gab-takes-europe

[gab-takes-europe]

PC: Lexi Yearian

[gab-takes-europe]

[gab-takes-europe]

[gab-takes-europe]

[gab-takes-europe]

As we get closer and closer to boarding our plane, I can’t help but think how much I’m going to miss being here! I will forever be thankful for this experience, and I’m excited for the day I can come back. Never did I ever think that going on this trip would affect me the way it did, but I’m glad it did. It caused me to accept the fact that “adulting” is necessary and as scary as it seems, it can also be really fun! Not to mention, I now have a newfound love of adventuring - I also never thought I would like hiking as much as I did, but hey, the more you know! So, to easily summarize my experience:

Favorite thing about the trip: Hands down, it was all of the independent traveling (plus Scotland)! I didn’t think I would love Paris as much as I did, but I would go back in a heartbeat - in fact I intend to go back because there was not enough time to see everything I would have liked to see. Ireland was breathtakingly beautiful, hiking through Glendalough National Park was one of the highlights of this trip and I’m sure I’ll dream of for quite a while when I get home! Even though Scotland wasn’t an independent travel, it still makes it into my top 3 favorite things I did on this trip because Edinburgh was absolutely incredible and I honestly still can’t believe that we found so many things we loved doing while there. I will stick to this for ever and ever, if you’re ever in Edinburgh, go to Camera Obscura and the Mercat Ghost Tour because I promise they will not disappoint!!

Stuff I wasn’t expecting: In all honesty I thought they would have had healthier eating habits, I feel like almost everything we ate was either red meat (which isn’t that good for you, and in general isn’t easy on my stomach) or fried! So I guess we can chalk up their “fit” looks to the fact that they walk everywhere. Speaking of food, I wasn’t expecting their McDonald’s to have different food options from the US’ - they had menu options inspired by the states (like Mississippi and South Carolina)! Also, Parisians- A LOT nicer than I was expecting! The common stereotype for them is that they hate Americans and are super rude to them, but I beg to differ! As long as they can see that you’re making an effort to communicate with them, they’re pretty nice :D Something I wasn’t expecting in regards to the planning of the trip was how much free time we would have to go travel in our own little groups around the UK, so, if you’re the kind of person that would rather have every minute of your trip planned and to constantly being seeing something - this probably isn’t the trip for you. 

Tips for anyone going on this Junior Journey: Dude, love yourself and bring a rolling carry on. Oh, and bring pods and a couple of dryer sheets so you don’t have to buy them here - it’s pointless to waste money on so much detergent that you won’t be able to finish. I advise on getting some sort of phone plan, a couple of people I met in the manor had gotten international plans and they were all grateful for them! If you’re planning on doing an independent travel trip to a country that doesn’t speak English, learn the basics of that language (hello, please, thank you, do you speak english?). Do yourself a favor and plan some of your trip ahead of time - just google what’s a reasonable distance from the manor that you would like to do so that you know what could be a day trip after class, or what should be saved for the weekend if you don’t go away to another country. 

Last, but very important, tid bit of advice: If you go with friends, be able to voice your opinions on if you don’t want to go somewhere that was suggested. I promise it’ll be okay, especially because chances are someone else in the group also doesn’t want to do it so you two can plan a separate excursion! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you don’t want to look back however long after it thinking “man, I wish I would have here!” or worse, “why did they make me go there?” - that’ll just lead to hot mess of resentment and nobody needs that in their life! So, speak up and you’ll be a lot happier in the end (: 

[gab-takes-europe]

This is Nicole, she’s a rising senior and a Biology major!

“So my favorite part of the trip was definitely Scotland. I just really loved Edinburgh and all of its rich history. My favorite part of Edinburgh was probably camera obscure since it was such a strange little place that was very interactive. Something I didn't expect on this trip was...Oh! I didn't expect the UK to be so accommodating to vegans, vegetarians and people like me who can't eat dairy and certain meats. While we were there everything was labeled and the places we went to usually had a separate menu to accommodate anyone's needs. I'm definitely missing the ease of eating out, and all of the markets that had vegan desserts!”

