A Semester in Europe... Wisconsin Tomorrow

Hi All!
So I'm way behind with any good blogging of my adventures... my apologies. I'll hopefully still write stuff up on them and post them anyways because they end up being great records! Can't believe I'm headed home tomorrow. It has been the most amazing semester and probably 3 and a half months of my life!
I had a great time with Grandma Busche in both Scotland and Switzerland. We are all packed now, well pretty much, and are heading out in the morning. We'll be at MSP by 5:30 pm tomorrow. I'm excited, but missing Europe already at the same time.
Well, can't wait to see you all very soon. Lots of catching up to do and so much to show and tell you all!
From the other side of the pond,
Trista :)

1000 Miles of Happiness!

We just got back from a trip to the Highlands. Our Scottish Professor, Gerry Mooney, was our personal tour guide. We had about 55 of us from the House go on the trip. It was an amazing time for many reasons. One being that the Highlands are gorgeous and a second being that we got to spend one of our last weekends all together. Its definitely different counting down the other way now! 23 days and I'll be back home. Some of the best moments that I think I'm just going to briefly mention would be the 21 girls in one hostel room! Climbing a mountain just before dark! Baiting Nessie, Hiking in Glencoe, a Chinese Buffet in Inverness, and just sitting in the backseat of the coach bus with best friends. We put about 1000 miles on the bus on the trip around the Highlands! Or as Gerry said, "1000 miles of happiness".

A Trip to London

On April 14th I took an 8-hour night bus ride, destination: London. Because I hadn’t missed any classes yet for the semester, it was planned that we could get to London on Wednesday and enjoy an extra day. A large group of WIS students were going to be coming down the following day, but John and I left Edinburgh at 11pm and arrived in London around 8am on Wednesday. Well let’s just say that the night bus was not my favorite part. When we got there we dropped our stuff off at our hostel in Victoria, but couldn’t check in until 2pm. So, we set off exploring London. It had rained a bit and now was kinda foggy (something that was definitely a reoccurring weather pattern in London we learned). We got our city map from London Victoria Station and soon found Westminster Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. Then we found Trifalger Square, visited the National Gallery, and said ‘Hi’ to the Queen at Buckingham Palace (okay…she wasn’t actually in that day). The sun was finally coming through and we found a park (the first of many in this trip), where people were relaxing in fold-up lounge chairs. We took two of them and it came to our attention that people were actually renting these chairs for an hour and a half at a time. Well, this is when ‘chair surfing’ was invented and we just relocated to another chair when we saw the rent-collector coming our direction. After this little break, we went back to our hostel to move into our room and take a much needed siesta. That evening we went to the Hard Rock Café. We got to the door and were handed a buzzer for the wait that was going to be an hour and fifteen minutes! But that was okay since we used the time to walk to the Marble Arch and through Hyde Park. Dinner was pretty good but Hard Rock Cafés are kind of expensive, good thing we brought along the PB&J supplies again! When we got back to the hostel I worked on… homework! Agh! I had to finish up my research for the paper we had due on Monday for our Scottish Globalisation class.
On Thursday we took a day trip out of the city. We had a train ticket for Salisbury and plans to see the famous Stonehenge. I used my ‘Lets Go Europe’ book again on this trip... it is amazing. Once we made it to Salisbury we jumped on a tour bus that would take us out to Stonehenge and to Old Sarum. Since it was just about to leave we kinda just jumped on, but it turned out to be a good deal that gave us transportation, guided tours, and admission into everything. Stonehenge is still a bunch of big rocks situated in the middle of nowhere surrounded by sheep. But it was actually really cool to hear all the speculation and the mystery of them. We also got to see Old Sarum which was a castle and community of King John. It had turned out to be a beautiful day and we got to eat our PBJs in the sunshine. From there we walked back into Salisbury. Salisbury is a very old town and claims fame to the tallest Medieval Spire that is on the Salisbury Cathedral. The River Avon runs through the town and we followed the River Walk for awhile as well. When we got back to London we found that our hostel had filled up with familiar faces and we just hung out for the rest of the night.
Friday we went on a walking tour of London. There is a company, NewEurope Tours, which offers free walking tours in many cities. London is the first one of these I went on though. It was nice to have an expert with us as we visited some of the same places again and some new ones. She told us lots of history and pointed out things we would have never known otherwise. My favorite stories were about the break-ins of Buckingham Palace. Like the one where a group of German tourists camped out in the yard thinking they were at Hyde Park and the next morning asked a guard how to get out. Needless to say, he showed them out very quickly! We got a day pass for the Underground and used a Tube Map to navigate the city for the rest of the day. Since the London Eye (HUGE ferris wheel in middle of city) was 17 pounds to ride on, we took an alternative that was stated in the ‘Lets Go’ book. It lead us to Hampstead Heath, a beautiful wooded park with many trails in a quiet setting. Very different part of London than what we had seen so far. For some reason we thought it was going to be a hill that would also offer great views of the city, but it actually wasn’t. However, the swans on the pond were a pretty good alternative anyway. It started to lightly rain and we jumped back on the tube. Next we discovered Kings Cross Station… the one mentioned in Harry Potter. We found Platform 9 ¾ which was utilised for the characters to get on the Hogwarts Express. Then we jumped on the tube again for a trip to London Bridge. By now everyone had their umbrellas out in London and we got some pictures of the Tower Bridge in the London rain. We got back to the hostel just in time to change and get to the Apollo Theater for… Wicked! I was so excited to finally see it. I have had the soundtrack on my iPod for a long time and listened to it on the way down to London and on the train! It was a wonderful performance and definitely met all my expectations and more.
Saturday was a day planned out by Professor Parkinson. We got tours of the Globe Theater and the Tower of London. It was finally a clear day starting that morning! We got our Underground passes again but they had lots of the lines closed for work that day making it a little bit more of a challenge to get around the city. The Globe Theater, though not the original, was interesting. We got to see a little bit of a rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet going on. The show was going to open in a few days. We got into the Tower of London that afternoon. Here we met the Beefeaters. These are the guides that now chauffeur people through the Tower, but were once very important to the running of the Tower. A lot of history happened in the Tower and also many executions. It was a really neat place to visit and the Beefeaters were definitely my favorite guides. We took lots of pictures in London. Some of my favorites are from Saturday when we took our ‘London Phone Booth’ pictures. These things smell horrible though! I’m fairly certain that my theory is correct- no one actually uses phone booths anymore because everyone has mobiles, but the booths are now used as urinals and by silly tourists! Really they are that bad! We also got some awesome shots that evening by Big Ben as the sun was going down and the sky was so pretty. Then we went to get pictures of the Tower Bridge at night all lit up and of Piccadilly, the square that is similar to Times Square with the lights and screens. Then we got back on a night bus for Edinburgh again!
That Sunday was spent stressing over our essays. I have pictures of this as well. I got to my 2000 words by Monday at 1pm though, so it all turned out. :)

