Okay, okay. I know. I'm a terrible study abroad student blogger. It has literally been over a month since I last posted anything on here. So, bear with me. It's gonna be a long one! So let me recount my mid-semester break:
Steve and Jason's Visit to Lille
On October 23rd, I traveled to Brussels, Belgium to pick up Steve and Jason (our friend from Bellarmine) from the train station. They arrived at about 9:30, when my train wasn't actually going to leave Lille until 9:30! Ahhh!! And lo and behold when I get there, neither of them answer their cell phones. *Note to smart phone users: They don't work abroad. HAH. Anyways, I finally found them in the busy Brussels-Midi train station, and it was like a dream...It was one of those uber-cheesy movie moments. I never knew how much I could miss someone. We literally couldn't stop smiling all day...In fact, I think my face hurt from smiling so much. I suppose it was a good thing though :) Steve and Jason then got to experience their first European high speed train as we went to Lille. The poor things looked terribly jet-lagged and I felt bad for dragging them through the Lille metro system...but we eventually made it to their Hotel Ibis in Villeneuve d'Ascq (which is like, a 7 minute walk from Triolo). They slept most of the afternoon, and then we all went out with some of the Americans to Le Zeppelin, just to give them a taste of Lille nightlife! It was lovely.
The next day was terribly rainy and disgusting. We wandered around Villeneuve d'Ascq a little bit, and I introduced them to the V2 Centre Commercial (the mall) and AUCHAN!!!! AHHH! They loved in fact, and don't understand why I hate it. Hmm. Anyways, later that evening, everyone decided to go out to dinner in Lille Centre at a cute little restaurants...and Steve ordered mussels and fries...which is a Lillois delicacy. And they were actually quite good! Never thought I'd say that...Then we took them to the Saloon and watched a little soccer on TV there! We didn't stay out too late because we had to leave early the next morning for LONDON.
Lille to London
Monday was quite the hectic day. We thought it would be a good idea to stop by Auchan before going to the Lille Europe train station to get snacks and whatnot...we got to the station and Steve's credit card wouldn't work on the kiosks to get the train tickets...therefore, we had to stand in line for a while...and ended up missing our original train. Luckily, my French proved to be good enough for an Anglophone and the guy working gave us tickets for the next train for free :D Yay. However, we had to wait in the train station for nearly 3 hours and it was freeeeeezing in there! Thank goodness for hot tea and crazy picture taking moments...After a little while, we went through customs and whatnot and before we knew it, we were on our Eurostar. Another hiccup occurred when we got to our assigned seats and there were people sitting in them. I explained to them that we paid for these seats and even showed them our tickets...and they were like "well, sorry." And refused to move! Unbelievable...but we ended up finding some seats in an adjoining car and made it through the Chunnel nicely. The thing is, I was kind of nervous about going through the Chunnel (the tunnel that goes underneath the English channel) but I actually didn't realize we were in it until about 25 minutes later...when we had reached Dover, in the south of England. I seriously freaked out the whole way to London just because I was in ENGLAND. It's been a dream of mine for ages to go to Britain, and I finally got the chance. We arrived at London St. Pancras international train station within 90 minutes of leaving Lille. I was SO excited because when we got outside, I looked at the station, and it was the one from HARRY POTTER. AH!!!!!!!!
