I have been scouring my computer and my camera in an attempt to find pictures from my trip to Oxford, but all to no avail. I’m hoping that they will miraculously pop up at some point so I can share them, but suffice it to say that each picture depicted the picturesque town of Oxford blanketed in snow (like the one above that I salvaged from my iPhone). If you were alive/coherent during the last few weeks of December, you’re probably aware that the UK was insanely cold and snowy. I’ve heard time and time again from my British friends that snow is not standard in Great Britain, but my experience tells a different story. I’ve been in the UK during the past three winters and it snowed each and every time. This year was definitely more intense than I remember, though, and Oxford got it much worse than London.

I purchased a return ticket to Oxford by train for about £20 and left London at around 11A. With the train ride scheduled to take about an hour, I figured that would leave plenty of time to explore the city, check out the university and get a bit of a feel for the town. Note to self (and to others traveling in the UK during the snow): nothing works properly during inclement weather. About half way through our train journey, we stopped due to ‘engine issues’ and, after switching trains (and being delayed), arrived in Oxford about two hours after departure. I hadn’t expected sunshine and blue skies, but I certainly didn’t expect the ground to be blanketed in sheets of snow. It was absolutely freezing (even with my three shirts, leggings, pants, two pairs of socks, knee-high boots, scarf, gloves and coat). I am a wimpy West Coaster and, as such, it took me a while to acclimate and get used to moving my limbs in 20 degree weather. Soon enough, I was exploring the town, hitting the little shops and checking out the university.

Admittedly, it wasn’t a fair representation of the town. Students were gone for Christmas break and many stores were closing early due to the crazy snow. Despite the freezing temperatures, my overall feeling of the town was that it was quite… exquisite. There is a certain je ne sais quoi that you don’t get in a bustling metropolis like London. There’s a quaint feeling. While it’s comfortable and represents a community, it also exudes a scholarly aura. Even with school not in session, the university is the hub of the town and the old buildings give it an amazing feel; rather majestic. A primary objective for me was to decide whether or not I liked the town enough to live there for three years (or however long it would take to complete a PhD). My conclusion? I’m not entirely sure. It was quaint and amazing and beautiful and scholarly and all of those attributes that your mind conjures when you think of a prestigious university town, but it was also relatively quiet. While I’m sure it comes to life when students are present, it definitely doesn’t have all of the offerings (theatres, restaurants, lounges, etc. etc.) that London offers. I’m definitely happy that I made the trip there. Regardless of whether or not I have an opportunity to study at Oxford in the future, I did gain one extra bit from my day trip: the knowledge that my year in London was really an amazing/unique experience. If I had to go back and choose between LSE and Oxford for my MSc, I would choose LSE again in a heartbeat — not only for the education, but for the experience in its entirety. Conclusion: There’s really no city like London.

xoxo,

[picasa width="400" height="300" bgcolor="#000000" autoplay="1" showcaption="1" user="shannon.falzon" album="es_GradWeek"]

xoxo,

After a very (very) long day, I reluctantly woke up (read: was woken up) at around 1015A, definitely the latest I’ve slept in in months. I was out the door around noon and headed out from L.’s Islington flat to Covent Garden to do some shopping. First stop? Aldo. Admittedly, my choice of shoes is rarely appropriate for long stretches of walking. My closet is made up of primarily 4 – 5″ heels and, while they’re pretty comfortable for an eight-hour work day, they’re not as comfortable when walking for miles on London’s cobbly roads. I knew Aldo would have some perfect walking boots and I walked out about fifteen minutes later with this glorious pair:

After a bit of shopping and meandering through Covent Garden, I made my way to LSE to do a bit of work (don’t judge!) and to pick up the prize money that came with the Titmuss Prize. While the winning the award itself was the truly amazing part, I have to admit, the bit of money helped take the edge off of paying £44 for the cap and gown rental. (Does anyone else find that a bit steep?)