A Catch-up Blog Covering the Past Weeks…

Ireland- Paddywagon Tour

March 12-15

Well I guess I have been keeping busy since I haven’t written a decent blog since before spring break! So I’ll start the weekend before break, which was March 12-15 when I made a trip to Ireland. We signed up for a Paddywagon Tour of Southern Ireland. It was very nice because we got to see a lot, had a guide and driver, and never had to worry about accommodations. We started by flying into Dublin and the tour started from there the next day (the 13th). We boarded a big green bus and headed out. Eight of us had come for this trip- Jenny, Brittney, Solomon, Ben, John, Kelly, Steve, and me. The next nights were spent in Galway and then Killarney. We saw everything from peat moss pits, the North Atlantic, hundreds of baby lambs, thatched roofs, miles of stone walls, and cattle roaming by the rocky shores in Burren. We made visits to the ruins of Clonmacnoise and saw lots of Celtic Crosses and the ruins of a castle and church. We went to the Cliffs of Moher, which were breathtaking and of course we ventured past the sign that stated, “Please Do Not Go Beyond This Point”, but hundreds of other people were on the worn path that way too. Every evening before dropping us off at our hostels our guide would tell us about the town we were staying in. He mentioned good places to eat and the pubs with the best deals and bands. We really enjoyed the live Irish bands that we encountered on this trip. In Killarney our guide even had arranged a good deal on drinks for us… 3 jag bombs or car bombs for 10 euros... the latter being a specialty to the area. Car bombs are a half pint of Guinness with a shot of Baileys and Jameson dropped in. On the last day I started out with a horse and carriage ride through Killarney National Park where we saw the lakes, mountains, and a huge herd of deer. Then we loaded up and headed to Blarney Castle. It took about an hour to get up to the top and kiss the famous stone. It was cool that we were there the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day and even ran into a few celebrations as we travelled through the country. We decided that we were going to be economical on this trip and bought loaves of bread and jars of jelly and peanut butter. We ate these for lunch everyday so that we could save for dinner and going out. It was a good idea but I don’t know if I will eat another PB&J once I get back to the States! I have had soo many! It is also an easy option to make when we are in Dalkeith too! On the actual St. Patrick’s Day some of us went to Biddy Mulligan’s in Edinburgh. This Irish Pub was packed! But I had my Guinness and got my free t-shirt so it was a good night!

