Brussels

I absolutely LOVED Brussels. Despite being so sick to where I was constantly dizzy, couldn't sallow, breathe and coughed the whole time...

Friday, our bus ride from Aberdeen to Glasgow was early early and long. We got to the airport smoothly and got through security fine. We arrived in Brussels and got on a bus to the city centre. We kinda not really forgot that they speak French, but we weren't really prepared for that. We spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out where our hotel was before we ended up just taking a taxi, which only costed about 7 euro anyway.

We got situated, I took some medicine and we headed to find food. We found a cute little cafe called Snack Shop. I had salad and a pear/apple sandwich. Afterwards, we kinda just explored for a little bit. We went to bed early Friday because we knew Saturday was going to be our exploring day.

Saturday, we started walking in the direction of the city centre and got some what there. We stopped and got yogurt/muffins and stuff for breakfast. We asked the cashier for some help getting into the city, luckily we were in the right direction anyway. We also decided to do the hop on and hop off bus tour so that way we could see more things. I'm going to be honest here. At this point, we saw so much stuff that I couldn't begin to tell you everything we saw. If you have a facebook, check out the pictures there. We saw the royal palace, the business district, the european parliament, the atomium, the conference center, lots of museums, lots of churchs and of course their castle.

The atomium was probably the coolest thing ever. It basically is a giant atom. You can see the whole city from the very top. Most of the other balls had corny exhibits.





We also walked into some square.. which I'm not sure what all was in it. But it was by far the prettiest place ever. While there, Trey and I split a Belgian waffle covered in chocolate and strawberries. YUM!!



We walked around for a little bit more to find one more statue. Brussels was literally covered in statues. All over buildings, on the sidewalk, they were everywhere. This little statue is called Manekkin Pis.

That night we went to a little pub called Le Stephany, and I got macaroni and cheese. Not that I could taste it because my nose was so stopped up.

Sunday, we had an early morning. Our flight left out at 10:50 and the bus met 3 hours prior to that. So we were checking out around 7:15 Sunday morning. We took a taxi in just because I still wasn't feeling better and we were scared if we walked we were going to get lost. We got to the airport and checked in and all that. Our flights were on time and we got to our bus in Glasgow with about 30 minutes to spare.

I'm still not feeling well. I have a nasty cough. Some man on the street today told me to stop smoking and I told him that the sad thing is I have never smoked. I got my practical turned in, as well as my paper. Now I'm catching up on the school that I missed last Thursday. I'm also in the process of packing, seeing how this week is my last week of class until April 19!! Also, my birthday is on Friday!

Dublin

I figured I should write about Dublin before I left for Brussels. Before I left for Dublin, me and Liz went to Dundee on Tuesday to experience their nightlife. Which I must say... is amazing. Their student union is really awesome, free entry and 1 pound drinks. All of his friends got completely plastered, which was entertaining for the most part. On Wednesday, Liz and I went to St. Andrews, which was a really pretty golf and college town. They had ruins of an old cathedral and of a castle. It was about 50 degrees that day as well so it felt good and we walked along the beach and had a grand ole time. We left Dundee around 8 that night. Thursday was Liz's 21st birthday. Let's just say, she probably doesn't remember any of it.

Friday, Trey and I left for the airport around 3:30 for our 4:45 flight. Thankfully we made it in time. The flight was about an hour from Aberdeen to Dublin. Once we got there, it took us a while to figure out which bus to take to our hotel, but we finally got it. We were staying in a Travelodge in Swords (which is a 25 minute bus ride from the centre of Dublin. Once we checked in, we got settled and went to find out how to get to the centre. It took us about 30 minutes of walking to realize we would not be able to walk from Swords to the centre. So we waited for a bus, and headed into town. We got food at a McDonalds (because it's cheap) and then just walked around for a little bit. Stupid us didn't know how to get back to Swords with the bus, so we had to take a 27 euro taxi back to the hotel. The driver was hilarious. He told us a bunch of jokes about Dublin like Dublin's the largest city in the world because it keeps "dublin" everyday. We got back to the hotel and immediately fell asleep. Until the super annoying Americans staying next door woke us up with the drunkselves and kept us up for about 2 hours. We tried calling the receptionist, but our phone didn't work. So we just kinda had to deal with it.

