Belfast w/ Michelle & Counting Down to Greece!

     A couple months ago I saw on Facebook that Passenger was playing a show in Northern Ireland and asked my flatmates if any of them would come with me. Thankfully Michelle was interested and we booked tickets for his April 27th show! Our Belfast trip for the concert was last weekend and we had a really good time. We left on Friday afternoon and got to our hostel in the city at about five. Pretty much as soon as we checked in we asked the guy working at the hostel to suggest a good pub to go to for dinner, and he told us to go to Lavery's which was pretty close to where we were staying. Both of us ordered steak and Guinness pie, an Irish favourite. It was perfect and just what we were in the mood for. On our way back to the hostel we picked up some snacks, then spent the evening in the lounge watching 10 Things I Hate About You and cuddling with the adorable dog that belonged to one of the hostel employees.

     After breakfast the next morning, we set out to do some sightseeing before the concert in the evening. We decided to figure out where the venue was first (so that we wouldn't get lost later on), and had no idea where it was, until we realized it was in the Student Union Building of the university. Once we knew where the show was, we took a stroll around Queen's University and the Botanic Gardens. It was a gorgeous, sunny day which was really lucky because Belfast (like much of the UK) tends to be pretty grey and rainy. We then headed into the center of town, checked out the city hall and some shops, then got lunch at another pub. This time we had Irish stew! We weren't sure how to spend the rest of the afternoon so we looked at the attractions on the map/brochure we had, and saw that there was a Titanic Walking Tour. We figured that would be a fun and informative way to see part of the city, so we walked across town to the "Titanic Quarter" to do the tour. Our guide was from England and she made the walk lots of fun with stories and history about the Titanic, which had been built in Belfast. We got to see the pump house and dry dock, as well as the meeting room where it was decided that the ship would have only 20 lifeboats. After the tour we were so exhausted from all the walking we had done that we decided to take a cab back to our hostel. It was actually kind of necessary if we wanted time to have dinner before the concert so we didn't mind paying £2.50 each for a ride back. After all the Irish food we had consumed so far that weekend, we wanted some variety so we went out for Chinese food. Surprisingly it was really good! You never really know with Asian food in the UK.

     Finally we headed over to Mandela Hall for the show. The lineup to get in was crazy long so we had to wait out in the cold for a while, but once we got inside we got drinks and some seats up on the balcony with a great view. The opening act wasn't great; it was just some guy with a guitar who was not nearly as talented as Passenger is haha. I had already seen Mike (Passenger) in Vancouver in October, so I knew we were in for a good show, and I was not disappointed! Unfortunately the crowd was pretty loud and obnoxious and some girl kept yelling "yolo", but Mike's witty humour and good music made up for it. By the time we got back to the hostel it was around 10:30, and I topped off the night with a fun Skype chat with Cyrus before going to bed.

     In the morning we basically just had breakfast then made our way to the airport because we had an early afternoon flight. The flight over was a bit bumpy, but the flight back to Glasgow was so much worse. It actually felt like a roller coaster with really steep drops. People actually screamed at one point, and I'm not afraid of flying but I was clutching the arm rests, especially when we were landing. It was a bit stressful, and when we got back to our flat I just spent the evening relaxing with a movie.

     This past week has partly been spent writing a history essay, but I've had some fun hangouts with my friends as well! We've had several movie nights (our favourite activity) and on Tuesday we had a picnic in the park because it was such a beautiful day. We picked up some sandwiches from Pret a Manger and some crisps at Sainsbury's, then took the subway to the Botanic Gardens in the West End to hang out and have our lunch. On Wednesday night I went out for dinner with Michelle, Rebecca, Rebecca's sister, Alicea, and Alicea's friend at the Counting House. It turned out to be a really funny night. After we finished our dinner, some creepy Scottish guys at the table next to ours decided to come over and try to pick us up. They asked where we were all from and were really excited when we said we were Canadian, then tried to get us to come to the bar with them so they could buy us drinks. We politely declined and they left, but then one of them came back and gave Amanda (Alicea's friend) his number, which was hilarious. I went out for breakfast with the same group of girls (plus Anna) this morning at the Willow Tea Rooms which was fun, but also bittersweet because it was the last time I would get to see Alicea before we both went home.