Spring Break 09!
10 days of backpacking in France and Italy!

Spring Break was amazing! I absolutely loved it and had a great time! So… in the early morning of Friday, March 20th we grabbed our backpacks (mine being the experienced bag from Aunt Krissy) and boarded our plane at EDI. On this adventure was Kelly, Kristin, John, Ben, Jenny, Steve, Nicole, Jonelle, and me. A big group but we split down and met up many times throughout the trip. We landed in Nice, France that afternoon and met Jonelle’s good friends from high school that are studying in the neighboring town, Antibes. Her friends, Joe and Lindsey, were able to put us up in their apartments for the first two nights and the last night. They were so nice and showed us around Nice the next day. In Nice we explored the city centre, checked out one of the beaches, and found a park on top of a hill that overlooked the city. All of the French people seemed so relaxed and enjoying their sunny day at the beach and at the park. There was a small instrumental band playing in the park, kids playing football (soccer), people laying out on the beach (with and without bathing suits), and in the evening a group of drums playing in the city centre. One of the funny parts about the city centre were these high pedestals with naked guys sitting on them. I thought they were hilarious especially at night when they lit up and changed colors!
On Sunday the 22nd, we caught a train for La Spezia, Italy. Our next destination was Cinque Terre- five small fishing villages on the Ligurian coast of Italy that are actually linked together by small paths that many people hike on. The towns are quite small but very friendly and colorful. From La Spiezia we took a train to Riomaggiore, one of the Cinque Terre towns that we were staying at. The first thing we bought were two margherita (cheese) pizzas, they were amazing. We then got into our hostel rooms that were actually really nice as we had our own bathrooms and kitchens! That evening we took one of the trails to the town of Manarola. To get there we had to pass through the tunnel of love, which is painted with lots of graffiti pictures.
The next day (23rd) was a BIG day for me as I finished up Cinque Terre, did Pisa, and landed in Roma! We took a train to Monterosso the farthest of the Cinque Terre towns. We had lunch, explored the town, and even ventured onto the hiking trails between it and Vernazza. Its funny how the ‘Lets Go’ book makes even more sense when you read it after being in the area for awhile. I say this because John and I ended up on the hardest path towards Vernazza. It started out with really nice scenery… lemon trees and vineyards with the coast insight, but also a bunch of steps. The steps however had no end! We did probably 20 minutes of steep steps going up and hardly leveling! The funny thing was the people we passed on the path though. Being a narrow path we had to stand aside to pass each other. There were a number of older couples that cheerily said, “Bojourno!” to us- Italian for “Hello!” However it was obvious that they weren’t Italian as one lady was wearing an Alaska sweatshirt! I have a ton of respect for those cute old ladies though cuz I got winded doing that trail! We asked how far it was to the next town and heard it was about an hour and fifteen minutes, but we wanted to make the next train and had to get our stuff from the hostel before heading to Pisa. So, we turned around for Monterosso again.
On our way to Pisa we had a layover in La Spiezia, which we used for a gelato break! We made it to Pisa at about 5pm. It was perfect timing for a walk across town (with our backpacks) to see the Leaning Tower before the sun started going down. We got our pictures with the tower and I snapped one of Flat Addie and the tower as well! We almost got dinner at this cute diner that had seating right in view of the tower, but didn’t have quite enough time for that since our train to Rome left at 7pm. So we grabbed pizza and jumped on the train. This was one of my favorite train rides because we got a compartment with the curtains and light switch so that I could lay out on the three seats for the 4 hours to Roma. Once we got to the Rome Termini Station, John and I, met up with two other guys from our program, Tom and Jeremy, who had also gotten in that day. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and ventured out to see Rome in the evening. I was very surprised that it was so quiet, but it was a Monday night. For hearing that Rome was the ‘Pick-pocket Capital of the World’, I was a little bit nervous about arriving at night, but it was actually really quiet and fine that first night. We were also staying near the Vatican so that could also attribute to that. As ‘Lets Go’ said under the accommodations that is what you could expect in an area with such a high nun-to-tourist ratio!
Tuesday morning we set out for the Vatican City to see the Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel. Didn’t get a glimpse of the Pope, but did see a lot that day. The museums are quite extensive. You go through all of those before you can see Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. For lunch we went to a supermarket and found some pasta and sauce and made that in the kitchen of the hotel. It was pretty good and we even tuned the radio that was in there to some Italian music to set the mood… for a short while that is. We bought Roma Passes that gave us a pass to two sights and discounts on more after that and a pass for the public transportation, busses and metro, for three days. That evening we were going to go on a Pub Crawl a bunch of us that were in Rome… however the misinformation that we had turned into seeing the city at night. For dinner we literally ducked into a restaurant right off of the Colosseum during a rainshower… good thing I had my umbrella! I had a pretty good sandwich thing, but more hilarious was the pizza that John ordered. It was called ‘Napoli’ in the menu and I looked at it after he had already ordered and noticed that there were anchovies on it… something he overlooked or only read the Italian part of the menu. It was pretty funny because it was bad even after you picked all the little fish off of it! But it was made better by ordering… gelato desserts! On our walk around that night we found the Trevi Fountain, which I thought was prettier to see at night than day as we also went to it another time. I threw my penny in and made a wish, but also saw a guy with a stick up his sleeve that he would pull out and use to pick out the biggest change that he could reach with it from the fountain! I guess it’s more productive than begging???