Saturday, we got up super early and headed to find where the Free Tour started. We got to the city hall in plenty of time. Our tour guide was Freda, she had red hair, green eyes and freckles and had an Irish accent. Perfect. We saw the Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn, Dublin’s Medieval Walls, Viking Remains, Norman Dublin, Georgian Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, Adam and Eve Church, The National Library, Famous Writers, Temple Bar, U2- Origins of the rock legend, Ha’Penny Bridge, Spire of Dublin, City Hall, Trinity College, Leinster House, Chester Beatty Library, St. Stephen’s Green, 1916 Easter Rising. All in a matter of like 2 hours, instead of 3. Because... Ireland was playing Wales in a Rugby match that day. So after the tour, Trey and I went to the Porterhouse (where Freda recommended us to go to watch the game and eat). I had a mushroom burger and it was AMAZING. We watched most of the match before heading off to find Saint Patrick's Cathedral and all the Oscar Wilde stuff for Trey. We found the Oscar Wilde stuff, which was just a statue and a house. St. Patrick's Cathedral was closed, so we didn't get to go in, but it was gorgeous from the outside. We walked around a shopping centre and some random streets before the pub crawl started at 7:30. We hung out in the Purty Kitchen with some Welsh fans, who sang the whole time.

The pub crawl started at 7:30 and we got as much beer as we wanted for 30 minutes, which was like 2 glasses for me and even that was disgusting. We met some students from the real USC, Marcos, Nemeisha and Melissa. They were a bunch of fun. The pub crawl was super lame because you had to buy a drink at every pub (and that was about 5 euro) in order to get a free shot. We met so many people during this pub crawl it was insane. Like... Collee (who does the pub crawl to meet girls), Steven from Minesotta who is studying in Amsterdam, 3 Australians, Eddie from the States who was a wicked rapper. It was a lot of fun to just sit around and talk to people for sure. Trey and I ended up leaving early to catch the bus back to Swords, but we grabbed some dinner at McDonalds again before we left. When we got to the hotel, the room next ti us had their music blasting and so I went and told reception and they basically told them that if they didnt quite down they were going to charge them for disturbing thir neighbors.

Sunday we tried getting up early, but that didn't happen. By the time we got into town we only had time to eat bfast before the next bus we needed left. Breakfast was good. It was much like the Scottish breakfast. Eggs, beans, mushrooms, toast, and hashbrowns. We walked to a little park and took pictures because it was a really pretty day. We walked to the bus stop and left for the airport after that. The flight to Edinburgh was really short, like 45 minutes. When we got there, we were expecting Megabus to pick up there.... wrong. We had to take a stagecoach bus to the bus station about 45 minutes away. By that time, we had missed our first bus. Thankfully when we got there, the guy at the desk gave us two seats for the next bus for free.

Monday, I had lab at 9 and then again at 3. I have a paper due next Monday as well as a practical for Anatomy. I also am sick, I do believe it is the flu. I've had a fever for the last 3 days. I think I just need to slow down and relax. After I go to Brussels of course.

Bressay, Scalloway and the ride home

We got up Monday morning and had a full Scottish breakfast. It's starting to grow on me, not going to lie. We were running late, so we took our time packing before leaving for the ferry. We got to leave our stuff at the B&B and left for the ferry. We went on the 10 oclock ferry to Bressay. Bressay was 5 minutes away and kind of lame. We walked around, saw more seals, and that was about it. We got on the next ferry out not even an hour later. I feel like if we had had a car, it would have been easier to get around, but we really didn't want to spend 3 or 4 hours walking around Bressay. We got into town and walked over to the Viking Bus Station. We got picked up 5 minutes later and went to Scalloway. The bus driver pointed us in the direction of the castle and then headed to find the key. We had to ask the Scalloway hotel for the key. Once we got the key, the castle was like right there and we unlocked the door and went in. It was really creepy. The roof was missing and the walls were leaking. It was really cool, but creepy nonetheless. After about 30 minutes, we went back to the hotel, returned the key and got some more fish and chips. They were super good. We got finished like 4 minutes before the next bus into Lerwick and ran to the bus stop. We made it just in time. We got dropped off in town and then walked back to the B&B. We hung out there for about 45 minutes because we wanted to rest because we were exhausted from all the walking. We got out the map of Lerwick and found an easier walk to the ferry. Thankfully that walk only took us about 10 minutes instead of the 30 to 40 minute walk we were expecting. We topped up our phones and the post office and then went to the grocery store and got tuna, crackers, cheese, and candy for dinner. We got to the ferry early so we couldn't check in yet, but as soon as we checked in we headed straight to a table and played cards and ate crackers and cheese. The captain came up to us again and gave us the keys to the same room, which we were not expecting. But we took it gratefully. We bought some post cards, movie tickets and some good smelling soap (because Shetland apparently makes its own soap)... We hung out in our room for a while. We watched Valentine's Day and as soon as it was done, we went straight to bed. We woke up at 7:30 this morning. Got breakfast at the bus station (blueberry muffins) and Trey left at 8:35 and I got back to Hillhead around 9. I have a full day of classes and then I'm heading to Dundee for tonight.

