London, Scotland, Ireland...

I do believe I probably had the best fall break out of all the groups here, but don't tell anyone :) As soon as class got out Thursday we finished packing up and hopped onto a train to Bratislava where we caught a plane to London. After deciding that the original plan of sleeping in the airport was not such a good idea, we booked a room at the Radissen for the night. The next morning we headed into the city! We were all extremely excited to hear English. Our first objective was getting our tickets to a Broadway show that night. Luckily, the Apollo Theater where Wicked plays is located right next to the train station, and I snagged a seat on the tenth row. I love my student ID card. We then ate our first fish 'n' chips at The Wellington! We quickly dropped our stuff off at the hostel and got ready for the plays. The other group got front row seats at Lion King, but I was extremely content with my Wicked seats. Speaking of...I LOVED WICKED! It was amazing! It is definitely at the top of my list. After the show, we dropped by Big Ben to see it for the first time. Again, amazing.

On Saturday morning we went on a search for Notting Hill, a part of town that was the setting for the movie "Notting Hill" that I have yet to see. It was beautiful, and the leaves were changing for fall. Then came another little adventure to find Wimbledon. After a couple of hours, we finally found it, and the security guard even snuck us in to see center court! This day was quite the day for sightseeing because we then went back into town to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. We had dinner at a cafe and then.....another show! This time I was on the front row of Chicago! It was such a fun show and the perfect one to be on the front row for because the stage was smaller than usual.

Sunday we did some more sightseeing with visits to Charles Dicken's house, Platform 9 3/4, the London Tower Bridge, the Globe Theater, the Millenium Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral. In the middle of that we attempted to find Diagon Alley which we failed at. I'm still not really sure if it exists or not. We did some shopping on Oxford Street where I was again reminded of how convenient the dollar to pound exchange rate is...We had dinner at another great pub, The Brewmaster. London was an amazing experience, and we were actually there long enough with no problems to be able to enjoy it.

Monday "morning" we woke up at 3 a.m. to get on a plane to Scotland! We were picked up at the airport but THE Hailey Jones! We arrived at her house to a mom hug and homemade breakfast. After a short nap, Hailey took us out to see the beach and castle in Dundee and then to some adorable little shops. We came home to another homemade meal! This time it was lasagna. Hailey's mom is such a great cook! We then got to snuggle up and have a night in watching movies together. It was just what we needed. Tuesday Hailey took us out again, but this time it was to St. Andrew's Golf Course, which I'm assuming is one of if not the most beautiful course in the world. St. Andrew's Castle and Cathedral didn't disappoint either. We then had another night in with pizza and a movie! You gotta love girls nights.

Wednesday Hailey had to work, so we were on our own to find our way to Edinburgh. The city is full of beautiful castles, churches, and cathedrals. I know I say this after every visit, but Edinburgh was the most beautiful city for me so far. We spent the day roaming the streets and just enjoying the city. Mrs. Jones again had something waiting for us when we got home. This time is was dessert! We were very spoiled the entire week...Our last day in Scotland we stayed in the entire day relaxing and working on homework. I know it doesn't sound very fun, but doing work was essential, and it was nice to get to relax in a real home for a day.

On Friday we woke up at a ridiculous hour again, but this time to board the plane to Dublin. When we got into town we checked into the hostel and then went to find a castle in the countryside. We visited Maldehide Castle and then ran around on the beach for a little bit. That night a few girls decided to go a little crazy....and they got tatoos! I wasn't one of them though don't worry. We ate dinner at Fitzsimons and then strolled throgh Temple Bar an area with lots of shops and restaurtants for a little bit. SATURDAY WAS HALLOWEEN! We of course wore our costumes around all day, even on the Viking Tour! It...was...awesome! You ride around in a vehicle that can go on land and in the water and wear viking hats and growl at people while on a tour of the city. What could be better than that?! And to top things off we had lunch at "probably the smallest pub in Europe." I don't doubt that it was. For Halloween that night we went to dinner, had gelato, and then went back to Temple Bar, which was very lively and full of people in costumes. Costume watching was probably the funnest part of the night. We ended the night listening to live music before turning in.

My trip to the UK and Ireland was incredible. I went with the best 8 girls on this planet, and will remember it for the rest of my life.