The next morning didn’t start out quite as planned. We thought we had booked our room for three nights, but got caught as we were walking out that morning with the question if we were checking out today. No, we thought, but actually we did have it wrong, so we had to do a quick booking and relocating. We luckily found a place and got moved in. After that minor ordeal, we found ourselves at a scooter rental place. I had mentioned that it would be awesome to cruise around Rome on a motorbike… so, when in Rome… right? John did a test drive around the block with the guy from the shop to see how it would go, since neither of us had ever really driven a moped around. I was super nervous about it actually, but agreed to take it for four hours. We got our helmets and set off to conquer Rome! It was crazy and the coolest thing ever! We drove without any direction, then we’d check the map. There are lots of one way streets so it was difficult to get where we wanted sometimes, but we made it to a really cool piazza (or plaza) that overlooked the city, then to the Vatican, and then past the Colosseum. I even took a turn driving past the Colosseum! I’m actually still surprised we returned it without a scratch and in one piece! Mopeds don’t have to stay in their own lanes much… basically wherever you can scoot, you can go! It is definitely one of my favorite memories that I will take from being in Rome, no matter how much I may have been praying on the back of that moped!!! When we finally returned it after filling it back up with gas that is, we did our tour of the Colosseum. Our Roma Passes would get us in but there are many people outside the Colosseum offering tours of it. Somehow I got us a tour of the Colosseum for 6 euros which even offered us a tour for the next day of Palatine hill and the Roman Forum. I’d say it was a good deal! The tours were very interesting and lots of information I wouldn’t have known otherwise. That evening we made it back in time for the pasta dinner being served at our hostel, and then met up with the group for the actual pub crawl.
On Thursday (26th) we went to the Pantheon, a big marble temple. It was a very nice and sunny day. Then we did our tour that we had gotten with the Colosseum deal of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We ran across some street fairs and I found a really cool painting that I liked of the Castel d’St Angelo, the Tiber River, and the Vatican in the distance. The man wanted 60 euro, but went to 50 then 40. I then walked away and thought about it. I decided I really liked it and would ask about 30 euro and possibly go 35. I went back over there and got it for 35! It was really fun getting that deal and I found out he was even the artist as I thanked him, “Grazie”. We then rounded up our stuff and caught a train to Firenze, or Florence.
We spent Friday in Florence, a beautiful and historical city. We got into the Duomo a huge church with lots of well-known paintings in it. The whole group was together in Florence and then we re-grouped for the day. Our group decided we wanted to see David. So we got into that museum, saw David, and may have sniped a picture of him. Florence has many street vendors offering a great variety of goods and deals. I found lots of souvenirs that day and had fun bargaining again. Somehow I also ended up with a pair of ridiculous big white-rimmed sunglasses for only 4 euro… he started at 25… what were we to do! ;) We caught the sunset as it went down at the gardens and over the city. Then went back to the town for dinner at a place we had passed during the day and had been offered a seat. We kept the card the lady gave us and had said we’ll be back later. It was a pretty good meal of lasagna, salad, beans, and hard bread soaked in herbs and olive oil and rounded off with the glass of Italian wine.
Saturday we spent a lot of time on trains. Well, we had a lot of trains involved in the whole spring break travelling trip, but the one back to Nice took 8 hours. It did however take a break in Genova where we had lunch and got a picture of the Christopher Columbus monument (he was Genoese). That evening we spent with Joe and Lindsey again in Antibes. I enjoyed a really big messy nutella and banana crepe at dinner. We hung out at Lindsey’s and then went out to a club. I learned that I will never go out to a club that has a cover again! We had thought the girls got in for free and just the guys were gonna have to pay… but apparently that wasn’t the case for the night. It was 20 euros, but because we had already walked there and it was raining we went in. The only cool thing was that it was called ‘Le Milk’. So being the Wisconsin girl that I am, that was kinda cool. But even with paying 20 to get in, they charged a euro for the toilets, played techno, we couldn’t get into the VIP section, and you only got one bad drink with cover. So it was an interesting night that ended up being really late since we also had to factor in a time change. We are finally on summer time here in Europe now!
On Sunday (29th) I had a really good panini for lunch before taking yet another train back to Nice and then the airlink bus to the airport. Not too interesting except for the majorly embarrassing fall I took on the bus. We had our backpacks (aka small child) on our laps in the backseat, then Kristin and I thought we’d move up to a group of four seats where we’d have more room and be able to get off easier. So we do that and she is in front of me and kind of trips. Meanwhile I realize I’m going to end up doing the same thing as I get caught up on someone’s backpack/a step down/or combination of the two, plus I hear a car honking at our bus that is now braking… and before I know it I’ve landed in front of my backpack that I had been carrying in front of me! So I realize that I’m okay… not too bruised… just my pride type of thing, but I’m up and laughing at in anyways (I however do still have a slight scrape today even!). The rest of the journey back was pretty good and we were glad to be home at the Dalkeith Palace. I also realized at this point in the semester that we are going on trips and things but without actually coming home home. I think I will be very happy to land in Minneapolis and be home in a couple of weeks! So that was my Spring Break ’09! I have tons of pictures with lots of them available for viewing on Facebook! ;)