     In other news, I have my Greece trip all booked!! It's a trip I've been wanting to make for a while and it's so exciting that it's finally happening. The trip is a mix of solo-travel and guided tour, and my itinerary looks a little like this...

May 16 - Glasgow to Corfu
May 17 - Corfu to Athens
May 18 - Athens, join Top Deck tour group
May 19 - Athens
May 20 - Athens to Mykonos
May 21 - Mykonos
May 22 - Mykonos to Paros
May 23 - Paros
May 24 - Paros to Santorini
May 25 - Santorini
May 26 - Santorini to Athens
May 27 - Athens, Top Deck tour ends, back to Corfu for 3 nights on my own
May 30 - Corfu to Glasgow

     It's hard to believe I leave for Greece in only 13 days! I'm really excited, but sad at the same time because the day I leave for Greece is the day I have to say goodbye to my flatmates. When I come back to Glasgow on the 30th, they will all have left and I'll be on my own until I fly home on June 1st. It's so weird to think I'll be coming home in less than a month, but at this point I pretty much feel ready to come back. I love being on exchange and living in Glasgow but I definitely miss Victoria and all of my loved ones back home. Not sure when I'll write on here next because the next week or so is just studying for exams, but I'll write another post either after exams or after my trip to Greece :)

"I'm on Vacation!" -- My UK Adventure with Cyrus

     Yikes, I just realized I haven't written a blog post in almost a month. Cyrus just left to go home to Vancouver this morning and I'm feelin' kind of lonely, so I thought it would be therapeutic to write about how I spent my spring break. The week or so leading up to the vacation were a little rough with essays being due and me catching a nasty cold, but I stayed in good spirits because I had lots to look forward to in the next few weeks.

     Once my essays were finished and handed in, I just had to try to make the day or two before Cyrus arrived in Glasgow pass quickly. I basically just slept in until noon then spent the rest of the day hanging around town, shopping or running errands. Finally March 30th arrived! I woke up early that morning to finish cleaning my flat (I wanted it spotless haha I was obsessed...) then caught the shuttle to meet Cyrus at the airport. My heart would start beating so fast every time someone on his flight walked out of the arrivals gate, then after what seemed like ages, he came out and I ran over for a hug. After a happy reunion we took the bus back into town and just relaxed at my flat before exploring the city together. I took him to the Cathedral and Necropolis, Buchanan and Argyle Street, then we went out for dinner at the Counting House. All in all it was a really nice evening and I was so happy to be together again after 2.5 months.

     The next day was the beginning of our Scotland road trip. We didn't bother waking up too early -- we just had a lazy morning and a nice breakfast. We took the shuttle to the airport in the early afternoon to pick up our rental car, then we were off to Glencoe. Thankfully Cyrus was driver (I would have been so nervous) and things went relatively smoothly that day, except for a few sketchy moments near the beginning when we were still figuring out the controls of the car. We made a few stops along the way to take pictures. It was a beautiful drive; everywhere we looked there were hills, snow-capped mountains and lochs. We arrived at the Glencoe Hotel at about 4:30, checked in, then took a walk for some sight-seeing. We walked past Loch Leven, then did a woodland walk on one of the Glencoe Lochan trails. The trail went around a small loch and I noticed that the woodlands and scenery looked much like those in Canada, specifically around the Rockies and Lake Louise. We discovered that the woodlands around the loch were planted by Lord Strathcona to make his Canadian wife feel more at home in the Highlands and the resemblance then made sense. We walked back to our hotel after to have some dinner and watch Game of Thrones in the room before calling it a night. The next day we hiked the Pap of Glencoe which was challenging but so worth it. We were actually off-trail for most of the hike, which was a little sketchy in some areas but it was nice to be on our own and enjoy the amazing scenery. We were pretty exhausted after the hike, so we picked up some beers on the way back for an evening of relaxing in our hotel room. We had another nice dinner at the hotel then spent most of the evening just hanging out and watching TV.
                                 

