Looking Back After Two Months

I was given an amazing opportunity to study abroad this past school year and as more time passes I continue to realize that there is no way that I can describe my experiences simply. People keep asking how it was or how much I enjoyed it, but I cannot think of a quick and encapsulating response for it all. I experienced, learned, and loved too much. I am going to attempt to rank the places I have been and the experiences I have had, but this still only skims the surface.

Places I would love to go to school

• London, UK: Yes, it's still on the list despite being extremely expensive. It really had everything else going for it and I would love to go back
• Cologne, Germany: I wish I had had more time to explore the country, but school is free there and it was a really interesting town
• Edinburgh, Scotland: It was just such a fun place to go that I went twice!
• Glasgow, Scotland: It appeared to have the most lively campus and was brimming with young people; granted there are at the very least five universities in the city.

The view of Wuppertal, Germany from their campus.

Places I would settle down

• Lisbon, Portugal: There was so much life, history, and way better temperatures than London.
• Perth, Scotland: This tiny town charmed me from the moment I stepped in it, and the photos I have still blow me away.
• Kilkenny, Ireland: There are castles and cathedrals and Irish charm!
• Wilderswil, Switzerland: It was the epitome of natural beauty and so very close to Jungfraujoch, the highest point in Europe. The only downside would be real winters with lots and lots of snow for a long time, but that could be a positive too.

This is on the way up to Jungfraujoch in June

Places that surprised me the most

• Warsaw, Poland: There was delicious food, everything was super cheap, there were so many grand palaces, and the group of people I was with were just so kind and fun.
• Milan, Italy: This city did not feel like it fit inside what I had seen of Italy, but it was still a great town to be in for six hours.
• Napoli, Italy: It was nothing like the photos. I am positive we were misled by the internet.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands: Now, the reason this one surprised me is really silly, but it made the trip really enjoyable. Their language looks so comical! There are just so many vowels next to funny consonants, so reading everything and anything was hilarious.

This is part of the back of a palace in Warsaw. To give some perspective, the cone hedges are the height of a person.

Worst Weather

• Napoli, Italy: I feel as though I do need to add that this was the weather we were also the least prepared for, so that soured all the rest.

Best Weather

• Literally everywhere else in comparison

The blue skies and innumerable palm trees of Barcelona, Spain

Best Travel Companions (hint: it's everyone, but I'm still going to name them)

• Jennifer whom I went with to Ireland and Scotland
• Krista whom I traveled with to Portugal and a bit of London
• Marc whom I showed London and traveled with to Germany
• Nicole, Kenny, and my parents whom I went with to Cambridge
• Christina whom I went with to York and Edinburgh, and later Poland
• Izzie whom I went with to Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, England and back to the USA

Christina at the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Best food 

(side note: I ate way too many things to remember every delicious thing, so this is a really bad, short list that in no way represents all the delicious food I had)

• Pizza from Napoli, Italy
• All of the Gelato from Rome, Italy
• Haggis, neeps and tatties from Edinburgh, Scotland
• German Rye Bread from Dusseldorf
• Gouda from the Netherlands
• Eclaires from Paris, France
• Irish coffee from the Jameson Distillery in Dublin, Ireland

Belgian Waffle from Bruge, Belgium

Everything from getting rained on every other day in Italy, to getting sick after Portugal, to missing a train, to sleeping forever in Spain were all experiences that I could sit down and talk about forever. However, that would be extremely exhausting and will likely never happen. I tried to simply go through all of my photos with my grandma one night, but my family fell asleep and we only made it through a bit more than half. Still, if anyone wants to hear stories or ask about my trips, I wholly welcome it. Low key, I want to talk about it all the time because it is always on my mind but I still fear that I will appear pretentious which is so not my goal.

I hope to post a bit about all of the trips I have been on before the end of my summer break. It will take a lot of focus, but I really want to do it for myself. So I hope you look forward to those!

Also, I am interested in continuing to use this blog as things happen throughout my senior year at UC Santa Cruz. I will not make any promises regarding how often I will post, but you should expect to see other adventures, big and small.

