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[morelikefundon]

24 September 2016

My last day in the UK, I woke up and took an Uber to Victoria station. Unfortunately, the Gatwick Express was down because of some track problem. I ended up taking a taxi to Gatwick Airport with three other people, a nice couple from France and a young man from Morocco. 

Getting to and through the airport was pretty uneventful - I was through security pretty quickly and then had a lot of time to sit around waiting for my gate. The flight home I was in a window seat next to a dude who just sat down and fell asleep the whole time. I flew into Toronto as it was cheaper than Detroit or Chicago. Breezed through customs, and then both of my parents were there to pick me up. Obviously we stopped for some Tim Hortons, and then I got home to the above, lovely, slightly creepy sight. (WECOME HOM) :)

Over the next few days, I unpacked and just got mentally used to not being in a European city and on the move anymore. Moving back in with my parents in an albeit nice house in the woods is a pretty hard 180 from living in a vibrant global city on my own. It was occasionally odd, like the whole year didn’t feel real and I was just back home, like before.

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People have asked me since if I regret going. I was unable to find a job for 8 months after coming back, and it is not even in the field my master’s is in. After 400+ job applications I took a job at a company where I had a connection, like most jobs seem to come nowadays. I also obviously went into grad school debt, like anyone else who goes without a trust fund.

I want to say to them: no, I don’t regret going. Not for a second. London is my favorite place in the world and I created the opportunity to live there as long as they would let me. After my MS diagnosis I made a decision to really think about the things I wanted to do in my life, and living in London was one of them. I came back with a multitude of experiences, friends, and a master’s degree which I got in half the time of all the American programs I looked into. 

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Upon my return to the US I went through all of the boxes my parents put in their crawlspace when they moved from my childhood home. They moved when I was in college, so they ended up boxing up anything I had left there and storing it. The boxes consisted of ephemera from middle and high school. In one of them, I found a list of dreams written circa 1999:

I am so proud to say that I have accomplished the second thing on that list.

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Thank you to all of you who had a part in this adventure - my family for supporting this bonkers idea, dealing with my visa stress, and coming to visit; my friends for their encouragement; and to my new friends for their welcoming energies and enthusiasm over the same museums and weird ephemera and odd history as I am. 

I look forward to going back someday. Maybe for a short visit, maybe longer...who knows.

In the meantime, thank you.

[morelikefundon]

22-24 September

These are the last of my photos I’ve chosen to post from London. (If any of you want to see more, trust me when I say I’ve probably posted 5-10% of the photos I took during the year). 

There will be one more post as a ‘final thought’ sort of thing, but during my last few days I went to some favorite places to say a mental goodbye for now. My sister said it made her sad and I was of course also a little sad, but it was nice as it made me appreciate them more than I had really the last few times I visited.

One more post left! Yikes!

[morelikefundon]

22-24 September

More exploring and visiting! Some alleyways and mews (places that used to be stables behind fancy buildings), Bloomsbury, the Thames, and some non-glamours shots of dinner and a newspaper.

ALSO

Yes, that is me. Wearing the “Joey Hat”. In front of Westminster Abbey.

#nailedit

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22-24 September 

A collection of photos from my last few days - British Museum, riding the tube, fish & chips at the Swan, and a quick trip into the Science museum. :)

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23 September 2016

***Only the last photo is mine***

I wanted to give a shout out to seriously one of the best museum exhibitions I have ever been to - the Victoria & Albert museum’s “You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970″. In their words: 

“This major exhibition explored the era-defining significance and impact of the late 1960s, expressed through some of the greatest music and performances of the 20th century alongside fashion, film, design and political activism.”You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966‎

I cannot stress enough about how this exhibition truly took preconceived notions about the late 60s and music and drugs and really explored the period with a fresh and unafraid lens. It covered the rising of youth culture, the extreme changes happening in politics, in consumerism, in protests, technology, fashion, drugs, sex, and of course rock and roll.

