Bonjour, Bonsoir, Au Revoir Paris!

Paris Beauvais Airport
This is my first trip outside of the UK! At the visa station, I panicked for some reason thinking that my passport wouldn't be accepted. It's intimidating waiting in line so that I would get a stamp. But when the man stamped my passport...YAY! A stamp! I'm excited my passport is filling up. :)

I'm so grateful that I traveled with a friend. It's less stressful to have someone who speaks English with me and I was definitely unprepared for the whole metro system. I would have gotten SO lost. I was used to walking everywhere, which I learned in Glasgow, and before that I drove everywhere in California. Depending on the metro systems and MAPS scare the crap out of me. Without Ana, I would have definitely gotten lost. We took the bus from the airport to the metro in the city. It was so cool! I felt like a rat wandering around in the tunnels.

We made it to Woodstock Hostel in one piece. The hostel decoration's awesome. And the place had free wi-fi!



There's a side profile of a beetle car hoisted on the wall.



Lol. OH! And there's a cute and chubby male cat sleeping onthe bench. We checked in and quickly chucked our stuff in our room and went to explore. We went to see Moulin Rouge I the Montmartre district. There were a lot of nude shops, sex shops, strip clubs... I was so hapy that it was night time because I was blushing so red tht it would have been embarrassing for others to see me turn red everytime I pass by a sex shop.



This was kinda funny...



I didn't know Moulin Rouge was where the can-can dance originated. Lol. And this district is where all the artists stay. Van Gogh had a studio here! Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go find it. It was getting late and we were exhausted so we went back to sleep for an exciting day to come.

In the morning, we took the metro to go see the Eiffel Tower. It was cloudy but it seemed like it would clear up later in the day, which it did! We made a stop to take pictures. I stood at the base ad it took awhile for it to sink in... I was in Paris! One of our friends couldn't come with us, so we took a picture that she would have been proud of (we looked really touristy pointing at the Eiffel Tower with our amazed reaction). Teehee.



We walked to the Latin Quarter for the NewEurope Paris 3 1/2 hour walking tour. We had a really good experience with this tour in Edinburgh so we decided to do it again. We were at the heart of the Latin Quarter and found the group near the famous Place St. Michel.



And I was super happy that we did. Our tour guide Bryan took us to see the city and told us some of the interesting history about each place. Like this bridge over the River Seine called Ponte Neuf ["New Bridge" except it's the oldest bridge in the city], which was the first stone bridge in Paris. The different carve faces caught my eye. Bryan said that the artists chose face expressions of drunks and tradesmen.



There was another story behind the bridge called Pont des Arts that I thought was uber adorable. Couples from all over the world clamped love padlocks of all shapes, colors, and sizes onto the fence and throw the key into the river. Awwww, so cute! Right? I guess it's a bit cheesy, but it's nice to know people out there still believe in romance and eternal love.





We stopped by the Louvre and I learned that French kings lived there. I don't know why I was surprised, maybe because I've always thought royalty lived in Versailles. Man, I needed to brush up on my history.



There was also the Tuileries Palace, which was destroyed during the French Revolution. What's left is the beautiful garden. There were lawn chairs surrounding one of the fountains where people sat and just chilled. Lol. The French love their gardens.



We saw a random obelisk erected in front of that fancy & expensive hotel where only famous and important people stays while visiting Paris. I think Bryan mentioned Michael Jackson and Obama stayed there. Anyways, back to the Luxor Obelisk at Place de La Concorde. It was a gift from Egypt. But there's more history behind it. It was in that area where the guillotine decapitated thousands of heads up to the 1950s. O.O I was hoping I heard the year wrong, but Ana said I heard right. So scary.

Any Devil Wears Prada fan? I saw that fountain where Andy [Anne Hathaway]throws away her cell phone! Hahaha So coool!



At the end of the tour, Brian told us that we were his first tour group. I was surprised because he did very well and he was funny. :) It was great! I totally learned a lot. :)

After the tour, we walked down that famous street called Avenue des Champs-Élysées.It had all those fancy stores and expensive cafes. I was more into the idea that Napoleon and his soldiers walked down this street after a battle. Oh! And Hitler rode through the Arc de Triomphe and down the street too.



We went to the Eiffel Tower, to the highest level! The view was amazing!!





There were a lot of gypsies asking if I spoke English and trying to get me to sign up for something. Bryan told us to say no and watch out for our bags. Haha. >< Honestly, I would have probably said yes and listen to what they would have to say. =/
And there were a lot of people selling souvenirs and pestering people to buy stuff. I felt so awkward turning them away...

