My first day in England was a long one. I arrived in Durham and got to see my lovely cousin Emily where she gave me a tour of Grey College at Durham University and walked me around the town. We went up to Durham Cathedral and we got to walk around inside. We went out into the foyer and I instantly recognized the place. Emily explained that they filmed one of the scenes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in that breezeway. I was pretty starstruck.

Check it out! 

After that we got tea and had a chance to catch up. It was lovely. Soon enough it was time for me to go and I was back on the train heading to London Kings Cross Station. After a few hours and a nap we were pulling into London. I quickly discovered soon after that how much walking was required getting in and out of the Train Stations and the Tube Stations. I somehow found my way onto the Tube on my was to St Earls Court where I would later have to walk some more to get to my hostel. Something else I  quickly learned was there are always stairs. Always. I finally got checked in and met some charming people in my Hostel room. It was nice to finally lie down. The next day I spent walking around Earls Court, planning my trip in London and relaxing after all that traveling. I had woken up that morning, realizing that from all the train hopping I had caught a cold, so my goal for the day was to take it easy lest I get more sick. I got my laundry done for the first time in a few weeks and it was great to finally have clean clothes. Later that night I bought my travel card for the next week and hopped on the tube to head right into downtown and see The Tempest at the Globe. My first time walking around the city was nothing less of traumatic. I walked over a mile out of my way because I was on the wrong side of Blackfriars bridge. Luckily I had left my hostel an hour and a half before showtime so when I finally found the theater and picked up my tickets I had made it just in time! It was a fantastic show and I got to see Colin Morgan as Ariel, it was an experience I won't ever forget! 

All my trouble getting lost was worth it to finally make it here!

The Set for The Tempest! 

Exhausted and feeling ready for bed, I hopped back on the tube and headed back to my hostel, longing for my bed. 

That was days 1 and 2 in England! Next I will post my Weekend in Stratford Upon Avon! 

XXX 

Lo

So I know I haven't updated in a few weeks and I've been back in the states for about 2 weeks now, but I'm determined to finish the day by day updates from my trip! So I will be uploading those in the next few days, for now I have my list of Dos and Don'ts in Scotland! Hope you enjoy :)

Dos and don'ts in Scotland

Do try haggis, it's delicious, and rarely is it made in a sheeps stomach anymore, most of the time it's an all natural casing they cook it in, like the stuff sausage and hot dog casings are made of

Don't get a hamburger. Just don't. Beef isn't as good to come by out there and they add stuff to hamburgers and it makes them rubbery and gross, just wait to get back to the states before you get a Big Mac, you'll be glad 

Do talk to people. I love talking to Scottish people, they are so patriotic in their country an they have some amazing stories to tell! 

Don't try and talk like them. I don't care how many times you've watched brave heart, you do not have a good accent so please do us all a favor and act normally. 

Do get a chance to experience the shopping. My favorite thing to do was to go thrifting. You get a chance to buy clothing you probably don't get to experience very often back home at an affordable price. I found an adorable striped topshop top for only 2 pounds (about 4 american dollars) it was a steal and I love it! 

Don't get caught up in the tourist souvenir shops. they can be super pricy and not offering the greatest wares. We went to the large Scotland shop outside of Edinburgh Castle and despite it's size, it was still tricky to sift though tourist junk and actually things you would be willing to purchase.

Do take pictures. It's beautiful there and I love the memories I've captured from my camera. It's something you won't regret. 

Do (because I like ending on a positive) savor every moment. Go to the castles and experience their history, listen to the stories they have to tell. Go to tiny pubs and buy a beer and savor it. Spend your money and even if you come home broke it's fine, don't let it stress you. Just enjoy what it has to offer you and just relax. 

These are a few of the things I learned from my time in Scotland and I hope there are helpful to anyone who plans to go there in their lifetime, it really is a wonderful experience. 

XXX

Lo 

Our last days in Scotland were dedicated to reading and writing our papers! Day 11 we had our last lecture and days 12-14 we hung out in St Andrews and bounced from the Hostel and the coffee shops around the town attempting to write out our papers and read!  On Sunday I went to the Holy Trinity Church to experience a service under the Church of Scotland! This was one of the Churches that John Knox preached at during the reformation and it was beautiful!

It really was a grand way to take a break from writing my paper! And the service was delightful! That following Tuesday we reveled in our last day in Scotland! That evening we got dinner to go and headed for the bay to enjoy a meal by the sea!

The rocks by the Bay!

The St Andrews Pool from the Bay! 

The next morning we said goodbye to our Hostel (good riddance!) 

Heading out to Durham to visit Em and then it's out to London! 

That ends my story in Scotland! Heading of for the journey to England! Will update again soon! 

XXX

Lo 

Scotland Day 10
Today was our big trip to Edinburgh and it was a blast! First we headed up the Royal Mile and to Edinburgh Castle!

The Royal Mile! 

On the outside wall of the Castle!

Edinburgh Castle! 

After the Castle we walked around Edinburgh and got a taste of some of the crazy characters of Edinburgh!

