Monthly Archives: August 2015

Week 7: Scotland and Copenhagen!

Hello! Found a quick minute to write up a post, even though this week has been just as eventful as the past few. Here are the highlights from my time in Scotland and Copenhagen!

Glasgow: Brianna Fonti, this city was for you. I had a very lovely time in Glasgow and a very sweet Couchsurfing host named Andy. Toured the city, saw beautiful botanical gardens and a large, awesome graveyard. The Dali painting of Jesus may be the best painting I’ve seen on this trip and I’ve found my favorite store; at Missing, I picked up Bob Dylan’s Chronicles pt 1 for two quid and Trainspotting for one. I also did not do so well at quizzo with Andy and our new CS friend Johnny but that’s ok because I scored some veggie haggis in the meantime.


  
Edinburgh: In Kraków, I said Kraków was my favorite city. In Dublin, it was Dublin. But I’m serious this time, guys, it’s Edinburgh. Maybe it was because I stumbled on the largest arts festival in the world before it officially started (so I saw a few shows but didn’t have to deal with so much madness). Maybe it was the spontaneous hike up Arthur’s Seat, (shout out to meeting Teddy, who would be my touring friend for the rest of my time there). It could’ve been The Cow Shed, the mockumentaries, running into Savannah and Erich on The Royal Mile, or getting lost and giving a fake tour around Edinburgh. Or the exhibit at Scottish Parliament, where the most powerful photos from recent news stories were on display (still have chills from many of them). Anyway, can you tell I liked Edinburgh? I’ll be back for the fringe ASAP.


  
Copenhagen: One of the best parts of traveling is meeting new friends, and at Open’er, I was lucky enough to meet some wonderful Latvians. One of them, Rihards, goes to school in Copenhagen so I was able to visit him while checking out the city. He’s one of the nicest people EVER and it was great meeting his friends and hitting up Christiana and the bars with them as well. In Copenhagen I got to ride a bike to the city, visits the best art gallery I’ve been to all trip, finish Invisible Man in the botanic gardens (READ IT), and go to a clothes swap. As a part of the Copenhagen Fashion Festival, a pair of loose jeans I’ve had since the start of my trip got me three sweaters, three t shirts, and three pairs of pants. Shopping for the year = finished.


  
 And now…Berlin! An overnight bus took me to the #1 city I’ve been waiting to see. Just made a lovely dinner with my lovely host Verena, and 5 days of fun awaits!! Bonus picture for this week is a big inflatable cow behind where Teddy and I arrived very late to a show called Shit-Faced Shakespeare.

Week 5 and 6: Dublin, and UK Part 2! 

Hey friends! Couldn’t find the time to pop out a blog post after Somersault last week (aka I was passed out on a train through England), so here’s some of the highlights from the past two weeks!
Bristol: Bristol was awesome. Met some great couchsurfers and girls from Brighton, Banksy-hunted, drank cider in parks, and explored a city that made me so excited to move to Austin. Some neighborhoods are very similar to Austin; tons of street art, a focus on local business, and plenty of vegan restaurants. Thanks again to Anthony for finding me an awesome hostel and letting me stash my stuff at your job.


  
Somersault Festival: One festival this summer just wasn’t enough. Somersault took place in Devon, in the super south west of England. I stayed with Josh, who lived on the estate where Somersault was being held. Josh was an awesome host and festival companion, and staying inside during the downpours of the weekend was quite the convenience.

Somersault’s lineup was similar to an XPoNential Festival lineup (if you went, I’m jealous and hope that you enjoyed George Ezra and St Vincent and Pine Barons and Lord Huron and….) it included world music, local artists, and more alternative headliners. Bombay Bicycle Club’s set was probably the best one I’ve seen all summer, but I have to sit on that for a bit before I officially give them the prize. Big shout out to Jeremy Loops for being the reason I found out about the festival, and for being another one of the best sets I’ve seen a summer.


  
Back to Liverpool: Michael was my host in Liverpool and since we got along so well, I invited him to accompany me in Dublin. I stayed 2 nights at his before our early flight, enjoyed an It’s Always Sunny marathon and sharing my obsession for making spaghetti bread. His parents are saints as well, and I was really glad to see them again.

Dublin: You know it’s a good trip when you have a Guinness in your hand by 10 A.M. Michael and I did the tours of the Guinness storehouse and Jameson Distillery, went to the National Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Museum of Archaeology, wandered, and bar hopped. During our second night in Dublin we attended a huge Couchsurfing/English speaking meetup on the oldest street in Dublin (where Handel’s Messiah was first performed!!!). We met people from all over the world, and I was able to meet up with Savannah and Erich, who are from America. Savannah and Erich are Deaf and I was more than excited to practice signing with them. I could communicate pretty well and we had an awesome time, definitely one of my favorite nights out on my trip so far!


  
Cliffs of Moehr: I had one day to explore on my own, so I decided to do a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moehr. My bus stopped by Limerick, Kinvarra, and The Burren as well, but the Cliffs were definitely the highlight. Ocean water and beautiful views make for a perfect, calm day. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to!


I’m about halfway through my trip. I’ve walked though cities, jaw hanging in awe over their beauty. I’ve fallen asleep standing up. I danced, I made mistakes, I changed my plans, I still have decisions to make. I’ve been super homesick and ready to cancel my trip back to the U.S. I have about six weeks to go! Ready to learn from the experiences I have and make even more memories on this second leg of my trip!