts!! Last night a bunch of us went to watch the Rangers game against AC Milan. It was very exciting. We arrived at the stadium around 7pm and walked around outside before going in. We all bought split scarves with the AC Milan logo on one half and the Rangers logo on the other half. They were really nice and only five pounds!! It proved to be a great game even though the end result was a tie 2-2, but we got to see Beckham and Ronaldhino play for AC Milan which was really cool. After the game the line for the subway was ridiculous so we decided to go around to watch the players leave. We got to see AC Milan board the bus and waved as they drove off... after we walked towards the Rangers exit and I got my picture taken with who I am assuming is Steven Naismith but I am not sure... It was definitely a great night!

The Super Bowl and Anisha's 21st!!

February 2nd, 2005

First off Happy 21st Birthday Anisha!!
This weekend proved to be exciting for two different reasons, the super bowl and Anisha's 21st birthday. Anisha's brother and sister came up for the weekend and took us out to dinner Sunday night before the super bowl. We ate at this restaurant called Fire Bird and the food was delicious!! I had this ravioli that was soooo good (I really enjoy the food here so far, but for some reason I am always hungry)... After dinner we went to PJ Champs to watch the super bowl. Coverage started around 11pm here and we stayed at the bar until about 330 in the morning. The game was exciting, but I was disappointed the Steelers won. And yes mom I thought the half time show was amazing.












It was tough to wake up Monday morning for class after being out late watching the super bowl, but I made it through all my classes thankfully! We went out for dinner at Paperino's for Anisha's birthday and I had this pasta which was also amazing. After dinner we went to the Loft to meet up with some other friends and spent the rest of the night hanging out and celebrating Anisha's 21st!

Australian Day, Classes, and Field Hockey

January 31st, 2009

This week seemed to have flown by... Monday was Australian Day so we went out that night after classes to celebrate. I had a lesson for the bag pipes today... I am slowly getting better!! But before we went out for Australian Day, we met up at the Research House on campus to have dinner and book our bus tickets for London! We are leaving February 5th and traveling through the night... hopefully the ride will be smooth enough so that I can sleep!! After we booked our tickets we walked to an Australian bar called Walkabout in city centre. A bunch of our friends from Australia had beat us there and were celebrating and dancing to the music. It proved to be a fun night!

Tuesday morning I had to get up early for class. My math professor told us today that the "Euclidean Algorithm was a miracle of nature," and I found that to be a pretty amusing statement... After class I walked down to the Botanic Gardens to finish my role (roll?) of film for my photography class. That night I went to field hockey practice with the club team here. The girls were really nice and I was really excited to finally join the team... they practice every Tuesday night and sounds like it should be alot of fun!

The rest of the week went by really fast... my friend Sal made the BC group an Italian meal which tasted really good, and proved to be the start of a new trend... Friday another friend Sean made some Texas style chili for us all which was also very good! Saturday morning I woke up around 10 and got ready for my first field hockey game!! I had to go to four different stores before I could finally find a mouth guard, and then set off to meet the team at the Union. The game was soooo much fun! We ended up winning 3-0 and I actually scored a goal which was cool- my first international goal haha... we have two games next weekend but unfortunately I will have to miss them because of London. After the game the entire team went to PJ Champs which is a sports bar on Byres Road. They sponsor our team, so after every game we get to go there and enjoy a free lunch! That night I went out with some friends to Bar Budda for dinner. This is by far my favorite restaurant I have come across... the red pepper and goat cheese pizza is AMAZING!!

Burn's Weekend

January 25th, 2009

This weekend was very relaxing as I had a chance to see some more sites of Glasgow. On Saturday I woke up late and took my time getting ready for the day. I met up with some friends in the early afternoon and we took the subway into the city centre to do some exploring. We we arrived at Buchanan Street we all immediately hit up the candy store... for some reason I have been OBSESSED with Cadbury Chocolate bars here and can't get enough of them!! After dealing with the chocolate fix, we all walked down towards the Glasgow Green. I took pictures along the way for my black and white photography class... there are a few I really like (some of them are so romantic haha) so hopefully they come out! We walked through the Glasgow Green and made our way towards the People's Palace. It was really nice out, and along the way we thought we could smell the brewery where Tennents Lager is made... Once it started getting dark out we walked back towards the city to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up eating at this nice Italian restaurant and I must say the lasagna was fantastic! That evening a few of us went out to try our luck at a karaoke bar down town... some of the people were a little sketched out with the bar so we ended up going somewhere else, but my friend Erin and I went back to sing a Brittney Spears song... definitely my new favorite thing to do!!

Sunday was Robert Burns Day in Scotland. Apparently Robert Burns is a hero here in Glasgow and every year families get together eat haggis and celebrate with a nice dinner. Seeing as none of us here could even know how to cook haggis, we decided to go to the pub around the corner called the Islay to celebrate (I would like to note that the fire alarm also decided to join in on the celebration and I was definitely not a fan... I can't even count anymore how many times the damn alarm has gone off). We arrived at the pub just in time to witness the "Address to the Haggis." It was actually really amusing and a bag piper played throughout a skit in which a man cut the haggis with a sword- resulting in a broken table. When the skit finished, our table ordered our own haggis to try and then spent the rest of the night talking and listening to different performers.