After getting some work done, I made it back to L’s flat for a moment to get ready (in much warmer clothing) before heading out again. Though I missed it last year, I was dying to hit up Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland this year! A few LSEers met up at Hyde Park Corner at around 6P before heading to the skating rink for a 630P rendezvous. Who knew ice skating was so much fun? I honestly thought it was going to be a bit of a fiasco. Last time I was ice skating, it was less amazing than I had expected. I have some mad skills on roller blades, but that hadn’t translated into the same skillz on the ice rink. This time, however, I impressed even myself! By that, I mean that I didn’t fall once (!) and fairly successfully attempted skating backwards. Given more time, I would have surely been able to do a few flips and tricks, but we were only allotted an hour (sadly). After our skating sesh, we made some time to grab food and explore the markets! I have to admit, Christmas markets are one of my most favorite things ever. The market in Edinburgh last year was phenomenal, but London’s put that to shame! Food, art, crafts, kitchy gifts… so perfect!

Now, I’m happily responding to emails while sipping tea and munching on Starbursts.
Graduation is two short days away!

Love from London,

I’m pushing through the tiredness right now; my mind set on staying up until at least 10P before passing out for what is sure to be a long night’s sleep. My ten hour flight found me seated in a middle seat which made it rather difficult to get comfortable for long enough to actually rest. After landing at Heathrow at about 130P and making it through customs, A. and I were on the tube headed down to King’s Cross station. While she was a champ and decided to switch lines to get to her ultimate destination, I exited at King’s Cross and cabbed it for the remainder of the way. While I could have saved myself £7, the thought of carrying ridiculously heavy luggage up and down the tube station stairs made me want to die. When the cab made its way through Islington, L’s flat was like an oasis in the desert — finally,  finally a place with friends and a shower!

Coming into London was an interesting experience. Arriving at LHR honestly felt like coming home. Perhaps because I have seen the inside of LHR more than any other airport, there was a sense of comfort in being there. If I hadn’t been dragging 50+ pounds of luggage, I would have felt like I never left. While the 35 degree weather was a bit biting, it also quickly took me back to last year’s winter; walking the snowy streets of Covent Garden down to Trafalgar Square, listening to music and people watching.

After having had a mini catch-up sesh with L., I’m showered and definitely ready for some sleep. I’m so excited to be back in town with some of my best friends and even more excited for the crazy/fun week ahead! On the agenda: Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, LSE graduation and our after party, a day trip to Oxford and necessary trips to Borough, Spitalfields and Portobello Road for some Christmas goodies!

Check back in soon for pictures and stories!

xoxo from London,

Before my surprise return to sunny California, two of my friends and I decided to make the most of our last days in the UK with a day trip to Bath, Salisbury and the ever-perplexing Stonehenge. After looking at trains, coaches and even hiring a car for the day, we ended up booking a guided tour through Evan Evans tours. For a little under £60 each (with our student discounts), we saved the headaches of planning the day and got to check out Georgian Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge.

We left from Victoria Station at 8:45A and were in the city of Bath just a couple of hours later. I had heard repeatedly about how amazing the Georgian town was: a town that manages to blend history and a sense of calm with a dash of posh. We were given an hour and a half to explore the town and the baths ended taking up a good portion of our allotted time. The baths, of course, are a huge tourist draw for the city. The natural hot springs are famed for their ‘healing properties’ (for lack of a better description) in their ability to help sooth joint pain and body aches. The king’s visits to the baths (in the 13th – 14th century-ish, if my memory serves) helped catapult the city into elite territory. Though it’s fairly small and peripheral now, it was one of the places to be seen in the UK in centuries past. After we checked out the baths, we made our way to the Pump Room, apparently made famous by Jane Austen. While I’m not the hugest of Austen buffs, one of my travel mates was excited to pass through the glitzy Pump Room to grab a drink of (hot) water from the springs. Despite the fact that we were short on time, we managed to grab a quick lunch after leaving the Pump Room and glimpse the city’s shopping area. Within the short time we were there, the consensus was that Bath would have made a wonderful weekend trip. Two or three days to explore the area would have been much more appropriate (duly noted for my next trip to the UK).

