Chocolate, Waffles, and Beer!!! Belgium Was a Grand Ole Time!

Belgium was fantastic! Jinou and I took an overnight bus from London to Brussels on a Monday night. It was a long 9 hours on the bus, and we were awoken in the middle of the night to do passport checks and all that fun stuff at the port of Dover before we boarded the Ferry to France. From France the bus took us straight to the City Centre of Brussels. We arrived at about 7am, took our bags to the Hostel, and got ready for the day.

Straight away Tuesday, we took the train to Bruges and spent the day wandering the city. We took a canal tour, went to the Chocolate Museum, and even had a pint…or two at a Belgian Bar. Later in the afternoon/early evening we boarded the train to go back to Brussels, but decided to get off in Gent and see the city as well! It was really cool to see at night, but I wish I would have been able to see it in the daylight! Then back to Brussels it was!  Had dinner, and called it a night. All that traveling in a span of 24 hours definitely wore me out.

Wednesday was filled with lots of cheese (blueberry is surprisingly REALLY good), chocolate, waffles, beer, and mussels. We did a lot of walking and eating! There were so many things to see and do! It was a really short trip, but more than worth it. In our last few hours before our night buss back to London, we went to several chocolate shops and ended at a bar that plays live music and serves beers for €1 if you have a student ID!! Perfect way to end a great trip! 

Spending time with the Scots in Scotland!

Jinou and I hopped on the train from London Kings Cross Station to begin our wonderful adventure to Edinburgh Saturday morning at around 7am. The train ride was quite long, but the 4.5 hours goes by quickly when you get to see the views of the sea and cliffs! They were AMAZING!  

When we arrived at the train station, we were very lost and confused… Who knew that there would be 5+ exits and several levels to this train station!? But the first stop on the agenda was going to the High Street Hostel to put down our bags. The hostel was definitely different. Each room had a theme (rivers, capitals, local pubs, etc.) we got placed in the insect room…This began to trigger come memories of my accommodation in Ireland! And of course my bed was labelled Earwigs! We then decided to head over to the castle to meet up with Jen, Mollie, Macie, Yulia, and Sean. We went on to see a few bridges, monuments, cemeteries, and GREAT views of the city. Since the weather was good and the sun was shining we decided to take a hike up the hill to see a few more monuments that overlook the city! I have to admit, I think it might have been the first rays of sunshine I had seen all week.

After basking in the sun and taking in the spectacular views, we wandered back into the city get some cupcakes at BiBi’s a cute little bakery in the centre of town. We then decided to hurry and try to make it to ‘The Whiskey Experience’ before the last tour of the scotch whiskey distillery and whiskey tasting was done for the night. However, we were about 10 minutes too late, and decided to skip the tour and go straight for the whiskey tasting. GREAT choice!

After a few single malts, we decided to get ready for dinner and night out on the town. We went to Fields for a nice sit down Scottish dinner since it was Valentine’s Day weekend and we were all traveling! We didn’t finish sinner until after 11:30! Since it was already late and we were already out and about, we decided to hit up Frankenstein’s! It was a bar that was decorated like Halloween and there was supposed to be a special appearance at midnight. Since Frankenstein was a no show, we decided to hop onto a pub crawl and see what the night had in store for us! Little did we know that the next stop for the pub crawl was the club around the corner and that you had to have the wristbands to get into that club. Since we didn’t have wristbands, we decided to go to the Aussie bar next door and jam out to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!

Saturday morning we went for breakfast…I ordered the Traditional Scottish Breakfast. It was my first experience with Haggis (look it up) and I do have to say it is actually not all that bad! After ‘Breakie’ (Breakfast) we took the bus to the Gilmerton Coves just outside the city. The coves were really cool! They had several different rooms and alcoves, and no one know when or why they were really created. In the 1700s, a man was found living there and with his family, he claims that he built the coves for his family over the last 5 years, but there is no way he would be able do all of this work on his own in that time frame. There is also evidence that it was built hundreds of years before it was discovered because the markings on the walls from the tools used to create the coves pre-dates the family living there.

We then made our way back to the city where we decided to hike up to Arthur's Seat, an inactive volcano right in the middle of the City of Edinburgh. It was muddy and gross from the earlier rain, but the views were phenomenal with the sun shining!