[gab-takes-europe]

We’re waiting at the airport and I thought it would be fun to ask a couple of other students about their experience on this trip! 

“I’m Lexi, I’m a Psych major/Comm minor, and I’m a rising senior. My favorite part of the trip was getting to spend a long weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’d never been to Scotland, and it was incredible. Beautiful sights, and certainly there was much to see. The most surprising cultural difference, to me, was our sense of humor. Particularly between us Americans and the Brits.“

[gab-takes-europe]

Hello friends! Unfortunately it was our last day in this beautiful country and even though I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, I knew I had to go out with a bang! Most of our group got up pretty early because we decided to take our chances and try to get day tickets for..*drum roll please*...WICKEEEEDDDDDD! We stood on line for about 40 minutes and weren’t disappointed when we got to the front of the line, Nicole, Kenny, and I got fantastic seats on the first floor in the stalls and got to get a student discount #thanksFSC. After we got our tickets, a bunch of headed towards a well known market and made a pit stop at this super cool tea place called T2. We stopped there because one of the girls was looking to get a tea set there, and the rest of us wanted to wander the store. I loved it because even though it was mainly a loose-leaf tea place, they still had tea bag options and told us which ones could be made cold, in addition to hot - plus their cocktail inspired samples weren’t too shabby (; (p.s. if you’re a tea lover, they deliver internationally - 10000000/10 recommend). From there, we hopped back on the metro and went to the market! There was a lot going on and it was packed, so I didn’t take my camera out to document the market experience, but if you can envision a flea market mixed with a food truck rally in small space - then you’ve got it! The majority of the vendors were selling vintage things, like little household items, jewelry, and art. My personal favorite were the tables selling old postcards (I collect postcards), it was absolutely insane how far back in history some of these postcards went, Nicole was sifting through some with me and managed to find a holiday postcard with a giant swastika on it! We walked through the entire market and then stopped for something sweet because who doesn’t love a warm nutella and strawberry crepe?! By the time we were done there we had to head back to the hotel get ready for the show and maybe a quick little nap - you can’t truly appreciate anything when you’re cranky! Little background on me in relation to Wicked - before tonight, I had never seen Wicked but had listened to the music on many occasions and I was in love with it!! I had been dying to see the show since I was in middle school, so who would have thought my first time seeing it would be in London???? NOT MEEE, so needless to say I was beyond excited! All of these years waiting to see it were totally worth it, the cast was absolutely incredible! I might have even shed a tear when Elphaba finished out Defying Gravity because it was just that beautiful <3 Plus, the plot was great and I loved how everything from Wizard of Oz was tied in - AH IT WAS JUST ALL SO FANTASTIC! I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the trip!

[gab-takes-europe]

Hello, again! T-minus 2 days until it’s time to go home! Today we started out at this super nifty place called the ArcelorMittal Orbit, also home to the world’s highest and longest (at 178m) tunnel slide! Visiting this gigantor sculpture was an unexpected excursion, but also one that I’m so happy I got to experience! At first we went up to the top floor to check out the view, and it was nice seeing London from there. From a certain point, you could see the West Ham United Stadium where the 2012 olympic were held! Once we walked all around the floor, we went down to wait in line for the slide (AH!), they made us wear these absolutely stunning caps and arm braces - we looked BEAUTIFUL (you can see us in the gear in one of the pictures, sorry I wasn’t camera ready). ANYWAY, after waiting around 15 extra minutes to go down because some kid was too terrified to go down, we were finally able to go! Definitely not as scary as you would think, and it only lasted 40 seconds! From there we made our way back to the metro and headed towards the British Museum. It never ceases to amaze me how incredible all of the architecture is over here! I loved seeing the ionic columns and the architectural sculptures that most of the historical buildings had! The British Museum is basically like the Museum of Natural History in New York, it had a bunch of exhibits going through other countries’ histories and showcasing the key aspects of their history and select stories. You can see the beautiful central meeting area in one of the pictures, there were about 2-3 openings that you could go into leading into different exhibits. If you ever have a chance to pop in, I highly recommend the Greek & Roman exhibit - that one was definitely my favorite! Since we spent the whole day on our feet we needed some recovery time and went back to the hotel. What did we need our nap time for, you ask?? FOR FUNSCAPE (an arcade by the London Eye)!! The London Pass had a deal that gave us some free tokens to play, so of course we that’s how we wrapped up our night! Needless to say, Nicole and I destroyed Dance Dance Revolution (or more like we were destroyed by Dance Dance, but that’s besides the point) it was a blast!! We took a chance and rode the bus home, and successfully didn’t get lost, good thing it only took us 3 days to figure it out - but regardless, we are safe & sound in our hotel, eager to see what our final day in London brings us!