      We got an early start the next morning because we had a long journey ahead of us. It took us about 2.5 hours to drive to Tain, where we did a tour of Glenmorangie Whisky Distillery. Whisky wasn't actually being made while we were there; apparently it was "dry season", a two week break in whisky production and most of the workers weren't around the distillery. It wasn't a bust though because the lady working in the shop offered to give us a free tour and a couple of free drams afterwards. After having lunch at a café on the way out of Tain, we hit the road and began the 3.5 hour drive to the Isle of Skye. We got off-course a couple of times, but thanks to my trusty phone's GPS we were able to find our way to Skye. Even once we got onto the island it was about an hour and a half drive to our B&B. I hadn't realized how big the island was so I was a little surprised, but it was a really enjoyable and beautiful drive. We made it to Seabound B&B in the village of Flodigarry a little after 7, and we just spent the evening relaxing and recovering from the long drive that day. The next day the B&B owner, Clare, cooked us a nice Scottish breakfast and we set out to hike the Quiraing. The hike was beautiful and seemed really easy in comparison to the Pap of Glencoe. That night we had dinner at the Flodigarry Country House Hotel and met a woman from the States who was also staying at our B&B. She was quite the character and was pretty tipsy from from all the wine she drank by the time Clare drove the three of us home. The next day we did another hike -- this time the Old Man of Storr. The views were incredible and it felt very remote; we hardly saw any other people by the time we got near the top of the Storr. The entire hike was over 7km and we felt quite accomplished. After the hike we drove to Portree to get cash and some lunch before driving to the B&B where we would spend our final night on Skye. When we arrived at Carter's Rest Guesthouse we were greeted by the owners who were incredibly friendly and welcoming. They served us a delicious supper then we went out to watch the sunset. It was a perfect last night of the road trip and I'm already feeling nostalgic for it.

     We started the journey back to Glasgow at about 10:30 the next morning. The drive was insanely long -- just over five hours I think. We stopped at some nice places along the way, including Eilean Donan Castle which I was surprised to discover looks much bigger and grander in photographs. Still beautiful though. We were going a little crazy from all the driving and were making ridiculous jokes that probably wouldn't be funny to anyone else. As I'm writing this I'm listening to some of the songs we played in the car on the road trip, and it's crazy how much they take me back to the moment. For example, Justin Timberlake's new album reminds me of the drive to Glencoe, and Passenger's All the Little Lights album and a bunch of Stars songs (especially Your Ex-Lover is Dead) bring me back to driving around the Isle of Skye. 

     The next half of the vacation was spent mostly in Glasgow, with a few mini-trips added in. The day after coming back from our road trip we went to Edinburgh to meet up with Nikisa, Cyrus' friend who was doing some traveling and happened to be in Scotland at the same time we were. We did a short hike up to Arthur's Seat, then later on had tons of fun just hanging out in the city and sharing stories over beers and a pub meal.

     On the 8th Cyrus and I took the bus to Manchester for the Man U vs. Man City football match. We checked in to our hotel, a little pub/inn called the Ox Noble in the afternoon and got ready to go to the Hilton Deansgate for our VIP package. There was a champagne reception and an open bar which was awesome, and we were served a three course meal before being transported to Old Trafford by a coach bus. The result was 2-1 for Man City, which was too bad but they were clearly the team that played better. After the match we were transported back to the Hilton for a post-match analysis and some more drinks from the bar before going back to the Ox Noble and calling it a night. Our bus back to Glasgow the next day wasn't until 5pm so we spent the day exploring Manchester a bit. The bus journey was brutal -- it took five hours and the guys sitting behind us smelled SO BAD. There was also this crazy Glaswegian lady who was loudly talking some poor random guy's ear off. He handled it really well though (I would have gone crazy).

     The last four days were just spent hanging out in Glasgow. On Wednesday we did a walking tour with Gary then went to a club called Octo that night. We went to McDonald's afterwards and Cyrus agreed with my conclusion that Canadian McDonald's is much better. Sadly the next morning Cyrus woke up with a sore throat and was sick for the rest of the trip. We spent most of the last few days just taking it easy and hanging around the flat. On Friday night I went to One Direction which was a blast, and Liam totally waved/made eye contact with me. Same with Zayn. Needless to say, I was swooning and on a high for the rest of the night. Yesterday Cyrus and I spent our last day together in the West End. We went to Kelvingrove Museum then had dinner at an Italian place on the way back to my flat. It was so hard to say goodbye last night/this morning but it's comforting to know that it will only be just over a month until I get home.