We went to Musée d'Orsay, and it was great because it closed late that day. There were a lot of impressionist art. I was too afraid of getting kicked out of the museum for taking pictures [cameras weren't allowed]. It was amazing. I loved Renoir's Danse à la ville and Van Gogh's Chaumes de Cordeville à Auvers-sur-Oise. Pfft.. I can't say it in French though... ><

By the time we left the museum, it was pretty late. We found a little cafe that was still open. The lady was super nice. "Parlez vous anglais" was a very helpful phrase. Lol. Luckily the lady did speak English. :) I had a potato and ham omelette with frites. Yummyyy.



I really liked Woodstock Hostel. Mm, maybe not the blanket that reeked of someone else's BO. But there was free breakfast. There was a mountain of croissants and rolls, cereal, tea, and coffee. I really wish that I had taken a picture to show you guys... I had 2 croissants each morning that I was there and lots and lots of tea. English Breakfast tea with LOTS of sugar was awesome.

On our way to the Palace of Versailles, Ana and I got separated on the metro. It was super packed. When I got into the subway, Ana was right behind me, but some guy cut in front of her and she got caught in the doorway. Poor thing. The door clamped on her a couple of times. :( I wanted to get out. No matter how many perdons I said or the fact that I was yelling at that guy to let go of my backpack so I could leave, I couldn't move. Claustrophobia started to set in and I had to swallow my temptation to punch the man who held onto my backpack and kept pushing against me. It was seriously the scariest part of the trip. Not the gypsies. Not the pickpocketers. Not the language barrier. But being separated and not knowing how to find that person was very scary. My cell was out of battery AND I had no minutes on my cell. It would have been totally useless to me. Luckily, I remembered Ana telling me which stop it was. I waited for her hoping I heard right, and THANK GOODNESS we found each other. It was then we decided that we would NEVER separate again.

The Palace of Versailles was beautiful and HUGE!! I was trying to imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago with women in hoop skirts walking down along the gardens tiny high heeled shoes. There were so many fountains and gardens. So pretty. It was absolutely crazy walking from the main palace to Marie Antoinette's little village. But it was so worth it.



And this is the palace's backyard... I could imagine this place would have made a german shepherd a very happy dog to have such a big place to run around.



Marie Antoinette's little village was not little at all. The Queen's Hamlet was really adorable. It had a farm and a couple of cottage like buildings surrounding a lake/pond with fishies in it!




We went to see the Notre Dame de Paris. The Gothic architecture, the flying buttresses, and the rose windows... Wow. It was beautiful. Quasimodo rang the bells at the top of the tower. Gargoyles didn't come to life though. :( Bryan said that the gargoyles were nothing but glorified rain gutters. Lol. It's true.. But a real fact: Napoleon crowned himself emperor there.



We went to this really expensive cafe by the Notre Dame. We had a cup of latte. I ordered a crepe with nutella and banana, but the crepe lady didn't put in any bananas... She was really rude about it too. Ugh. I wish I understood and spoke French so I can be rude back to her. Anyways, I fulfilled another little dream of drinking coffee in Paris and eating dessert. :)



We made a quick stop to buy souvenirs... I bought a beret! I don't know if I'll ever wear it, but it's cute. :) Maybe I'll dress up as a French painter for one Halloween someday.

No Paris trip is complete without going to the Louvre, right? So yupps, we went. We saw Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa! Psyche and Cupid! I love their story.







Oh yeah, the best part of going to the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles was that it was freeeeeee! :)

When we exited the Louvre, we saw the Eiffel Tower just as it lit up in sparkly lights. It was soo beautiful. What a wonderful image to have before leaving the city.



On the flight back, I made a new friend. :) It's so cool that I get to meet new people everywhere, even on the plane. But I do need to work on being able to not have a tell/not be so easy to read... Haha.

At the Glasgow checkpoint, the man, who stamps the passports, and I had the longest conversation. It felt like 20 questions... Lol. I wasn't sure if he was asking because he's doing his job or because he was trying to make conversation. Ana, on the other hand, had like 2 questions and she was done. Man, do I look suspicious or something? -_____-

When we arrived back at Buchanan Bus Station, we noticed a lot of drunk people in costumes. I saw Woody from Toy Story! It took us awhile to understand why a person would dress up like a Disney character so late at night. Then we remembered it's Halloween weekend!

I was so happy to be in my room with my own bed and my own bathroom. :) After all that intense walking in Paris, I know I will definitely be sore for the next few days. I'm so happy that I went, despite the rude French crepe lady. I learned sooo much and

OH! I do have one regret. I didn't get to eat a macaron! If I do go back to France at the end of the semester, it's on the top of my to-do list! >:]

Who Doesn't Love Breakfast for Dinner?

We started this awesome tradition of hosting a dinner night at our own flat. I'm so glad that we are sticking to this too. Lol.

