Hello Readers!

This week was a very exciting and busy time!

I started the week with normal classes on Monday which is nothing too exciting.

On Tuesday Sarah Kaye and I were supposed to leave for our trip to Paris, however, she ended up getting sick so I went by myself.

• I was nervous to go by myself, but excited to start a new adventure and show myself that I am capable of doing anything by myself.

In the morning I headed to the airport and before I got there I got lost, but after a bit I was able to find my way, get to the airport, and flew to Paris!

Once I landed I found the different public transportations I needed to take and headed to my hostel.

• When I got to the hostel the worker told me that Sarah and I had been upgraded to a private room, so I not only got my own room for a fraction of the price, but I also got two free drinks since we were both Hostel World members. I was so thankful that I made it there and then to have that surprise that I almost cried tears of relief, but I was able to hold It together!

After I got settled I grabbed my camera and headed to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. At first I took the tram for a bit and then ended up walking and wandering until I found it. By the time I got there the sun was just setting which was gorgeous, so I decided to climb the 650+ stairs to the top.

• I climbed them as fast as I could without falling over to make sure I could catch the sunset from the very top level.
• When I got to the top the view was breath taking! After taking countless photos I headed all the way back down and decided to wander around for more angles of the Eiffel Tower and to see more of the town before hopping on the metro and heading back for a goodnight sleep.

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The next morning I was planning on waking up really early to get out and see the town, however, I ended up shutting my alarm off in my sleep so I slept in a bit more than I wanted too. Once I did wake up I checked out and headed to the Louver.

• I thought about going into the museum, but the line was too long so I just admired from the outside and then wandered the city for a few hours until it started to rain. Since it was raining I found a restaurant and got some food before going to the airport to catch my flight to London.
• Flying

When I was at the airport Sarah texted me and said she was going to fly to London and meet me for our reservation at BallieBallersons (a giant indoor ball pit) and I was so happy!

• We both ended up having about a 30 minute delay which was inconvenient, but not terrible. After we finally got to London we both had a few train rides to our hostel where we ended up only being 5 minutes apart which was nice. Since I was the last person there I got the typical where everything is and how it all works talk.

Once I got my stuff in the room we headed…more like ran to our different busses we had to take.

• We didn’t realize how far away everything was from each other so by the time we got to the place it was about 20 minutes until close so we thought okay that’s fine we can go in experience it and leave that’s fine, but just our luck when we tried to get in they wouldn’t let us for some reason.
• Disappointed by the situation we left to go find some water and food. We ende dup finding a grocery store that was still open so we stopped there for a few things before attempting to make our way back to the hostel.

At first to get back to the hostel we tried to take the bus only to learn that the last one we needed was shut down for the night. So, we were with no phones, no map and no clue where we were at about 1:30am. Luckily, after only some mild panicking we found a taxi place and ended up getting a taxi back to the hostel and I just ended up going to the airport right away.

When I got to the airport it was about 3:30am so I had quite a bit of time before my plane took off at 8 so I got some food and charged my phone while I waited.

After waiting for a few hours I boarded and flew home.

• I had never been so happy to be back in Scotland than I was then. It was so nice to be in a place I knew and didn’t have to think about getting places too hard.

When I got back to the house I took a nice long shower and then sat down to do some homework.

• I ended up falling asleep for about a half an hour, but was lucky to have woken up in time for my dinner with my host parents.

At 5 Patty, Nat (host moms) , Megan and I all headed to Craymond for some sightseeing and dinner.

• Even though I had just gotten back It was nice to be out of the house and not have to constantly be concerned with where I was going or what I was doing.

Friday!

Today I picked Wendy up from the airport in the afternoon.

• I was so ecstatic that she was able to make a weekend trip up too Scotland.

Once we met up we headed into city center for a bit of shopping and some food.

• We ended up eating at Boozy Cow

When we were done there we headed to the palace to drop off stuff and explore the grounds and Dalkeith a bit.

• When we got home we put her stuff in the room and went out and walked through the woods which was a lot of fun. We both agreed that it felt like we were both young again at grandma’s house playing in the creek and culverts.

After exploring we headed back to the house to get ready to go out.

Our original plan was to go to some pubs in the city, but we ended up staying at The Buccleuch in Dalkeith which was actually really nice so then we didn’t have a long bus ride home. We dance and sang the night away before calling it a night.

The next day we got up early, had breakfast with Isabelle at the Continental Café in Dalkeith then met up with Katelyn and we all headed into the city…or at least tried too.

• We ended up getting on the wrong bus, well the right bus going the wrong way so we rode the bus to end of the line where we ended up having to get off and wait 15 minutes for it to start up again. On the plus side we got to see some cute towns and gorgeous county side that none of us had seen before.

Once we got on the right but we headed into Edinburgh to our first stop, the tattoo shop.

• Isabelle, Wendy and I wanted to get a few more piercings since they are cheap here. Wendy got her thirds, Isabelle got one helix and I got two!

After our time there we decided to just wander the city and see what we could find.

• We ended up shopping for a bit and then climbing Calton Hill and over by the Castle for some great views of the city before going to Barburrito for dinner.

• As we were wandering we found a cute little street market that had all kinds of fun stuff to look at.

By the time we were done exploring the city we were both tired and ready to go home to relax for a while before getting ready to go out again and this time actually into the city.

• Once we had gotten ready to go into the city we started the night at Three Sisters where we met a group of guys from around the Edinburgh area. We ended up talking and dancing with them for a while before they said they were going to a Brazilian club, Boteco, and invited us to go with. We agreed to go so we headed to the new club and I am so happy we did. The atmosphere was amazing along with the Latin music made for a night to remember.
• At about 2:30 we decided to leave so we stopped at Burrito and Shake then grabbed the bus home.
• Even though we started the night saying it was going to be an early one, it was definitely worth less sleep.

By the time we got home the sun was starting to come up, so we got a couple hours of sleep before getting up again and heading into the city for a final stop at Ben’s Cookies and then to drop Wendy at the airport.

• I was so ecstatic that she was able to come and we had so much fun together. It was sad having to say goodbye because we don’t know when we will see each other in person again.

After we said goodbye I got back on the buses and made the journey home.

When I got home I worked on some homework for a bit before heading back into town to go to The Filling Station restaurant for dinner with Isabelle and Sara M before we went to the Fire Festival.

• The Fire Festival is to mark the beginning of summer, so I expected a lot, but I was actually pretty disappointed because most people left at 10:30, like we did, even though it went until 1:30am.

After we were done at the festival we grabbed a bus home and called it a night.

Talk to you soon & thank you for reading

 

 

The title:

Flying Solo & Family Love

The title this week is pretty self-explanatory; If you read the blog you will have noticed that I traveled solo for the first time and my cousin came to visit.

One thing I would like to say about ‘Flying Solo’ is do it. The old me never thought that I would have taken a trip by myself, let alone studied abroad in general, but I am so happy that I did. This experience has truly been once in a life time and if anyone ever has the option to study abroad, work abroad, or anything in a different area than they are used to I would strongly suggest it to anyone.

Since being on this program I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. If I were to have just stayed in River Falls and done whatever it was I did there I would not have been able to take the journey of finding a bit more about who and I am and where I belong in my life.

Studying abroad will give countless opportunities to meet new people, see new places, experiences new things and meet yourself in a whole new light. This program has helped me so much already and I cannot wait to bring my new self home and hopefully keep who I was here alive back in the states.