After our time in Bath, we made our way to Salisbury. While the cathedral in Salisbury holds a great deal of history and a number of artifacts, it is probably most famous for housing the best-preserved version of the (original) Magna Carta. There are a grand total of four in existence, but the one in Salisbury was definitely in incredible shape considering it dates back to 1215.  We popped in to check it out first-hand (sadly, pictures are not allowed) and then spent the rest of our time in Salisbury enjoying afternoon tea in the refectory. Since I had yet to experience the institution that is afternoon tea in London, I was able to effectively tick two boxes in one go!

After our jaunt in Salisbury, we made our way to our final stop: Stonehenge! Everything inside of me said that Stonehenge alone would make for a rather boring day trip. While it’s a must-see historical site in the UK, it’s not very interactive. It was definitely awesome to see it, but I found myself supremely grateful for having made the stopover part of a larger daytrip. Alone, it wouldn’t have been worth the drive time from London. We snagged a few shots of the stones, listened to the history and made our way back to London shortly after.

All in all, it was a great way to cap off my time in the UK! I had been wanting to check out Stonehenge and finally got to see it! Add the Magna Carta, Bath, cathedrals and afternoon tea? Cha-ching! Perfect day trip!

xoxo from California,

Check out more pictures from Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge here.

My cousin, S., who has been my temporary neighbor for the past 10 days has officially left London to begin the second part of her adventure with her mom! She’s heading to Paris tonight, Switzerland after and then hitting up Italy again for some new sights. I’ve gotten so accustomed to having her next door, watching movies, having slumber parties a la versions of our 7-year-old selves that it’s going to be so weird going to sleep tonight and not seeing her!

S., if you’re reading this: thank you for being such a great travel buddy and neighbor! I’m going to miss you — can’t wait to see you when you’re back in Londontown!

Want to (re-)read about our amazing adventures? Click on the pictures to find out more!

Lots of love,

It’s been such an incredible year, it’s hard for me to really accept that it’s coming to an end. While I recently made the decision to stay in London (post-Ghana and provided I find a job), my time as a traveling MSc student is coming to a close. Despite the lack of cash in my bank account, I would definitely argue that this year has been worth every cent. I have seen so many new places, experienced new cultures and have learned how to travel like a pro!

So, 11 months and 15 countries later… what’s the verdict?

Well, let’s be realistic: some countries are just hard to compare. Can you really compare Turkey with Scotland? Ireland with Malta? They’re entirely different and each have their own je ne sais quoi. That being said, however, I’m going to do my best to compile some Top 5 lists from this year of travel. Mind you, for many countries I only visited one or two cities, so I do realize that it’s hard to extrapolate that experience to generalize an entire country. Though I realize that, I’m going to do it anyway. As I don’t want this post to be nine thousand paragraphs long, I’m going to have to break it down. I’m going to start today with top five favorite cities (not to be confused with favorite countries):

Rome: I had prepared myself. Everyone I talked to said that Rome was dirty; that it was overrated. Regardless, it was a must-see for me, so L. and I departed on our Roman adventure in November 2009. While it’s a bit dirty (it’s a city after all!), it was not overrated! I absolutely loved it! Perhaps it was the time of year we went (not so touristy and not miserably hot), perhaps it was the good company or maybe — just maybe — it was because the city is truly a wonderfully historic place to visit. History, culture, friendly Italians, great food and an amazing atmosphere. Viva Roma!

Nice: Well, our South of France experiences were primarily limited to the beach, but even at that I would go back in a heart beat. Admittedly, the beaches of Antibes were nicer than Nice, but the perfect weather, and feeling of pure relaxation was amazing!

Edinburgh: How do people find this city boring? Perhaps it’s not as fast-paced as London or as cosmopolitan as Paris, but it definitely has a charm that I absolutely loved. Despite being there during freezing December when the days were short and snow-laden, it was still magnificent. The history and Scottish culture ooze out of everything in Old Town Edinburgh. Yes, it’s a bit touristy (think kilts, tartans and Scottish shortbread sold everywhere), but I’m okay with that. I am a tourist after all!