We had Burrito Night at Ana's place first. It was amazing. I wish we took pictures to remember that night. It was soo yummy. I definitely felt a bit homesick. I miss San Diego and burritos.

That was also the day Ana and I discovered Erika did not know her way around a kitchen. Hahaha. She didn't know how to cut lettuce. O.O And, we found out she doesn't have salt in her kitchen. We have been in Scotland for about a month and she's been cooking stuff without salt. It was absolutely hilarious.

So when it was time to eat dinner at Erika's place, I had doubts. Lol. She said the only thing she could make was breakfast foods...that's awesome! We had bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, nutella and strawberries. YUM!





We ended up staying there pretty late. Suchu, Erika's room mate, who happens to be also someone I randomly met at the prof/student meet-and-greet... it was such a small world, joined in our group and we talked about everything. It's so cool to find people who share the same interests. We went from Harry Potter to Purell-ing things to traveling. It was great. :)

LATTE LOVE

I have my first paper due for my Leadership (psychology) class next Monday. Sigh. I've been so unproductive. I don't feel very motivated... BUT THEN, I went to Offshore Coffeehouse and I got something that totally made my day.

I ordered a regular latte to get that caffeine fix...



...and this is what I found in my cup! White foam in the shape of a heart!! :) This little surprise totally made my day. Hahaha.

I mean it's not like Finn from Glee and his "grilled cheesus" and made each prayer come true. My latte did help me focus enough to find an article using Google Scholar. :) Yay! Good enough for me.

Amazingg Weekend in the Scottish Highlands

On Saturday, I went with my archaeology class to Kilmartin Glen. It is known be one of the richest areas in Europe for prehistoric remains. I thought we would have light walking trips to point A and point B. Maybe it's the UC system back home that caused me to think this way, but no lower level course would take 4 buses filled with freshmen to an archaeological trip where they would have to hike up hills and climb rocky areas to get to the top of the hill. So yeah, I was definitely surprised.

Fortunately the weather was BEAUTIFUL. It kinda reminded me of San Diego - windy, sunny, and warm. It was a perfect day for a field trip. The first stop was at Achnabreck to see some rock-art. The bus dropped us off at the base and we all had to trudge up the hill to get to higher ground where the rock-art was located. It took me awhile, but it good spiral cup and ring mark is at the upper right hand corner. It's kinda neat to think this was made during any time period from the Neolithic to Bronze Age.



The whole area was sooo green. It was refreshing to be out of the city and getting to see the Scottish countryside. I met a girl from Berkeley named Katelyn and she's in my tutorial group. :) I was relieved to see a face I recognized. We both followed two other girls who was quite a distance away from us. I was trying to find the second site that had the rock art, but I noticed we kept going further and further up. No one else seemed to panic so I tried to do the same. >< Lol. Anyways, the footpath became more and more difficult but it ended up being a loop because the next thing I knew, we were back at the buses.




The next stop was at Dunadd fort. We hiked up the hill to the top of the summit. The view from the top was breathtaking! But it was tough getting up there. The path to the top wasn't really smooth. It was rocky and just so much fun climbing up there. The top of the hill is a citadel in ruins. Kings' inauguration ceremonies occurred there and each king "married" to the land by leaving a footprint in the ground.. Gosh it's so neat to learn about the history of these ruins.






One of my favorite places was the Nether Largie South where the chambered cairn. We went inside and through the cairn. It was amazing to touch the rocks that was built thousands of years ago.




It was awesome eating lunch on the hillside and seeing all the sheep grazing nearby on a beautiful day. Today definitely fulfilled one of the things on my to-do list while I'm here in Scotland. :)

When I got back to my flat, I wasn't sure whether I was able to wake up tomorrow for the Loch Ness Bus Tour...

But HA! I did. :) I didn't know what to expect on the bus tour. I figured I could sleep most of the way to Loch Ness. Except, the bus tour included a bus driver who knew lots stories and history snippets so sleeping was a no-no. =/ When I got into the mini-coach, this Chinese man looked at me and smiled with a nod. I smiled back. I didn't know why I thought it was strange, but I had a feeling he was relieved that there was another Asian on the bus. Hahaha.

We sat on the second row and the bus driver told us that the seats we had now would be the seats we're going to have for the entire trip. I was a bit nervous because I would be sitting next to someone I didn't know. >< And then, the next thing I knew the bus driver was handing out a small bottle of The Famous Grouse scotch whiskey. I thought it was funny because I thought it was to alleviate some of the nerves or something. Too bad I'm a lightweight.