And now the most recent weekend… April 3rd- 5th in Scotland!

The first thing I did when I got back from Spring Break was laundry! The next thing I had to do was my essay outline for Globalisation that was due the next day! But I finished recovering from Break and made it through the week for a nice weekend just in Scotland. After classes on Thursday, my roommate Angie and I made appointments in town to get our haircut! I really needed one as I had tried before break to trim it myself… so this was good to get it fixed at least. The ladies were really nice and I have a new do! Its not too much shorter but I got some layers again and it thinned out a lot and feels so much better. And I got bangs! Sydney already said, “Bangs? I thought we ditched those in 8th grade?” But, yes I did and I think they are okay. Angie had really long blonde hair and now she got bangs too and her hair is even shorter than mine! But she looks really good too. On Friday we had a house trip planned for Musselburgh to see the horse races. It was really a fair day when we left the Dalkeith House and I thought I was going to be just fine in my long-sleeved t-shirt, but by the time we got off the bus at Musselburgh which is on the sea it was cooler and foggy. The fog lifted enough for us to see the track luckily but it was a bit chilly all day. I really liked the races though. It was the only real horse race I’ve ever been to I think. We watched the horses come into the parade ring before the races to choose which one we thought was going to be the winner. Then we made bets… real ones and ones with each other. I lost 2 pounds on a real bet with one of the betting agencies out there that day, but did win a little cherry pie with Elizabeth when we started making food bets with one another!
Saturday was a rainy day that I spent figuring out my schedule for next year since we have Fall Registration coming up this week! So we just hung out around here… watched some tv in willies and learned a new card game with Aleisha (can’t wait to try it at the fair or something later!). Sunday I went to the flight museum in North Berwick. Sunday was a really nice day to go out and enjoy. We went on The Concorde Experience tour and I learned all I ever wanted to know and more about this big passenger plane that carried the rich and famous across the Atlantic in 3 hours and could travel at 2 Mach (Mach=speed of sound). They had a couple other hangars to check out too. It is located in an actual WWII airfield so was actually a ways out of town. So we had to call our cab again and drive back into North Berwick. The driver was really nice though and told us about the landscape we were passing and places in town. There is a big rock with a bird sanctuary called Bass Rock that we saw when we went out on the shore. He had also pointed out a big piece of land someone gave to the town that is now a park. There were soo many daffodils in bloom there! It was so pretty. So I took some good pictures of those and some other flowers in the garden.
I can’t believe next weekend is Easter weekend! I think there are some of us staying at the House and we’ll see what we can come up with to celebrate it. But I heard the Egg Hunt might end up being over Memorial Weekend so at least I’m not missing that! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter whether you are in Florida or Wisconsin! I think I’m gonna have to go out and buy myself some Easter candy though!

