Monday

Today I managed to get all packed into a small duffel bag to take with me to Cardiff. I have absolutely no idea how I did it... but somehow miracles apparently do occur. 


Tomorrow morning we will be hopping on a train to head to Cardiff, Wales for a few days. Following Cardiff will be Scotland and then Ireland. We are supposed to be on the road for about 10-11 days and although I know that means I really only need about 5 outfits that I can rotate... I packed about 10 outfits... I just can't seem to decide what I will need and what I won't and we all know I'm terrible at being decisive. As of now it looks like Cardiff will be in the chilly 50s at the highest and then Scotland and Ireland will be in the mid 50s and lower 60s so it certainly isn't the warm weather I was expecting when I packed all the tank tops I could fits into my suitcase. But weather aside I am very excited to be on my way to Wales! 


I should hopefully be able to update when we are at the hotel in Cardiff but if not keep posted for pictures and stories to come from my adventures in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland!

Beginnings

Hello from London!! Yes, I finally got a computer... and now I finally have a blog started to keep you updated on all the 'juicy bits' as they say here :) 

The flight here was not bad at all. I watched the movie Tangled and slept pretty much all of the way. After a couple train rides, a scary taxi experience in London's finest traffic, hauling luggage up and down Regents Park, and a bus ride we finally ended up at our flats in London. 

Each morning we wake up and jump on the 'tube' to head over to Regents Park for lectures. We have two guest speakers each day with a break inbetween to go exploring. After class (usually around 5) we have time to head to wherever we want. So far I've gone to quite a few places. First we went on a bus tour of London to see all the main sites. Unfortunately, this happens to be the one time of year that the trees in London shed their bark so tons of pollen and seeds from the trees were flying in my face since I was sitting on the top of the bus -- that would be my luck. All in all though it was a great tour and fun beginning to our trip! 

Over the past week I have been able to tour quite a lot of the parks which are absolutely beautiful! I wish we had parks dedicated to just being an open space for people to spend time in. It seems like all of our parks at home are mostly for barbecues and children's playgrounds.  It's really nice here because their parks are dedicated to nature itself rather than providing an entertainment space. I really enjoy them. 


Tomorrow will be our last day in London for the time being. We will be travelling by train to Cardiff and then begins a 10 day exploration of Wales, Scotland and Ireland!! Following that we will return to London for the Queen's Birthday Parade and we will be in London until the 25th of June. My current plan is to take a weekend trip June 17th to Paris to visit a friend and experience the typical touristy attractions there. 


I'll update my blog as much as possible with pictures and stories of my travels to keep you all in the loop! So check back here for more updates throughout the week :)