words and wanderlusts: Travel Week Day 1: SCOTLAND

So this is one of many long blog posts to come...this is going to be crazy trying to catch up, and as I do this I am listening to audio of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, such a great multi-tasker haha. So during our study abroad here in London we are allowed a "travel week" which is like 4 and 1/2 days and we are allowed to go pretty much anywhere in Europe as long as there is at least three of us at all times. Some groups went to Paris, Italy, and Spain, while mine went to Scotland and Ireland.

TUESDAY, MAY 17TH. DAY 21.
We started off the day in class which got out early so that all of us could finish up last minute packing and make it to our planes and trains on time. Right before I left I booked my plane ticket to Rome June 9th after the program ends! It was surprisingly cheap and I am so excited, I have always wanted to go to Italy (more on that when it gets closer). Four of us then took a train to Edinburgh. It took around 4.5 hours I think and the scenery as we got closer to Scotland was gorgeous. The coast was especially green and gorgeous. I was kinda bored for the train ride itself unfortunately, I was too tired to read and couldn't fall asleep on the train either. We got to Edinburgh and met up with the rest of the huge group. 12 of us in all at this point. We then checked in at our Hostel which was actually pretty nice and I felt safe the whole time. We had dinner at a cheap pub where I got lasagna and chocolate cake...I wouldn't recommend the lasagna though, it had this thick layer or creamy stuff on top that was kinda sickening haha. We then decided that we wanted to do a Ghost Tour of the cemetery. However that tour didn't start for an hour so we went on the City of the Dead tour which was in the tunnels beneath the city where many people had lived and died during desperate times. They tried to make is scary and haunting but although it was a little bit lame I had fun. They even showed us pictures of people "scratches" and "marks" from the ghosts that live there and terrorize the visitors. Our tour guide was entertaining and it was worth it just to hear his Scottish accent for the whole time. We then went to bed and I slept like a rock. I am so glad I am a deep sleeper, it really came in handy on this trip especially when you have other girls at the hostel coming in and out at all time during the night, some drunk.