Sumburgh

This morning Trey and I were up at 7 to have breakfast at 7:30. I had cereal and yogurt and toast and Trey had all that with eggs. We left Breiview at 8 and headed to the bus station. We got there early and the bus didn't get there until 9:15. We headed off for a 40 minute bus ride to Sumburgh. We got off at the wrong stop farthest away from the lighthouse, but it was whatever.

Once we started walking, we walked on the beach. And then up past a farm with Shetland Ponies.



The hike to the lighthouse wasn't too bad. We got up there in about 30 minutes. It was kind of sad because we had just missed the killer whales. But that's okay. We were super hungry so we hurried down to the hotel for lunch. I had a cheese and tomato quiche and Trey had barbeque chicken. It was very good. Sumburgh is also famous for it's archaeological site, but it was supposedly closed. But we walked down there anyway and the gates were open. It was actually kind of lame. I guess because there was no one working there. The bus didn't come until 1:50 so we sat at the bus stop and just played games until it came. On the ride back to Lerwick, we actually saw a whale playing around in the ocean. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but we definitely saw it.

We got back to the bed and breakfast and took a three hour nap. When we woke up we decided to go find dinner. It was like a ghost town in the city centre tonight. And the Queens Hotel was too expensive. So we had Chinese... haha, but it was actually very good.

Tomorrow we plan on catching a ferry to Bressay and then go to Scalloway castle. Our ferry leaves out at 7 again. We're not too sure if we'll get so lucky as to get another free room...

I'm going to Dundee on Tuesday night and then St. Andrews on Wednesday. This is going to be a very long week.

Lerwick

Yesterday, Trey and I got on a Northlink Ferry in Aberdeen and headed towards Lerwick, Shetland. We got on the boat about an hour and a half before it was set to sail off. We sat around and ate our dinner of a sandwich and potato chips. We then went and hung out and watched the simpsons on the tv. There were about 50 people on the ship, if that. So we bought a movie ticket to watch The Princess in the Frog. While we were in there waiting for it to start, the captain came and talked to us and told us that they just put in the new tvs and made it an HD tv. The movie was super cute. When it was over, we went back and sat in comfy chairs and watched tv. The captain came up to us and asked us where we were from and kind of got to know us. Randomly, he asked if we were staying in a cabin and we told him we were not. So he left and came back with a cabin for us. For free... when normally we would have had to pay 45 pounds for just a bed. He took us to the cabin which had 2 beds, a tv, a shower and everything. It was so nice. So we were incredibly grateful. After we got settled, we went to the bar and got something to drink. While we were up there the bartender asked us about home and then a guy named Matthew came and talked to us. He's from Shetland and works in Aberdeen as an engineer. We talked for about an hour and a lot of stuff. It was really interesting just to hear about what his life was like here. We talked about mission trips and Edinburgh and Aberdeen. It was a lot of fun.

We went to bed around 1. The ferry arrived in Lerwick at 7:30 but Trey and I didn't get up and leave until 9. When we got up we thanked the captain one more time and left. As we were leaving, we realized the last bus into town had just left so we talked to the lady, Evette from the front desk about how to get into the city center. She was trying to tell us with a map how to get to Breiview guest house and was like.. you know what, I get off work in 15 minutes, how about I just drop you off. Trey and I literally couldn't believe our luck.

We got to Breiview and unpacked and stuff. Our room is so big. We have a double bed, a tv, a twin bed, a huge closet and a big bathroom. We took showers... but the water was too hot so I ended up just washing my hair in the sink, haha. We headed off into town through the scenic walk. As we were walking past the coast we saw some rocks we could climb on and we started climbing and then we saw a sea lion hop onto one of the rocks. It was so amazing. We tried walking over to it and by the time we got close enough it slid off the rock. We walked around for a while and then ran into sea lion jackpot. There were literally about 30 sea lions just chilling out on the rocks and in the ocean. We ran into the owner of Breiview and he told us that yesterday there apparently were orcas spotted here that had the sea lions for a snack. We walked around more cliffs and ran into a pretty kitty. The cliffs were amazing to see. About an hour later, we ended up in the city center and had to get food. We got a pizza and a milkshake and had a picnic. We went to the Tourist Info center and got a lot of info on what we could do here. After, we went to Fort Charlotte and then the Shetland museum. We then went to find a place to hire a bike for the day because we want to try doing that on Monday.

