The End

Dec. 6

 

Today I fly back to Canada. Despite the hour and a half delay, I arrived back to Canada, and got through customs pretty easily.

 

The past four months have been life-altering. It was a great trip, and I would recommend it to anyone. Even if it's not with school, find a way to explore the world, whether it's through a job as an au pair, or at a restaurant, through academics, or even if it's just exploring your own backyard, find a way, it will be worth it. 

 

I'd never imagine that I could do half the things that I did on this trip, it has opened me up to new experiences, and a side of myself I never knew. I learnt so much, about different cultures, places, and myself.

 

There are so many stories to tell, and new friends I'll never forget, but travelling isn't just for a semester abroad, it's a lifetime full of racking up cities and countries. I've now been to 6 countries, and more cities than I can count, and each one holds a special place in my heart.

 

No matter where you are, or where you're going remember we all watch the same sun rise. It may be the end of this trip, but it's not the end of my adventure. I will write again when I travel next. It might not be for a while, as right now I'm out of time and money, but I will write again. For now I'm going to stay in the best place in the world - home.  

Paddington

Paddington

 

So I've been commenting on Paddington. Paddington is a bear, from a book, which was just released as a movie in London, and I believe is opening Christmas Day in Canada. I saw the movie, and it's really funny, a great family movie. But to promote the movie, and raise money for the NSPCC and its ChildLine service, London has put 50 statue Paddington Bears, designed by tons of different people, quite a few of them celebrities. I searched for these bears, and found 22 of the 50. If you're interested in knowing more, check out this webpage: www.visitlondon.com/Paddington 

 

Here are the bears I found.

Paddington Jack

 

Paddington is GREAT

 

Bear in the Wood

 

Bear Necessities

 

The Selfridges Collection

 

Golden Paws

 

Paddingtonscape

 

Futuristic Robot Bear

 

Little Blue Bear

 

Shakesbear

 

Fragile

 

Brick Bear

 

Texting Paddington

 

The Mayor of Paddington 

 


Sherlock Bear

 

Good Morning, London

Paddington

The Journey of Marmalade

R;G;B

Wonders of the World

Good News Bear

 

Sparkles

 

Music and Art

Music and Art

 

This semester I took a music class, and an art class, which allowed me to see what London's art and music scene is like. Some things I think you should go, should you have time, while your in London.

 

Royal Albert Hall - It doesn't really matter what you see here, it's more about the venue, but the Proms are pretty awesome.

 

 

 

 

Shakespeare's globe - You really should watch a Shakespeare play here. But spend the couple extra bucks, so that you don't have to stand. 3 hours of standing is not what you want to do. 

 

 

The Philharmonia Orchestra is pretty great.

 

 

Especially their conductor Krzysztof Urbanski. He is quite young, and has a really awesome conducting style.

 

Not necessarily a London thing, but if you ever get the chance to see Jan Lisiecki, go. He is an unbelievable pianist, he's also Canadian, and he's only 19!

 

Lastly, go to the Sir John Soane Museum, it's not your typical art exhibit, and it is amazing.

 

All the museums and art galleries are free in most of Europe, so feel free to take advantage of that when you are in Europe.  

Tower Bridge

Dec. 5

 

 

 

Tower Bridge is an iconic London landmark, and you can go into the feet of the bridge, and walk through the bar at the top of the bridge. Today, on my last day that is exactly what I did. I also walked around London seeing the major sites, and finding more Paddington's, one last time.

 

An elevator takes you up the tower, where you stop and watch a movie on the making of the bridge. You than get to walk from on tower to the other.

 

 

You can walk along both sides, which I did. They have an exhibit inside, which is famous bridges. The bridge I saw the other day, the Forth Railway Bridge, was included, which was really cool.

 

The other crossing

 

Like the CN Tower, there was a glass floor.

 

 

 

That's 42 meters above the Thames River!

 

I was amazed to learn that the Tower Bridge was not bombed during WWII.

 

 

You then go into the foot of the bridge and see the engine room, and the gift shop.

 

 

It was pretty awesome, and a great way to end my adventure in London.



 









Edinburgh Castle

Dec. 4

 

Today is my last day in Scotland, but my flight isn't until this evening, so I have time. I explored Edinburgh Castle.

 

 

It was pretty awesome. It had some great views of the city.

 

 

There was the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Museum, where there were a ton of medals, and the story of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regiment.

 

 

There was also the dungeon, which was super creepy.

 

 

There was also a very large memorial. The entire building was a memorial, and you could go inside and there were different sections of different regiments and wars, with books that listed all the personal that gave their lives.

 

 

The castle has active military, and you see them walking around.

 

 

They also fire a gun thing, everyday at 1pm. 

 

Military man preparing for 1pm firing.

 













Like many palaces, they also have an armory.

 

They also have the Scottish Crown Jewels (which you can't take pictures of), which are gorgeous. But I prefer the English Crown Jewels.

 

 

Every country has their stereotypes, and Scotland is no exception. So my trip would not have been complete without seeing a guy playing the bagpipes in full Scottish dress.

 

 

Bagpipes are actually really nice to listen to, if they are played properly. Scotland is also known for sheep. I have learnt over the last couple days that Scotland has sheep EVERYWHERE!!! If you want to see sheep, go anywhere in Scotland that isn't a major city, and you will see more than you ever wanted to.

 

 

Even if you don't think they are there, they are. Just look closer. It is very difficult to look at a view in Scotland, and not see sheep somewhere. It's kind of awesome!

 

 

 

Before heading to the airport, I did some shopping, and checked out the national art gallery.

Painting of Dunnottar Castle

I then went to the airport, where I got on the first plane of my trip that wasn't delayed.

Soon enough I was back in London, soon to be on another plane, back to Canada.







 





Scotland exploring

Dec. 3

 

Today the tour continues. We left Skye, and started the day at Eilean Donan Castle. 

 

 

 

After our tour, and exploring the castle, we were on our way.

 

 

 

As we continued on our way back to Edinburgh, we found some highland cows.

 

 

We hadn't actually seen many highland cows up to this point, as a lot of the cows we had seen, were mix breads, making them more fuzzy, then hairy.

 

 

 

This particular cow was very sassy, throwing its hair around.

 

 

We headed to Fort Augustus, to go to Loch Ness, to search for Nessie.

 

Loch Ness

We used fancy technology to search for Nessie.

 

 

 

She was very shy, but we were able to catch glimpse of her.

 

 

 

We were then on our way back to Edinburgh. We past through Dal Winnie, which is the highest town in the British Isles, and Pitlockery, which has a long Christmas, keeping their lights up from November through March.

 

We also past the Forth Railway Bridge, which is a pretty famous bridge.

 

Forth Railway Bridge - picture taken from google

 

We also saw the first snow of the season in Scotland. It was seen on top of the mountains.

 

 

We arrived back in Edinburgh, after a fantastic three day tour, where I fell in love with Scotland.