In the beginning of the ride, a Spanish guy who didn't speak much English sat next to me. Okay, I admit it. It was kind of awkward because I didn't know what to say! I thought I should make an effort since I am going to be sitting next to him for the next few hours. I tried to strike a conversation and I failed. :( All I got from him was a "hello" and a "thank you". Lol. It was okay though because I dozed off. The embarrassing part was.. I think I fell asleep on his shoulder. ><

We stopped at the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park for a 20 minute mini-coffee/restroom break. While Ana and Erika went off to get coffee and tea, I ran everywhere trying to see everything because I was so afraid I'd run out of time. Loch Sloy and the surrounding hills was sooo beautiful. After running up the steps and along the loch trying to take as many pictures, I was awake and refreshed. Boo yeah, I was ready for the long bus ride ahead. >:]





When it was time to get onto the bus, I found someone new on the seat next to mine. I was so afraid that I might have offended the other guy because I wasn't very talkative or that I fell asleep on him. After a while since the bus was on the road again, we had a conversation. I'm not sure who started talking first, but I was SO glad that we talked and broke the awkward silence. Hmm, maybe I did because I noticed his University of Glasgow sweater. Gosh, I totally thought I have that shy personality, but I'm not so sure anymore. Anyways, David is from Spain and he's here in Glasgow to work on his PhD in archaeology, which I thought was so awesome and such a coinkadink since I'm taking an archaeology class. It was really cool getting to know someone from a foreign country. I was surprised that he could speak fluent English because his friend couldn't. Oh, and he told me the seat change wasn't because of me. Wheww! He said it was to change up the seating so that everyone could sit next to each other in the back or something like that. Hey! As long as it wasn't because of me, I'm glad. :]

As we neared Glencoe, I was completely in awe. It was absolutely gorgeous despite the grass browning. The bus driver said 5-6 weeks ago everything was green, but its changed now that its almost winter. I was sooo happy that we got to stop at Glencoe for a quick stop for pictures. I felt so small next to these huge mountains.
Oh! and a little fact: LOTS of people attempt to climb up those mountains, which is crazyy amazing. But a few people die each year... O.O





Our next stop was lunch! We were all so hungry. Once the bus stopped, we bolted to the nearest fish and chips shop. The fish and chips didn't come with a lime or lemon so I thought that was weird, but I guess we weren't supposed to put on any from the beginning? Anyways, it was really yummy.




I'm not sure about the history behind Ben Nevis but it was really pretty. We made a quick stop here to admire the sheep! Oh and the highlands. ;] Lookie! Isn't it amazing?!


I was so excited when we arrived at Urquhart [ur-ket?] Castle because that meant WE WERE AT LOCH NESS! We had an hour to explore the castle and souvenir shop. We went inside the shop to find postcards and we also got to see an 8 minute video about the castle's 500 year history. It was kinda choppy. All I remembered was that it was visited/found by Saint Columbus and it is now in ruins because some Scottish guy blew it up so that the English could not seize it. It must have been really pretty back in the day. From the towers, the view of the loch and mountains was breathtaking.

The weather was sunny and the sky was blue! Thank goodness for that because it would have been such a different experience if the weather was all gloomy and gray. At the castle, we climbed the walls and narrow staircases to the top of the tower. It was so much fun. I was definitely a shutterbug that day. Trust me, that's rare.




^ This is to show how narrow the staircase was. Erika is tiny. Use that as a scale to see how narrow it was.

When it became almost time to board the ferry, we bumped into the Chinese man again. He and I started speaking in Chinese and he was impressed that I could have a conversation in Mandarin. He told me that when we saw me getting on the bus, he was relieved to know there was another Chinese person. But when he heard English out of my mouth, he was disappointed because he thought I didn't know how to speak Mandarin. Surprising people is kinda fun. Lol. Yay! for 3 quarters of Chinese courses.

After that we went on the ferry cruise [The Jacobite Spirit] that brought us to the other side where our bus driver/tour guide was waiting for us. The ferry ride was surprisingly smooth. No seasickness. Whoo hoo! Everything was so beautiful. And, I thought I saw something that looked like Nessie...




When we landed, there was a purple Nessie! Puahahaha, I told you guys I would catch the Loch Ness monster.







We only had a few minutes left so we ran to the souvenir shop to grab any last minute things. :] Of course I had to grab some post cards. We were the last ones to leave... the bus driver had to come in and find us. Lol. On the bus, I realized our trip was over. We made one more stop at Pitlochry for a restroom break before heading back to Glasgow. On the way back, David was my seat partner again. I had the lovely opportunity to sit next to each of his friends. Sadly, I fell asleep next all three of them. On the ride back, David and I talked about Spain and other things. But after getting to hear his stories, I really want to go to Spain. Decisions, decisions!

When we got back at George's Square, I was sad. I made two new friends and it bummed me out a bit to know that I might not see them again. But our adventure today was great and I had so much fun! I think from now on, spontaneous trips are the way to go. :]