When we got finished with that we went to a fish and chips shop and got some to go. We went to Tescos and got some drinks for the night. I am trying to upload pictures up on facebook and Trey and I are just watching tv and relaxing. We're going to head to bed early tonight so that we can get up early tomorrow to head to Sumburgh tomorrow morning.

Edinburgh

This blog is coming way too late, but this is the only free time I have. And I only have about 30 minutes before I peace out to Shetland for the weekend.

Our bus was a little bit late coming into Aberdeen because of snow. And then half the group didn't even realize it was our bus. Psh, they need to listen to me, I'm the queen of traveling. Anyway, when we arrived in Dundee, we had to switch buses and finally I got to see Trey. We got to Edinburgh about 30 minutes late and it was pouring down rain. So we checked into Brodies Hostel. We tried to do a ghost tour but by the time everyone had checked in it was too late. So we went to pubs instead. Trey, Liz and I partied with some 50 year old man for his birthday, it was loads of fun. Saturday we did a free tour that lasted 3 hours. We learned a lot of interesting stuff about Edinburgh (check out the pictures on facebook, it has a bunch of explanations). After that Trey and I did the Scotch Whisky experience, which was loads of fun. I do not like whisky by itself, but I don't mind it in coke. We then walked down Royal Mile and saw a bunch of little historical places. That night we ate at the Bank Hotel (3.50 for dinner) and it was pretty good, I had mashed potatoes and a roast. We then did a pub crawl were we had 3 shots, a pint, whisky coke, vodka coke, vk, jaggerbomb and lots of laughs. We also went into Frankensteins which was a lot of fun! We also went to espionage, but it was way too crowded. That night when we got back to the hostel every bed was full, so that kind of sucked so we had to be super quiet while getting ready and stuff. Also, the room next door had a huge party untul about 4 am and kept Trey and I up. So we got maybe 3 hours of sleep. One of the guys from the party was so drunk he fell down 3 flights of stairs, sucks to be him. We had breakfast on Sunday and went to the castle. The rest of the group didn't go, but that is their fault. The castle was really cool. It was really windy and snowy but that didn't stop us from experiencing it. Pictures are also up on facebook. We then went to that National Museum of Scotland and it was interesting to see all the history of Scotland and everything that they have gone through. It was definitely worth 5 hours. At that point it was almost time to leave, so we met up with the group at the bus station. There were several things that I didn't get to do like hike arthurs seat hike, do a ghost tour and visit palace of hollyrood house which is where the queen lives when she comes here. OH at the castle, I did get to see the crown jewels (some stupid american college student was like are those real?!)

Classes have been good this week. This week has gone by so freakin slow. But I'm off to Shetland until Tuesday. Then Tuesday night I'm going to Dundee with Liz to party, Wednesday we're going to St. Andrews. Thursday is Liz's 21st birthday and Friday I'm going to Dublin for the weekend. Can we say busy?!?!

Oban, West Highland Lochs and Castles

Sunday morning my bus was leaving at 10:35 for Dundee. I left an hour before to get there in time and it ended up being way too icey so I slid everywhere and was getting late. So I took off my scarf and jacket to start running to the bus station. By the time I got to the bus station 5 minutes before the bus left, I checked for my scarf and it was gone. I was very upset because it was my favorite scarf. Of course I cried and was very mad at myself, but I got taught a lesson that material things aren't what is important in life. So I have to just remember that it's just a scarf and maybe someone who needed it picked it up and is using it now

Anyway, I got to Dundee at noon and Trey and I ate KFC and it was pretty good. We then went to primark to buy a new scarf and i also bought a cute pair of shoes all for 4.50. We got back to his room and hung out for a bit. We got a phone call from the timberbush tours saying that our tour to the Rosslyn Chapel had been cancelled and that there were 2 other tours that were going, one to loch ness and one to oban. we decided on oban since i had just been to loch ness. we were quite upset about that happening, but oh well. We also booked our trip to Shetland islands the weekend of march 5-8. We got a cute little bed and breakfast that we're going to stay in. We looked into going to Barcelona, because I would LOVE to find a sun and 60 degree weather, but it didn't work into our budget right now... maybe in May, when it's super hot. We then booked a trip to Dublin for March 12-14. We then checked out a bunch of tours for other weekends or day trips for us to go on. That night, I finally got to meet his friends. I really enjoyed them. They were difficult to understand but were funny. There was one that I'm not fond of, but I don't have to hang out with them, it's Trey who does.