It's the Final Countdown

I have completed my school work for the year finally! My internship has ended and all essays have been submitted. This means that I will have the opportunity to travel and take even more photos. My internet access will not be regular, so while I hope to post frequently I won't make any promises.

The York, UK flat I want to live in

It is an undeniable fact that Southern California has ruined me. London is now recognising that it is no longer winter by showing off its sun. While San Diego has the warmth and sun I am so accustomed to, I am not jumping up and down to go back since it is scorching hot and resembling something closer to a desert every day. I actually prefer here in that respect. Still, a real winter was hard for me. After that, sun and warmer weather feels all the more deserved and I am so grateful it's here. The sun in London does not necessarily mean warmth. Still, the sun is my favorite thing and when I can see shadows I get really happy.  I got to enjoy a few weeks of sun and blue skies before umbrellas and jackets had to be worn again. I cannot wait to escape to Poland, Spain, Italy and France where it is just a bit warmer.

Christina and I in Edinburgh, Scotland

I have one month left on this side of the world before returning to California. So as Europe's The Final Countdown blasts in the background, I feel the need to answer their question "will things ever be the same again?" and can't help to think they won't. Although I am not going to space, I can't really wrap my head around going back since this has been my life for so many months. I will definitely miss it here, so I am trying to make the most out of it as the days tick away.

Posts to come:

• Reuniting the Morris Clan: England Version

• UK Adventures in the Sun: London, York and Edinburgh

• Weekends in London

• California friends in Poland (to be posted after 15 May)

• Finalmente, España: Barcelona (to be posted after 15 May)

• An art-filled Italian Summer (to be posted after 10 June)

• Pa-ri-si-an Nights (this is to be sung to the tune of Arabian Nights) (to be posted after 10 June)

• The Last Days in London (to be posted after 10 June)

Spring Semester

I am going to interrupt posting my travels to give a brief update on my semester so far.

This new semester has been an interesting one. London is still the same, but everything feels a little bit different. There are loads of new American faces. The weather is warming already. I am ten times busier, and I am not sure if I like it.

This was a really old house I found in Perth.

The classes I am enrolled in this semester are just as strangely specific as last semester.

My Film Archaeology class explores the processes that make up film as an art such as movement, close ups, surveillance, and more. It has been fascinating to look at film in this way, and the screening are unconventional but things that I never would have seen otherwise. The other film course I am in is titled "From Page to Screen" and explores the relationship between books and their film adaptations. The twist is that all of the books and films are Portuguese in origin. So far that has meant reading translations and watching with subtitles, but I am learning about Portuguese culture and society in a way I never could have in the US. This class would never exist at UC Santa Cruz mainly because they do not readily offer Portuguese anything. The last class is simply fun and easy. Every week my class meets at different museums around London where we explore rooms, discuss how objects and art are displayed, how the visitors are meant to interact, and how the architecture of the rooms and building inform what is displayed. I love that I get to travel around and explore museums instead of sitting in a room with projected photos in front of me. It amuses me that the class is 99% American students who are here for a semester, but it makes total sense because it is the most practical way to see lots of London and get course credit for it.

The Van Gogh's in the National Gallery

This semester I also had the opportunity to intern at an organization in London and enroll in a class alongside it. While the online class is a constant annoyance, I get the opportunity to intern at the Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park. The gallery is about an hour away from campus and nearly in the middle of a park. What that means is two days a week I get to take a stroll through a beautiful park with dogs playing and people running. It is extremely refreshing to be surrounded by greenery even though the rest of the day is spent inside at a desk. So far I have only worked there for two weeks so I am still learning the dynamics. Everyone has been inviting and friendly, and I have even done tasks that aren't simply adding emails to a database or opening the gallery. The gallery should be a great learning experience and hopefully more than something I can simply add to my resume.

An adorable little garden house in Green Park, London

Along with all of my classes and the internship, I have been working with Esprit Group as much as possible. Nearly every shift they offer me I take. I enjoy working at different events and seeing parts of London that I never would have before. All of the staff has been friendly and I constantly meet people from other countries who come to study or work here. Each person I meet is so interesting that I have grown to love this job.

