I have arrived in Edinburgh! Let the 2014 Eurotrip commence!
It didn't really hit me that I was going to Europe until I was actually on the plane to London. I bid farewell to Mom, Dad, and Bug (which is always difficult) and made my way to the gate, where I received texts, Snapchats, and little Facebook messages wishing me well and a safe journey. Those little messages put my mind at ease, and I can't wait to share this adventure with all of you. The flight to London was pretty much uneventful. Watched Captain America 2, ate, slept. That's it. However, once I got to London Heathrow, that's where things got interesting. I landed in London at Terminal 3 around 9:30, but probably didn't get off the plane until 9:45. My connecting flight to Edinburgh was at 11:20 at Terminal 1. I followed the long, never ending halls to the bus station that would bring me to Terminal 1. I knew I had to go through customs, so I got in line for that. Then, one of the attendants asked if I was picking up my luggage... Umm... I don't know?! My luggage stub that I received when I dropped my bags off in Boston said LHR (London Heathrow). I waited in line to speak to a customs officer only to be told that I had to go back to Terminal 3 to pick up my luggage. WHAT?! I had an hour before my plane took off... I raced back to Terminal 1 via bus, made my way through the fast track security point, and reached the Virgin Atlantic ticket counter. They told me that my luggage was transferred to my new flight, so I needed to go back to Terminal 1 to get on plane, which was leaving in 30 minutes. Back I raced through Terminal 3 to get to my flight. I got to customs, and the ladies before me let me go ahead of them because I was out of breath from running with flipflops through the airport and was going to be late. The customs officer wouldn't allow me through because I didn't have the address to my hostel in Edinburgh on my immigration card. So I had to spend 5 minutes explaining my life (substitute teacher, recently unemployed, traveling with a friend who just graduated, teaching in Thailand, AHHHH!) There were 3 security points and MORE long, winding hallways that separated me from gate 8A. After running through the massive Terminal 1, I made it to the gate that said CLOSING in gigantic red letters. I arrived and got on the plane with just minutes to spare. Once on the plane, I practically collapsed in my seat and just passed out. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I felt the plane touch down in Scotland. I was exhausted. But a little girl, who was sitting in the row in front of me, looked at her dad and exclaimed (with the most adorable British accent) "We're in Scotland, Daddy!" I felt that pretty much summed up how I felt. I took a double decker bus to the center of Edinburgh where Corinne was waiting! YAY! The Eurotrip had officially begun now that we were together. We checked into our hostel (Cowgate Hostel) and was off to see some of the Fringe Festival. While we walked around, we admired the beautiful architecture and alleyways, swooned at the accents, and melted away at the enticing aromas. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is in full swing, and there are street performers around every corner. We ended up getting lunch at a restaurant called "The World's End." We split a meal: fish and chips. Classic and couldn't go wrong with that. A Scottish couple sat next to us, and I asked the woman what haggis and is it worth it? She said: "You don't want to know what it is, but it's lovely." She actually let us take a small bite of her haggis meal before she cleared the entire plate. It actually was quite lovely, and I can't wait to have my own meal. We killed some time with a nap and a coffee, and bought tickets to see Dracula, the musical. It was fun! Each actor also played an instrument, making me miss my violin. Unfortunately, halfway through the performance, someone in the audience fainted (I think). It was a little distracting because he kept saying he was fine but the Fringe employees kept whispering and checking in on him. We tucked in a bit early since I was still a bit jet lagged, but the crazy nightlife right outside our hostel kept me up just a little longer. I didn't mind listening to the music and the Scots yelling in fun accents. So far, on day 2, we have seen 1 show and done a Scotish Whisky tour and tasting. I have discovered I am definitely NOT a whiskey girl, but learning about how whisky is created and such was wicked interesting. We've done quite a bit in our past couple of days, but there's still way more to come! Below are some pictures I've taken with my phone. I'll post more photos with my camera along the way. IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!! (cue the 80's glamour rock) I leave for Scotland in 2 days, and I'm still not even packed... Yeah there's a lot to do.
Saying "see you later" to friends and family these last couple of weeks have been hard. The waterworks have been plenty, and the ugly sniffles continued to flow. I know this isn't goodbye to anyone, but it's still hard knowing that I basically won't see anyone for 10 full months. I've had nice little send-offs though! The first weekend of August was a lovely family gathering in Maine where I've met some new friends (who are actually old Navy buddy friends of my Dad) and saw family that I haven't seen for years. Bidding farewell to the family is always hard, and knowing that I'm going to miss birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas makes it that much harder. Bidding farewell to my CBS crew was next. My friends at CBS Scene had become a small little family to me. We've shared our stories, drank our stressful customer service days away at Rooster, and just laughed until we couldn't breathe. I'm going to miss that crew terribly, and I can't wait to see them when I return. Again, I know this isn't goodbye forever. But the thought of not being a hop, skip and a jump away from just about all that I know is slightly terrifying. When I went to Rome to study abroad, I at least had Dana and Meghan as a home base. Luckily I'll have Corinne with me in Europe, but then I'm all on my own in Thailand. Oy... I'm not even packed, which is starting to scare me more and more. I have just about everything all set to start packing. It's just the actual process of doing it... I have a list of things to do that is somewhere floating about my head. I just need to relax, say "See you later" to my last group of friends, then buckle down and get to work. It'll all come together... eventually. I can't believe August is getting closer and closer! Europe is so close that I'm becoming antsy. Usually me being anxious isn't a good thing, but now I can't contain my excitement. Corinne and I got together last night in the lovely (and sorely missed) town of Amherst to start really figuring out how this trip is going to happen. We had a night dinner at Moti, then sat in Bart's to bust out the maps, iPads, and notebooks, and began to plan. Our main goal for the night was to get more of a rough draft of our itinerary . Places we are planning to see/stay:
It's definitely a lot in such a short amount of time, but both Corinne and I are flexible. If we want to leave a city early, we will. If we want to skip a city, we will. If we're pressed on time, then we'll skip a city and move on to the next. I'm excited for Oktoberfest, which is the next thing we have to book. I also need to book my flight. I'm not going to lie, but I am a little worried about finances especially if I'm going straight to Thailand. But I'm sure everything will be just fine.
Shared Google doc created? Check.
Shared Google calendar created? Check. Plans are underway for Eurotrip 2014 with the lovely Corinne. We have a basic rough draft as to where and when we want to go. Now we just need to expand on that. There's just one little snag... I have no idea when the Thailand program begins. All I know is that it begins in mid-October, but there is no specific date as to when it begins, nor will I know that until either July or August. So there's still some issues to resolve. But here's our rough draft for 8 weeks of amazing travel: WEEK 1- SCOTLAND WEEK 2- ENGLAND WEEK 3- FRANCE WEEK 4- POLAND, NETHERLANDS WEEK 5- GERMANY WEEK 6- AUSTRIA, HUNGARY WEEK 7- GREECE, TURKEY WEEK 8- ITALY Feel free to comment with any suggestions of places to go/things to see within these countries! We would absolutely love the input! |
Backpack in EuropeWho: Corinne and I Archives
October 2014
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