Global Village

January 22nd, 2009

The second week of classes have just about come to an end. Normally Thursday would be the last day of classes for me, however, my photography class was rescheduled to Friday this week due to a lack of film for the cameras. The international society sponsored an event called Global Village tonight. Before I went, I met up with the BC group to work on some travel plans. We booked a flight to Paris for the weekend of February 20th and I am so excited!! According to one of my friends it will be an "epic journey" as we have to take just about every method of transportation Thursday night to get to Paris... but either way I am really looking forward to the trip.

After booking the flight, we all headed over to Global Village for a night of food and music. They had food at the event from all different cultures. It was very crowded so we didn't get to try too much of the food and ended up going up to the Union for some snacks. But, the music was great! They had a live band play, and after they finished, different dance groups on campus performed.

Inauguration Day

January 20th, 2009

Inauguration Day!! While it would have been nice to be in the States to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, it was pretty interesting being in Glasgow for it. The other night I cooked dinner with my roommate and some other friends, and while we were cooking, some girls from London were discussing their thoughts on politics in the US. They were thrilled Obama won the election but were also very surprised... I guess not too many people in the UK had faith we would elect him... Anyways the inauguration ceremony began around 3pm in Glasgow, so I met up with a group of people at a pub called Curlers. The pub aired the inauguration on all televisions which was great... we were worried a football match may have effected our chances of watching the ceremony. It was really funny watching the inauguration on the British Network, because the man typing the captions was having alot of issues following what was actually being said. While Aretha Franklin was singing God Bless America, he typed one of the lines in the song as "Viking done done..." After a few more mistakes he gave up and just typed "(SINGING)" for the remainig lyrics. After the we finished watching the inauguration, the four BC girls went into the city for a girls night. We saw the movie Bride Wars which was actually very funny!

Edinburgh

January 18th, 2009

This weekend the international society held a trip to Edinburgh. I met up with my friends at the subway pretty early in hopes of catching a 10 o'clock train to Edinburgh. We ended up taking a bus because it was cheaper and the ride was not very long. When we arrived to Edinburgh everyone immediately started taking pictures... the city was absolutely beautiful. We set off towards the Elephant Cafe for lunch, which apparently is the birthplace of Harry Potter, so some people were very excited to eat there. After lunch we found our way to the Royal Mile and began walking up the street towards Edinburgh Castle. This castle was gorgeous and had an amazing view. The castle is set upon the basalt core of an extinct volcano. It cost about ten pounds to tour the castle, so we all went in and explored the different exhibits set up in the castle including the old military prison.

After exploring the castle we decided to make our way back to the city centre to catch the shuttle bus to our hostel. On the way we walked through the Tron Kirk church built in 1630. We also saw a newlywed couple walking into their wedding reception while a bag piper played a tune for them (it was really cute). We ended up stopping for tea- I swear I drink SO MUCH tea now- before catching the shuttle to the hostel. We stayed at the Globetrotter Inn which was about a fifteen minute drive out of the city. The hostel was really nice. Between the 11 of us we had two rooms of six with no strangers (so no worries Keely there was no fear for it to be like the movie).

After settling into our hostel, we took the shuttle bus back into the city and searched for a place to have dinner. We had been really fortunate with the weather on the trip so far, but walking to dinner was probably one of the coldest and windiest nights I have ever experienced! We ended up going to eat at this bar and let me tell you the lasagne was good! After dinner thankfully the weather was much better and we walked to a pub called Biddy Mulligans. We met up with some friends at the pub and then set off to a club called Espionage.

The next day we woke up early to catch breakfast at the hostel before checkout. Most of us were tired... it was a late night and there was some trouble catching a cab on the way home... but we were still looking forward to another day in Edinburgh. After the shuttle dropped us off in the city we set off to explore Calton Hill. Calton Hill had another amazing view of Edinburgh, and probably my favorite monument yet. After taking pictures we walked down towards the New Scottish Parliament. I think the building opened in 2004?? Across the street from the Parliament building was the Royal Castle... while we decided not to tour the castle we did end up using the royal restrooms haha...

That afternoon we split up and some people walked back to the castle, but I ended up heading back towards the souvenir shops. I bought really cool boxers haha. We all met up for lunch at a place called Wannaburger (which had AMAZING milk shakes) and then caught the bus back to Glasgow. The trip was fun, and I would definitely say that the cobblestone streets which were everywhere, were probably my favorite part of Edinburgh!

Spray Deodorant

January 16th, 2009

So apparently everyone in Europe chooses to use spray deodorant. Now normally I would say to each their own, however in this case it is starting to cause problems. My residence hall is well known for the numerous amount of fire alarms that occur each semester and I am starting to blame spray deodorant. Aside from the fact that the fire alarm is tested every Thursday, the alarm has gone off twice in the past two days, and according to the fire department spray deodorant is the cause. So I don't know if people are spraying in the wrong places or what but I now officially hate spray deodorant.