[gab-takes-europe]

On this fine day we started using our London Pass! The pass was provided to us as part of our junior journey and it gave us a couple of transportation options and bunch of attractions to go to free of charge! For today we cashed in the part of the pass that gave us a ticket to ride on one of the “hop on hop off” tour all day. It had three routes that could take us all around the city, so we hopped on the blue line for our first stop to St. Paul’s Cathedral. This place is incredible, even though we had seen a zillion cathedrals at this point, St. Paul’s definitely blew me away (it came second to Notre Dame, in case you were wondering). With the pass we were able to use the audio guides while we walked around, so it was really cool being able to listen to the little history and architecture lessons while looking at everything! I think what I found the most interesting was that it was the first triple domed cathedral in the world, and the middle part is by far the coolest part of the dome! It’s called the Whispering Gallery because if you stand parallel to someone from across the dome, you can talk to them with your ear on the wall! From the cathedral we made a pitstop at YoYoSushi! It was pretty wicked, they put all of their food on a moving belt, so you could just grab whatever you wanted to eat - SUPER NIFTY!! 10/10 would recommend if you’re the kind of person that likes to see the food they order before they eat it, but just be careful about tallying up the prices. When we were done there, we hopped back on our bus and headed towards the Tower of London! Now, keep in mind that I literally knew nothing about the Tower of London before this trip so I was expecting a literal Rapunzel-like tower - well boy was I wrong, it’s a freaking castle. It was different from the other ones we had gone to though because at the Tower of London, there were quite a few interactive aspects on the grounds! There were also a lot of people walking in costume, and reenacting different events, like jousting fights. Right outside the Tower of London was the Tower Bridge, there was actually something we could have done there, but we decided to pass and carry on to the next place. From there our bus took us to the one and only Buckingham Palace! We walked around the outside of the palace (obviously couldn’t go in, ya know since there was royalty in there), and there was a huge golden statue outside in the middle of the roundabout and every street leading up to the palace had a column labeled with countries England once had control over (strange, I know, but whatever floats your boat, England). By the time we got done there, we were pooped and called it a day so after some trials and tribulations on the bus system and metro, we finally got back to our hotel!

[gab-takes-europe]

WOWZA it’s our last week across the pond, can you believe it!?! It’s okay if you can’t because, honestly, I can’t either! I’ve got a pretty hefty bittersweet taste going through me right now because while I’m super excited to go home and see my pups, I know I’m going to miss adventuring through Europe. Alas, there is still the rest of this week left to enjoy, so I’m not going to make the sad “don’t make me go back to reality” post right now! It’s been crazy today, we had to say goodbye Harlaxton manor which was a bit rough - I mean who would willingly give up living in a castle?! (people who are on a schedule, that’s who) Anyway, since we had all of our luggage with us we got to travel to London in a fancy coach bus - very comfy and great for napping, 10/10 would recommend. The bus took us straight to our hotel which was across the street from Hyde Park (a pretty well known park, as in it’s actually the largest of the four royal parks leading to Kensington Palace)! It was a relaxed day since we spent half of it getting there, so once we got there we took some time to do the simple touristy things like Abbey Road!! Naturally, it was quite an adventure trying to figure out yet another metro system, but we did it! Unfortunately, when we were on our hunt for Abbey Road we actually got off at the wrong stop (don’t judge, the stop said Abbey Road, so you would think it was THE Abbey Road, but no - we’re all wrong, and clearly a bunch of other people were, too since there was a giant sign). After searching a decent chunk of London, we finally found the almighty Abbey Road and it was pretty neat! There were fan signatures all over the place, and a giant crowd waiting to get their pictures walking where the Beatles once walked! After checking out that out, we headed back to meet up with the rest of the group at Wagamama for dinner before going to the Eye, but we got to the boardwalk a bit early and decided to roam around. We found a carousel and some of us channeled our inner children and made the best of the ride (fun fact, my unicorn’s name was Lou-Lou, she was great)! Later on, after dinner, we made our way over to the London Eye. I wish it had been a clearer sky, but the view was still incredible! While we were in the giant contraption, we were able to see a good amount of the city’s major attractions like the London Bridge and Big Ben. After the Eye we found our favorite place, Slug & Lettuce and wrapped up our first night in London celebrating with 2 for 1 drinks before heading back to the hotel :D 