 Macie, Yulia, Jinou, and I stopped at a pub called The White Horse and ordered traditional Scottish food for dinner before heading to catch the train! We ordered several different meals and ate buffet style! Haggis, Stovies(beef and potatoes), and lamb shank! It was all VERY tasty! We learned that in Haiti they play a game called ‘Oslet’ or ‘Knucklebones’ where they throw a rock up in the air and try to pick up the bones that were on the ground before the rock falls to the ground. As Macie, Yulia, and I are laughing about how this is def. a third world country game, Jinou looked it up, and it is the Haitian equivalent of Jacks that we played in the States.

But the adventure REALLY began when we started out trek home. Jinou and I got on the earlier train with the rest of the group so that we wouldn’t have to wait at the station for another hour. When the guy came around to check tickets he was being EXTRA thorough… and he asked us for the tickets that had the train times on them…we pretended we didn’t know we were on the wrong train and we quickly began to gather all of our things and BOLTED off the train at the next  stop. I sure didn’t have the £150 pounds he was going to charge us for being on the wrong train! =/ So we spent an hour waiting in the Carrick-Upon-Tweed train station until our correct train arrived.  We finally got back to London around 11:30. We made the last train from Kings Cross to Bank, but missed the last DLR for the night! So we had no other choice but to go outside and wait for the bus! We thought we had lucked out since the bus was due to arrive at the stop in 5 minutes… little did we know that the bus was running late, and we ended up waiting there for 45 minutes. At this point we just gave up and called a cab. And with my luck the bus got there at the same time as our cab! Needless to say, I was seriously exhausted by time I finally made it home! 

More Bits and Bobs of London!

We went to Roller Disco in Vauxhall. This is something that I highly recommend that this event be attended in a more sober state. As much fun as it was with a few drinks in your system, it proved to be a little bit challenging. And as you all know, I am more accident prone than most of my friends. I definitely left with the most bruises and injuries.

I ventured to Holborn to hang out with Lisa for her birthday! We were just going to go for a few drinks. It took us a while to decide where exactly we wanted to go, but we ended up at a Canadian Sports bar in Covent Garden called The Maple Leaf and it was quite the experience!

Saturday night we ventured to a club near the Bank tube station called Reflex. It was an 80s themed club that had the hits playing all night long! We went with a few of the people that Lisa works with at a school here in London. They were all a hoot, and we all had soooo much fun! We proved that ‘Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun’ HAHA.

Dave, Pam, Katie, and I went to Leicester Square/China Town to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It was an afternoon filled with street food and wandering around. We met up with Kane and JP and went to Covent Garden to a place called the Dirty Martini. Since it was a Sunday, it was half price martinis all day! They were yummy, but it was sure time for me to get home and get some good sleep! 

Drinking some Port in Portugal!

Just a couple days after Hilary and Erin were here, I was off to Portugal to hopefully see some sun!!  Jen and I took of Wednesday night and made our way to Stansted to catch our flight to Porto. It was quite late when we arrived, so all we saw was the metro station and our hotel!

We decided to get some breakfast at this small Portuguese diner near our hotel the first morning we were there. The waiter there did not speak English at all, so ordering was quite the experience. Most of the day was spent wandering the city and getting lost in all there is to see there! It was simply beautiful. Later in the afternoon we made our way to the Croft Wine Cellars for a tour of the cellars and a round of wine tasting. Next on the agenda was dinner! We were starving and all that walking wore me out! The trek back to the hotel was an interesting one. We strolled across the Luis Dom Bridge and got a little lost in the city trying to find our hotel.

Friday morning we headed towards the train station to see all there is to see then hopped on a train to Lisboa to meet up with a few of our friends. Upon arrival, we checked into the apartment and snuck out for dinner while waiting for Jinou, Nick, Mollie, and Fran to arrive. Once they got to the apartment we made our way to the Docks for more food and Sangria before heading to the clubs and bars right along the beach. Jinou, Fran, and I found ourselves at an interesting/entertaining show at one of the local bars. When the show ended, we went to the Karaoke bar just down the street, but it was dead so was chatted with ‘Ramone’ the bouncer and he told us that the place to be on a Friday night was Urban Beach. So of course we take the locals advice and hail a taxi to go to Urban Beach. Little did we know that it was a private party that night. Guess that was a pretty good sign that we should just go home for the night.

