Dancing around Dublin

I love studying abroad! This week was quite brilliant and was complete with cool classes, shadowing English doctors, and going to Ireland. Every Wednesday is my Practice of Medicine Class, and last week, as apart of the class, we went to the Tate Britain to go look at a painting of "The Doctor" by Sir Samuel Luke Fildes. It was an cool class because along with learning about the painting, we also learned about observation techniques and getting accurate data. I also thought our guest lecturer was quite fascinating because along with being a doctor, she had an impressive amount of knowledge regarding a lot of the paintings in the famous museum. I even got to see and explain "Ophelia" by Sir John Everett Millais to the rest the class. I am really excited about tomorrow's lecture though because professional actors are coming in to teach us how to communicate with patients. The class type seems to be similar to when I participated in "Behind Closed Doors" as an RA, and I am sure we will all get a few laughs out of pretending to be doctors with difficult patients.

Immediately after class on Friday, Jason and I headed off to Dublin, Ireland. It was quite an adventure to get there, because in order to get to the city, I had to take the tube to the bus station, a bus to the airport, a plane to Ireland, and another bus to Dublin. Once we got into the city, we went to a traditional Irish pub called the Blarney Inn. At the pub, I order the best fish and chips I have had so far. We then went to the Porterhouse where we met quite a few interesting people. My favorite encounter from the night had to be meeting a couple from Dublin. The man told me that along with looking like I was 12 that I also looked like Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. His date disagreed with him on both accounts, but nevertheless the experience was quite amusing. We then made our way to the Four Courts Hostel, which was a very clean and friendly place. It was nice staying there for a few nights in a row, purely because we could safely leave our backpacks in secure areas.

Saturday morning we explored the city. Sadly, we could not a find information about the free tour, so instead we walked around and saw the city on our own in the morning. It was such a beautiful sunny day, and it was one of the first sunny days I have seen since I arrived in Europe. As always, I took a ton of pictures that I posted on facebook. We saw beautiful churches, gorgeous shopping streets, green parks, and various monuments. We also saw Trinity College, which was a fascinating campus. After we were done exploring, Jason and I made our way over to the Guinness Storehouse. While I am not a beer drinker, the place was amazing and had 7 stories of interactive exhibits. My favorite part was learning how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. The secret is waiting two minutes in between pours to provide the thick creamy layer at the top of the pint. I didn't drink much of my complementary pint because I was not a big fan of the taste, but I did give it away to a girl who was more than happy to drink it. After we were done at the museum, we went to an Italian restaurant where I ordered Irish Salmon that also incredibly fresh. However, one of the my favorite experiences was when we decided to go to the International Comedy Club. The place was packed with Dubliners, and we quickly learned that we were the only Americans in the place. Of course, we did not identify ourselves in fear of getting ridiculed, but many American jokes were made, mostly about how we didn't drink nearly enough :-P.

Since we had seen the majority of Dublin on Saturday, Jason and I decided to participate in a day trip to Wicklow and Glendalough to see mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and greenery. Since there was only room for 14 people in the van, all of us got really close and I made a few friends. I even met few other American girls, Annie and Michele. It was really cool meeting them because they were also studying in London. Annie even lives in the building next to my building! The all day trip was so nice because we were able to get out of cities for a day, and all the views were breathtaking. Our driver/tour guide was such an incredibly nice old Irish man, and he reminded me a lot of my Grandpa Ray. He was always giving us wisdom, and told us that just by going on the trip we added 3 months to our lives (since we breathed such pure air).

That night after we got back, Jason, Annie, Michele, and I went to the Arlington Hotel for Live Irish music and dancing. I was so excited to see Irish dancing because I have always loved watching Riverdance. The show was everything I hoped it would be, and all in all, the weekend was truly a success. We had an amazing time, but I am looking forward to spending next weekend at home in London.

Finally, my other last bit of exciting news is that yesterday I shadowed an English doctor for the first time with Cliff (Cliff goes to school with me at CWRU too). We saw a variety of patients, with some being very serious and others being quite jovial. I can't wait to do more shadowing, and I am so excited to be learning so many wonderful things. I love this experience, and everyday I am thankful that I have this opportunity to study abroad.