The V&A of course has excellent collections and status and funding to put together things like this but truly, it was wonderful. I am a fan of the era and I learned so much and had my mind opened up to new ideas and recognized trends that started then that still ripple today. Just the way things were marketed and what we decided to buy changed wholly during the era (they’re called Mad Men for a reason)

I believe the exhibition is touring so if it is ever somewhere you can see it I fully recommend. I bought the exhibition book as well and it is also a delight. 

The person I went with is also smarter and makes content connections way better than me and she agreed that it was amazing. :)

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21 September 2016

I left Scotland early the next morning, the 21st, and took the train back to London. I thought ahead of time and reserved a seat and had a lovely ride back into the city.

After getting in at King’s Cross, I took a bus to my friend’s flat where I had stored my giant suitcase and laptop, and then we both took my stuff to the Airbnb. I was staying there for the remainder of my stay in the city, which was only a few days. I stayed in this place in Marylebone, not too far from The Wallace Collection. It was a nice enough place- a woman just owned this property above a shop and rented out rooms in the building. Each floor had three bedrooms and a bathroom, and the top floor was a kitchen. My space was small, clean and nice - and it was above a shop with one of those doors to the upstairs apartments next to the door to the shop that you needed a real key for which made me feel very trendy and cool.

My last few days in London were spent visiting with friends and places, not saying goodbye for forever but for now. I only have a few posts left planned. So what will not be pictured is:

A lovely trip to the V&A with a brilliant friend

A brunch at a place so hipster we waited an hour to get in with some wonderful people

Pizza and then drinks at a pub with my two fandom BFF ladies- hi if you’re still checking Tumblr :)

A boat ride along the Thames

 A walk through Kensington Gardens

Goodbye trip to the Tower of London, the British Museum and UCL

Packing nonsense 

As I said, I have a few more posts of random things. But we are very close to the end. 

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20 September 2016

Ghosts & Ghouls & Whisky Tour!

You really shouldn’t go to Edinburgh without some sort of tour of graveyards, or ghosts, or whisky distilleries, or especially the underground vaults. There are a few companies that run them and I decided to go with the one that seemed slightly less touristy (but still a bit touristy) that also had alcohol at the end. #win

On the Royal Mile by St. Giles’ Cathedral, the group of about 20 people met up with our guide. She went over the rules and gave the whole spooky spiel and then we did a bit of walking around the area, as it used to be a prison. She showed us the heart in the tile, which is approximately where the doorway of the prison was (I think? There are conflicting reports that the heart is where the executions took place) but in any case people like to spit on it like they were debtors who were released from jail.

The stories the guide told were kinda standard - witches, weird deaths, ghosts, mobs, torture - but just walking around the city at night and hearing about all of it was very atmospheric. Burke and Hare were of course mentioned as well as the Edinburgh mob. Walking into the small closes (super narrow alleys) reallllly gave you the medieval feel for the city.

Then we went into the underground vaults - they’re under a lot of the city, as it just kept being built on top of itself. They’re underground chambers built out of an old bridge basically. The vaults were often used for small pubs, workshops and storage, but as time went on and they deteriorated they were the home to more illegal things like gambling dens and murder, and when reputable businesses moved out the poor moved in, until the 1860s ish when everyone just abandoned them. Now they’re just a creepy creepy place where people have ghost tours.

The feeling in them is very off - they do feel damp and cool but also somehow warm? Like the cave systems I have been in. And they are DARK - some of it has been wired for safety lights but we went into chambers with nothing and at one point the guide turned off her light and it was very creepy. You obviously get heightened senses of smell and hearing and you just get this sense of being deep underground. It’s very effective.

Then we ended the night in an underground cellar with a wee dram of whisky - and it was a delight. :)

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20 September 2016

The Georgian House!