Saturday morning was a little rough, but we elected to sleep in a bit and wait at the apartment for the rest of the crew, Kyle, Lauren and Nin, to arrive. We then went to Belem to see Geronimo’s Monastery and a world famous pastry shop. Next stop… the Old City! After wandering around in the pouring rain, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner and another night out on the town. After dinner it was still pouring and a few of us were simply exhausted so we went back to get some sleep!

Sunday morning was an early one! We went to the Castle and I found a street artist that paints with only coffee grounds. They were beautiful, and of course I HAD to buy some. At this point, it was time for Jen and I to make our way to the airport to begin our journey back to London. 

Hilary and Erin Visited! =]

Ahhhhhhhhhh----- One of my friends finally came to visit!!! It has been quite some time since I have posted, all die to being super busy and having tons of fun! Hilary got here on Wednesday and was here for 4 days! The first night she as here, I was supposed to have class, but I wasn’t feeling well.  So instead, Hilary and I went to the Pepper for a few drinks with a few of the other people in my program. 

Thursday, we met by the London Bridge, after I got off work, and wandered through the Borough Market and we made our way to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We came home fairly early, hung out, made dinner, and then made our way to Abacus for a night out on the town. 

Friday, I worked for a few hours, and then we met up by Tower Bridge and made our way towards the Holborn, Soho, and Piccadilly Circus Areas before making our way to the musical The Commitments. It was about a group of Irish guys that started a garage band that became really popular.

I had class Saturday morning. After class Hilary and I wandered around Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian and the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Sunday began with a really early morning as Hilary had to be at the airport at 5am and the bus to get there takes approximately 2 hours.  Also in the afternoon I got a message from Erin, one of my old roommates from Ireland, and she was in LONDON! We met up for dinner! It was a great time! It had been nearly 2 years since I last saw her! 

Holidays in London and a Bit More Traveling!

It has been quite some times since I have written on here! I have just been super busy! In the last month or so, I have worked a lot, stayed at home, and even traveled a bit… so here are the highlights:

Winter Wonderland- It was definitely a sight to see! It is basically a carnival(State Fair) that spans over half of Hyde Park in Central London! All of the rides were winter themed, and many of the food stalls were as well. Mollie and I HAD to drink some German Mulled Wine and Sausages! We spent the entire night wandering around looking at all the things that were being sold and taste testing many new things!

Southbank Market- Dave, Ed, and I wandered over to the Southbank market after work right before Christmas to spend some time at the Christmas market while they were still up and running! It was a bit chilly, but the Hot Chocolate and Christmas music put us all in the Christmas Spirit! On the way home we stopped by ASDA to pick up groceries so we would be able to make a yummy Christmas dinner. We found that it was a bit difficult to find things at the store as the shelves were not really stocked (welcome to London during the holiday season!) So for Christmas, we ended up buying 4 small whole chickens, potatoes, veggies, pie, and lots of beer and wine!

Christmas Day- Dave, Marie, Jinou, and her brother JJ and I all made breakfast and hung out in the morning/opened presents! Then the naps commenced! After taking a long, but much needed nap, we began to cook dinner and get into the festive spirit! Barry and Gilberto joined us for dinner and a fun filled game of charades!

Boxing Day- It was Marie’s birthday, so we hung out and watched some movies and went to Ability to have a few drinks and head out on the town…little did we know NOTHING was going to be open! OOPS so we settled for the only open pub in the area, had a few drinks, and caught the last tube home!

Bournemouth- Dave, Jinou, and I went to go and visit our friends Delila in Bournemouth for the weekend. We wandered the town, saw the sights, and attempted to go to the beach. It was a bit too cold/rainy for that, so we stopped by the bar and had a drink to wait out the rain. When the rain stopped we went out on the pier. After a much needed stroll on the pier we headed back to take a nap and change before going over to see some of Delila’s friends for a few drinks (Several!) then headed to the club for a great night out! Sunday morning we got up and walked into the city centre to see the Christmas market and some decorations. Then headed home to get some rest for the upcoming busy week!