     The past two weeks have been one of the highlights of my exchange and Cyrus and I made so many awesome memories. On another note, this blog post is probably the longest I've written by far. It's monstrous. Congratulations if you actually read to the end (probably only my family and close friends haha). The next month is going to be a grind; I have two essays and two exams to write then I'm finally done school on May 15th. I haven't decided what I'm going to do when I'm done -- whether I'm going to travel or push my flight forward and go home early. I'm feeling a bit homesick right now but I won't make a decision for a couple weeks or so. I doubt there will be too many exciting things to blog about in the weeks leading up to my exams, but I have a trip to Belfast planned for next weekend with Michelle so I'll write another post after that. :)

London & Paris with the Parents :)

     Last Sunday I flew to London to spend a few days there with my parents. It was so exciting to see them and my brother (with his school group) at Heathrow since I hadn't seen them in almost two months. We said goodbye to Marcus, who was taking a coach bus into the city with his group, and we took a cab into London where we checked into our hotel and had a little nap before going to Mass at Westminster Cathedral. We went to the same Mass as Marcus' school group and we could tell how jet-lagged everyone was. People were literally falling asleep (my brother included). Afterwards my parents and I had dinner at Pizza Express then made our way back to our hotel for an early night.

     We had a bit of a late start the next day, but we managed to have breakfast at the hotel before it ended and went back to Westminster Cathedral to go up the bell tower. It was SO cold and windy, and although the view was amazing I couldn't bear being up there for more than about ten minutes. That day we also checked out the National Gallery which was pretty enjoyable even though I'm not a huge fan of art galleries or museums. In the evening we went to to an Italian restaurant called Bella Italia for dinner (where my brother's school group also happened to be having dinner... I felt like we were stalking them. Awkward.) then saw Les Mis, which was fantastic. I had wanted to see it onstage for ages so that was really exciting for me.

     On Tuesday we did some more sightseeing, including going up on the London Eye and seeing Big Ben Tower and Westminster Abbey. We also went to King's Cross to see Platform 9 3/4 -- a must for any Harry Potter nerd in London. I really wanted to do the Harry Potter studio tours but it would have taken a full day and we just didn't have time. On the bright side, I have an excuse to go back to London! That evening we managed to get discounted tickets for Phantom of the Opera, my favourite musical. Even though that was my third time seeing it onstage I was still really excited -- Phantom never gets old for me. We had insanely good seats too, which was a nice bonus!

     We didn't do too much on Wednesday since we had an early evening flight to Glasgow, but we did do a bit of shopping on Oxford Street. When we got into Glasgow my parents went to their hotel to check in and rest for a bit before going out for dinner all together at the Counting House. This time I had a highland burger (which had haggis in it). Not sure how I felt about it haha. It made me flash back to Burns Night, when Kirsty, Anna and I had way too much haggis. Afterwards I went to Sainsbury's with my parents and they bought me groceries, then I went back to my flat for the night. On Thursday I spent some more time with my parents and just wandered the city a bit. We did a bit of shopping on Buchanan Street then they took my flatmates and I out for dinner at a Greek restaurant which was really fun. The next day my parents did a half-day trip to Loch Lomond while I had class then we met up in the evening. I showed them my flat and took them to Glasgow Cathedral and for a walk to the top of the Necropolis. We went for dinner after and I stayed the night with them at their hotel because we had an early flight to Paris the next day.

     We got into Paris in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel and explored the city a bit before having an early dinner at the Hippopotamus. Since I've been to Paris several times before, and my parents have too, we didn't do too many super touristy things while we were there which was nice. We did go for Mass at Notre Dame though and went to the Eiffel Tower, but we didn't go up (which was a relief since it was so cold and windy, plus it's always super crowded up there). One of the highlights was seeing a concert at the Paris Opera House on Sunday night. It was a brass ensemble performing Wagner & Bruckner pieces and the concert was good, but for me, being the Phantom fan that I am, the exciting part was seeing the inside of the Opera House. It was gorgeous and everything I imagined it to be. Sadly we didn't get to see the underground lake or the Phantom's lair hahaha. We also did some shopping while in Paris, and I managed to get some really good deals on some high-end clothing brands at a designer outlet mall. On Monday I had to say goodbye to my parents which was hard because I know I won't see them for another 2.5 months. It was nice spending so much time with them though, and I have lots to look forward to in the next couple weeks (namely a visit from a certain someone I have been missing terribly!).

     I have tons of school work to do before spring break, but in a way that's a good thing because it will make the time before Cyrus comes go by faster. Only 11 more days until our UK adventure together :)