A Very Lucky Girl

After an eventful afternoon in Amsterdam, we took a series of trains to Heidelberg, arriving at 9:30 in the morning, exhausted, unshowered, and starving. We took a crowded bus to the city centre, where our hostel was located just below the castle! The hostel was well-kept and all of the visitors were friendly. After a quick nap/coma, we ventured to the streets, intent on locating food. We ate dinner at Pizza Hut that evening. And, I don't know about Gibby, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! We enjoyed the free Wifi, informed everyone of our safety, and slept early. In the morning we headed straight uphill to Schloss Heidelberg. If I was an enemy attacking said castle hundreds of years ago, the incline alone would have been enough to make me think twice. My legs screamed at me as we trudged upwards. But, once inside, the views were spectacular, and worth every sore muscle! We scoured every inch of the property, crashed a wedding party, and pointed out the Old Bridge from our perch on ...

Switzerland was everything Gibby and I needed at that point in our euro trip. As soon as we crossed the border I think I breathed a sigh of utter relief. The terrors of Milan and Naples were behind us and the Swiss alps were before us. We chose to stay at a hostel in Interlaken, a small town situated next to lake Thun (pronounced toon as in cartoon, not thun as in thunder up). I learned this from my super awesome paragliding guide who looked scarily similar to Sean Bean from National Treasure . Did I mention I went paragliding? Yeah, I did.  We originally were only going to stay one night in Switzerland and then head to Paris, but we loved it so much (and the trains were so messed up) that we decided to stay for two. I'm so glad we had an entire full day!  Switzerland is on the Swiss franc and we honestly could only afford McDonald's. So we ate it for dinner two nights in a row.  We spent our time aimle ssly turning corners and reveling in actual beds and hot sho...

Everything in Italy was pretty much all downhill after LDL abandoned Cadet Squad in Rome. She flew back to Dundee on our Friday in Rome due to final projects. Kylie and I dried the tears and moved on down the coast of Italy to Naples, bikinis in hand, in search of a proper beach. After some confusion we located our hostel where we had double room (thankfully) that locked from the inside. We kept that sucker locked at all times. Common areas were the only ones with Wifi, the church bells outside rang for more than an hour, the shower stalls were translucent on three sides, I found a bug in our bed just as we were about to go to sleep, and the lighting in our room can only be described as mood lighting. There was no other option.  We were hoping not to spend very much time at the hostel, because we had the beach mission in mind. We changed into our swimsuits immediately, covered them with actual clothes, and walked down the street in the direction of the water. Before we had gone fa...

After my first night in London I finally wised up and slept with my ear warmer on in order to block out as much street noise as possible. I still heard some but it was more muffled and I slept much better, even on a mattress worse than my one in Dundee. This was Kiera and my last full day in London and we still had several places to go. We mapped out our attack via the tube and started first at St. Paul's Cathedral. Because we went to the service, we didn't have to pay an entrance fee. The sneaky pictures I again tried to take are no match for the real thing. Even if you aren't religious, I urge you to visit St. Paul's just for the art and architecture. I was completely overwhelmed, and although the service itself was beautiful, I could hardly pay attention because of the gorgeous detail everywhere I looked. It was sunny for the THIRD day in a row and the sunlight streamed through the stained glass in entrancing patterns.  After the service we hopped back on the tube w...

Last weekend I ventured off to London, England with Kiera, a friend who hails from Ontario. In the days leading up to the flight I played Joey Tribbiani's voice saying "London, baby!" over and over again in my head.  We took the train to Edinburgh on Thursday afternoon because most flights to major cities leave from Edinburgh for the cheapest price. Our flight left at 6:20 AM on Friday so we stayed with Kiera's family on Thursday evening. We read books to young Kate before turning in for bed around 8:30 PM without shame. Our cab was scheduled to come for us at 4:45 AM.  The ride to the airport is a blur and we both passed out on the flight. We arrived at Gatwick airport, south of London. Our welcome included completely armed security personnel meandering with AK47s and dogs. We exchanged glances and hurried to the train station.  We sat on a train for an hour before it decided to begin moving, due to a broken down train north of the station. We finally left Gatwi...

I've shared before my dream of studying abroad. On Friday I was informed of my acceptance to the University of Dundee for Spring 2014. I've been saving and saving to make this dream a reality and I'm hoping to make my savings stretch as far as I can. And I am talking geographically. I'm thrilled to be moving to Dundee, Scotland for a semester, but I'd love to explore as much as Europe as I can while I'm in the vicinity! My location bucket list includes: Italy: This is my number one, would-pee-with-happiness-if-I-got-to-go, destination. Rome, Venice, Florence. I'd love to do it all, but I'd settle for just Rome. Also, POMPEII, PLEASE. Mount Vesuvius is practically the only thing I remember from middle school history.  Ireland: This is a far more realistic location, considering it neighbors Scotland. Also, St. Patrick's day will occur while I'm abroad, and where else would I celebrate such a holiday!? England: I'm coming for you, Prince H...