Scottish Travels: Our Trip to Edinburgh

There has been quite a bit that has happened since my last blog post. I had a fun night out at an International Party towards the end of the week, and then my weekend and Monday were spent in Edinburgh with Charlotte and Kaitlin.

International Party @ Coco Tang

Anca, me and Katelyn in the room covered in twinkly lights
(obviously not the best lighting for pictures)

Anca (from Canada) and Katelyn (from Georgia)

Me and Anca enjoying drinks in the "secret room"

The Weekend in Edinburgh

Charlotte, Kaitlin, and I started our weekend trip on Saturday morning, which meant waking up early and heading to the train station.

Making our way to Edinburgh

Charlotte making friends on the way to the station

The Nottingham train station (when I saw it I was so excited
for our trip to begin!!!)

Our mug shots also known as our Student Railcards

Breakfast on the go

From Nottingham the train took us to Newark. We had plenty of time between our two trains, but we found out this was because we had to treck across the town of Newark to get to the North Station. We were still able to make it to the North Station in plenty of time to grab tea, real breakfast, and a snack for later in the trip.

Our stop in Newark came with many pretty views 

Newark

Waiting for the train from Newark to Edinburgh

On the train I was fortunate to sit next to the nicest man who chatted with me for quite a while. He was a mechanical engineer who worked with wind turbines, so we talked about his job, my trip, television (American vs. British), and a lot of other things. When he hopped off the train Charlotte told me I "could talk to a brick." After my new friend left, Kaitlin claimed the seat next to me and we spent the remainder of the trip listening to music and taking pictures of everything we passed. 

Views from the Train

Water!!! It looks so cold

And we finally arrived!! -- Edinburgh Day #1

It had been a long day for Charlotte...

On our walk through the Old Town of Edinburgh we came upon a sword swallower... 

For dinner our first night we had a traditional curry dinner and then headed back to our home for the weekend for lots of talking and lots of sleeping.

Our home for the weekend...

(https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/569944)

So touristy -- Edinburgh Day #2

Our day started with a lovely breakfast, then we headed over to Starbucks to get wifi and plan our day. The day consisted of....

The Edinburgh Dungeon - also known as "the scariest day out"

Pictures with a William Wallace impersonator - his name was Andrew, he was a drama teacher, he was raising money for children with leukemia, and he was such a nice man

Going to the Edinburgh Castle and taking so many pictures - the views were beautiful

Walking up and down the Royal Mile so so many times

Buying postcards - the one thing that I am allowing myself as souvenirs 

Venturing through Mary King's Close - it is a part of Edinburgh that used to be streets that saw the sun and are now underground

The Scotch Whisky Experience

Dinner at the Royal Mile Pub for Bangers and Mash - it was such good food and the waiters were so nice (I left my scarf and when I returned to collect it, they saw me walking in and retrieved it right away!)

A stop at Cafe Piccante to grab a Deep Fried Mars Bar - it was one of the last boxes on Charlotte's Edinburgh checklist

The Edinburgh Waverly Station and a beautiful view of Edinburgh

Charlotte looking so fashion forward
with her ear-warmer

The queue at the Edinburgh Dungeon
("Wait Here. Await thy doom.")

Charlotte with her "fizzy lemonade" -- it turned out to be Sprite 

Scottish pounds 

Obviously you find bagpipe players in Scotland

View from the Edinburgh Castle

The Edinburgh Castle (and all the tourists)

A very fashionable Charlotte

Grabbing a few drinks before the Scotch Whisky Experience

Gaelic Coffee 

Picking which whisky we wanted to try

Just a glimpse at the largest whisky collection in the world

The Lowland Whisky we sampled

Look at Charlotte examining "the body of the whisky"

We were very unsure of trying the Haggis Balls

But it turns out Haggis Balls are quite yummy!

And then my meal of Bangers and Mash

Kaitlin and the Deep Fried Mars Bars

The night ended with deep fried Mars Bars

Goodbye to Edinburgh -- Edinburgh Day #3

The last day in Edinburgh Charlotte, Kaitlin and I got breakfast scones and headed toward the train station. The rest of the day consisted of riding on the trains and then returning to Nottingham for dinner with all of my good friends from Block 4. 

Formal Dinners and Fancy Rides

The things I love about Nottingham...