The Amalfi Coast: I realize the Amalfi Coast isn’t a ‘city’ as such, but I have to lump the area together for the purposes of this Top 5 list. If I had to pick a city on the coast that I found most awe-inspiring, it would have to be Positano. All of the towns have their own charm, though, and none are short of beauty and landscape. Gorgeous weather, water, views… just all around amazing. Probably the spot I’d most recommend to people!

London: Oh, London. How could it not be number one? It amazes me that people use London as a connection point to get to other European cities without properly exploring it. A city jam-packed with culture, history, musicals, shopping, nightlife, parks and everything else your little traveling heart desires? Sure, the weather isn’t the greatest, but in my opinion that’s a small price to pay for everything else that comes in the perfectly packaged city that is London. Could there be a more perfect city? I’m going to guess not.

What are your favorite cities in Europe?
I’d love to hear so I can add them to my agenda!

Love from the best city in the world,

After our bout of sightseeing in Dublin and our relaxing day in Connemara, S. and I had plans to head back to Galway bright and early to rent a car in Eyre Square. We hadn’t really planned it in advance, but (rather naively) assumed that we’d be able to snag a car at the centre. We hopped on a 9:15A bus from Clifden to Galway and arrived in Galway’s city centre by 11A. We headed down to the nearby Budget rental centre and waited to grab an available car. Now, you may remember me mentioning that this past weekend marked the culmination of Galway’s busiest week of the year: the Galway races. Apparently the races are a pretty big to-do because nearly everyone we talked to asked if we were heading to check out the event. Of course, if we had known that this was going on we would probably have better planned our bookings, but we had no idea. As you can probably imagine, we were quickly dismissed after we strolled up to the rental desk and asked for a vehicle. Didn’t we know? It was the busiest weekend of the year and there wouldn’t be a car available until Monday. We sat outside and phoned every other rental car in Galway to no avail. Our plan was ruined! Eeek.

Now, this wouldn’t have been an issue had we not had our lives in tow: massive 60+ lb. suitcase, laptop cases, purses… ugggh. We had a momentary freakout and then sped off to the visitors centre where an all-too-kind Galwegian helped us sort out our lives. While our fantasy car rental exploration day was a bit ruined, we had a pretty decent alternate: we got a Cliffs of Moher tour for 20 euro (15 for me with a student discount!), that was going to take us to the Cliffs by way of a number of small cities with a number of photo stops. Bonus? They had room to store our luggage on the bus! Perfect!

The ride to the cliffs was about two hours and we passed through darling towns and gorgeous countryside on the way. After leaving County Galway, we passed through the Burren in County Clare. Apparently, “Burren” comes from Boireann (Irish for ‘stony district’) in reference to the limestone hills and valleys that cover the area. No joke — limestone everywhere!

After passing through the Burren and stopping for some photo snapping opportunities, we made it to the cliffs!

Stellar. Seriously awesome. I was a bit sad that the clouds got in the way of picture-taking, but there wasn’t really much I could do about that! Being that it’s Ireland and the weather is incredibly temperamental, the rain and crazy wind came to a halt shortly after we arrived and made way for semi-sunny skies and white, pillowy clouds. I still don’t understand how the weather can change so drastically in 15 minutes but after living in London for the year, I’ve stopped questioning it.

The skies ended up clearing quite a bit and you could actually see the shadows of the Aran Islands in the distance. S. and I were both a bit sad that our Aran Islands-excursion didn’t pan out as planned, but maybe next time! I tried to snag some shots of them from a distance, but to no avail; they just look like light patches of water.

After hitting up the cliffs, we stopped for lunch at a cute little pub/restaurant in nearby Doolin and grabbed a bowl of seafood chowder (!!) before heading back up to Galway. From there, we had to grab tickets down to Cork to find a place near the airport for our early morning flight. Want to see how the night panned out and check out our five-star hotel? Click here to read about it!

All in all (I’ve said this already), I was impressed by Ireland. Weather and shit storm aside, I thought the country was beautiful and the culture was unique. I’m surprised to say this, but I would definitely go back in the future, with more time dedicated to each region. This trip to Ireland marked my last real ‘leisure trip’ of the year. Traveling this month officially depleted my bank account and it’s now time to refocus on life and dissertation-writing. I will, of course, be heading to Scotland next month with Mac, but that’s been planned for a bit! While traveling in Western Europe is far from cheap, it is definitely doable on a budget (as most twenty-something broke ass college kids can attest to)!