Valentines and Bath Time!

Once again, I had another amazing week in London. While a lot of planning occurred, everything is finally coming together in regards to our travels. Thursday night I went over to Jason's flat and finished planning our eurorail trip. Jason, Jenni, and I will be spending 21 days in April in six countries! We are going to Barcelona in Spain, Zurich in Switzerland, Florence, Rome, Naples, Capri, and Venice in Italy, Vienna in Austria, Prague in the Czech Republic, and Berlin in Germany. This is made possible as a result of having 6 weeks between our last day of classes and our first day of finals. Also, since we are students, we were able to buy a eurorail pass for over half off the adult costs, which is making this trip very affordable as well. I'm a little worried about packing, but I know we will be able to do laundry along the way. I also figure if I could pack for five months in one big suitcase and one little suitcase, I can easily pack for three weeks in one little suitcase :).


Friday was also another amazing day. I was pleasantly surprised after class with two dozen pink and red roses from my boyfriend Jacob. He's currently doing a co-op at NASA in Cleveland, and he is also the president of his fraternity. I'm quite proud of him, and the roses were definitely a surprise. I also got a beautiful card from my Grandma Kay, and a funny card from my mom and sister. Anyways, a little bit after class I got a text from Jenni, and ended up going out for a girls night with her, Danielle E., Anna C., and Veronika M. We went to an Italian place for dinner called Spaghetti House and then saw the movie Valentines Day in theaters. It was by the same director that made Pretty Woman, and I thought it was fantastic. I love having girls nights and am sure there will be plenty more to come.

Saturday was the first Butler sponsored day trip. We went to Bath, and in total there were four coaches filled with Butler students. The trip was 2.5 hours each way, and fortunately I was able to fall asleep for most of the journey. Bath is such a pretty town, and I loved seeing all the weathered stone buildings. Along with getting free transportation to the city, we also got a tour of the city on our coach and received free entry into the Roman baths. The tour was nice, but I was incredibly hungry at that point in the day, so more than anything I just wanted to eat :-P. We fortunately had about 45 minutes to grab a quick bite to eat before we were allowed to enter the baths. While we were waiting, we watched a few street performers, including a woman who was playing the hang. A hang is a drum that is made in Switzerland, and only two people in the world currently make them. There is also a very long waiting list for the drum, and once it is made you have to go to Switzerland in order to receive it. I honestly think it would all be worth it though, as the music it makes is quite beautiful :).

Once we got into the baths, we were given audio guides to listen to various stories about the different areas. A few of my favorite parts included seeing the Roman actors and taking photos with them, going to the cold plunge and watching the funny videos surrounding the waters, and of course, seeing all of the gorgeous architecture. I took a lot of pictures...again, if you don't have facebook, let me know and I will send you a link to the photos! We were also told multiple times during the day not to touch the hot waters. Apparently the baths had never been cleaned and therefore they would be filled with different types of microbes. Silly microbes. Anyways, while the Roman baths were incredibly crowded, we definitely had a fun time exploring and learning.

After we were done with the baths, we had about an hour before we had to be back on the bus. In other words, we had just enough time to go grab some absolutely amazing fudge. I purchased a little Belgian chocolate swirl piece and happily still have a bit of it to enjoy a few days later. We then took the coach home, and had a wonderful time eating dinner at a cute little restaurant in Notting Hill. It was a great day trip, and I am really happy Butler organizes trips for us to go to places that we normally wouldn't go to.

Finally, along with yesterday being Valentines Day, Jason pointed out to me that it was also the Chinese New Year. So in celebration, Jason and I enjoyed Dim Sum and some studying at our favorite little Chinese restaurant in Camden Town. I love Dim Sum now, and am sure I will be enjoying it a lot more once I get back to Cleveland.

While I have lots of studying to do this week, I am truly looking forward to flying to Dublin with Jason this weekend. I can't wait to see Ireland and am sure I will come back with more stories. Love and miss you all!!!

Edinburgh!

