Friday, November 29, 2019

Studying Abroad in London: Edinburgh Adventures


Another week has gone by! This one was just as exciting as the last one and filled with some fun new adventures to a place I've been wanting to visit for years: Scotland! The week itself wasn't that exciting but at the end of the week we went to Edinburgh so I still count this week as a win. So, without further ado, let's go  ahead and jump on in!  



Monday
November 18, 2019

I was up every couple hours through the night leading into Monday because I was sick. I ended up spending the day in my room trying to recover from it and catch up on lecture things since I wasn't able to go that day.



Tuesday
November 19, 2019

I slept in a bit on Tuesday before pulling out the textbooks to begin work on a group presentation. I met up with my group that afternoon to run through our presentation for a bit before heading back to the flat to get dinner.  



Wednesday
November 20, 2019

I woke up feeling very nervous for both my presentation and an interview I had that day. When I got to class, my group decided to go first so we were able to get it out of the way pretty quickly. I feel like I did  pretty well but I won't get my grade for a while I don't think so we'll see. After my presentation ended, I went to a group interview that was stressing me out a lot. However, since there were 5 of us interviewing 1 staff member it really wasn't that bad. After that ended, I just went back to the flat to get lunch before chilling for the rest of the day. 



Thursday
November 21, 2019

On Thursday we slept in for a bit before chilling most of the day. I worked on some homework for a bit before we got an insanely big dinner from Pub Grub to eat while we watched I'm A Celeb. After  that, we started packing for Scotland before heading to bed at a more reasonable time than usual. 



Friday
November 22, 2019

Friday we woke up relatively early to finish the last minute packing for Scotland. We met up with Henning and Emily, two of our friends, and all four of  us left at a pretty good time and headed to the grocery store to get snacks for our road trip up. I took Dramamine so I ended up sleeping on and off most of the way up there.

When we arrived it was quite dark out but we were eventually able to find our AirBnB and get settled in. Instead of going out for dinner, we decided to go to the grocery store and just make food there. Admittedly, Isaac and I got too much food and were stuffed once we finished and were watching I'm A Celeb. Once we finished watching, we headed to bed since we were both pretty tired from the day. 




Saturday
November 23, 2019

We slept in a bit on Saturday before making a quiche for breakfast. It was fun getting to make food in a kitchen that we didn't share with 28 other people. After breakfast, we just got ready for the day before heading into Edinburgh city center.

We were able to find parking for pretty good price near the Christmas Market. It was a bit wet that day but I was completely fine without an umbrella as we walked through the market. It was so festive and fun. There were different stalls selling various handmade items and hot drinks and food. Isaac and I split a German sausage and it was, no joke, the best sausage I've ever had. Or maybe I was just super hungry? I also had a cup of the best Belgian hot chocolate I've ever had, too.

After we left the market, we drove about an hour away to an artisan ice cream shop that sells Strongbow Dark Fruit ice cream. Unfortunately, when we went, they didn't have a batch of it ready but I still got three different flavors to try. It was so lightweight and fluffy and yummy. When we left the ice cream, we headed back to the AirBnB to chill for a bit. Isaac and I caught up on The Apprentice UK and just rested before our dinner reservations at 9pm.

The restaurant we went to was an Italian place a few streets down from the Christmas Market, meaning we were able to park at the same place as earlier. It was a nice little place with really good food. I had bruschetta, a penne dish, and tiramisu for dessert. The dinner overall was really yummy and filled with carbs and sugar--just like I like  it. Afterwards, we just headed back to our AirBnB to head to bed before then next day.



Sunday
November 24, 2019

We slept in a bit on Sunday but not too late as we had to be checked out by 11 am. We made a small breakfast before cleaning up a bit and heading out to our first item on the agenda.

We drove down to a beach a little bit aways from our AirBnB. It was pretty and there were actually a  lot of people on it, including a bunch of cute dogs playing with their owners. I would have loved to actually swim if it wasn't so cold in November.

After we left the beach, we stopped off at the grocery store for more snacks for our way back. I slept  for a little bit at the start of the drive but was actually mostly awake for the rest of it. We stopped off a couple of times--once to get donuts and once to see an art installation called The Angel of the North. It was actually a pretty good day weather and traffic-wise until  we hit the fun London night traffic 7 hours later. It did take a bit to get to campus from then on.

Isaac and I dropped off our friends we'd gone with and then continued on to Isaac's town, Basingstoke, because our classes were cancelled the next week due to striking professors. It was nice, though, because we got to his house to meet up with his family and we all ordered Chinese food to eat while watching Ru Paul's Drag Race: UK before heading to bed.




And there you have it, another fun week in the UK. I was thrilled to finally get to visit Scotland after wanting to for years. I definitely want to go back, most likely in the summer months, and go out to the Highlands and maybe Inverness. However, I think London still has my heart.

For past weekly diaries, check out my study abroad page here.



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



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