Stockholm

March 16th, 2009

This weekend I went to Stockholm for my friends 21st birthday. The city was absolutely beautiful! Thursday afternoon we left for Central Station. The weather in Glasgow was very nice and warm! We arrived at Prestwick Airport around430pm for our 640 flight. The airport was small so we hung out at a cafe for awhile before going through security and boarding. When it was time to board we went to the gate and were ready to get on the plane, when our plane was delayed for mechanical reasons. So we were sent back into the airport to wait "until further notice." I bought a book - He's Just Not That Into You - which I figured I could read while we waited. Finally, after about two hours they had a new plane for us, and we boarded the plane and flew to Stockholm. The airport we landed in was about an 80 minute bus ride to Stockholm. Buying our tickets was our first experience with using Kronor. I think the money ratio is about 8.5 Kronor to one US dollar. So that was always fun to calculate.

We arrived at our hostel that night around 130am, made our beds and then crashed. We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast at the hostel, went to the ATM, and then began exploring Stockholm. We went to McDonald's (my first time ever in a McDonald's in Europe) and I had a milkshake while we waited to meet up with Keely and Janene. Those two girls were couch surfing instead of staying the hostel. We ended up at the wrong McDonald's, so we continued on and decided to meet them at the tourist information center. We stopped in Saint Clara Church on the way which was very pretty, but apparently a church for the homeless and prostitutes (according to Amy), and then we continued walking towards the information center. The one thing I definitely noticed about Stockholm was the THOUSANDS of H&Ms they had on every street. I enjoy H&M so I thought it was cool, but I was amazed at how many different stores they had.






















































After we met up with Keely and Janene, we all headed to the Old Town (called Gamlastan in Swedish). The walk there was absolutely beautiful! The water was so peaceful, sitting near it made you forget that you were in the middle of a huge city. Although it was definitely colder in Sweden than it was in Glasgow, especially by the water. When we reached the Old Town, we walked along the water and up the side streets looking for a place to eat lunch. After lunch we continued our walk through Old Town towards the Palace. I originally had no clue that Sweden had a Royal family, but they do, and I was fascinated by them... I even bought a picture of them... although apparently they do not live in the palace in Stockholm they actually live outside of Stockholm.
























































After we finished exploring the Old Town, we split off and I went to the Architecture Museum on the island Skepps-Holmen. The Architecture Museum was cool, and because we so happened to go between 4 and 6 on Friday, it was free. After the museum we walked around the island and I saw some cruise ships named Cinderella (apparently Cinderella is loved in every country). On the walk back to the hostel we stopped at the City Hall. This was my FAVORITE place in Stockholm. It has the best view I have ever seen, and when you are standing in City Hall, the steps lead you right into the water. This is the place where the Nobel Prize is awarded, so Charlie had guessed that when people arrive for the ceremony, they can arrive in boats and take the steps from the water up into City Hall.

That evening, we went out to dinner at a local cafe. I had some quesadillas and then apple pie for dessert. After dinner we went to the Bakers Head Bar for the evening and hung out.

Saturday we woke up early and met Keely and Janene for breakfast at the Muffin Bakery (the group staying in the hostel were Amy, Anisha, Grace, Charlie, and I). After breakfast we made our way towards the island, Sodermalm. We spent most of the day walking around the town and seeing the view. It was absolutely amazing to be near the water. For lunch we ate at a cafe in Sodermalm, and I had this pasta salad which was good, but I realized then how much Salmon is used in Sweden. It seemed like every place we went offered many different choices of salmon dishes.



That evening while we were in Sodermalm we saw the Katarina Church, and then went for coffee and tea at this vegetarian restaurant. The dessert there was amazing... I had Hallon Pie (Raspberry) and it was the best dessert I have had in Europe yet! On the walk back, we stopped at City Hall again (the view was just so amazing) before heading back to the hostel. We went out to dinner at a restaurant for Charlie's birthday. After dinner we decided to try and find a bar or pub to go to before midnight so we could celebrate his birthday. We ended up going to the Ice Bar which was so much fun! Everything inside the bar was made out of ice. When you go in the bar they give you coats and gloves, so it didn't seem that cold. But the glasses, tables, bar, and even the walls were made out of ice. We spent about an hour there before moving on.

Sunday morning we woke up and checked out of the hostel. We stopped at a cafe for breakfast and then headed towards the main street. We split up, and Anisha, Grace, and I spent some time shopping in H&M before meeting up with everyone at the Vasa Museum. The Vasa Museum was very interesting, and I was impressed with the restoration of the ship. After the museum, we headed back towards the bust stop and set off for the airport.

