Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights

Scotland wins my love for favorite country in the UK. Our four day visit to Edinburgh, Elie, and St. Andrew's was absolute bliss. How to sum it up in one post?! I'll do my best.

Hailey and I on the coast

{Edinburgh}

Staying on the Royal Mile put us at the base of Edinburgh Castle and the center of everything the country's capital does best. If I ever open a boutique, the storefront will be inspired by what I saw in Edinburgh. A little eclectic, a little traditional - who knew Edinburgh had such a great vintage selection? The girls and I went on half of Sandeman's New Europe Tour - but shopping & lunch was calling our names so we ditched the history lesson early.

Beautiful Edinburgh!

Hailey & I found the greatest potato shop for lunch, walked around, and made a pit stop at the Scottish National Gallery to check out its beautiful painting gallery. Leaving the museum, we caught a streetside bagpipe performance. So cultural! So fun!

Greyfriars Cemetery, the inspiration for several characters in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, was the highlight of the afternoon. Taylor, Kristen and I found the tombstones of Thomas Riddle, Professor McGonagall and some others. Located in the heart of Edinburgh, Greyfriars is both pretty and eerie - I loved it. We stopped for hot chocolate at The Elephant House after the cemetery, where Rowling penned the Sorcerer's Stone overlooking Edinburgh castle.

Pink & white 'mallows? Okay!

{Elie}

Taking pictures of snowdrops!

Day two started with a fun morning around Edinburgh before a train to the seaside town of Elie. Kristen's family friends, Marion & Dave, were our wonderful hosts for the next two nights. Their renovated loft is one of several in a 17th-century estate overlooking the woods - big, beautiful trees and snowdrop flowers cover the landscape. It was night and day, staying in their gorgeous space as compared to the sketchy hostels we've been frequenting! Marion and Dave went above and beyond to bless us over the next two days. It was such a treat!

Dave and Marion - THANK YOU BOTH! :)

We walked along the coast of Elie before returning for a wonderful dinner... wonderful is an understatement, it was actually the best meal I've had in Europe to date. No kidding. ITW (Is This Womanly?) became the phrase of the week... shout-out to Marion who gave us etiquette lessons over our stay. We are 10 times more cultured and refined now, thanks to her guidance.

Crail Harbour

Our tour of Scotland's fishing villages was on the schedule for Thursday, with a final destination of St. Andrew's! On the way, we stopped in Crail Harbour and for a tour of the fish market, where freshly-caught salmon and other North Sea fish are brought to be smoked, packaged, and shipped out worldwide. As a business minor, I loved getting a firsthand look at the logistics of the fishing industry. It was also THE best smoked salmon I've had in my life. 

On route to St. Andrew's, we stopped for hot chocolate, coffee, and Scottish tablets on the terrace of Crail Harbour Tearoom. It was beautiful by the sea - I love a good tearoom, so this hit the spot.

Coffee and hot chocolate at Crail Harbour

Arriving in St. Andrew's, we went directly to the fourth floor of the Old Course Hotel to get a view of the iconic golf course. The breathtaking view of the green running into the sea made me want to pick up golf again. We took pictures on the 18th-hole bridge, and I did my best Tiger impression in honor of my brother Justin (hollaaaa!). 

Rooftop of St. Andrew's Old Course Hotel

Following lunch at the course, we headed over to St. Andrew's University. I loved wandering through the brick buildings of the school, partly admiring its beauty and history, partly imagining myself as Kate Middleton meeting Prince William for the first time on campus... Creepy, I know. 

Pavlova for dessert

Dinner that night was a casual five-course dinner prepared by Marion, featuring the salmon from the market that morning and homemade rhubarb pie. Seriously - Marion and Dave outdid themselves. We had so much fun.

Friday was the send-off! We had lunch at a local pub in Elie before our hosts dropped us off for a flight from Edinburgh to Brussels.

Kristen and I on the coast!

Scotland was wonderful. I want to visit again some day, maybe in the summer for a round of golf at St. Andrew's and a sailboat ride to one of the many islands off the coast... you know, something simple. Four days was not long enough!

Check out the pics here!

Dublin, Doolin, and everything in between.

Taylor, Kristen, Hailey, Elizabeth and I in Doolin

Carnaval break was a whirlwind of 10 days - SO many great experiences in such a short amount of time. I'm breaking it up into several posts so as to not overwhelm with information. So here goes:


Kristen, Taylor, Elizabeth, Hailey and I kicked off the break with a sleepover in the Charleroi airport. WORST IDEA EVER... but so funny looking back on. I slept in an airport security bin, and when I say "slept" I mean inhaled dust and the smell of body odor while simultaneously trying to guard my belongings. It was great.

Sleeping in a security bin? Why not.

Day 1 in Dublin was a blur, thanks to lack of sleep. I'd like to share fun cultural memories but can't recall anything past our 3-hour nap in the hostel lobby.