We got in a London taxi and it took us to our hotel, which was actually only about 2 minutes from the St. Pancras station. Hahahahaha! We dropped off our stuff and then decided to go exploring. We went to the London Underground station nearest to us, and got passes for the day to go anywhere in Central London. I had heard that Piccadilly Circus was a cool place to visit, so that's where we went. We got off the Tube (which is extremely far underground) and were taken aback by the awesome-ness of Piccadilly Circus. This is the area of London where they have the huge jumbotrons and whatnot, along with the "Broadway" theaters and such. We walked around a little and were just extremely excited to be there! We wandered into this gigantic souvenir shop called "Cool Britannia" and I have never seen so many things that said "London" or "England" on them!!! And I might add, there were red double decker buses EVERYWHERE in London. It was also quite difficult to adjust to the way people drive...they drive on the left side of the road and it is waaay awkward. I was still in seventh heaven though. After lots of souvenir shopping, we were all absolutely famished, and decided to peruse around Piccadilly Circus for a restaurant or somewhere to eat. We found a really cool pub called Devonshire Arms. We opted to get a sampler of pies (which included, Shepherd's, Steak and Kidney, Steak and Ale, and Chicken and Mushroom) and they were absolutely delicious. For our main meals, we all got fish and chips and peas :D YUM! And for dessert, we got treacle tart, which is a British dessert that almost tasted of butterscotch. Whatever it was, it was absolutely delicious.
After eating, we decided to walk down the road and see what the area was all about. We saw all of the theaters, as well as Chinatown in SoHo. We wandered into the Rainforest Cafe (which was really cool) and then into Ripley's Believe it or not place, and it was definitely amazing. After a tiring day, we wandered back to King's Cross/St. Pancras and decided to call it a night.
London: Day 2
For our first full day in London, we decided to start it out by going to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the Royal Guard (the guys who wear the red coats and really big black furry hats). We took the Tube and got off at Green Park, and walked towards St. James' Palace and Buckingham Palace. As we were walking down the main road to B.Palace, we noticed a police motorcade type thing, and I thought they were just getting ready for the changing of the guard....As I began to step onto the road to cross over, Steve grabbed me by my jacket and held me back...if he had not, I would have been nearly run over by a dark marroon, shiny ROLLS ROYCE. But you see, that's not the best part...Take a wild guess at WHO was in that Rolls Royce. If you guessed QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND PRINCE PHILLIP, you're right. Yes people, I did in fact see the Queen of England herself. And I nearly passed out. I got a picture of it in time (thank you, reliable Samsung camera). We continued down the road, during which point I was still epically freaking out, and finally found a spot in front of B. Palace to watch the changing of the guards. It was literally the coolest thing ever...and so official! They had a royal band and everything...geez. But basically, lots of marching, lots of horses and police...and that was that. We then decided to walk past St. James' park towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. St. James park was absolutely beautiful, even on a cold and rainy day. Even in the midst of a bustling and busy city, there was just this tranquile, quiet, and beautiful park right in the middle of it. About a mile and a half away from Buckingham Palace, were the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. I took millions of pictures and proceeded to freak out. (Note: Thank you to Jason and Steve for not strangling me.) Anyways, we took tons of pictures there, and then noticed Westminster Abbey next to us. I really wanted to visit it because that is where all of the monarchs of England are buried and St. Edward had a huge influence there...So we paid 12 Quid a piece and decided to go for it. Westminster Abbey was sooo amazing. It wasn't as gorgeous as Notre Dame, but it had such a rich influence of history that I was just really in my element. We walked around and saw the tombs of famous monarchs of England such as Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, St. Edward, Henry IV, etc etc. As well as other famous and influential British people. Sir Isaac Newton is there as well I believe. It was an amazing tour, and it took us ages to go through. It was so cool to walk up the aisle where Queen Elizabeth II walked to be coronated, as well as where Princess Diana's coffin laid. It was quite powerful just to be in the place in which so many influential and historical figures had been. Westminster Abbey is one of the oldest churches in all of London, and it was absolutely amazing.
After Westminster Abbey, we started walking down the street to see what else we could find, but our feet were absolutely starving and wanted to get some sort of delicious food...hahah! We ended up going to Trafalgar Square and eating at Pizza Express (which was AMAZING). We wanted to go to the British museum and National Gallery, but were just too exhausted...London really wears one out! Geez! After resting a bit at our hotel, we decided to go to the original Hard Rock Cafe in London for dinner! It was so nice getting some normal American food and ordering food in ENGLISH. It's really weird ordering in English now that I've been in France for so long...We really enjoyed ourselves at the Hard Rock!!