My afternoon was spent at this lovely property called The Georgian House in the New Town area of Edinburgh. This is a historic house, kept up and managed by the National Trust for Scotland. It is in Charlotte Square and was a really lovely afternoon!

The house tour started with a short video in the basement about the New Town area, and the city planning and development in the 1700s. Throughout the house you also learned about the families that owned it, mostly the first one ones from the late 1700s to the early 1800s the Lamonts.

It was restored first in the 1970s and then updated to look like a family home from that late 1700s time. The museum did try to present information about both the upstairs family and their life as well as the downstairs servants and others with less status and money.

I did really enjoy the opportunities for engagement - there were clothes to dress up in, weird objects to actually touch and see what they were used for, and you could write letters with a quill pen.

There were volunteers in every room who were super knowledgeable and I full recommend a visit to those interested in this time period/history!

[morelikefundon]

20 September 2016

Exploring Edinburgh!!

This was an absolutely gorgeous day to explore the city. I did two museum visits, a famous cafe visit, and an underground vault tour (to be written about in a later post).

First up was a visit to the Surgeon’s Hall Museums - part of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. There are technically three museums in one shared building space -  The Wohl Pathology Museum,  History of Surgery Museum, and the Museum of Dentistry. Obviously I was excited to go - Edinburgh was a center of western medical advancement throughout the 1800s.

They did not allow photos to be taken inside as there are human remains throughout, but I will say it was absolutely amazing. It was recently redeveloped and refurbished in 2014ish, and the history of surgery section was really well thought out. There was a small operating theater replica you could sit in and at the center was a video table that showed a screen of what the med student might see on during an anatomy lecture in like 1820.

The dentistry part was small but informative, and the pathology museum was equal parts set up for medical learning and the lay person. There was a school group there when I was there, probably 11-12 year olds and it was really interesting to listen to what the educator was speaking about. The first floor was grouped more by themes and ideas, and the second was grouped by parts of the body and systems.

ALSO - this is where they have the book with the leather cover that is supposedly made of the skin of William Burke of Burke and Hare fame! They definitely made a few books of his skin after he was dissected at the medical school, and this is probably one of them but the provenance was shaky. But they do have his death mask and that was weirdly meaningful to see- the face of this literal murderer who I know so much about cast in plaster. 

Then I had a cappuccino at Spoon - this cafe used to be a Chinese buffet and before that was a cafe called Nicholson’s, which just happened to be one of the places a little book called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone came to life. :) The owners used to let JK Rowling sit in there all day and write even though she would only buy the one coffee in the morning. Which is important for a single mom, to have a warm place to spend your time.

I went to another museum later (next post) and then had dinner at The Alexander Graham Bell pub. Fried haggis balls - seriously one of the most Scottish things I’ve seen. :)

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19 September 2016

Inveraray Castle!!!

Photo Set 2 of 2

Inveraray is a small village in Scotland that is the home of  Inveraray Castle, which is not really a castle but is a large country house for the Dukes of Argyll who still own it and live in it and run it today! Built in the 1700s in a Gothic style it is a lovely mix of historic home and beautiful architecture.

The rooms open to the public are of varying styles and filled with period furniture. Some are very stylized and off limits, just to view from behind the ropes and others are basically a modern feeling corner room with displays about the current Duke and his family. It was a beautiful place to explore inside and out. VERY country home - there was of course a room filled with weapons on the wall.

ALSO they shot some Downton Abbey here (remember when they spent that Christmas in Scotland?) and there were pictures in the small tearoom which was hilarious.

The grounds were absolutely beautiful too - not many flowers as it was September but the rain made it look so green and lush.

[morelikefundon]

19 September 2016

Inveraray Castle!!!

Photo Set 1 of 2

Inveraray is a small village in Scotland that is the home of  Inveraray Castle, which is not really a castle but is a large country house for the Dukes of Argyll who still own it and live in it and run it today! Built in the 1700s in a Gothic style it is a lovely mix of historic home and beautiful architecture.