[gab-takes-europe]

And here are some pictures I had on my phone from our day in London! Pictured:the London Bridge, the London Eye, the opening to Shakespeare's Globe, the Hogwarts model, Buckbeak, and a super painting of Shakespeare on a random wall!

[gab-takes-europe]

Okay so I forgot phone pictures still exist, so here are some pictures that I have from IRELAND! As you can see we found a Johnny Rockets knock off, so of course I had to document it! One of the pictures also shows one of Dublin's famous bars, The Brazen Head, where it's rumored that Robin Hood once visited for a drink when he was caught and taken away. The Kilkenny Castle is pictured, as well as the Wicklow Mountains! We got pictures at the Lower River and waterfall areas of Glendalough's National Park. The best for last- a picture with a future sheep-herding dog, the puppy had been born not too long before we had come to visit the sheep farm! I thought the scone poem was amusing so I snapped a picture of that, too 😂

[gab-takes-europe]

Just takin' a moment

I’m sorry to say I’m going to have to save my pictures to post for when I get home, my computer decided to act up and now I don’t have a way to upload them ☹️ but alas, that doesn’t mean I can’t still share my experiences with you without them! First off, I would just like to say that this trip has been incredible so far, and it’s hard to believe that this time next week I’ll be back home (totally not looking forward to the jet lag that’s to come, btw). Although I’m eager to see my mom, friends, and my beloved puppies, it’s going to be hard saying goodbye to all of these countries I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know. Despite the tragedy that happened in Manchester, we were given the green light to carry on with our sneak peek of London! We got to experience the backlot tour of HARRY POTTEEERRRRR and it was simultaneously the most magical and uplifting thing ever! Walking through, we got to see everything from the entrance to Hogwarts, the actors’ costumes, an abundance of sets (including that horrid woman, Dolores Umbridge’s office), and finishing off the tour - a room with the wands of every person that contributed to the making of Harry Potter. After the tour we headed further into London and grabbed some lunch at a little cafe, named Eat (pretty straightforward, I’d say 😂). From there we all headed over to Shakespeare’s Globe, the students taking the Shakespeare class were going to see the play “Twelfth Night” and the rest of us headed out on the hunt for our favorite place, Slug & Lettuce! The next day Mackenzie and I left for Dublin, Ireland! Fun fact, for some odd, but probably wise security reason, if you want to purchase anything in the airport past security, you have to show your boarding pass - strange, right? Anyhow, we booked some tours and loved them! The bulk of our travels was spent on a Wild Rover Tour which took us to a sheep farm, the Wicklow Mountains, monastic ruins in Glendalough, and finally, the quaint town of Kilkenny. All of the places we visited on that tour were absolutely beautiful, but Glendalough and Wicklow were definitely my favorites! When we got back from the tour we were wandering the streets on the hunt for the meet up for our ghost tour and ended up finding an adorable little chocolate cafe. I didn't have anything there, Mackenzie vouches for their fudge cake - so if you're ever in Dublin make sure to stop by! The ghost tour was, while not what we're expecting, pretty great! We loved being able to go around and learn the history of Dublin on the walking tour, we also got to see a bunch of puppies and that made it even better 😉Did you know the famous Ha'penny bridge is named that because back in the day, when people were charge to cross it, they were charged half of a penny? If you didn't, then now you do! Ooh, also, as of next month that bridge will be 201 years old - INSANE!! Unfortunately, our Irish travels were short and we had to head home to the manor today, but it's okay because we need to rest up before we finish out our trip in London for the week!

