Final night abroad!

It’s been two weeks since my last post.  And, Barcelona has come to a close. It’s bittersweet but I’m ready to move on.  Unfortunately, the weather was getting to be absolutely beautiful as soon as I was leaving.  The streets were buzzing with people and the beaches were becoming more and more lively. The whole atmosphere of the city was changing AS SOON AS I leave.

Saturday I flew Barcelona to Edinburgh.  So many emotions were felt on that flight, as I said “Hasta Luego” to Spain.  All of the memories I shared with my best friends, it’s over (for now). I will definitely be back to Spain at some point.  As the flight landed in Edinburgh it was raining. Surprise, surprise. Good ol’ Scotland. Turns out the upcoming forecast for Scotland and England is just nothing but rain, rain, rain.  

It feels good to be back in my home away from home.  I’ve already met some of the students living in the Dalkeith house, where I lived exactly three years ago.  I saw the one and only Chef Henry for the first time since 2015. It was great to hear his heavy Scottish accent once again.

Thursday to Wednesday I did a six night trip through England. I took the train down to Bristol and spent three amazing nights in this city.  I was really looking forward to the city, despite some people telling me it wasn’t worth it. I hopped off the train, and hopped on a bus which placed me a nice three minute walk away from my hostel.  I walked through what they call the “Bearpit” which was a park in the middle of an intersection which was covered in local street art and graffiti. There were people here hanging out, skateboarding, having a good time. This Bearpit greeted me before I even checked into my hostel.  It was already a great feeling. Bristol really opened my eyes. I walked through the city and noticed how genuinely nice the people were here. They would say “sorry” for the weirdest of things on the streets. For example, I was walking and there was a runner running by me with little room on the sidewalk.  I moved aside for her to get by and she said “sorry” as she was striding past. It’s uncommon to hear these very polite manners in the littlest aquantinances.

Bristol, with a population of 450,000 people, is a place that strives with music and art.  The music scene is unreal with live gigs everynight in a number of places. The Clifton Suspension Bridge is also another main tourist attraction of Bristol.  I walked on that on my final morning in the city. It was stunning with great views on both sides. I was just so shocked at the number of friendships I made in my short three days.  All of the people I talked with, I talked with beyond the surface. Each person I talked with had something real to say about life. It was rather inspirational has left me with many thoughts to this day.  A week later.

I also took a day trip to Bath, a 10 minute train ride from Bristol, home of the only Roman Baths in England. I didn’t think much of Bath, to be honest.  It was just a cute city with a ton of tourists, and a ton of stores to make the tourists happy. It was definitely beautiful, but just kind of overrated, in my opinion.  However, just when I was about to head back to Bristol, I stopped for lunch. I got lunch in George Square, where there was a unique market going on. Lots of tents with local crafts, and then a few tents with food.  There was one tent with German food, which sounded amazing. I ended up with the German platter and ate it at one of the tables they had set up. After eating, I got up and tried to find a garbage. There were no garbages,  anywhere! There was another man following me also trying to find a garbage. He struck up a conversation with me and then he ended up giving me a tour of Bath! There was so much that the tourists don’t even know about. Jason (originally from Newcastle, but moved to Bath) took me to some of the most beautiful spots.  There is a canal that runs through the city and feels a little bit like Amsterdam. We talked quite a bit, and then he ended up giving me a ride back to Bristol on the back of his motorcycle. Thanks again, Jason!

I then headed to Brighton for a night to get a feel for the English seaside.  Brighton was good, but a little different than I had expected. Maybe it was because of the crappy, rainy weather or, the sketchy hostel.  But it was definitely a place you can see in 6 hours. I can say I’ve touched the water of the English Channel. The food was also good, so that’s a plus!  I’m sure it would’ve been better on a sunny day.

I ended the trip with a short two night stay in London, visiting my friend Agne.  It is always nice to catch up with friends! And she’s got a wonderful flat in the middle of London. I got in late-ish to London and we caught up a bit before heading to bed as she had to work in the morning.  Tuesday I had all day to explore the city.

The hustle and bustle of London was so real on Tuesday morning.  Riding the tube with the “usual” morning commuters. The men all dressed in their suits and ties, cramming into the crowded subway, not being able to move at all.  It was quite the experience to be a part of it all. I walked within the “Bank” area of London, which may be the equivalent of Wall Street in New York. I definitely felt out of place, but hey, it was something to see.  I walked all over the city and explored Hyde Park and up to Portobello Road. Agne and I met up in the evening at the supermarket and got ingredients to make enchiladas. Yum yum! Agne is a great cook 🙂 We then decided to go out for “one drink” in the SoHo area.  Tuesday’s have great drink deals, so I was talked into it. We had a great time and made it back to sleep before having to catch my 9:30am train back to Edinburgh.

