Fall Break: The Final Chapter- Glasgow

And now… for the much awaited final post of my final post of fall break. Close to a month later, I have gathered my final thoughts on my last big travel. As you could gather, I am no longer taking any trips. Fall break wiped me out, and travel in Europe now is getting harder and harder due to recent events. I just don’t have the energy to jump through more and more hoops to get to different cities. I’m truly lucky to have gotten to travel so much in the first half of the semester and now I have so much tim to take in the beautiful city of Florence. My coming posts will be about my time here- and trust me, that is more then enough…

Glasgow at 6pm

To get to Glasgow, I was up at 4am in Dublin, hopped on a plane, and made my way to visit my friend. You know those friends that you make when you’re on vacation that you think you won’t see again, especially because you live on different continents? Those don’t exist in my life. I actually went and visited my friend that I met in Mexico, James. Well, I would like to take this time to thank James and his family. They are some of the nicest, most hospitable people. I had a really great time and I’m happy I was able to make the trip to see them. James actually has requested to write a short paragraph for this blog so…

“Meaghan was an the best guest ever. She is very sensible and responsible [in most situations].”

Thank you James for the long paragraph contribution. This gives a lot of insight to my experience on the trip. Please note that part of this was edited to make sense for all readers, but the context was not changed in the slightest (I’m actually not sarcastic right now)!

Trampolines!!!!

Now about what I actually did. After arriving in Glasgow, I went and got settled in the house before going to a trampoline park! At this point I had been up for 8 hours, but when you’re in a room covered head-to-toe in trampolines, you find the energy to jump around for an hour. I went to lunch, where James had his first burrito ever, and then went back home and relaxed for a little bit. That night, we went out to dinner in the center of the town and got Fish and Chips (because you can’t get more stereotypical UK), with James friend before going to the cinema and seeing the new James Bond movie. If you want to see a movie I highly recommend the new Bond film. I was up for 20+ hours that day, without a nap, so needless to say, I slept for 12 hours that night.

James joined in on the selfies

It was super nice to have a house and a bed and a private bathroom in an actual house after living in hostels and apartments since August. It was a lot like being at home with my family in the suburbs, so I felt really comfortable. I didn’t realize how much I actually missed being in a neighborhood and a house until getting there.

Glasgow by night

Friday, I went into the city center and saw part of the city of Glasgow. It’s a nice and urban city, much different the Edinburgh, much like a city in the US. The people were very friendly and the sun set at about 4pm, so that was very different. That night, James and I went out with his friends and hung out. Going out with Scottish people is an experience, but in a good way. I had a lot of fun and stayed up way too late…again.

They were out of pumpkins of I carved a melon

Saturday was the Rugby World Cup Final…… and….. Halloween!! That day I chilled in the house and watched Rugby before getting dressed up as a robber for Halloween and getting to see trick-or-treaters. I was lucky to be in a place that celebrated Halloween because Italy does not celebrate. It was quite funny, when the kids came to the door they got candy, but for the parents that came in with the kids, they got to drink a beer. James’ family went all out for Halloween with activities, like bobbing for apples, for the neighborhood; it was really really fun to be a part of. After the kids left, a few adults came over and they had a small party. I got to dress up as a police officer and hang out in the house. Overall, it was a successful Halloween.

Costume 1

Going home was a nightmare! I had a 7 hour layover in Dublin, where I sat in an airport McDonalds and watched Netflix. The my plane got stuck on the runway for an hour and a baby cried and screamed the entire time, so sleeping was out of the question.  When I finally got into Milan’s airport, around 12pm, I had an hour long bus ride to the train station. At midnight, the trains had stopped running and I took a 4 hour nap in a hostel before getting on the earliest train out of Milan to Florence to get back for 8am. Luckily, my friend picked me up from the train station and was able to bring me home to drop off my bags before making it to my 8:50am class. Needless to say, I was dead.