1. Crazy weeknights
2. Weekends that are spent watching movies, going into town, and hanging out at the Goose Fair
3. All my new mates
4. The Lenton and Wortley family of blocks 4, 5 & some stragglers (and by stragglers I mean other very fun people)
5. Not being made fun of for properly using my knife and fork

Freshers Flu is slowly fading, the coughing heard through the corridors has diminished, and it is a beautiful day outside!

This past week....

Tuesday meant the first day of classes, Flair Society, and then Wine and Cheese night (also the night of Elliott's Birthday) with the Block 4 and 5 tutor.Wednesday and Thursday flew by with more classes, and Thursday night ended with the Lenton and Wortley formal dinner and a night in town.

Before Wine and Cheese Night
(our Happy Birthday Elliott picture)

Block 4 looking fancy for the Formal Dinner

The girls (Sarah, Lucy, Olivia, Emilia, Ella, Holly, me and Ellie)

Picture taking at the Formal Dinner

Block 4 Boys

Getting ready to go out (me, Emilia, and Ellie)

The boys get ready by serenading each other...

Hannah, Olivia, and Ellie at the Market Bar

Will and Dan dancing

I finally felt like school had started on Friday, because I had work and more than 3 hours of classes. With the end of classes and the start of the weekend Friday night turned into a Block 4 movie night, everyone stayed in ordered pizza (which is a lot smaller than American pizza) and watched movies. The girls started by watching A Knight's Tale--which was perfect because we all love Heath Ledger. Afterwards I joined the boys and a few of the girls to watch a English made movie.

Saturday started with a quick trip into town at 10:00 am with Sam and Olivia, next came a lovely English brunch. It was following by a relaxing day and a trip to the Nottingham Goose Fair.

The Nottingham Goose Fair
(http://poetreecreations.wordpress.com/category/nottingham-goose-fair/page/2/)

Olivia, me, Lucy, and Emilia at the Goose Fair

Evidently the English have changed the name of cotton candy
to something that makes a lot less sense--candy floss

The boys and I were up for the more intense rides
(Matt, Elliott, Will, me, and Dan)

This was the Booster and it was very fun!

My favorite fair ride are always the swings!

Will was the only one who would ride the swings with me, it
was a little too tame for everyone else

We caught back up with our other friends from Block 4, we found them on
the little swings

Sunday was the ultimate lazy day for my hall, we worked on homework, some of us went to the gym or on a run, but we spent most of the day inside in our rooms just hanging out (and evidently "hanging out" is a very American thing to say).

My Monday was spent doing laundry which was followed by a very English trip into town with Charlotte and Kaitlin to have tea and scones!! 

A very excited Charlotte!

Me with my proper English breakfast tea
(the lady behind me doesn't really help with the feel of the restaurant)

Yum! Black Currant Jam (I took one home)

Proper scones (be jealous!)

We were so full, but the yummy scones
could not be wasted!

Goodbye Freshers Week, Hello Freshers Flu

Freshers Week has ended and Freshers Flu has taken over, just in time for classes to start! 24 hours a day you can hear coughs and sniffles throughout the block and in lecture halls across campus. But this does not mean that Freshers Week was not tons of fun. It was a great way to meet new people and get so much closer to all of my mates from Blocks 4 and 5 in Lenton and Wortley Hall!

Saturday night was Love Your Hall, which meant a Pub Quiz ("Trivia Night") in the Dining Hall--congrats to Dave's team, the winners!--which was followed by a relaxed Block 4 girls night in with pizza and fun conversation. Finally Sunday was the Finale Event, a concert in town.  

Freshers Week Night #7 The Finale Event

Hanging out with Block 4 before the finale event

The girls of Block 4
(Back: Me, Sarah, Olivia   Front: Ellie, Emilia, Ella, Holly, Lucy)

Some of the Block 4 boys

After the Finale Event, we had to walk back to the buses in the rain
and we are quite pathetic

We made it to the buses, wet and tired

Ellie and Lucy

Me and Olivia

It was a long week...

Thankfully I do not have Monday classes, which will hopefully give me a little bit more time for weekend trips, so I spent this Monday in town getting a few last minute things (flats, a belt, and wine for our formal dinner this coming Thursday). After my trip to town was dinner and the first of Block 4's weekly Monday Movie Nights--which meant squeezing 15+ people in my room to watch a movie on a 15 inch laptop screen. 

Monday Night Movie Night!!! So many people

Today (Tuesday), I finally started my classes with a lecture in the History of Christian Thought and Introduction to Islam, and a class on the New Testament later this afternoon... Wish me luck!