The rooms open to the public are of varying styles and filled with period furniture. Some are very stylized and off limits, just to view from behind the ropes and others are basically a modern feeling corner room with displays about the current Duke and his family. It was a beautiful place to explore inside and out. VERY country home - there was of course a room filled with weapons on the wall. 

ALSO they shot some Downton Abbey here (remember when they spent that Christmas in Scotland?) and there were pictures in the small tearoom which was hilarious.

The grounds were absolutely beautiful too - not many flowers as it was September but the rain made it look so green and lush.

[morelikefundon]

19 September 2016

Doune Castle!!

Doune Castle was originally built in the 1200s, and then basically destroyed, and then built again in the 1300s, and then basically served as a castle/fort/home for a few hundred years before falling to ruin and then being halfway restored in the late 1800s and is now a historic attraction.

But that’s not important for me.

What IS important is this was a filming site for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

(Also Outlander but I have only watched sporadic bits of that show). 

The outside was seen in the film multiple times. This is where the French taunters scenes were! And also the castle is just cool to explore - we didn’t have a lot of time because the main road was closed and we had to walk about a half mile from this weird subdivision but it was cool to run around this medieval castle. But some interiors were used in the film as well. Awesome!

PLUS someone brought coconuts and it was hilarious.

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19 September 2016

Bus tour day #2! 

Today’s tour was “ West Highlands, Lochs & Castles”. I did a bit of double-dipping of lochs and highlands from the day before, but then ALSO had longer stops at some castles. I’ll cover Doune and Inverary in separate posts, but we did stop at Loch Awe and some fields across from Kilchurn castle which was built in like the 1400s. Walking across these damp Scottish fields was giving me major Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights vibes

We ALSO stopped at the base of Stirling Castle which was cool but what was COOLER was all the highland cows in the fields! SO Scottish.

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18 September 2016

Went to Fort Augustus, which was a lovely little village of about 700 residents and then thousands of yearly tourists. It is at the south end of Loch Ness, so of course there are boat tours of the Loch! They give talks and history of the legends and sightings. And man it was cool to be out on the water. It truly is a big loch, and super super deep. (I mean....for someone who grew up in Michigan surrounded by truly giant bodies of fresh water it didn’t seem as large but it *was* deep)

The village had some cute shops and also an impromptu Mini car show? I had a great time just immersing myself in the tourism.

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18 September 2016

More beautiful landscapes from my bus tour of the moors and highlands and Glencoe.

Misty but not cold, it was perfect Scottish weather. Did a bit of exploring but mostly quick 10 minute stops from the bus so we could see more stuff. 

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18 September 2016

Bus tour #1! I wanted the opportunity to explore a bit more of Scotland but also didn’t want to drive myself (by myself). I chose two day trip bus tours to do from Edinburgh, both from Rabbie’s tour company. They used 16 person buses which was perfect - not too many people but enough that you could wander off without issue.

This first one was “Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands”. The driver was awesome- he was super knowledgeable about both history and puns, loved the Fratellis, and was a big fan of just stopping on the side of the road when he saw something cool. We drove a lot around the moors and landscapes, and then through the glens. There were a few short stops in little villages as well which was cool. I explored some graveyards and side streets and hills and it was brilliant.

We stopped at a few lochs (including the famous one which I’ll post about next...). I cannot capture the absolute beauty and majesty of the mountains of Scotland. I didn’t want to leave - it sounds cheesy but you could sense the timelessness or the ancient history or something driving around the moors and glens. 

Anyway 100% fully recommend.

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17 September 2016

Just a bit more exploring the city! More Grassmarket, some fun storefronts, and I also walked up to the castle just to see it.

I decided not to pay the extra $ to actually go inside Edinburgh Castle. I was a bit castled out to be honest at this point, and I am not a big military history fan which is the other portion of stuff exhibited in the castle. But it was cool to see at sunset!