What I don't quite love is how little free time I have. I am in London working and studying during Reading Week while so many others are traveling and experiencing interesting things. Of course, now that I have responsibilities here I can't just run off to a foreign country or spend a few days watching movies in my room.

This last semester in London is bound to be an interesting one however normal it may appear.

An Art Gallery in Koln, Germany. To be continued

Side Note: I have created a page on my blog that has a map with pins marking each of the places I have traveled to so far. It is meant to be an easy visual reference in case your geographical knowledge of Europe is as bad as mine.
More posts are to come soon.

The Hills of Scotland: Part 2

Day Three

When I am in a new place my constant desire to sleep is completely gone if not ignored. If there is something to do I will wake up at 5am or earlier because I'd much rather experience something new in a foreign place than sleep.

On the day of my Inverness trip I woke up before the sun and practically ran to the bus station. I was ready to spend the day in the Scottish Highlands although I had no idea what I was really getting myself into. The bus ride was long, but the view made it worth it. We passed field after field with cows, sheep, the odd castle and snow! The snow was the best part because I haven't seen or touched snow in more than a year. Unfortunately I could not touch it then either, but it was there and beautifully white.

The view from the bus.

Once I arrived, I wove my way through the streets to get the feel of the town. Although I had looked at maps and made a list of things that I wanted to see in town I quickly realised how small this place was. It was going to be a long 8 hours.

It was a quaint little town with lots of shops paralleling the River Ness. Down that very river was Loch Ness where the infamous Nessie may or may not reside. You can decide. Unfortunately, the closest I got to Loch Ness was this river, but that was all right by me.

The problem with my plan for Inverness was that I arrived at noon and the sun was to set four hours later. I was constantly racing the sun on my trip because most things closed when the sun set as well, so I frequently packed the events of my day into the daylight hours and relaxed at night. I was still able to get a lot done in those four hours. Photos of the river and town were taken. Shops were visited. I visited the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery which took me though the history of our planet though the Scottish history of where their language originated from and who they were ruled by. The museum was very comprehensive of Highland history, but their art gallery was what surprised me the most. There were sketches and lithographs from Picasso, Matisse, and Dali along with a few of Warhol's iconic Marilyn Monroe prints. They were all connected through the lens of Modern artists despite the decades between some of them.

I was easily able to see the castle at Inverness since it was on a very low hill and currently is occupied by the Inverness police force. It hasn't lost its ties to governing even after all these years. Truthfully, it wasn't much of a sight but it was still a box to check off.

This was the other end of town marked by a big church.

As the sun was setting I found my way into the largest used book store I have ever had the pleasure to visit. It was two stories and the walls were covered in books. The fact that the person who owned it was able to find so many used books to fill dozens of shelves was amazing. I spent a fair amount of time browsing but either books enjoy the cold or there wasn't heating in the building so I reluctantly had to find a warmer place to relax.

Realising that nearly everything was closed and I still had a few hours to kill, I wandered around more shops. Understandably tartan, or plaid, is very popular in Scotland because of its ties to their clans and history, but while there were many shops that sold tartan for tourists they were practically all the same throughout the country. Since I was in the land of tartan and gifts needed to be bought this was helpful.

Finally, I was able to get on my bus that took me back to me hostel in Edinburgh. I wish I could have seen all the snow and scenery on the way back, but it was too dark to see anything farther than the edge of the road. Once I arrived in Edinburgh I rested as much as possible before my next trip to Perth.

Day Four 

Waking up very early once again, I got on a bus to Perth, a town about two hours north of Edinburgh. After the subdued day in Inverness I was a little wary of what Perth might offer because it is not as much of a city as somewhere like Glasgow. As the bus drove into town my worries melted away because of its quaintness. The lack of rain and clouds definitely helped my positive outlook.

I was able to quickly find somewhere nice to sit down and have a full Scottish breakfast, something I hadn't done yet. The meal consisted of a fried egg, toast, baked beans, sausage and bacon with a cup of tea along with it. The cafe was right next to St. John's Kirk, a massive church that had lots of history with the surrounding area.

Since it was a week or so before christmas, walking around the shops I found little Christmas Market booths and lots of cute wooden figures. There was even a Dalek and extra-large Blue Police Box from the British TV show "Doctor Who" since there are so often aliens depicted invading during the holiday season.