Check back soon as I recount my journeys and highlight my favorite destinations from this past year!

Love from happy (cloudy) London,

]]> http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/last-day-in-ireland-the-cliffs-of-moher/feed/ 0 http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/west-coast-represent/ http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/west-coast-represent/#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:52:31 +0000 ShannonElizabeth http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/?p=5475 Continue reading →]]>

After our time exploring Dublin, S. and I decided to head to Galway. Unfortunately, the Galway races were taking place the weekend we decided to head over causing hotel prices to shoot through the roof and availability to go down the toilet. For a single night, hotel prices in Galway were running at around €175 – 250 per night for an average room — way over our budget.  Instead, we decided to check out the nearby-ish area of Connemara, a bit west of Galway. In actuality, it’s more than a bit west, but we weren’t aware of that at the time. We ended up booking a room at Gannon’s B&B in Clifden, the capital of Connemara.

The train from Dublin to Galway wasn’t cheap (€48) but I was able to snag a deal online that helped ease the pain a bit — €25 if you purchase in advance online. Considering it gets you (literally) across the country, I guess that’s not so awful! We were in Galway for but a short bit of time before we jumped on a Bus Eireann coach to Clifden (€10). I had thought the ride to Clifden was going to be about 45 minutes based on the map I had browsed. I clearly didn’t take into consideration a) the fact that we were taking a bus vs. a train; b) the fact that the roads were much more rural in the far west and c) the fact that buses do make stops every so often. The journey ended up taking us about an hour and a half in total before we arrived in the picturesque village of Clifden. Though it was a rather long ride, I must admit that the scenery was stunning: hill after hill of rolling green, streams, ponds, horses, sheep… the works. After that ride, I can most definitely understand why it’s referred to as the Emerald Isle!

We checked into Gannon’s and fell in love immediately. Despite the fact that it was a trek to get out there, the couple that hosted us was amazing — beyond friendly and so incredibly helpful. The rooms were huge and the bathrooms were stellar. Plus, our breakfast the next day was amazing — by far the best breakfast we had during our trip (think homemade bread, homemade scones, fruit, coffee, mmmmm….). We spent an hour or so decompressing before heading out to explore the town.

Mind you, ‘exploring Clifden’ takes about an hour. The town is small, but despite (or perhaps because of?) it’s petite size, it was incredibly charming. Little Celtic stores, mom and pop jewelers and teensy grocers sat between a million B&Bs and loads of Irish restaurants and pubs. After checking out the town, we ended up stopping for lunch/dinner at a little pub where we grabbed (no surprise here) seafood chowder and toasties. Definitely a perfect combination to warm us up in the Irish rain.

We headed back shortly after and dealt with some emotional business before planning for our next day in Ireland. On the agenda: Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle, car rentals and more. Stay tuned to find out more about our Irish trip gone awry!

Gotta get back to dissertation-writing!

Lots of love,

PS. As you know, S. and I are back in London and she just got a room for the next week! Exciting part? It’s right next door to me! Bliss!

]]> http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/west-coast-represent/feed/ 1 http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/in-dublins-fair-city/ http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/2010/08/in-dublins-fair-city/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:26:38 +0000 ShannonElizabeth http://www.thetravelingscholar.com/?p=5446 Continue reading →]]>

Well, S. and I are officially back in London (in my glorious new palace — updates to come!), but I have to take a moment to revisit our time in Ireland. While the trip didn’t turn out exactly as we had expected (there were more than a few obstacles), I have to admit that I am thoroughly impressed with Ireland on the whole. Everything was working against it: I had a mishap at the airport, the weather was super sh*t, emotions were all over the place, it was the busiest weekend in Galway (unbeknownst to us the Galway Races were on!) and thus prices were through the roof and availability for everything was low. Despite that, however, the place was gorgeous! I really, really liked it. It’s incredibly regionally diverse, which definitely adds to its charm and I would definitely recommend it to other visitors. I plan on going back in the future with more money in my pocket and more time on my hands to appopriately explore the the West Coast and the Southwest.

