Hálo there my fellow Adventurers!!!! Happy Springtime!
I know it may not look like Spring from my photo, but I promise you Scotland gets a little bit 'warmer' every day!
Oh my, how time does fly! But wait Meghan 'how can you be in your final week of classes if April has only just begun! Don't you still have all of April and May to explore Scotland during your Study Abroad?! What about Spring Break and final exams, what happenes during the rest of your semester?!'
Good question my fellow adventurer, allow me to explain....
So here at the University of Edinburgh, lectures (classes) run for an equivalent of 11 weeks. Starting back on January 15th with week one, leading up to the final day of classes on April 6th (which also happens to be my birthday so stay tuned for a post detailing my Scottish birthday celebration), week 11 of lectures will end this week, later to be followed by spring break and final exams, filling up the rest of my last two months until I officially leave!
Currently to date, throughout my time here in Scotland I have done the Harry Potter Trail in Edinburgh, seen the Edinburgh Castle (twice), visited the extremely terrifying Edinburgh Dungeons (which I kid you not fellow adventurer, was super scary in the moment), taken the train to Stirling (and seen their castle as well), visited Holyrood Palace, had High Tea at The Dome, been to Dean’s Village (here in Edinburgh), spent the evening at the Scottish Whiskey Experience followed by a dinner at The Witchery (both located at the top of the Royal Mile), walked the waterway of Leith, taken the bus to Costcos (yes Costcos, they have one here in the UK), saw the play The Belle’s Stratagem (I got to have a British style night out at the theatre haha), visited the Isle of Skye (including Glencoe and Glenfinnan, the home of the Harry Potter Bridge which I actually visited twice), dipped my hands in the fairy pools at the Isle of Skye, sailed on Loch Ness (I may or may not have seen the Loch Ness Monster, but i’ll never tell), had a British Picnic on top of Calton Hill (here in Edinburgh), visited St. Andrews (the same town and university where Prince William met his Princess Kate Middleton), saw the live orchestra and movie experience of Beauty and the Beast right here at Usher Hall in Edinburgh (which fun fact, Usher Hall, before it was a theatre, the building was used as a beer distillery), shook hands with BOTH the royals; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, not to mention I also traveled to Spain and Portugal (having visited many adventure worthy sites there), AND still I have a handful more of Scottish destinations to visit, an April spring break to embark on (where I will be visiting two more countries, I’ll leave my location a mystery for now so it looks like you have to stay tuned to find out), and to top it all off, on April 6th I will be celebrating my first birthday abroad, starting my day off getting my nails done, later having lunch with a bunch of friends, or rather I should say we are getting High Tea at the Dome (again), topping off my birthday celebration with a good ole Scottish Ceilidh at Ghillie Due right here in Edinburgh! .
Now I know what your probably thinking my fellow adventurer, 'wow Meghan you've done so much in such a short period of time, you must be exhausted'! But to answer honestly, while I do get tired from time to time (which is usually at night so therefore I just go to sleep), but overall, no I am not tired at all! Perhaps it's just my young soul talking but everyday I constantly feel this travel bug whispering inside me to go out and adventure! Travel to different countries, even just take a walk down the street, in truth I am only in Scotland for just under six months, so why not try and seize every moment!
Fun Fact Time! Say Meghan, what is a Scottish Ceilidh? Is it a type of food, a drink or some type of festival?
Haha, no my fellow adventurer, it is none of the above, rather a Scottish Ceilidh is best described as a Scottish dance party, following Scottish dance sequences, where men wear kilts and ladies wear something pretty, the band plays Scottish bagpipes and dance music while everyone spins around the room in unison, trying not to get their toes stepped on from night to early evening! But for now that’s all I am going to say about a Ceilidh, for I promise to tell you all about my birthday and dance after I have attended!
Of course aside from all my travels, I am after all in Scotland to attend the University! Somehow during my 'free time' I have managed to hand in 3 big term papers and one big group project, but I still have 2 big final exams to look forward too, so my study part of 'study abroad' is far from over yet, but at least now I am working towards the home stretch!
Now as sad as I will be to leave my new Edinburgh home (which I don't want to talk about now since I still have plenty of time to enjoy my host country), but when I do leave, rather then returning to my home state or even to my home university for the summer, I have been ever so blessed to be given the opportunity to work for a magical company, snagging an amazing professional internship, that in due time I will tell you all about, but for now I want to leave my future plans a mystery so that you can focus on my travels while here in Scotland, or rather as I like to call it, embrace living in the here and now! But I am over the moon excited to embark on my new internship, which in my mind is still a 'travel blog worthy journey' so don't think for one second my fellow adventurer that after my study abroad ends, my blog will end there. Rather I plan to continue on writing for as long as I consider my life to be an adventure, and it's almost my birthday, so I'm still young and intend to keep exploring!
Without further adieu, I will leave you here for the moment my fellow adventurer, I hope my little break down of my Scottish adventures so far has inspired you to maybe go visit some or even just say, 'wow Meghan, you really are having quite an amazing experience'! So in wrapping up my final week of lectures here at Uni, followed by my birthday and a visit from my parents (who will accompany me to one of my two upcoming spring break destinations), I simply just cannot wait to experience all that the future has planned for me, but until then comes, I will just continue to take it one day at a time, living in the moment, savoring every moment I can during my time here abroad!
Until Next Time My Fellow Adventurer...
Cheers,
Meghan Chayka
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