This was a section of what used to be a church. I found the architecture and windows extremely interesting.

Perth was much larger than Inverness and generally cleaner and more friendly. Along the river there are plaques that provide anyone who is interested with facts about the town. Here's a little history on Perth that I learned. Perth used to be the capital of Scotland. The river that runs next to Perth used to be a major trading hub and is not used for that purpose any longer. Boats from all over used this river to get goods to other areas of Scotland. I learned about some of the jobs necessary to work a shipping boat centuries ago. The river floods in the rainy months to drastic points marked on one of the bridges. There are lots of flora and fauna native to the river and surrounding area.

This is the same bridge as pictured above. The heights of floods are marked on the right hand side of the bridge and would have reached my ribs at the point I was standing on the sidewalk.

There is one very tiny, unimpressive castle in the town called The Black Watch Castle and Museum and was in a residential area next to a large park and Leisure Center. I wandered around the castle grounds before making my through the park and slick grass field towards the river. It was a beautiful day so I tried to stay outside as much as I could without freezing or becoming too bored.

I enjoyed this display to show everyone that this is a Scottish castle in case anyone was confused.

As a result of my exploring I found the Perth Museum and Art Gallery that mainly focused on art but had an educational exhibit that I would have seen at a science or natural history museum. They kept their visitor pool open with the expanse of items on display. There was a large scale spray painted landscape of Perth, a competition displayed from dozens of artists based around Perth, and even items from the 1700s on loan from London. It was interesting to see a wide range of objects on display within a few feet of each other, but the collection itself was really impressive.

In an old water tower, The Fergusson Gallery pays tribute to one of Scotland's most famous Colourists and his wife. John Duncan Fergusson used gestural painting to create fantastic scenes and portraits often inspired by his wife, Margaret Morris. Margaret pioneered many theories and practices in dance and movement and published a collaborative book with Olympians to inspire a new way to connect your body and mind through physical activity and movement. Margaret could definitely not be reduced to a muse or model. Both artists were immensely talented and the gallery does a great job of displaying the range of mediums and skills each of them had.

Perth was a beautiful reprieve from the rush of cities and had much more to offer compared to Inverness. If I ever get the opportunity I believe I would love to live up there.

Day Five

With just one last early morning before I head back to London, I spent my last day in Glasgow. I felt I couldn't travel all around Scotland without experiencing Edinburgh's rival city. They are always described as polar opposites providing completely different experiences of Scotland. They are on opposite sides of the country and, despite being a tad more than 2 hours from each other, everything from the buildings to the people was different.

The weather was not camera permitting most of the time so sadly there is a major lack of photos for this day.

After getting soaked to find a coffee shop, I sat down to plan my day. As a result of the rain, I planned on hopping between different museums and galleries to stay out of the wet weather. Glasgow has a much larger city center than Edinburgh so I did a lot of walking.

On my way to my first stop, the University of Glasgow and its museums, I saw one of the incomprehensible signs of Glasgow. I passed a statue with a traffic cone on its head. It was not the Duke of Wellington, but I guess the tradition doesn't stop there. The campus reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz, minus the forest. It was on one big hill with students constantly roaming the campus, but it was the atmosphere that made me think of Santa Cruz the most. The museum and gallery on campus were impressive and grand although neither were very large. I have learned that the size and breadth of a museum or gallery do not really matter. What I value is the way things are presented and the interpretation they try to impress on their visitors.

I wove my way around the city stopping into as many museums as I could. I visited The Hunterian Museum, Hunterian Art Gallery, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Gallery of Modern Art, and possibly more. Each was very different from the next, but with the sun setting quickly I was not able to give each one the time they deserved.

My day in Glasgow was perhaps the most interesting, but even still I cannot fully explain it. It was a mess of running around in a city that I became comfortable with instantly. It was worrying that I would still get lost or worse with a dead cell phone. It was wishing for the sun so I could take photos, but loving the cold and wetness anyways.

I really enjoyed Scotland and I hope I will get the opportunity to visit again very soon. 