Ireland

March 9th, 2009

I finally made it to Ireland! Thursday night, the trip began as I walked with Liane, Teemu, and Elli to Central Station where we would catch a train to the airport. The thing about flying with Ryanair, is that while the flights may be cheap, the airports are always at least a half an hour away from the city. When we got to the airport we had some time to waste, so we sat in the airport bar to have a pint. I decided to have a pint of a beer called, "Caffreys" which I must say was not very good, but I was still glad I tried it because of the name.

Preview

We arrived in Dublin that night and got to our hostel around midnight. The four of us were staying in the Shining Hostel, not too far from O'Connell Street. We woke up early Friday morning to start the day in Dublin. We had breakfast on O'Connell Street at a cafe called Kylemore. I actually ran into a girl from Boston College at breakfast which was really random, but cool... she was in Ireland for BC's spring break. We were able to see the Spire from the cafe, and after breakfast set out to find the General Post Office. We were a little confused with the map, and ended up walking towards a normal post office before we turned around. When we finally saw the General Post Office we realized it was right across the street from the cafe we ate breakfast at.

After seeing the General Post Office, we made our way down Henry Street and walked towards the Halfpenny Bridge. We crossed the bridge and then went to the Temple Bar. The area around the Temple Bar had some cute shops that we browsed through before going into the bar. We all had a half pint of Murphy's beer before moving on. Again this was the second strike for Irish beer's as I was not a fan of the dark beer which is apparently popular in Cork.




After walking around the Temple Bar area we made our way towards Grafton Street to do some shopping. I was surprised that there were alot of stores similar to the stores back home, but I did find one store, House of Ireland, which had some nice traditional items inside. When we had finished checking out the shops, we made our way to Saint Patrick's Cathedral. We didn't go inside, but there was a beautiful park next to the Church that we walked through. I found that Dublin had a lot of nice parks!



We continued walking towards the Guinness Factory, passing many churches along the way. We met up with our friend Eoin (who is studying abroad in Glasgow but lives in Galway) and he came on the tour through the factory with us. We learned that all it takes to make Guinness is water, barley, hop, and yeast. The factory was cool, they design the museum in the shape of a pint glass, and it is said to be the biggest pint glass in the world. When we finished walking through the factory, we made our way up to the Gravity Bar. It is at the very top of the factory, and it is said to have the best view of Dublin. With the price of admission we were all given a pint of Guinness which all had shamrocks on top! But again, I was not a fan of the dark beer.

After we finished at the Guinness factory we made our way back towards O'Connell Street to find a pub to eat dinner in. We ate at a place called Madigans where I tried the fish and chips. Later that evening we went to another pub called Messrs Maguire. We met up with one of Elli's friends from Finland and just spent the evening hanging out in the pub.

Saturday morning we woke up early to catch the 9am bus to Galway. It was about a four hour bus ride to Galway including the quick stops along the way. When we arrived in Galway, we checked into our hostel before walking up and down Shop Street. Shop Street was really cool, and there were tons of traditional Irish stores along the street. There were also alot of places to find Claddagh Rings, seeing as apparently Galway is the home to Claddagh Rings. I ended up buying myself an Irish sweater in one of the stores on Shop Street.


After walking around Shop Street we headed back to the hostel to drop some things off before walking along the coast. I absolutely loved seeing the water, but it was very cold and windy. We walked along the promenade and walked to Salt Hill. The shore was my favorite part of Ireland, and despite how cold and windy it was, I loved it.

After we finished walking along the shore we freshened up at our hostel before going out to dinner. I had fish and chips again, but from what was appparently the best fish and chip place in Galway. We then went out to the Kings Head pub and met up with some students who were studying abroad in Hungry. Most of them were from Austria and they were just talking about thte different places they have seen, and the places they would like to go.

Sunday morning came, and we were headed back on the bus back to Dublin. I was feeling a little sick from the fish and chips I had the night before (which were supposed to be amazing), so I was glad to sleep on the bus to Dublin. When we got to Dublin, we walked around Trinity College and Saint Stephen's Green. We found the Boston College House in Dublin which was really exciting, but unfortunately closed. We spent most the evening in a Cafe before heading to a pub for dinner. We were taking our time today because it was supposed to be a long night. We stayed at the Heineken House until about 230am before catching a cab to the airport. Our flight was at 740am and we didn't book a hostel, so the plan was to crash at the airport. Apparently it was a popular idea because the airport was full of people for 3 o'clock in the morning. We didn't get too much sleep, but the morning finally came and we made it back to Glasgow.

Movies

March 3, 2009

First off, Happy Birthday Keels!!

So I decided to make a quick post about all the movies I have seen here... Glasgow is the home of the Worlds Tallest Movie Theater and we have definitely taken advantage of the movies they have to offer...