New Years Eve-Over the Holiday Season I have been getting out of work fairly early, but on NYE I was done at noon! So I grabbed some groceries, cooked dinner, and took a nice long nap in preparation for the night ahead! Since the theme of the NYE party we were going to was White Mansion, we had to wear all white! After napping and getting ready we all made dinner and had a few drinks before taking the 1-2 hour train ride to the Club. We arrive JUST before midnight to have out New Year’s Shots…and Drinks! Everyone had a blast and danced the night away! At about 3am we decided it was time to make the trek home since it was going to be a LONG journey and the last train left 4am (didn’t want to miss that one!)

New Year’s Day- It was filled with relaxation, hangovers, hanging out with some friends, lots of Walking Dead, and a ton of junk food! Best way to spend the first day of the New Year!

Manchester/Liverpool-Jinou and I decided to take a little weekend trip to Manchester and Liverpool. We took the early morning train to Manchester on Saturday and made it there just in time to check into our hotel. Let me tell ya, it was a fantastic deal! We paid £35 total for the two of us for one night when the prices at the hotel looked to be around £200 a night. After dropping our stuff of we wandered the city and saw all the sites! It didn’t take us long though since it only took us 5-10 minutes to walk from one end of the city centre to another! Since the weather wasn’t that great we opted to just wander the mall and see what deals we could find! After walking all day, we were ready to sit down and relax for a bit. So back to the hotel for a nap we went! I woke up starving so we got ready for a night out on the town and headed to China Town for dinner! Yummmmmm the Chinese Buffet was fantastic! After dinner we decided to go to the bar/club in our hotel to have a drink and just hang out. Little did we know that cocktail pitchers were only £6 and additional shots only £1…Those were some strong Mr. Jacks (Coke, Jack, Amaretto…and lots more Jack). We ended up staying there and dancing the night away instead of heading to the other end of the city to check out more bars.

After going to bed at about 3am, it was a little difficult to be up and ready to catch our train to Liverpool, little did we know that we bought our train tickets for the wrong date, AND the train we were trying to get on was PACKED due to the Football game in Liverpool later in the afternoon. We finally got to Liverpool only to find out that it was pouring down rain! In an effort to stay dry, we RAN to the nearest museum and wandered to all the indoor sites(more shopping malls!) After a couple hours the rain let up and we were able to walk down to Albert Dock and see the water! On our way back to the train station that evening we stopped by to take a quick peek at the Beetles Museum! We finally made it back to London around 9pm after a long weekend of being super touristy and having fun! 

Bits and Bobs of London

Well it sure has been quite a while since I have had the time to post on here! I have been super busy with school and work, but I always have time to spend with my friends. Thanksgiving was great, a bunch of us went to Twickenham to the University for a big dinner. Unlimited food and drinks=fantastic especially when you are with your friends!

A few of us went to Winsdor to go Bungee Jumping. It was literally one of the most exhilarating experiences EVER!!!! I would definitely do that again! I have videos that I need to post! I am going to try and do that soon!  

The other night I went to a one act play with Jinou and Lisa, it was soooo realistic. It was such a small venue, it felt like we were actually IN the play! I love going to do things like that! It is always a good time.

We had our work x-mas drinks and buffet Thursday night! Sure was a blast and definitely got to see a new side of all the people I work with.  The buffet was  a bit lame, salads and pretzels, so Sarah and I went upstairs and ordered chips(fries) and went back to the group for some more dancing, drinks, and fun! Lets just say a solid breakfast and a Krispy Kreme doughnut were a perfect hangover cure! Work the next day was a struggle but we all survived!!

Last night we went to Rebel Bingo, a club where you actually play bingo and can win prizes! It was great fun until we lost everyone. At that point Sarah and I decided to cut our losses and take the last tube halfway home, get some food, and take a bus the rest of the way!

I am super excited I am finally planning a few trips and have bought the tickets for them. Portugal in January and Ireland in March! I am going to try and take a trip somewhere in the UK that is close one week in December! And of course I can't wait for Hilary to come and visit me in January!

All of the lights and x-mas decorations here are definitely getting me into the holiday spirit!  Happy Holidays!