London Day 3
On our next full day in London, we designated it to be "The Tower of London" day. And needless to say, it took us nearly all day to see the whole Tower of London. While on the Tube that morning, we passed through the stations that were bombed a few years back...it was sooo weird...and kind of as if one would go through the area of the WTC or something... And we also found out that someone had been pushed onto the subway tracks and was killed by the train, the first night we were in London at our station of Kings Cross. EEEK. Talk about scary. Anyways, we proceeded to go the Tower of London that morning, and I commenced to freak out. Yet again. The ToL was built in 1066 by the Norman invaders in London, and has stood there ever since. It was truly an amazing sight. I was impressed at the fact that it still stood after the Battle of Britain during the second World War. Our tour guide, a Yeoman Warder, was amaaazing. He told us all of the grizzly stories about the Tower of London and all of the Crown Jewels housed by the Tower. We wandered around the grounds of the Tower and were just amaaaazed by everything. We got to see some of the torture tools used during the medieval period rulers and whatnot...Creepy stuff. We also got to see the place where Anne Boleyn and other people were beheaded! EEEEK! After a lovely tour (lol) we decided to eat lunch at the restaurant on the grounds of the Tower of London called "New Armouries Cafe" and it was absolutely delicious.
After lunch, we decided to go see the special "Fit for a King" suits of armor exhibit in the White Tower. There were hundreds of pieces of armor and military weaponry. There was also a sign that mentioned the giving of some stuff to "the Frazier Historical Arms museum in Louisville, Kentucky, USA." I freaked out when I read that too. After the suits of armor, we went and waited in an extremely long line to see the Crown Jewels and the Imperial Crown. It wasn’t an insanely extensive collection, but it was just really cool to see the largest cut diamond in the whole world. WOW. As well as the crowns used by monarchs for centuries in England. The Tower of London was definitely an amazing place to visit, and I am SO glad we went there.
Later that day, after nearly 4 hours at the Tower of London, we decided to head back to Kings Cross (but not until buying a Dr. Pepper and some souvenirs!). We rested, and then decided to head back to Piccadilly Circus to find somewhere to eat on our last night in London. We went to a pub type restaurant and it was complete rubbish. YUCK. But whatever. After dinner, we went to the London Eye, which is this HUGE Ferris Wheel that gives you a view of the entire city of London. It was at night, so the whole city was lit up with lights and it was so clear, so the view was breathtaking. I took tons of pictures of the river Thames and Parliament from the London Eye. It is about a 30 minute ride altogether and it was just absolutely wonderful. I’ll never forget that amazing view! And we didn’t stay out too late, because we had to catch an early train to EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.
The End of London/Beginning of Edinburgh
After an amazing time in London, none of us wanted to go to Scotland. But our train was an early one, but we were riding in first class so we were open to the new experience. And our first class, 4 ½ hour train ride was AWESOME. Seeing the Eastern Coast of England and the North Sea was absolutely breathtaking and astounding. The weather had taken a turn for the better, and it was just so nice. We had an amazing train ride though…unlimited tea! We had turned into tea junkies during our time in London…lol! When we finally arrived in Edinburgh, we were definitely well rested and excited to be there! I had never really learned a lot about Scotland during my years at school, so I was ready for a new adventure! We took a taxi to our hotel in Edinburgh called the Point Hotel. In fact, Sean Connery used to work at this place during his youth! Cool eh? Anyways, the hotel was extremely nice and everything in Edinburgh just went so smoothly! We had literally a two minute walk from the gigantic Edinburgh Castle as well. Our first excursion was the Scotland Museum, which held a lot of the history and artifacts of Scotland. It was really cool, but kind of long and dragging, but we all learned a lot about Scotland; which was good before we actually got a real look at the city…Edinburgh is the most gorgeous city I’ve ever seen in my life. It is just so far north and untainted by industrialism. It retains so much of its “small town” charm and history. Apparently, the Edinburgh Castle is sitting on a volcano…Who’d have known??? I loved hearing people playing bagpipes and wearing kilts everywhere J it was wonderful! Edinburgh is relatively a close city, and so we just walked everywhere. We went to a cool restaurant for dinner, owned by the Tudor family and then decided to go on a Ghost Walk because it was so close to Halloween.