What a weekend! I'm starting to really love everything about the study abroad experience, and I'm so glad I decided to come to Europe! Last week was pretty typical in that I spent Monday and Tuesday studying and had classes Wednesday-Friday. Thursday night I went out to dinner with two of the girls from my class, Danielle and Jenni. We ended up going to the Royal Exchange Grand Cafe for another ten quid dinner special, and essentially ate dinner in front of London's Tiffany's. I ordered poached salmon, Cheltenham beetroot, celery & apple, with horseradish yoghurt for my main. It was absolutely fantastic, and I'm so glad I got to have a classy night out with the girls. We are hoping to do something similar again soon, and the dinner was the perfect way to begin a truly memorable weekend.

Friday after class, I went out to the Borough Market with Danielle and Veronika for lunch. Again, I love having the market so close to my classes/my flat. I ordered fresh pasta and enjoyed talking with the girls. After lunch, I headed back to my flat where I started preparing for our weekend getaway. Jason, Jenni, and I had decided to go to Edinburgh, Scotland, and we determined that taking night buses would be our best option for the nine hour journey. Therefore, at 11:00 on Friday night, all three of us left London in hopes of hearing bagpipes, seeing sheep, and exploring castles.

When we arrived Saturday morning, the weather was misty, cold, and stereotypically Scottish. We headed straight for The Elephant House for breakfast, which was where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. It was a great cafe with a beautiful view of Edinburgh Castle. Also, since we got there shortly after the cafe had opened, we had the entire place to ourselves. During breakfast, we figured out our plan for the day, and decided that we should see the free three hour tour that the city had to offer. We then headed towards the center of town where we ran across a band playing Scotland's National Anthem. People everywhere were lined up and swaying to the music, and of course we really didn't know what was going on. It ended up being that there was a huge rugby match that weekend in Edinburgh: Scotland vs. France and everyone wanted to show there spirit. After hearing the band, we met with about 40 people and our awesome tour guide, Michael. He showed us around the city, and along the way he told us some of the history of glorious Scotland. He also told us some crazy stories about witches and hauntings, and I knew at that point that I didn't want to go a ghost tour that night. I particularly loved hearing about the Stone of Destiny, which is a rock that is a part of the country's crown jewels. According to legend, wherever the stone lies the Scots will rule.

After the tour, Jason, Jenni, and I decided to warm up with a cup of tea and cool down with a little gelato at an Italian restaurant. We then figured it would be best to check in to our hostel, and that became quite a journey. The place Jenni chose was about 15 minutes outside of the city, so we started off by trying to catch the hostel's shuttle. However, we quickly realized we had just missed it. Since it was about 5 o'clock, we figured we could just take a city bus and walk from the last stop. We went the wrong way after getting off the bus, and after figuring out where we needed to go, we ended up having to walk through a empty golf course at twilight. It was quite beautiful, but definitely a bit of an adventure. Once we got to the hostel, we quickly unloaded and then promptly headed back into the city. We ended up meeting up a few other people from Butler, and we also met other backpackers from around the world.

The next morning, we woke up in time to get a free continental breakfast and play a few games of rummy before catching a bus back into the city. We headed straight for the castle, where we spent the next four hours seeing the grounds and of course, the crown jewels. We also made our own afternoon tea, and ate scones with clotted cream and jam. Once we were done exploring the castle, we went to a free museum where we saw Dolly the sheep, who was the first cloned animal. While we went inside a few shops, I tried my hardest to avoid buying souvenirs since I know I will be tempted to spend money in every city. The cashmere scarves were my favorite, but since I have a dozen pashminas at home I was able to resist.

Before we headed back to the coach station, we found a great pre-theatre (or early bird) french restaurant called Mason Bleu where we enjoyed various french and Scottish foods. Jason was even brave enough to order Haggis balls, which is basically sheep liver, kidneys, stomach, and brain all mixed together with spices. While it sounds really gross, it is one of Scotland's traditional foods. I managed to have a bite, and all in all it wasn't too horrible. Since our coach didn't leave until ten, we enjoyed coffee at another Italian Cafe before beginning the bus ride home.

While I can easily say I was extremely tired getting back this morning, I cannot wait to keep traveling. Next weekend, Butler is hosting a day trip to the city of Bath, and I know that it will be equally memorable. As always, I'm sending lots of love :).