There’s no way I can capture everything in a single post, so I’ll start with Dublin for today. After that crazy airport debacle and a four-hour delay, we arrived in Dublin at around 430P. A short bus ride (€7) took us to the city centre where we jumped off and took a quick stroll to our Temple Bar hotel, Farrington’s. We were thoroughly confused when we approached Farrington’s — it’s a pub and we were certain we booked a hotel to sleep at and not a pub (although I questioned whether they were one and the same for Irish folk). After entering, we met the oh-so-nice manager and got keys to our B&B which was right around the corner (not in the pub). The room was extraordinarily nice — big room, huge bathroom (with a jacuzzi tub!), internet that mostly worked and, above all, a perfect location. While we may have gotten it a bit cheaper if we booked in advance, we were pretty happy with the price for the location (€118 for two nights).

After getting settled, we headed out to The Purty Kitchen for dinner (a gastropub of sorts). I was super impressed with their menu (I was expecting typical greasy pub food) and their prices (€5 for deliciously wonderful crostini and salad) — definitely a bargain! We planned out our excursions for day two and headed back to our gloriously comfortable beds for the night.

Day two was our Dublin sightseeing day. We had a few things on our agenda and had everything mapped out. Stop number one: St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A church was built on the site in 1191 and they recently (broadly speaking) celebrated 800 years of worship. 800. We didn’t to go in, but we were definitely impressed with the architecture… always makes me wonder how people built these amazing structures without technology and machinery!

The next stop was definitely on the top of my list: Christ Church Cathedral. One awesome thing about Dublin? It’s such a great walking city! Everything that tourists typically want to see in Dublin is within walking distance. The Guinness Storehouse is the furthest point and it’s maybe a mile from everything else. Christ Church, for example, was about five minutes walking from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Early manuscripts apparently date Christ Church back to around 1030 AD. Pretty astounding. There was no way I was going to visit and not go inside. For a mere €3, S. and I got in (thank you, student discount) and got to check out the inside:

Check out my photos for more.

Next stop? Dublin Castle! Oh, how I wish I could say I was impressed with the castle, but no. Perhaps hitting up Edinburgh Castle jaded me? Not sure, but it’s definitely not what I expected. On the bright side, you can explore the majority of the castle grounds for free, so it’s certainly not a waste of money!

The picture above is actually the only ‘castle-y’ part of the castle. The rest of the castle grounds look more Victorian and are definitely not what you envision when you think of fairy tale castles. The gardens, though, are quite nice. Definitely worth a stroll around, even if just for a few pictures.

After Dublin Castle, we grabbed lunch (seafood chowder was our food of choice for the entire trip!) and headed down to the Guinness Storehouse, S.’s number one must-see for the Dublin leg of our adventure! Every living human being knows Guinness and the factory is certainly a testament to its legacy. The place is massive and the marketing is absolutely amazing. It’s not cheap to get in (€11 for students, €13 or €15 for adults) but the ticket includes a free pint at the end of the tour plus pretty incredible views of the city from the Gravity Bar on the top floor.

All in all, we had an amazing day. We had only allocated that day and a half to exploring Dublin and though we could have easily enjoyed a few more days there, I think we had enough time to see the things we really wanted to check out. The city is great, the people are friendly and the Temple Bar area is so charming, albeit a bit touristy. As vegetarians it was a bit difficult to feast on real Irish fare (lots of meatiness), but we managed. On the bright side (?), it was a bit cold outside so seafood chowder and potato & leek soup definitely fit the bill!

Check back tomorrow to see our trip to Clifden, Connemara by way of Galway! Lots of traveling and lots of gorgeous Irish countryside.

Love from England,

PS. Dad, mom and professors who may (or may not) be reading this: I took a break from dissertation-writing to write this post. I’m being ever so diligent in getting to work on my dissertation now that I’m back. Cue motivation!

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