I’m writing this in my hostel, as it is my FINAL night abroad.  I said goodbye to Dalkeith today, and walked my (heavy) luggage to the bus stop and made my way into the city.  I am so exhausted and so ready to start my journey back home.

When I get back home I have no idea what I’m doing.  I have plans to work at Cedar Point this summer, once again. I’ll probably end up doing it because it’s such a good gig. But I’m going back home with an open mind.  That’s all I can really do.

Back at it: 2018.

Here we are, back in Spain in 2018.

I’m due for another blog post.  Well, what can I say?  On the 21st of December I departed out of Barcelona and towards London. This is where I was to make my connecting flight to Chicago.  Though, my flight out of Barcelona was delayed over an hour and I only had an hour and 25-minute layover in London.  Needless to say, I missed my flight out of London.  I did everything I could to make it onto flight.  I was one of those people sprinting through the airports, and I even heard someone say as I sprinted by “I hope I’m never one of those people.” HA.  I ended up missing the connecting flight with two other people who were studying abroad in Barcelona and were heading back home.  One from Brookfield, WI (ironic) and the other from St. Louis.  The airline provided us with a hotel room for the night, dinner, breakfast, and shuttle service to/from the airport.  I was upset that I missed the flight because I was only going to be home for 8 days anyway! So, this did cut my time in Wisconsin.  However, LONDON!?  That’s not the worst city to be stuck in.  Will, Bridget, and I had a (not so quick) dinner and decided we should Uber it into the city and see what the city has to offer.  I had previously met a friend while in Manchester that lives in London, so I messaged him on Facebook to see if he was free.  It worked out perfectly! We met up and he showed us around 3 busy places in the SoHo area of London. It was INCREDIBLE.  We didn’t make it back to our hotel until 4:30am, and my alarm was set for 6:20am.  I woke up the gang and we made it to the airport to make it onto our 10:20 flight.

Landing in Chicago was a pretty strange feeling. Arriving back home when you’ve been so far away is like a dream.  You have to pinch yourself to make sure it’s really happening.

Seeing my family and friends for the week was simply amazing, even if I had to scrape the ice off my windshield a few times. Catching up with my family had me feeling so, so fulfilled.  Seeing the happiness on my brother’s face as he talked about his new job, seeing the growth of my beautiful niece.  As well as hearing my Dad’s witty jokes, wisdom and advice.  And THE FOOD.  I definitely ate 50 too many cookies.

So much to do in so little time.  I tried to see as many friends as I could.  But before I knew it, it was December 29th and I was headed to Edinburgh, Scotland for the New Year.  This was my first time back to Scotland since studying abroad there in the Spring of 2015.

My flight landed at 8:00am (Dec. 30) to Edinburgh and I hadn’t gotten any sleep on the flight.  I was so tired, but didn’t have time to be tired as I was in SCOTLAND.  I eventually made it to Dalkeith, where I lived in 2015.  I got into my bedroom and took a two-hour nap before getting ready and heading into the city.  It turned out that Kristen, who also studied abroad with me, was also in Edinburgh for the New Year.  We reminisced on the city together.  The night of Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) was so crazy.  Edinburgh is known to get pretty crazy around New Year’s.  And it was. Thousands of people gather inside a blocked off street and party all night.  People were dancing and drinking, having a jolly time.  I must do this again in my lifetime, it was that good. Scotland had me feeling all sorts of feels.  While there, I realized I missed the Scottish atmosphere so much.  So much that I ended up changing my flight out of Edinburgh from January 4 to January 8.  I met so many lovely people on this trip and did so many fun things, including a homemade dinner and good conversation at the place Kristen and I used to live.  As well as a day trip to the Highlands and participating in a pub crawl.

January 8 finally arrived and I had to wake up at 3:15 in the morning to make my 6:30 flight out of Scotland.  I made it back into Spain around 10:30am and had to be at work by 3:30. BACK TO IT WE GO. It does feel good to be back surrounded by all the lovely children.

It was 59 degrees the other day, and it’s been continuing in the mid 50’s all week. I won’t be complaining about these Spanish winters.  My birthday is tomorrow so I will be celebrating tonight with some friends in Barcelona!  I can’t wait to see what 23 has in store 🙂