Adventures in the City

A little more than a week has gone by, but as always, it seems like so much has happened. Ever since I arrived in the U.K., little things have always developed into quite an adventure. For example, as I stated in an entry or so ago, it rains quite a bit in London and as a result I had been on the search for wellies for weeks. I eventually gave up and purchased a pair of wellies online, due to the fact the fact that all I could find in the stores were Hunter Boots (which are basically $115 rubber boots...I couldn't justify it, obviously). After ordering the boots, I quickly discovered that nothing thicker than skinny jeans would work, so I asked my mom to ship mine over. I later found out that my mom wasn't going to ship anything because it would cost her over 150 dollars to send a silly pair of jeans. This resulted in me spending last Monday shopping, and for the first time I was actually able to find the things I was looking for.

All in all, I did find an amazing pair of jeans at Uniqulo, and bought a super londonesque outfit at Jane Norman. Another different thing about London is that while of course they sell jeans, they usually only sell trousers based on your waist size and then hem them to your height free of charge. Also, on one occasion while shopping for trousers, one of my friends made the mistake of saying pants instead of trousers, and we promptly got a bit of a laugh from the sales team (pants are the term for underwear in the u.k.). I was also pretty excited when I found Jane Norman, because along with being reasonably priced, the clothes were directed at women my age. However, I know at this point I am done shopping in London since there are so many other things I can and will be spending my money on.

After spending the day shopping, I ended up joining a lot of other people from the Butler orientation group for dinner at My Old Dutch. My Old Dutch is an amazing creperie that has 5 pound pancake nights for students. I ordered an Italian crepe with cheese, tomatoes, and olives, and it was absolutely huge! I have a feeling we will be going back a lot more often, and the place was incredibly packed with students.

Last Saturday was also a bit of an adventure. With it being my last weekend in London for at least three weeks, we knew we wanted to have a less expensive but enjoyable day. Dana, Jason, and I started off in the Borough Market for lunch. The place was so crowded, but we knew we would get amazing food. I ended up buying a lamb burger from a Greek stall, and it was absolutely delicious along with some fresh hot mulled apple juice (not cider, which is alcoholic). We then took a few tubes to get to the Science Museum, which was where we met up with five other people. While London is the most expensive city in the world, it has some nice free things, including most of the museums. We explored the exhibits for a few hours, and then left to go explore South Kensington. I was so excited when we ran across the Hummingbird Bakery. I had read about it in my guidebooks and had seen specials on the food network about it, which made waiting in the long queue completely worth it. Once I got inside the bakery, I waited a little longer for a freshly made Red Velvet cupcake. I'm so glad the bakery isn't closer to where I live...I can almost guarantee I would have been there everyday!

Jason and I had also made a reservation for a famous London restaurant, La Point de la Tour, for that Saturday night. I learned about the place by reading the Evening Standard on one of my many tube rides, and also learned that they were participating in a restaurant week where you could pay 10 pounds for a 20 pound meal. After enjoying the cupcake, we headed to Tower Bridge where Jason took a ton of amazing pictures of the bridge at night. We had gotten to the area where the restaurant was located a little early, and decided to have a cup of tea at Teapot, which was a really cute little teashop. I definitely want to go back there for afternoon tea, and I am sure that as the weather gets better we will do more exploring in the area. After the tea, it was time for dinner. Jason and I agreed that the place would have been much better had we got to sit outside by the river, but nevertheless we had a pretty good meal.

Finally, my last big adventure for the week involved seeing Les Miserables this past Monday. I left early in the morning with one of the girls who lives in my flat complex to go attempt to buy tickets at the theatre. After looking for 45 minutes, we finally found the place and learned that the theatre's policy for students was that they should arrive an hour before the show and would pay a student price of 27 pounds for the best available seats. Later that night, Jason and I were the only ones able to go back and we ended up sitting in the 12th row (which are normally roughly 65 pound seats). I do love the perks of being a student :). Les Mis, of course, was absolutely amazing, and was worth every pence.

This weekend, I am going to Edinburgh Scotland with Jason and Jenni P. I am really excited about seeing the beautiful castles and exploring the city. While I'm a little scared about sleeping in a hostel for the first time, I know it will be an experience and I know its something that I will have to start getting used to :). I can't wait for more adventures, and I promise to keep you all updated!