Monday was a long but good day. We got up at 4 to get ready and head to our bus at 5. We pulled out at 6 and left for Edinburgh. We had to change buses at Perth and then got into Edinburgh around 8. We found a McDonalds and got breakfast and headed to where we were to meet our tour bus. We looked at the castle some because they were beside each other. Our tour bus got there around 9:15 and we met 3 people from France, 2 from Germany and a girl from Austria. Our driver was Alli, and he was really cool. He told us a bunch of interesting stories about Edinburgh. Like how they used to have to pay a window tax so people put up boards to cover them so they wouldn't have to pay it. We also passed by Murrayfield which is where Scotland plays Rugby, it was kinda funny because it only holds about 67,000 people. We passed by Stirling Castle and Wallace monument. We passed by several castles and I tried to get pictures, but he was definitely driving super fast. Our first stop was Duone Castle, which was where Monty Python was filmed. We then went to meet Hamish. I'm not entirely sure what kind of cow he is, but he was cute. He is 17 years old and supposedly this is the cow they use for the meat here. We had a little coffee break where Trey and I had a scone and hot chocolate. After this we started to get into the Highlands. We passed several Lochs, all frozen. Alli told us that birds get stuck in there when it gets frozen and the foxes come and eat them while they are stuck in the loch. As we got higher into the Highlands, everything was covered in frost. We got some amazing views of the mountains

In the Highlands, they still speak Gaelic. Every single road sign there had both gaelic and english written on it.

As we headed towards Oban, we passed by the Atlantic Ocean. Oban was a cute town. It was a fishing community. Apparently, some dude wanted to build a roman colliseum and he died before it was finished, so they never finished it. I wish I could remember the exact word, but the name of it is gaelic and means unneccessary or something like that. Trey and I got fish and chips that were pretty good. We had to pay to use the bathroom, which I find ridiculous.

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After we went to Dunstaffnage Castle. It's supposed to be haunted. Alli told us that a couple of Americans paid to go in and they saw children dancing and asked why they were there and the lady at the ticket office said there werent any children here that day... We then went to the Kilchurn Castle. We couldn't get out too it because it was on a peninsula without any road leading too it. It makes me sad that most of the castles here are just ruins now.

Inverary castle was amazing. Although it's not the original castle... the last duke wanted to build one that was more for show of money than for protection. It resembles a French Chateau. The Duke actually still lives there with his family, we didn't get to tour it because it was closed but that's okay. We took another bathroom/ coffee stop and Trey and I got an Irn Brew and some candy to keep us awake.

Our next stop was at a rest stop called Rest and Be Thankful. It had amazing views of a valley and some mountains.



After we went to Loch Lommond. It's the biggest body of water in Scotland, I do believe. The sunset was reflecting into the loch and it was absolutely breathtaking.




On the way back to Edinburgh, the bus played a game to win a mini bottle of whisky. Alli had 17 songs from movies and we had to guess what movie they were from. Trey and I played together and we totally won. We got 6 songs right... most of the songs were from movies in the 80s so that's why. We were ahead of schedule, so Alli took us by 2 bridges on the outside of Edinburgh. One was a newer suspension bridge and the other was a bridge from the 1800s that trains used. They were both really pretty at night.





Since our first tour got cancelled, we had to buy a new bus ticket. We got back at 7:30 and our next bus back home didn't leave until around 8:45 or so. We had McDonald's for dinner and just hung out until we had to head to the bus station. Luckily, Trey got to ride with me until we hit Dundee and then I switched buses and then headed to Aberdeen. I didn't get back till midnight and I took a taxi back to Hillhead.

Classes on Tuesday were good. I have no class today and the weather is super yucky out. I was supposed to get my fridge today, but Stacey forgot the chord for it, so I'm not sure when I'll be getting one. I really just want to stay in my room all day and do homework and relax because the weather is so gross.