First Week of Classes!

January 15th, 2009

My first week of classes has officially ended! I am surprised I was even able to put a schedule together with all the difficulties I was having in the beginning of the week. Classes started on Monday, but by Sunday night I was still pretty confused with the courses I was taking. I had spent the weekend exploring Glasgow, and didn't have too much time to think about classes. On Saturday we went into the city and walked around for awhile. We explored the Glasgow Art Gallery and then at night went out to our friends flat to teach some German friends how to play beer pong. Sunday was a little more relaxing as we went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" that evening at the worlds tallest movie theatre (it was definitely taller then the Millerton Moviehouse).

Monday morning I went up to the Fraiser building on campus and officially registered for the university. After registering I met with various professors to finalize my schedule. I definitely prefer signing up for classes online, but unfortunately that was not an option here... I finally finalized my schedule and was excited for the classes I chose. I am taking: Discrete Mathematics, Number Theory, Exploring Scottish Culture, Black and White Photography, and Bagpiping.

Tuesday was my official first day of classes, as I had Discrete Mathematics at 9am and Number Theory at 10am. No matter what country I am in I always seem to end up with 9am courses... both my professors were nice and so far I had no issues understanding accents. That evening the BC group went out to dinner with Kirstin Heggie. We went to an Italian restaurant called Paperino's. Apparently BC provides Kirstin with a budget to plan different activities for us to do in Scotland so dinner was free! I guess we will be heading up to the Highlands and attending a rugby match later in the semester...

Wednesday and Thursday went by quickly as I went to the rest of my classes. Photography hasn't started yet, but I am definitely looking forward to it next week. My bag piping class should be pretty interesting... my first lesson is Monday and I am nervous haha... we start out learning on an instrument called the chanter so that should be pretty interesting...

Orientation

January 9th, 2009

I have been in Scotland for about three days now and have yet to feel jet lagged... The past two days all the international students have had orientation on campus at the Boyd Orr building. The first day of orientation consisted of some ice breakers and general information about the school. We had lunch at Queen Margaret, one of the two unions on campus. The other union is the Glasgow University Union... That afternoon we went to sign up for classes at a "supermarket session." Signing up for classes proved to be harder then expected as most of the classes I was interested in overlapped with each other. That night the international students met back on campus for a night session of finger foods and drinks in the square. Here we met the international students from Europe. We were quizzed on our knowledge of Scotland and the University, and I unfortunately barely knew a thing! After the orientation session ended we all went out to the Oran Moore Bar for our official first night out.

The second day of orientation seemed to drag on more then expected. The morning session was mainly about signing up for banks and health insurance which was not very interesting. We were given a break for lunch and then met back up around 2pm for a bus tour of Glasgow! The tour was nice and it gave everyone a chance to see different sights around the city. After the tour, I went into the city with a few people in search of a Barclays ATM. It was the first time I rode on the subway here, called the Clockwork Orange.

For dinner that evening everyone from Boston College met on Ashton Lane to eat at the restaurant called Bar Budda. This place has AMAZING pizza. I will definitely be going back there for dinner again. Our final event of orientation was a ceilidh being held at the QM. This ceilidh was by far the best experience I have had in Scotland so far. A ceilidh is a Scottish dance and it was so much fun learning the different steps. When the ceilidh finished, the union switched over to Cheesy Pop and we all stayed to dance to pop music like Ricky Martin and Spice Girls.

The Beginning

January 7th, 2009

I finally arrived in Scotland! It was a long trip, but definitely worth it when I stepped outside of the airport in Glasgow for the first time. I was excited for the overcast weather... had it been sunny I think I would have been sure I was not in Scotland. Overall, the plane ride was not bad, and I was able to meet a bunch of people throughout the trip. The guy who sat next to me on the plane was from Germany and was very friendly. I think the worst part of the trip was my layover in Amsterdam... I was starving, but did not feel it would be worth while to buy Euros just so I could eat breakfast. At the airport in Amsterdam I met another student who was on her way to study at the University of Glasgow. It was exciting to finally talk to someone... I had been dying to call someone but the whole no cell phone thing was a problem. When we arrived in Glasgow, the pilot mentioned the weather being about 5 degrees and when I stepped outside I was shocked to find it was warm out. It was then that I realized people use Celsius in Scotland. I made my way through customs quickly and had my passport stamped without any hassle. The cab ride to my dorm was pretty quick, and my cab driver was very friendly.

I didn't realize that Cairncross House is about a fifteen minute walk from the main campus, so when I arrived at my dorm I was surprised to see no signs of academic buildings near me. It was very easy to check in to my dorm, and one of the men who worked in the building helped me carry my luggage to the room. After settling into my new room, I went downstairs to meet up with some other students from Boston College. We explored the campus which was gorgeous and then went out to a bar called Curlers for our first Scottish meal. Most of us had burgers so I guess that wasn't too Scottish, but the food was good! After dinner we all headed back to our dorms and I finally got to meet my roommate! Her name ironically, is Keely, and she is from Canada...