The Hills of Scotland: Part 1

One day after my first semester ended in early December I set out explore somewhere I had never explored before. I hopped on a bus to ride ten hours through the night to Edinburgh with my friend Jennifer ready to see as much of the city we could in the 24 hours she was with me. Arriving at seven in the morning meant we were up before most everything else was, so we braved the cold and trekked to our hostel for some warmth and as much rest as we could get.

Edinburgh Castle

The first thing on our list, and the closest, was the Edinburgh Castle that loomed above our hostel. The sun was out to begin with, but each time we came out of another building inside the castle it grew darker as the clouds moved in. There were so many different exhibits and memorials inside the castle's buildings each with different methods of display targeted at different audiences. We were able to see the crown jewels, cannons, a great view of the city, and rain before ever leaving the castle grounds. We could have just called it a full day of Scotland right there, but of course we didn't.

We made ourselves as waterproof as we could before visiting nearly every scarf and tartan store on Royal Mile road before strolling through a Christmas Market ogling at all of the merchandise and making ourselves hungry passing all the delicious food. To hide from the rain we visited the Scottish National Gallery, but as I walked through the rooms Jennifer napped on each of the different seats. I confess I did doze a little as well, but the bus was just not comfortable enough for good sleep. The gallery wasn't much better, but at least it wasn't moving us all around. We wandered around for a few more hours before returning to the hostel for a pre-dinner nap.

That night, since Jennifer was leaving early the following morning for the same long bus ride, we stayed out looking for some nightlife before realising that not too much happens on Sunday nights. We still stumbled upon a pub with a cover band, a church transformed into a very dead club, and some other small pubs with lots of locals. Even though it was a Sunday night, it was interesting to see how other people spent their nights, and we made a real effort to find some entertainment.

The following four days I was traveling solo, and that meant lots of wandering around and lots more scenery photos.

The path up

I was determined to experience anything I might have missed the previous day in Edinburgh after Jennifer left, so I stared my day with a hike up to Arthur's Seat. It is the highest point in town and gives those who make it a fantastic panorama. Since it was Scotland in winter I smartly decided to wear rain boots to make the hike, and I believe the only other shoes that would have been better would have been ice shoes with the large spikes. I was awed by the scenery all the way up, but the mud that covered the trail was anything but hiker friendly and my mud covered rain boots were testament to that fact. Although I was only at the top for a few minutes due to the freezing winds, I was very glad I made the effort. It was spectacular! Photos do not capture the utter beauty of seeing the city from up high and at a distance. I am proud to say I made it all the way up and back without slipping into the mud although there were some close calls.

I didn't plan out much of the day but that was no problem because I seemed to stumble onto plenty of interesting places.

The first was Holyroodhouse Palace where the Queen of England spends her time when not in Buckingham Palace. It was fascinating to see the amount of adornments in each room, whether on the ceiling, hanging from the walls or the furniture in each room. Sadly no photos were allowed inside the palace.

the top floor of Holyrood from inside the courtyard

After seeing all of the grandeur that the Royal Family would normally see I was able to explore the tiny rooms of Mary, Queen of Scots. After her death, those working in the castle would give tours of the rooms she lived in because of the mysticism around Mary and her decapitation. There were lots of cases with items that belonged to herself and Lord Darnley, her husband along with rooms reorganised to accurately portray how Mary and her husband would have lived. Those rooms were odd to walk through because of the constant reference to death while the rest of the building is a museum of the living.

I found a few more independent museums to go into before heading up another hill to find the National Monument of Scotland. I had heard about the view from there and felt the need to make the journey. There are a few different iconic structures up there, but the monument itself is the most interesting. It looks like what might be left in Athens as pillars and a base stand on the top of the hill, but people were having lunch on it and children were having fun climbing up and jumping down. It is massive and grand, but left me wondering why that is the national monument.

by the National Monument overlooking Edinburgh city center

the view of the National Monument from behind

After the Monument, I went on a quest for churches. It is not hard to find churches when they are so easily recognisable with steeples towering over all other buildings. I wish churches back in the States took on more of this style more often. Wandering down through a grave yard on the hill below the castle, I grew fascinated by the amount of names on the walls and the amount of greenery in the area. I wasn't able to weave my way into the church that was at the bottom of the graves, but I was able to visit the one above it that was holding a card sale where the proceeds went to different organisations to help those in Scotland.

