I am officially done with lectures at The University of Edinburgh! I have two finals in May but other than that I am free to travel and roam around Europe. And travel I will… the next couple of weeks will be filled with plenty of trips and exciting times to come. This is the start of spring break… my parents and brother are coming to Scotland for the next week and then I am travelling to Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna with my two flatmates, Gabrielle and Emily. Finally, I am jetting off to Tel-Aviv to spend some time with my family. I feel so grateful to be able to travel so much and am really looking forward to all of my trips!
Life continues to float by in Scotland. Lask weekend I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Loch Katrine, a serene lake surrounded by mountains. As I walked along the side of the river and took a boat cruise, I was reminded how the pace of life is so different here. At school I always feel like I am running around to class, activities, or social obligations. I feel like I have a lot more time here to stop, walk slowly, and enjoy the incredible city that I am in. I am usually the type of person that loves the face paced life- my dream has always been to live in NYC, the city that never sleeps, but it’s been oddly refreshing to go slowly.
Yesterday I went to my very first Rugby game. I had never seen Rugby before and had no idea how the sport worked or what the rules were. We went to an absolutely huge stadium to watch the Edinburgh vs. Toulouse game. Edinburgh won 19-14 and it was exhilerating to watch them do that amazing thing where they lift the players off the ground, the weird shovy huddle thing, and watch players get tackled to the ground. It was quite the experience and I am so glad that we went.
Other than lakes and rugby I have been to some really cool cocktail bars recently. At one of them, Dragonfly, I had the most delicious apple/pear drink and at the other, Bramble Bar, I felt like a VIP as the bar was so hidden that there was no sign, just a black door underground. It’s so refreshing not having to worry about not being the legal age limit when I go out. People always look at my New York ID funny but it’s probably because they aren’t used to them.
I have also been watching a bunch of (the UK version) of Skins. It has made me decide that I really need to work on my British accent. I think it’s definitely more feasible than picking up a Scottish accent.