Farewell, Europe!
6/21/12 Last day in Edinburgh:
I will be leaving bright and early at 4AM to catch a taxi to the Edinburgh airport, and it’ll be a 22 hour journey till I get home (cheap flight, lots of transfers). I can’t believe how fast the last 42 days went by. There will never be enough time to spend in Europe. This is the first time I’ve been out of the country for more than a month, and as cliche as it sounds, it was one of my favorite experiences so far. Europe is amazing.
We had something planned almost every single day, and we definitely took advantage of everyday and traveled all over the country. From going to Paris for the weekend to taking day trips to various country sides in Ireland and Scotland.
Royal Botanic Garden, Holyrood Palace
Days 7 & 8 of Edinburgh:
I only have two more days left in this amazing country. It didn’t rain (surprisingly) yesterday; we took full advantage of the sun and headed to the Royal Botanic Garden after class, which is only a 30 minute bus ride away. To my surprise, I’ve actually walked around this area last Thursday while we decided to explore more of Edinburgh, I just didn’t realize that we walked for at least an hour. The garden was beautiful, lots of grass, plants, and lots of bees. 
Ghost tours, National Museum, St. Andrews & Glasgow
6/15-6/17
After class Thursday, we decided to explore more of the city. Edinburgh is phenomenon, I like it so much more than Dublin. We climbed the Scott Monument (287 steps) and enjoyed the view, went to a park and just enjoyed the scenery.
Arthur’s Seat
View from the Scott Monument
Food for Thought
6/14/12:
So food is much cheaper compared to London. Although the pound is still more expensive, everyone feels much comfortable eating out here. We have our breakfast served from the dorms everyday (and it’s fabulous), so we usually go have a nice dinner out. Here’s some of the things I’ve had in the past few days:
Hike to Arthur’s Seat, Britain’s Men Olympic Volleyball Team
Day 2 of Edinburgh:
After class today, we decided to climb to Arthur’s Seat, which is at the Holyroad Park, located right behind our housing area. The climb uphill was a bit of a struggle for me; instead of taking a trail like a normal person, we decided to scale the mountain to get up there faster. I realized that it was a bad idea when all of us at one point were pretty much crawling our way up the steep slope. We took many breaks on our way up there:
6/10/12: Edinburgh!
It’s 3:43AM right now, and I’m all packed up and ready for the airport! The 10 days here in Ireland was way too short, and the next 10 days are going to fly by as well. My journey ends in exactly 12 days…welp, Scotland, here I come!