A Trista Briefing

Hey All!
Just wanted to make a short note that I survived Spring Break! I had an amazing time! We started off in Nice, France and then went to Cinque Terre, Italy then to Pisa and Rome and then Florence, before flying back from Nice again. I loved France and Italy. It was very nice for most of the time. I took lots of trains and hundreds of pictures. Flat Addie also made the trip with me! We had a great time! ;) More to come later but I have some laundry to finish up now!
~Trista

Edinburgh, Stirling, and Rosslyn- Museums, Castles, and Chapels

So I just got the Greece blog written up so I better do this weekend too while I’m at it. It was a really short week since we didn’t have class on Monday and we are done for the week on Thursday. But I did have a really fun Modern World paper to do last week, so I was glad when the weekend was back. On Friday we had a trip into Edinburgh for British History to the National Museum. We had a short assignment and did a tour. It was 5 different levels with different themes and even a really cool roof top that we could get to the top for a unique view of the Edinburgh skyline.
On Saturday we had organized a group of 18 of us to go to Stirling Castle. I took my first train ride there. It wasn’t all that exciting but it felt funny because my seat didn’t face the same direction as the train was going. For the most part the weather while we’ve been in Scotland, well besides starting out cold, has been pretty nice when we’ve been out and about. This weekend it thought it had to get back at us or something and was rather dark and rainy on this Saturday. The visibility was not very good, which was sad because there were some cool hills in the distance and the Wallace Monument that we could vaguely see. Since we have a British History paper due this week about a place in Scotland we visited we all decided it would be a good idea to wait for the tour that started at 1 p.m. Stirling Castle isn’t as big as the one in Edinburgh, but has lots of history. I really like the Great Hall which reminded me of doing Madrigal dinners as they had the banner with the unicorn and a head table complete with two big thrones. Also in the Great Hall they held a short act of the “Murder of the Black Wallace” which was really funny with all the audience participation. We were known as the people from the ‘colonies’. The kitchens were also interesting to look at. They are placed off from the Great Hall near the wall. It is located there because it would be more convenient to throw a pot of hot oil onto the enemies that way. The kitchens were set up with models which were neat to look at. We grabbed some food before heading to the train station again.
On Sunday Kristin, John, Steve, and I went to Rosslyn Chapel for service and to check it out. During the week you can pay admission to see this extraordinary chapel that is featured in ‘The DaVinci Code’, but if you go to the Sunday service you can stay and look at it for free. It was snowing that morning! We got a taxi to Rosslyn and arrived early and ended up having to wait outside until 10:30. It was really cold to be in dress clothes and shoes, but we didn’t really have a choice at that point. When we got in I was very surprised at how small the chapel area really was compared to its otherwise grandeur. The pews fit 2 to 3 people! I didn’t think it was going to be a smaller congregation than at home or River Falls, but I was wrong. It is the Scottish Episcopalian Congregation. They were really friendly and we met some ladies that used to be host parents for WIS. There was so much detail to take in. All stone the masonry work was spectacular. Lots of symbols and depictions of the nativity, seven deadly sins, and Latin sayings. We couldn’t take pictures inside the chapel, but you can see some of it online I believe. The outside, besides being cold, was covered with scaffolding as they are working to restore it. It had a complete roof over it, which has helped to dry it out a lot we were told. We get to a walkway in the scaffolding at the level of the roof. We stopped in a small café before we left Rosslyn as we had to wait for the next bus back to Dalkeith.
This week I have a load of homework to work on before we can leave on Thursday for Ireland! I’m going on an Ireland South Paddywagon Tour and we are pretty excited for that. Spring break will be here before I know it too! So lots to look forward to!