[gab-takes-europe]

HOLY GUACAMOLE DAYS 10 - 13 HAVE BEEN MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SO FAR! Day 10 (Thursday) was almost entirely spent traveling, but that didn’t stop us from having night time adventures! Our hotel had some brochures so I picked up the interesting ones, including one for an evening ghost tour *insert ooh’s and ahhh’s here* 😂 The your was absolutely fantastic! We loved our tour guide, Stephanie, she did a great job of keeping the group interested in what she was saying while occasionally startling us with some unforeseen screams! She gave us cool history lessons about Edinburgh, including some death tales (obviously - it was a ghost tour) and facts that pertained to the areas we visited along High Street (high street, aka the royal mile, is probably THE most touristy street in the city). One of the fun facts she told us about was the reason the tour company was named Mercat Tours was because back in the day high street was basically referred to as “mercat” (market) square because it’s where all the local merchants came to sell their goods, so since majority of their tour takes place in that area it was named after it. As cool as the the tour was outside, the best part was being taken below ground to see what the rooms in the tunnels looked like and what they were used for. The first room we were brought into we could see had actually been two, but apparently the floor of the room above had caved in - of course we didn’t believe her when she told us, but the proof was in the wall where we saw a red door waiting to lead someone to a drop 😬 After the tour we made over way a couple of blocks over to a Frankenstein themed bar (which was a few doors down from the Elephant Cafe, the place where J.K Rowling started writing Harry Potter AAHHH!). Unfortunately the bar was under construction so we didn’t get to see it in full action, but we were able to sit in and enjoy the main area! Much to our surprise, they have an animatronic Frankenstein come to life in the middle of the bar - very dramatic, but we appreciated how much they stuck to their theme! Day 11, Friday, begun at the Edinburgh Castle and man oh man did we have to work for that experience. From our hotel we had to walk up the gigantor mountain that the hill sits on top of! It was rough, we were winded, but we serviced 🙌🏽 The first two pictures were taken at the castle, so you can see the view had (and get an idea of the trek we had to do to get there 😂)! The castle was incredible! It’s one thing to see castles on tv and think they’re nifty, but whoa - seeing them in person is kind of overwhelming, but in a good way! There was so much to look at and take in, we got to see everything from the peasant gateway and military prisons to the crowned jewels and royal apartments! Fun fact, we also got to see the king’s birthing room and I’ve never felt bad for a Queen before seeing that room - labor does not seem like a fun experience, but going through that in a tiny room while sitting in a stiff wooden chair probably didn’t help so kudos to the Queen(s) that gave birth in there. As great of a time we had seeing the castle, we couldn’t spend all day there, so we headed down the royal mile (the castle is at the peak of it) to eat at The Coty Cafe, and then back up to Camera Obscura! Camera Obscura is an interactive optical illusion museum, and was by far my favorite part of the Edinburgh trip! I loved being able to play with all the things they had set up in there, like we got to walk through a mirror maze, we played with light to swap faces with each other, and Nicole and I even exchanged vows at the end! Wedding photos will come later, you must excuse my outfit, I didn’t have time to shop at David’s bridal 🤷🏽‍♀️ Day 12, Saturday, was mainly spent exploring the ruins of St. Andrew’s castle and cathedral! Once again, it was an amazing experience being able to wander the grounds and see what was left of the buildings/what would be where we were standing. On the castle grounds we saw their dungeon, the peasant gateways, and remnants of some towers that previously overlooked the beach the castle was on. While at exploring the cathedral’s grounds, I don’t know about the rest of my group, but I was shocked as to how large the grounds the were! Majority of it is graves, but all throughout the grounds you could read the signs explaining what part of the cathedral you would be standing in and what had happened to it. Luckily, St. Rule’s Tower still stands strong (it’s the last picture posted, standing in the background of the archway)! We climbed the super narrow 160 step tower, and were pleasantly greeted with a breathtaking view of the city! *peep the panoramic picture I took of it!* Not far behind us was a mother and her daughter, the mother (after kindly taking a picture of us) gave a quick debrief on the history of the tower. Apparently way back when, there was a priest that fell in love with a girl, but of course they couldn’t be together so one of them went up the tower and jumped ☹️ Unfortunately that’s all she told us about it, but I’m looking forward to googling that when I get home and getting some more background on it. By the time we got done in St. Andrews and were back in Edinburgh, I was pooped so Lexi and I decided to have a girls night and recuperate after the crazy couple of days we had! Day 13, Sunday, was a bittersweet one - leaving Scotland to return to the manor. Don’t get me wrong, I love England, and Harlaxton is fantastic, but after my time spent in Edinburgh - Scotland will always have a piece of my heart! I look forward to the day I can return ❤️