Day 2 started with a 2-hour train ride from one coast of Ireland to the opposite. The country is just like the pictures - bright green fields, burly white sheep, and country cottages across the landscape. We spent the afternoon in the fishing town of Galway, enjoying a farmer's market with local food, flowers, and artisan crafts. Lunch in a traditional pub, wandering through the old cathedrals, a stop at an afternoon tea room - it was a perfect day! An evening bus brought us to the tiny village of Doolin - our stop for two nights. We were even offered an upgrade from hostel to B&B by our wonderful Rainbow's End hosts Mattie and Carmel.

Rainbow's End B&B

Doolin (population 500ish) is rural enough to where we could see HUGE stars above the hills and castle ruins. What a welcome! Saturday night was spent in the most authentic Irish setting you can imagine - McGann's pub. We happened to be there during an eulogy for a local musician who passed away - it was something I'll never forget. Dancing, drinks, and celebrating the life of a dear member of the community. That's how I want to go out - with celebration!

McGann's Pub in Doolin

Day 3 - Waking up to fresh scones in the Rainbow Bed & Breakfast set the day off right. We got a (crazy, roller-coaster in real life) ride to the Cliffs of Moher from Mattie, our host. The Cliffs are stunning - deep blue sea set behind steep stone walls and perfect green grass. Words can't describe how beautiful it is! After soaking in as much as we could, the girls and I took a wonderful 2-hour walk back to Doolin. We were blessed with PERFECT weather - sunshine and a slight breeze - it was gorgeous!

Day 4 brought us back to Dublin. Our initial airport sleepover was a learning experience (NEVER.AGAIN.) so we invested in a hostel before an early flight to Scotland the following morning.

Dublin was my least favorite of the metropolitan cities we've been to so far. Still, we had a great time touring the Guinness factory, Trinity College, and an evening in the Temple Bar district with a friend of Kristen and Elizabeth's who is studying in Dublin. 

Kristen, Hailey and I at the Guinness Factory in Dublin

Ireland was great! High point - Doolin. Low point - airport and sketchy hostel. 
Good luck mucking through the album, I filled an entire memory card in these 4 days alone!

Ze Veekend in Germany!

Our short trip to Munich and Fussen in Germany this weekend was a blast!

I’m trying to shorten these posts; I tend to rant, so here is my attempt at Germany in a nutshell:

Friday, Feb. 10

- 9-hour train ride to Munich 

- Marienplatz Square for shopping and chocolate-covered bananas. And a look at the Glockenspiel! Intricate architecture, to say the least

- Hofbräuhaus– the official site of Oktoberfest each year. With 1-liter beer mugs as the standard, it’s safe to say the place was wild! We got a taste of traditional German culture with a live brass band, men in feather-flecked hats with shorts and suspenders, and hefty beer garden women serving fresh pretzels.

- First stay in a hostel (thanks for the mems, 4you)

 

Saturday, Feb. 11 

- Dachau concentration camp

Visiting Dachau was difficult, but necessary. It was completely different than visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., something about entering the guard gate marked with “arbeit macht freit,” walking through the stark white halls, seeing where they slept, where they lived, where atrocities were carried out for 12 years – it just hits you. I left with a lot of things on my mind.

 

-Deutches Museum - beautiful view of Munich from the museum's top floor.

- Olympiapark and the BMW museum in the afternoon. Olympiapark, site of the 1972 olympics, was SO cool. I liked seeing the 'Schwimhalle' best.

 - Night train to Fussen! And a night out with the whole group (9 of us total).

 Sunday, Feb. 12
- Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle!) This was one of my favorite mornings! Fussen is, hands down, the cutest European town we’ve visited so far. It was a winter wonderland – pure sparkly snow, huge pine trees in a little valley surrounded by mountains, and cute café’s in the town center. We stayed in a little house/hostel, got breakfast, and then took a bus up to the castle. 

The 20-minute hike up to the castle was BEAUTIFUL! I can’t even describe it. I’ll have to just leave you with the pictures. After the castle tour (very obscure on the inside, and has spent most of its existence as a museum rather than a monarch’s residence), we literally RAN down the mountain to make a bus to the train station... hilarious, but I have never been so cold in my life.

We got back to Maastricht late last night.

This weekend was such a blast. It was freezing (a chill 5 degrees in Fussen yesterday), but beautiful and I love the people who I’ve been privileged to travel with.

The only downer this weekend was the loss of my beloved backpack, containing my clothes, toiletries and makeup, homework, and room key for the dorm. In a moment of rush, I left it on a train going from Koln to Aachen (the train’s ultimate destination was Paris). We are in the process of trying to track it down right now, but recovery is not in my odds.

In order to process my loss, I’ve written a modified haiku:

Backpack,

Where have you

Gone to?

France.

Check the full Germany album HERE!