Invisible Man!

The Charlie Chaplin of Scotland!

DREAMS DO COME TRUE! 

After that we walked to the Holyrood house. Unfortunately the Queen took up residence there for the Summer and we were unable to go in (More like Holyrude!) but we did get pictures of the outside!

On the way back to the bus stop we walked past the Elephant Tea House, where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone!

Starstruck! 

We got dinner and I finally got some authentic Scottish Cuisine!

My Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and a tall glass of Deuchars IPA

We then got back to the bus stop to head home when it proceeded to hail. Gotta love British weather!

Sorry this one took so long! I had some issues posting and I tried one time before and ended up deleting the original post! Will post more tonight hopefully!
XXX
Lo

Scotland day 8
Was another free day in St Andrews, and I spent it walking around the town and thrifting.  It was a lovely time and I got some spendid items while out shopping for very little including a sweater, two shits (one of them Topshop) and a pair of turquise polka dot mugs, just my style. Also got to do some nice window shopping.

Harry Potter in a used book store! (would have bought them if it wasn't for the weight of the books!)

Jack Wills, pretty much the British version of Abercrombie and Fitch

Day nine was a lecture day so not too much to brag about. It was more about getting ready for our trip to Edinburgh the next day!
Will update sooner I promise!
XXX
Lo

Scotland day 6 was a free day and I spent most of the time in the Hostel drinking pear cider and watching Arrested Development with Julianna, one of my friends on the trip, so nothing really that exciting. Day 7 we got an extended tour of St Andrews that included lectures as we traveled along. We first stopped outside of the St Andrews Castle and checked out the tunnels that were dug under the castle during the Reformation.

We's in ze tunnels! 

Then we walked around the castle and took pictures out and about. 

It is just so pretty! 

We then had lunch, me and a few others went to a noodle bar called Dr. Noodles (awesome right?). The doctor was definitely in and we had some bomb noodles. After lunch we hung around outside of the Cathedral for a bit for some fun conversation and such

Pansies!

We then headed into the St Andrews Cathedral Ruins and got to see the gravestones and the remnants of the Cathedral walls. 

There were open graves and yeah, this happened. IM A MUMMY RAWR!

So after that whole debacle, we climbed up St Ruels Tower. And we thought we were done with climbing up stairs, HA!

On top of the tower! We had an awesome view, but the wind was killer!

So gorgeous!

We then headed over to St Andrews Pier

The stairs went right into the water

Its a seagull. If you couldn't figure that out already. 

View of St Andrews from pier

The last thing we saw was the St Andrews Links, Old Course golf course, it was cool even if I don't golf at all.

Golfing is an extreme sport that requires caution from all involved. 

That about ended day 7 for me, by the time I got back to the Hostel I was exhausted and spent the evening with a hot shower and catching up on out assigned reading.

Try something new every day kiddies!

XXX
Lo

Scotland Day 5
Saturday was a long day for us. We left the hostel by 6:45 am to make the bus towards Stirling. Needless to say coffee was definitely a must. We got on our two hour bus ride to get right into the heart of Stirling and climb up to Stirling Castle. It was fun and had a lot of things to look at. We got to walk around the castle walls and look at the beautiful view

On the castle walkway

Stirling Castle

After the castle we ate lunch and headed over to the William Wallace Monument for the longest and highest part of our trip. We had to hike up a huge hill just to get to the entrance of the Tower.

This is the view of the Monument from the Castle on the other side of town. Needless to say, it's pretty damn high. 

The Monument itself is 220 ft tall and takes 246 stairs on a single spiral staircase to reach the top. It's a pretty epic climb. We finally made it to the top, surviving any claustrophobia and other fears of falling or the height itself. Our legs were burning and we were panting like crazy, but it was all worth it to see the view of Stirling from the top.

Let's just say the height made us a little bit goofy...

We ventured back down the monument and the hill and headed home for the evening. It was quite a day and time to get some R&R back in St. Andrews.

TTFN,
Ta Ta for now!
XXX
Lo

Scotland Day 4
We've done a lot of sight seeing the past two days. on Friday we headed to Perth to check out Huntingtower Castle and the Perth Museum and Art Gallery. Of course like all of our trips this past few days, getting there was half of the fun

Hanging out in Perth!

We had a blast at our first castle of the trip!

The story behind Huningtower is that it was where James VI was held when people were out to kill him. Pretty impressive. Before we left we got to dress up like Lords and Ladies and pretty much act like total nerds outside of the tower. I was having a ball!

We headed back into town center in Perth and checked out the Kirk in Perth. The Scots really know how to build a church.

 We then arrived at the Perth Museaum and Art Gallery and saw some beautiful pieces of art

This one was my favorite. It's titled Loch Katrine.

We then stopped for some Scottish cuisine at a place called Bothys and it was simply divine. I had steamed muscles in cream sauce and a glass of Rosé. 

Be very jealous of my tasty food! 

After that we headed back into St Andrews for the night! :) Day 5 is coming up soon!

Live long and prosper!
XXX
Lo