[gab-takes-europe]

Sorry this is late, we’ve been rather busy traveling and whatnot! Day 9 was definitely a rainy one, but was not wasted! Per usual, we started our day off with breakfast, class, and then lunch in the manor. On this particular day we deciding to take our adventures over to the lovely town of Cambridge. It took two trains to get over there, but it was totally worth it! We went with the intention of touring Cambridge University, but little did we know that 1. Cambridge University is an umbrella term for the maaaaaany campuses they have throughout the city and 2. They close their campuses to visitors during exam week (take note FSC 👀). SO that being said, we couldn’t explore the campus we stopped at and improvised our adventure! Instead we snapped some shots of the outside of King’s College because, come on, you have to admit that it is absolutely beautiful! After we saw everything we could from the outside, we walked into some little shops across the street - we stopped in a jewelry store, a candy shop, and a Cambridge gift shop. My favorite was for sure the candy shop, they had a little bit of everything in there from English tea packages and Arizona cans to a zillion kinds of chocolate (even some vegan friendly ones)! After we had fun with some light shopping we popped into St. John’s (?) Cathedral - sorry, it’s been a couple days and I’ve seen a good bit of cathedrals since then, so I’m not 100% on that name 😂. The cathedral was also beautiful and I thought it was really cool that you could go through a tiny door (pictured above) and go up to the tower! At this point we were starving and went on a new adventure to find a quirky bar that we could grab some grub at! We found an adorable little bar called “The Snug” and fell in love! It was a quaint establishment with a pretty great order of fish & chips (I don’t really like fish, but I had to eat it at least once 🤷🏽‍♀️). We stayed there for quite a bit exchanging some funny stories about FSC and whatever else came up, until it was time to head back to the manor! Despite the rain and exam schedule switching up our plans, it was a great day! 10/10 would recommend popping into Cambridge, if given the chance 😊

[gab-takes-europe]

Day 8 was a productive one! Since we had a late night, most of us decided to skip breakfast and sleep in a bit before class - it was much needed! Today's class consisted of our first project presentation and some more discussions on what has changed throughout film history and how it can effect the audience. After class we had lunch in the manor and then headed into downtown Grantham for some retail therapy! We were on the hunt for some bargain shopping and were very pleased with what we found in the thrift shops around there. When we got done shopping we headed over to this super cute place named Cafe Leo and ate little slices of pastries (my fave was the carrot cake) - plus it catered to our vegan friends! We came back after our snack and I'm sorry to say it wasn't that eventful 😂 not because we were lazy, I just don't think you guys want to hear about Nicole and I getting a head start on our project (although we're doing David Yates, director of 4 Harry Potter films and everything we found was super interesting!) GET EXCITED for the posts to come though! The squad is planning on heading out to Cambridge for some adventures tomorrow and then we leave for Scotland on Thursday