This is an actual police uniform

I really enjoyed my time in Glasgow, and in general, my Fall Break. It was an amazing trip and the UK/ Ireland, is such a welcoming place. It definitely curbed my homesickness. By the end of it, however, I was really missing Florence, and I have come to realize Florence is like my second home.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Prince Harry

I think I’m finally caught up from my fall break, sleep wise that is. Blog wise- I have a lot of work to do. I’ve thought about the many ways to do this, but I figure that instead of waiting for one supermegaextralong blog post about each city that I went to all in one post, 4 normal length blog posts will suffice. It’s easier for you, it’s easier for me, so let’s get started.

London, the city of sunlight

On Thursday, I left straight from class and hopped on train to Milan, then a bus to the airport, then a flight to London. All of the places I had ben to, up to that point, the customs process was relatively easy. it’s nothing like the USA, maybe they look at the passport, maybe they do nothing, it’s all pretty relaxed. London was the complete opposite. Customs, especially not being an EU citizen, gave me such a hard time. After waiting in line for 45 minutes and then being grilled with questions about traveling alone for 10 minutes, they finally let me into the country. Getting to my friend’s flat in London was one of the most tiring travel moments I have had. After Two trains, one subway, a bus, a plane, a cranky customs officer, and an Italian man giving me his email address, all in 10 hours, I was finally ready to enjoy London.

It wouldn’t be a post until you saw a selfie

Friday, I spent my day seeing all the attractions along the river, as well as absorbing the fact that people could actually understand me when I spoke. London is filled with endless hidden gems and cultural sights: from the Big Ben, to the London Eye, to the Shrek Adventure, and Starbucks and Chipotle; there was so much to do. I was able to experience autumn, which is a foreign concept in Italy. The leaves were different colors, the air was brisk, the Pumpkin Spice Lattes were warm, and the North Face Fleeces were abundant.

The tower Bridge

the beautiful London Bridge

I started at Tower Bridge, which was very pretty and nice to see and walk over. It was a bridge. Once I saw how grandiose Tower bridge was, I was excited to see the famous London Bridge. It has a song named after it, so it must be this big spectacle, right? Wrong. I walked through cute markets and stores, and felt strangely at home, to come to the one, the only London Bridge.

Just a Casual Ferris Wheel

After that let down, I continued down the Thames. Shakespeare’s Globe, all the stores, the sights across the river, outdoor book stands, and beautiful old streets led me to the wonderful London Eye. The London Eye was marvelous to see, and after seeing the queue to get on the ferris wheel, I made my way to Big Ben.

Shakespeare’s Globe

Big Ben and the Parliament building were beautiful! Being able to see the tower in person was magnificent. From there, I made my way to the center, went into the national gallery, and finished my day with some Chipotle. Because the most important part of this story is that I got to eat Chipotle.

It’s not a trip to London without a picture in a phone booth filled with R-rated ads

That night, my friend took me to meet some of her friends. I always love getting to see how university is different in every country. London isn’t much different, but just like Italy, the students don’t live on campus, they commute to school everyday.

Queen Elizabeth? You Home?

The next day, my friend took me to see Buckingham Palace, which honestly looks like a building I drive by in DC. I got to see the royal guard and a bunch of Parks. I went to Twinings tea shop and got some Christmas tea. And ended the day by going to Harrod’s. Harrod’s is basically just a huge, expensive, shopping plaza. In theory, the content of the entire store probably costs more than most countries in the world. It’s like they created the store with me in mind. I loved it.

Honey, I’m home

Overall, I really enjoyed London. It was easy to navigate, friendly, and fun. There is always something to do or see, I would love to go back. The only downside was the pound. Not only is London expensive in general, you have to convert your money to pounds, which is insanely expensive coming from the USA (1.5 USD for every pound). You think you’re getting a good deal when your water is 1.5 pounds but in reality, it’s just a huge ripoff. Next stop, Edinburgh.