I have seen the following-

Slumdog Millionaire- Definitely deserved to win the Oscar for Best Movie. It was the first movie I saw in Glasgow and I really enjoyed it.

Sex Drive- Comedy, pretty funny and definitely stupid. Pat you would probably enjoy it. Reminded me of Role Models

Bride Wars- Cute Romantic Comedy, it was surprisingly good. Based on the previews I thought it look stupid, but I enjoyed it!

Revolutionary Road- Really good acting, but it was a very intense. It was worth seeing it once, but I don't think it would be a film I could watch twice. Also the man who was considered insane had a degree in mathematics...

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist- Keely you would enjoy this movie. It was cute, the guy from Superbad is in it.

He's Just Not That Into You- Great Chick Flick! I saw it with a group of 13 girls, and we all definitely enjoyed it... I am starting the book as we speak.

Confessions of a Shopaholic- Another great chick flick... probably will make the list of favorites!

Vicky, Christina, Barcelona- Another typical Woody Allen movie. I am not a huge fan of Scarlet Johanson but the movie was okay. I wanted to see it because Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her role. I thought the award was well deserved, but at the same time it didn't make the movie anything special.

Rugby Match and Field Hockey

March 2, 2009

This weekend was filled with sports! On Saturday, Sal, Grace, Mike, Amy (and here friend Rene), and I went to the Six Nations Rugby match between Scotland and Italy. Kirstin Heggie, the coordinator for the Boston College students in Glasgow had bought the tickets for us. We met at the Buchanan Bus Station around quarter to twelve and took the noon bus to Murray Field in Edinburgh. The bus was packed with fans going to the game!! Apparently this was the one game in the entire tournament Scotland had a chance at winning.

We arrived at the stadium around 1:15-1:30 and walked around a little before going inside. The fans for Rugby matches go all out. I would easily say that the majority of guys at the game wore kilts with a jersey top. Other fans tied the Scottish flag around them and wore hats with fake hair. It was definitely a crazy scene.
Inside the stadium Grace, Mike, and I bought jerseys for the game. They were only 25 pounds which was a pretty good deal. The burgers at the park were not that great but served well for lunch. We then went to our seats, we were sitting in section 9 and had pretty good seats. Bag pipers came on the field to play the national anthem once the teams ran out.

The game started and I had no clue what was going on... The rules were not easy to pick up on but we tried hard. We were up at half time, although for awhile in the beginning it seemed as if Italy should be winning. The second half we pulled away and Scotland won 26-6. The crowd was pleased, and after the final whistle sounded, a guy ran across the field with just his kilt on...

When we got back to Glasgow, we went out to see Vicky Christina Barcelona. It was a pretty good movie, typical Woody Allen I would definitely say.

Saturday, I had a field hockey game against Hillhead. I played defense for the twos again, and unfortunately we ended up losing 2-1. We definitely dominated the second half, we just couldn't get the ball in the cage. Then Monday night I was back to playing for the threes. We had a night game about 20 minutes away from Glasgow (I can't remember the name of the pitch) but we played well and won 3-1. Our next match is on Wednesday verses Edinburgh, although I am not sure if I will be able to make it...

Classes and Such

February 26, 2009

So the week after Paris proved to be pretty busy. It is about that time where internship applications and such are due... But I figured I would give an update on all my classes, since we are just about half way done!

Discrete Mathematics- My professor for this class is probably the most awkward man I have ever met. He is a nice guy, but in tutorials he will walk over and ask if you have a question, and if you say "no," he just stands there and stares over you... but the class itself is going ok, it is probably my hardest class here.

Number Theory- I am enjoying this class a lot. We just got a new professor, because our original professor had to take a medical leave of absence. The guy is really nice. We had our midterm Thursday and it went pretty well material wise. Test wise, I seemed to miss out on a few key directions... apparently we were not supposed to write in pencil (I don't know why it is a math test), we can't write on the backside of the pages, and we can't write in the margin. I of course wrote in pencil, wrote on the backside of the pages, and wrote in the margins. But I told the professor and it shouldn't be a problem.

Scottish Culture- This class has been going well. I only have two more classes left before it's done! We spent are last lecture in the Kelvingrove Art Museum. It was surprising nice having a tour guide explain the different artwork to us.

Black and White Photography- I am really enjoying this class. We just developed are second roll of film. I was excited, because I brought this role to Paris with me, so I will be able to develop some of those pictures in class on Wednesday. There are a couple nice pictures of Notre Dame and of the couple proposing haha...

Bag Piping- My lessons are slowly coming along... this week I am learning how to play "Auld Lang Syne." This song includes grace notes and strikes which I have been practicing!!

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!