Greece!

Finishing up classes by lunchtime on Thursday, February 26th started off our first extended weekend. We had checked in for our flight the night before already and were really excited! I was traveling to Athens, Greece with friends, Brittney, Steve, John, Jenny, and Ben.
We were moving two time zones over and looking forward to some more sun in Athens. I had pulled out my pages on Greece from the ‘Lets Go Europe’ book and on the plane Ben sat next to a guy who travels from London to Greece every week for work and lives in Athens. He was able to make suggestions and notes for us. We got out of the airport in Athens probably around 2 a.m. and got a bus to get into the City Centre. On the bus we also met a Greek man that helped to tell us where we were going and even walked us down to the area we needed to be. Also gave us some good warnings like how drivers don’t respect pedestrians like they do in the UK and they’ll run you over. I’d say that was good advice!
We didn’t have anything booked for that night because we weren’t sure what we would be able to work out with arriving at that time. We called our hostel and there was room for us to get in that night. Now we just had to find it. This was interesting as there weren’t many buses running at the time and we didn’t really understand much of the Greek routes anyways. So we had been told that you can hail taxis, the yellow ones. We tried that but none of them went that way, or so they said. So we had the map from my ‘Lets Go’ and we walked around Athens hoping we wouldn’t have to find a park bench. Eventually we talked to some police who pointed out Damareos Street that we were looking for… we were actually very close by this point. We found the green door that marked our hostel.
Pagration Youth Hostel was in my ‘Lets Go’ book and the way they have their accommodations marked it was ranked a 1- which is the cheapest and even says, “prepare for things to go bump in the night”. For a first hostel experience, it was rather crude, but it worked for only 10 Euros a night. All six of us were in the same room, we had a balcony, we did get blankets and a sheet, and showers were 50 cents for 7-minutes of hot water. The first night, well if it qualifies as a night since we went to bed after 4 a.m., I heard our windows rattle whenever something went by on the street below. But, the next nights I moved away from the window and it wasn’t too bad, or we were really tired. I think what really attracted us to booking this hostel is when the boys saw that travelers could stay on the roof if they had a sleeping bag when they were full. I’m glad we got beds, because it would have been rather cold and the rooftop would be hard. We did hang out there one night though to enjoy it. We had been hearing how you meet some interesting characters in hostels from all over. Found this out to be true! The hostel is owned by an older Greek man and his wife, but we mostly saw Mario, nicknamed Michigan Man (similar to the Michelin Man??). He was the one who checked people in and out and was around. He claimed to be from Michigan and I don’t think he’s been in Athens for too long. We questioned his being from Michigan when was off on his geography of where Wisconsin and Minnesota were in relation to Michigan.
When we got out of the hostel on Friday we just wanted to get familiarized with the city and visit the Acropolis. When looking at the Temple of Zeus a girl came up to us and recognized us as being from the Midwest, she is from Chicago but working in Frankfort, Germany and was visiting Greece for the weekend. She was able to tell us that the Acropolis was closed for the next two days due to a strike! It would be open again on Sunday, so that became the new plan. That day we also saw Hadrian’s Arch and the Panathenaic Stadium, a marble stadium that the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. We walked on their High Street and stopped in various shops. It reminded me of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh but with the Parthenon instead of a Castle.
At lunch we discovered crepes. We went to Crepes of the World where they have salty and sweet crepes. On this occasion I actually got a baguette, but each entrée was themed on a country. They put meats and cheese in some of them and the sweet ones were Nutella and fruits and such. For being Greece, not France, there were several other crepe places that we saw around. I did get one another night at Crepa Crepa. We decided we want to start the chain up back home because it was amazing! At Crepa Crepa there were over 60 choices for the sweet and another 60 for the salty. I got one called Judy- strawberries, nutella, vanilla cream, and cookie. It was AMAZING! Brittney even had one with ice cream in it.