Nearly getting lost, I found another church that had the most interesting little wire sculpture in a tree outside. It was a massive church with stained glass windows, bricks and a large hall. The architecture alone was amazing, but the fact that this was someones' parish amazed me as well.

An old man walking by pointed out the little swinging person and I was enchanted by it.

After making a very large circle through Edinburgh, I called it a day and got ready for the next few days of traveling. Next up were Inverness, Perth and Glasgow and those were some interesting days.

A view of Edinburgh from the Castle

What I'm Thankful For

Thanksgiving was last week in the US, and a few weeks before the UC Education Abroad Program didn't want us to miss out on something so American so they held their own. They invited three hundred students to come to Dublin, Ireland from all over the UK for a "Thanksgiving with a twist."

in Library Square at Trinity College

Almost immediately after classes on Friday I flew to Dublin with a friend to get the true feel for Ireland. That weekend I was taking full advantage of the lack of potato famine in Ireland. I had some form of potatoes almost every meal I was there and loving every version that was placed in front of me. I fell in love with croquettes, which are the ultimate comfort food consisting of breaded and fried mashed potatoes. I felt a bit like Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings with his love and dedication to potatoes the entire trip.

The first day we wandered around Dublin hitting different restaurants, stores, churches, museums, and the Jameson Distillery. We took a tour of the little distillery where they no longer make whiskey, but the drinks they mix make up for that fact. Walking around Dublin felt so much like London besides the Gaelic on every street sign and general accent difference. It is likely because of the heavy English history that we heard all about on our tour the next day, but the buildings and overall atmosphere felt like a smaller London.

My exploring buddies

Jameson Distillery 

River Liffey

Statue at Trinity College

St. Patrick's Park behind the Cathedral

The hilarious Oscar Wilde statue situated in a park

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Saturday night all of the students there dressed up and got on busses to the Guinness Storehouse where our Thanksgiving dinner was held. We got to take a tour of the Storehouse with no one except our group in the building and mingle until we were all seated and the festivities started. Sadly I didn't take many pictures of the event, but it included a band, slideshow of photographs from students' time abroad, insightful blog posts, Irish dancing, us dancing, and a good deal of food. Sadly the food was not a buffet, but with the amount of people that were in attendance it made sense. After dessert we were all stuffed any ways, so Thanksgiving was successful.

Unfortunately, I had an essay due that weekend so most of my nights were focused on that rather than getting a fuller experience of Dublin. That did not stop myself and friend Jennifer from going on a bus tour to Glendalough, Hollywood (quite different than the CA one), and Kilkenny. Although it was a very last minute decision, we got tickets, woke up really early, and spent most of the day on a bus driving through the not-too-distant Irish countryside. There were ruins of cathedrals, pretty lakes, coffee shops, a castle, lots of walking and plenty of photos. Next time I go to Ireland I do want to go to the cliffs because that is one thing that I missed.

myself under an arch at a monastery in Glendalough 

Jennifer in front of a cross that will guarantee you meet the love of your life within a year if you can wrap your arms around it.

Myself in front of a stone pillar built to hide monks and their gold during Viking raids

Part of what is felt of the Cathedral

Glendalough

The tour was really entertaining and that was mostly due to the bus driver we had. He told us stories of the Irish military literally fighting each other and breaking bones while filming "Brave Heart" drunk. There were superstitious explanations of why all the Kennedys died, the importance of fairies, what leprechauns truly are, and the history of the Gaelic language in Ireland. I learned more on that bus ride than I would have ever thought I needed to know about Ireland despite the factualness of all the stories.

One of the two lakes of Glendalough

We stopped here to see the glacier lake to the right, but it was just too pretty

The infamous bus

The Kilkenny Castle courtyard

The fountain at the castle

Overall it was a fantastic trip and I am really thankful that I had the opportunity to explore another country for the weekend. I have only ever dreamed that I could travel like this, and now it's a reality. While I wish I could have spent time with my family cooking and playing games, studying in the UK is a trade off that I would not trade back.