The Ghost Tour was absolutely amazing. Our tour guide was also extremely interesting, and her name was Kate! It was more so based on historical scary things, rather than smoke and mirrors, which was really cool. We went to an old cemetery in Edinburgh and it is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in all of Scotland. We also walked up this large hill to wear they used to burn people accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake! Creeeeepy! We got to see a lot of Edinburgh and it was such an amazing tour. I love that city!
Edinburgh Day 2
On our second day in Edinburgh, we took a free city tour with the same tour guide from the night before. She took us all around the city and showed us tons of sites. Also, we saw the Elephant House, which is the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote HARRY POTTER. Super exciting if you ask me. We also walked down the Royal Mile, which was the street next to Edinburgh Castle with tons of Scottish shops selling kilts, cashmere scarves, and whisky! The Scots do love their whisky. It was an amazing day for the tour and we just saw a ton of churches, the royal gardens of Edinburgh Castle and whatnot. Later that evening, Jason decided to go to a pub with the tour group, and Steve and I had our own date night in Scotland!! He actually gave me a set of pearl earrings and a matching necklace!! And they were REAL . It was so sweet and romantic! We went to this posh little restaurant in Edinburgh, and had an amazing dinner. And we even ate Haggis. Which is a Scottish traditional dish that is everything left in a sheep (its intestines, heart, kidneys, etc ) which are then put in its stomach and cooked. And in fact, it’s quite delicious. It tastes like spicy meatloaf! Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it! And then I had chicken and potatoes and it was just such a pleasant evening! Later on, we met up with Jason and went to a cool pub across from the hotel and then watched some BBC! Good times.
Last Day in Edinburgh
For our last day in Edinburgh, we had to make sure all of our activities were before 1pm…because we had to catch our plane to Belgium at 4! So, we decided to go to Edinburgh Castle and explore. It almost felt like going through the Tower of London again, but we had some of the most spectacular views ever. The sky was such a beautiful blue that day, and it was just absolutely breathtaking!! We walked around the castle and saw some of the armor from Scotland’s past. Which was really cool.
After a few hours there, we wandered down the Royal Mile for a bit and then headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff, and have a taxi take us to the Edinburgh Airport. We had a lot of trouble at the airport. Basically: heavy bags, Steve left a huge bottle of Scotch in his carry on, had to go back to the Ryan Air desk and security again, and it was just extremely stressful. After an hour and a half long flight, we arrived at Charleroi airport in Belgium…and it is actually 50 miles away from Brussels itself. By the time we get to our hotel, it’s nearly midnight and our hotel is absolute rubbish. UGH. It was the worst part of our trip, but thank goodness it was only for a few hours, because Jason had to catch an early flight from Brussels National Airport to go back to the States. After saying good bye to him, Steve and I relaxed for a bit in the airport and had breakfast. We took the transit train to Brussels Midi and then were treated very rudely by the woman at the ticket counter. Dislike. Whatever, we eventually made it back to Lille and life returned to normal.
Back in Lille…my time in France
Having Steve in France with me was really weird, but I really liked it. It was like having a piece of home with me here! J However, I had midterms and such that week, and was quite busy. But he was very helpful with doing things for me and helping me the best he could! It was definitely extremely sad when he left L
I actually became extremely homesick the week after he left. I suppose it was just the low point of my time here in France. It was also a very stressful time with homework and such, but I finally pulled out of it and have been having an awesome time!! I am so lucky to have met so many amazing people here, whom I hope to be friends with even after we all leave France in a little under a month. I have so much to see and do before I leave…And I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in ages…it’s a busy life being an exchange student! Phew! xoxo
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