While exploring we found some different views of the Acropolis that we could enjoy while not being able to get in. One was a path with a painted sign that pointed saying ‘Acropolis’ and led us up a path between different buildings and houses. Here we actually found “Catopolis”, it was almost like the calf barn! There were actually a lot of stray animals in Athens. Cats all over in this area, and dogs around too! We also found a view from the Filopappou Hill which was a fun hike that we took with our new friend, Jack the dog. On our way back through the city we noticed a place for cruises and ferries. We stopped in to check out a possible trip out to some Greek island. We had two choices that would leave tomorrow morning. One to Santorini, the island where ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ was filmed with black sand beaches, or a three-island cruise to Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. They were comparable in price but the Santorini one was staying over on the island for a night and since we already had our hostel booked for the rest of the trip we went with the day trip to Hydra, Egina, and Pious. Where would also get to see more. We booked it and were going to meet at the Athens Gate Hotel the next morning at 7:40 for the bus to the port.
For dinner we found a Greek restaurant on the way back. We had fun communicating through another English-speaking customer because the ladies working there only knew Greek. We got to try some real Gyros and Pitas. It was very good! I didn’t realize that Gyro is actually the meat that goes into the pita. Gyro meat is on the spit and turns around then is shaved off. I tried a chicken one and a pork one.
Saturday was my birthday and I was spending it on a cruise to some Greek islands! How cool is that!? On the cruise we met up again with our friend from Chicago! Her name we learned is Angela and she is now Facebook friends with us all and shared some traveling stories with us.
On the boat they had a couple of activities going on. We went down to the lowest deck for traditional Greek dancing at 10:30. We watched the first round then Brittney and I joined in for the second one. Meanwhile, they had to mention it was my birthday so I got sung to in front of everybody!
The first island, Hydra, we went to was probably my favorite. It was just a small island that didn’t even have cars! But they do have lots of donkeys and ponies! I realized how much these little communities rely on tourism! That and fishing keeps them alive. At the first island I bought myself a sort of birthday gift. In one shop they had a stack of beautiful prints. They are painting of different islands done by art students from the Athens University that come out and have a competition. The one I liked is of an island, whose name I don’t recall mainly because it was very not English-sounding, that the saleslady grew up on and is very beautiful with flowers. It’s on canvas so I can’t wait to bring it back and frame it and hopefully keep it forever! I thought it was a pretty good souvenir. I pet some of the donkeys that they had right off the port ready to give you a ride for 10 Euros…”it very beautiful half-hour ride” I was told.
When we boarded we were served lunch. I don’t have any idea what it was! It was kind of like some type of quiche but had some strange vegetable/mushroom/something from the sea in it. Then we started cruising to the next one. Poroas was a very small island and we didn’t spend too much time there. We did notice the grills out where they wanted you to tried grilled octopus!
We ended with just less than two hours at Aegina, a bigger island. They had a really cute harbor with lots of fishing boats of various sizes. We got ice cream and walked to the beach. It had been a partly sunny day and probably in the upper 50s or so. I just stuck my toes into the Mediterranean, but John and Steve actually went in! We had some traditional Greek Ozou and said cheers with “Opa!” before leaving.
The sunset was absolutely gorgeous as we started off for Athens again. Got a few pictures of it and then my camera battery was done! I was glad I made it all day though with it because I took lots! It was a great 20th birthday especially when I got a call from home on the way back to the hostel that evening. J
Sunday the Acropolis was open again, and Sunday is free admission! We joined the crowd of tourists to see the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, and Theater of Dionysos. Again we saw all the stray dogs even on the top of the Acropolis! We also went to Agora, which was Athens marketplace back in the time of Hercules. ;) There we saw the Hephaesteion temple, the Stoa of Attalos and the Roman Agora. We could hear the buzz of the streets below and headed there next. We found a crowded and busy flea market. We had gyros for lunch again and then went to the National Gardens and Parliament. You could get pictures taken with the traditionally dressed soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Brittney, Jenny, and I went to get a picture taken, but I made the mistake of trying to stand on his left side. The guard slammed down his gun and we all jumped and I had to go to the other side. In the National Gardens and all around the city we kept seeing kids in costumes. It was actually Carnaval for before the Greek Orthodox Church starts Lent.
We got in a small siesta back at the hostel before we went out for dinner and decided to walk up Fillopappou Hill again for a night view of Athens. We stayed on the hill for some time enjoying the great scene and I tried to get my night setting to work, but it always is better first-hand than captured on camera.