Packed for Spring Break!

Hi everyone! I'm all packed for spring break! I'm sooo excited! Tomorrow I'm leaving very bright and early at 6am to get to the Edinburgh Airport and then off to Paris!
Here is my schedule for the next two weeks:

March 28th-31st Paris
March 31st-April 3rd Rome
Stop in Pisa on April 3rd
April 3rd-5th Florence
April 5th-7th Venice
April 7th- 8th Milan
April 8th-10th Brussels
April 10th-12th Amsterdam


I'm so looking forward to traveling and seeing everything! I will take LOTS and LOTS of pictures and will upload them when I get back to St. Andrews. Love y'all and miss you!
I will update you when I have internet access!

xoxo

<3

New Hall Ball

Hi Everyone!

New Hall Ball was this weekend and it was such a great time! I really enjoyed myself and the venue was amazing. I have been working on a film essay this week that is due the Tuesday after spring break or as they call it here "Easter Holiday", I'm trying to get it done before I leave on my trip this Friday so that I don't have to work on it while I am traveling. I will update you before I leave on my trip with the dates of where I will be. I will not be able to add pictures while on my trip but hopefully will have internet access to update you on what we are doing.

Love y'all and miss you!!!

xoxo

Beach!

Hi Everyone! Yesterday I went to the beach for the first time since I have been here. The weather is getting warmer and it is getting nice and sunny most of the time. The beach was amazing. There were so many dogs running around and everyone was so happy because it was so beautiful out. And while the water in the North Sea was cold, sitting on the sand in the sun was great. Tomorrow and Saturday it is supposed to be around 60. I'm so excited to take advantage of the weather and go play golf or go to the beach. Saturday is the New Hall Ball and because so many of my friends live in New Hall one of them got me a ticket so that I can go with them. It is at a hotel off campus and there are shuttle buses running back and forth. I am looking forward to this weekend!
The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse from the Beach
The town from the beach

The North Sea!

The water was freezing!

Love y'all and miss you!


xoxo

Caroline

<3

Dublin!

This weekend I went to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. I wish I had been able to stay until Tuesday but because of the studying part in studying abroad I needed to go to class. I had an amazing time in Dublin and really loved visiting Ireland. I went with my two friends from St. Andrews, Allison and Alex and while we were there we met up with a big group of kids with the Butler program as well. We all stayed in the same youth hostel, The Dublin City Bunkhouse, which was a nice hostel with a great location. Allison, Alex and I arrived in Dublin on Friday afternoon and after checking into our hostel went to a pub to get lunch and have a Guinness to see if it really tastes different in Ireland. We all agree that it does taste different and has a richer flavor in Dublin. We then walked around and got our bearings of the city before going out that night in the Temple Bar district, a more touristy part of town. We had a great time out but unfortunately Allison was pick-pocketed by gypsies and lost her wallet. We had seen a gypsy with her hand in another girl's purse that night and were amazed at the number of them in that part of town. The next day we woke up early to take advantage of the free breakfast served by the hostel and then headed out on more adventures. We took a bus tour of the city and were able to see Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Guinness brewery. The police station was our next stop to report Allison's wallet being stolen--we asked a firefighter where the police station was and he directed us where to go and then told us to visit the fire station which was not far from the police station to get cheered up by meeting our future husband there. While I thought that sounded like a very fun trip we never made it to the fire station and instead went shopping for St. Patrick's day merchandise. We met up with the other kids from St. Andrews that night and went out to a less touristy pub to get a real feel of Dublin without the gypsies. It was a great trip and I truly loved visiting Ireland and getting a new stamp in my passport. I am so looking forward to the traveling I will be doing over spring break!
We had a Guinness in the Edinburgh airport to taste the difference between Scottish Guinness and Irish Guinness--this was an amazing thing the bartender did while pouring the Guinness!

Our Airplane to Dublin--Allison and I were upgraded to first class going there and coming home!

Ireland from the plane

Guinness in Dublin


Alex and I enjoying our Guinness and it's foam
Walking around Dublin

Allison without her wallet


St. Patrick's Cathedral
The Guinness Brewery



The Gravity Bar at the Guinness Brewery with our free pint of Guinness


Love y'all and miss you!

xoxo

Caroline

<3

Loch Lomond

Hey Everyone! Sorry this has taken so long!!! Last weekend I went to Loch Lomond with Butler, the company that brought me over along with most of the other kids in the program. It was so beautiful to see and I enjoyed getting to visit another part of Scotland. We stayed in a youth hostel that had once been a castle. It was a beautiful building and the program had rented out the entire hostel. We went moutain biking and cave diving which was interesting! I'm glad I did it but I never have to do it again. The Loch was gorgeous and I'm looking forward to the next trip that Butler takes us on to Isle of Skye in April.
Mountain Biking

Fashion showing before cave diving

Wait I need a helmet and a harness???


The hill we climbed to get to the cave

The first cave we went into---and then we were lowered 45 feet by a rope.

Again I'm so sorry this took so long! I had a paper due on Friday and was trying to get ready for Dublin and the week just flew away. Love y'all and miss you.


xoxo

Caroline
<3

Stirling

Stirling was a great trip! Another group in my program and I stayed with an old woman named Margaret who had lived in Stirling her whole life. She was widowed and not only had grandchildren but also great-grandchildren all living in Stirling. She was very sweet and told us multiple times how much she enjoyed her vodka : ). While we were there the group of students I was with went to the Stirling Castle and the William Wallace monument (and we climbed all 247 steps to the top!). The view from the monument was beautiful but coming down from the monument was very dizzying as it was a winding spiral staircase. Stirling is known as the smallest city in Scotland and the gateway to the Highlands. Saturday night some of the students went to the 1314 pub, which we then realized was an old man pub, but we had a fun time anyway. Scottish Cougars were out in full force and attacked the guys that came with us, which was very entertaining. I really enjoyed the trip and am looking forward to going to Loch Lomand next weekend with the Butler group.
This Friday I have my first essay due for Scotland, Britain and Empire and am writing about the Union of 1707 between Scotland and England forming Great Britain. It is very interesting to the Scottish perspective of history as in all the history classes I have taken Scotland was never separated from England. I will let you know how the essay goes and will add more pictures after Loch Lomand.

The William Wallace monument--sorry it is sideways!



From the top of the monument

It was very windy at the top!


A mug from the gift shop that I loved for Charlie and Murphy!
More westie stuff from the gift shop!


Stirling Castle--notice the difference in color from the renovated portion and the untouched portion. Originally it was the lighter color and has weathered to the grey color.

I was officially made Princess--I always knew I was meant to be a Princess

The Scottish Cougars stalking their prey

Love y'all and miss you! Please email me and keep me updated on what is going on back home.

xoxo
<3
Caroline