I know the name is crazy but trust me it makes since. Yes I am one of those silly Americans who LOVES the British Royal family and therefore wishes she were British. And now I will be, for 3 1/2 months to be exact! I am studying abroad at the University of Glasgow this fall. So here is an account of my experiences abroad. Enjoy :)
Today I decided to be adventurous and leave Glasgow for St. Andrews. I left at about 9:30 am (which I thought was early), took the subway and then got on my bus to St. Andrews. The whole bus ride takes about two and a half hours, but it is a really pretty bus ride. The rolling hills reminded me of The Holiday.
Something very excited happened to me on the bus though. I was reading my book for my history thesis, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands--written by Queen Victoria, and she mentioned meeting the leader of the McDougal clan (That's my great grandmother on my mother's side relatives...possibly!). My ancestors might have met one of my heroes! That's too much! But it's kind of funny because I am arguing that clans were an "invented tradition" and that Queen Victoria had a very Romanticized view of the Highlanders. Oh well, it's still pretty cool.
St. Andrews
When I finally got to St. Andrews it was about one, but I didn't even want to get lunch because I wanted to see the place where William and Kate met! So obviously my first trip was to the St. Salvatores side of campus.The college is kind of spread out across the town. The college is made out of pretty English stone.
I'm finally at the University!
It's so pretty
Kate's studied art history, so I am guessing this is the building where she studied it!
Where Prince William would have studied geography
Tourist Trap!
I got coffee anyway :D
Then I decided to go to St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral, both of which are in ruins. They were near the sea and they were gorgeous.
The Castle
The Cathedral
I told you I'd take pictures mom!
For the second half of my day I just walked around the town. It's pretty tiny and easily walkable. And yes, I did go to the coffee shop that claimed that William and Kate grabbed coffee there (I know it's a tourist trap but who cares!). And yes, I also spent way too much money at the St. Andrews bookstore. But I also walked around and shopped a bit. They had the cutest shops, if only we had a better conversion rate!
Then I grabbed some food (because beside that pumpkin spiced lattee I drank, I didn't stop to eat all day!) and ran to the bus, because I was really anxious about catching my bus (when I shouldn't have been). It was the best trip. Even though it would have been fun to have another person with me, I felt so independent and could do whatever I wanted.
What traveling alone in Scotland reminded me of, minus Gerard Butler. Can I have him?
Side note: Does anyone want to move to St. Andrews with me? It is such a beautiful seaside town! When I was walking through town I saw a school I could teach at. I don't know what it is about Scotland in general that I love so much. What if I like it because I know I will probably never live here again? But I do have some strange romantic (kind of like Queen Victoria) attachment it. So seriously who wants to move with me?
The bus ride coming back seemed like a lot longer than the bus ride going there. Probably because it was dark by four, so I didn't have the beautiful scenery to keep me occupied. It was about eight when I got back to the flat. It was good to see all my friends and chat about our days. I missed that. All in all it was an awesome day. I mean, it was a day devoted to Will and Kate, which sounds like the perfect day to me.
Friday I was so tired after all of my traveling and I woke up at about 12 (That's late for me!). Then some of the guys in the flat had a football game. Them and some of their friends are in a recreational football league here. I think that is so cool because it is just so British! Julie, Eve, and I took a walk to Iceland to get food for my stay here. Then we kind of just chilled. But those are the best kind of days!
That night my flatmates had some people over and it was great to see other people that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a little get together, but it was fun. Flat parties were always my favorite things in Glasgow. Then, we went to Cheesy Pop at the QMU. Now, it's called "Snap, crackle, pop" but apparently it never caught on (Thank God--it's a mouthful!) First, we went to one of the bars. They had a kareoke machine and Lily's boyfriend sang a song to her, which was really cute. Then we went down to cheesy pop. It was a lot of fun. I forgot about John and Calum's awesome dance moves. We got home around three.
That was the same night as the helicopter crash in Glasgow. Bram and I saw a news report on it, but it didn't look like anybody was hurt so we weren't to worried. We were wrong. Many people's parents, including my mom, were trying to get in touch with there children to make sure they were ok. Even my brother and my aunt checked on me. In my defense, the pub was not near the University so I was not affected by it. Now I know how much of a tragedy it was. My heart goes out to all of the family and friends that lost a loved one. I am so thankful that my family checked on me. Family truly is everything.
My Mom told me I needed to get pictures of myself on this trip. So for my mom
The next day was fun. Cal and I grabbed coffee in the afternoon. It was nice to catch up with him. It was also fun to go to Costa Coffee again. Then we took a little walk and went to the University bookstore. In the evening Cal and I went to the Christmas market where there is tons of food. First we ran to Primark to get a few things for secret Santa. I also got Jackson and my sister a Christmas sweater. The Christmas fair was fun! I got Tikka Masala and Cal got this amazing strawberry waffle. While we were out, we ran into one of Cal's friends and her sister. It was nice catching up with them.
Later that night Cal, Bram, John and I went to their friend's birthday party. I was worried I would feel like I was imposing but it was fun. The apartment looked like it should belong to Harry and Ron or something. It was cute, quaint, and very British. After the party we got the typical British late night snack, chips. I missed chips and curry so much!
Glasgow Cathedral
The Necropolis
View of Glasgow from the Necropolis
Sunday I went to the city center to see the Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis. They were pretty cool but since I was alone, I didn't spend much time there. Afterwords, a couple of friends and I went out for coffee. Or I should say that we tried to. Every place was closed because it was a sunday! We ended up taking out from Starbucks. Then we came back and had a movie night. We watched The Vow. It was a good night and a great weekend.
