Life in Notting Hill

Well, I'm actually sitting in Amsterdam Central Station waiting on Robin! It's crazy I can already smell the strong scent of cannabis. I'm really excited to explore the city after what ended up being a 16 hr. bus ride! It was such an interesting experience you see.

The bus ride was going very well right on schedule. We made friends immediately with a Latvian boy and 2 girls from France on their way to Paris. Everything was in order until it was time for them to leave us and swap buses in Hamburg. What was supposed to be a 30 minute break took at least 2 hours!

It sounds like a crazy fib, but I'm not lying, this is the story we were told. Apparently, the Paris, Brussels driver was talking to our driver and said he was going to steal our bus keys. Our driver assumed he was kidding. Well, guess what... he wasn't! That crazy man drove to Paris with our keys! An hour went by and we were still sitting there as our driver and the night driver tried convincing German police ladies to track down that bus. Eventually, they realized the police women had no interest in helping us. So, then the plan was to track down a spare key. 2 hours later, the final decision was made that we would be changing buses.

I'm kind of glad we did. Our new bus was shiny and smelled like leather rather than urine. I'm convinced that urine smell comes from long drives with no rest stops and poor aim. Just my own personal theory.

Anyways, I'll tell you all about Amsterdam later. Let me fill you in on Notting Hill, London!!
Lynne really spoiled Christina, Wendy and I . She lives in a really nice area called Chepstow Villas, which we arrived at around 2am Monday morning. Only we didn't find her house until an hour later. Yep, that's right guess who didn't remember to write down her house number. All I had written was 2nd house to the left, little black iron gate, ring C. Ok do you know how many little black iron gates there are in Notting Hill! We probably woke up a few strangers by dingdong ditching any house with flat c as an option, but we eventually found it and were so relieved to hear her husband Tony's voice.

The next day we explored Notting Hill, Portabello Road, Hyde Park, and went to a show on West End, Les Miserables. The show was amazing! I was so impressed by the set up and elaborate props. You could tell we were a group of producers because the whole time we were so intrigued by how everything was put together.

Tuesday, we checked out East London, the Tower of London, London Eye, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Park, and a lot more things on that sound of town. It was a strange feeling at times when I stood in London, thinking I've been at this exact place before...7 years ago.

That night Lynne and Tony treated us to dinner at the Portabello Organic Kitchen. YUM! Oh and I forgot to mention how much fun we had with their new puppy Coco, a Havanese.

Another funny sight was our sleeping arrangements all 3 of us college girls piled into one huge white bed. It was so comfortable though. I really felt like I was on a cloud each time I plopped down on it after a full day walking.

There's so much more to tell about London, but most stories are better told in person, so if you're curious just ask me when I get home in less than 2 weeks!!

Off to find Robin :)

6 days.... not enough time!

Well, Amsterdam turned out to be a wonderful trip. But I feel like a blog entry wouldn't quite do Amsterdam justice. It's very hard to describe the feeling I had while I was there. But I will say that I felt very conservative in this city's atmosphere. Despite Robin being sick, we did everything and saw everything we wanted. We went to the Anne Frank house, The Heineken Brewery, a canal tour, the red light district, tried Dutch pancakes, checked out the coffee shops.... it was a jam packed weekend, but I think I'm learning to be very efficient with my weekend excursions.

We've been screening our documentaries the past couple days. While I'm a little disappointed by our grade a B+... our story ranked in the top 3 so that was nice. We were beat by swingers and saints ;) I'll explain in person.

Graduation is tomorrow, and Dad arrived right on time. I was a bit nervous he wouldn't make it past Iceland, but he did, and it was so nice to see him at the airport today. It's funny though I'm having trouble talking to Dad. I didn't realize how dumbed down my vocabulary has gotten. Dad used a word like "immensely" at one point, and I thought... wow I haven't heard such a word in such a long time! I'm having a lot of trouble finding my words... and also my voice. That's right, Robin passed on her sickness to me. Luckily, I had a stash of antibiotics, and I'm really hoping those kick in before Scotland.

It's weird I was so homesick at the beginning of May, and now, I'm beginning to freak out that it is all coming to an end so quickly.

Scotland blew me away!

Literally, the wind was extraordinary! Dad and I were walking around the Edinburgh Castle, which we had a postcard view of from our hotel room, and the 30mph winds turned our umbrellas inside out in seconds, breaking one of them.

Once you get used to the crazy weather of strong winds and the switching from sun to rain every 10 min, Scotland is a beautiful area. Yes, I recently learned it is not a country :) Apparently, Coach Crutchfield didn't get much learning out of me during 9th grade geography. **Side Note** I'm really going to miss the way a lot of Europeans will say things like, "The teacher learned us a new technique today." Apparently, the word "teach" is getting lost in translation. Another funny thing is the word "lengthen". Some choose to say "longer it". Hey, I understand it; I guess really that's all that matters. It's funny how many times you don't need to understand someone's language to be able to understand.

Back to Scotland... There are kilts, cashmere, and Loch Ness Monsters being sold in every tourist shop. There is the occasional man or boy dressed up in full Scottish attire playing bagpipes on the street, lots of cobblestone, and pretty European buildings full of character.

The last day in Scotland, we took a train ride out to St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf and home to the university where Prince William met Kate. I liked it here because it was definitely not as big of a tourist destination, well besides for golfers. I also decided I'm going to spend my last semester of college at St. Andrews University, for the atmosphere of course.

Overall, Scotland reminded me a lot of Tennessee with all of its green hills and farmland. It was a very nice transition trip for me with English and all. We flew into Billund Tuesday and decided to do a very American thing. LEGOLAND! It was a bit sad actually to think that this is a major theme park for Europeans and the rollercoaster rides are so small in comparison to Six Flags, Cedar Pt. Universal, Disney... But it was still a great day. I was amazed at the Legos. They even created Mt. Rushmore and the U.S. Capitol!

It's good to be home

I'm very happy to be home in Tennessee. I couldn't stop smiling when I landed in Nashville. It's funny, everyone in the plane was pointing at the cicadas and talking about how annoying they are. I was excited to see them. It was like a reassurance that I really was back home in Tennessee. I was also so excited to feel that heat and humidity when I walked outside. I haven't felt that in so long. When I left Denmark it was just reaching the 60s.

It has been an adjustment, but so far a pleasant one. Going to a grocery store was very weird. Seeing all of the American brands and listening to all of the heavy southern accents around me that I never paid much attention to before... I didn't even speak because I was too busy being fascinated by everything around me.

My friends came down to visit me the first weekend and that was so nice! We did everything you can do in Tullahoma. We went to the drive-in, ate fried Oreos and saw Hangover 2 and Something Borrowed. Something Borrowed was pretty lame, but I loved the Hangover 2... I've never seen a sequel that was that good.

The next day we went on the Jack Daniels Distillery Tour. I felt like it was time since I live so close and all. It was very different compared to the Heineken and Scotch tours I went on abroad. I loved it! If you haven't been... go!

I have a feeling even though I'm loving being back home and in my normal groove again that I will start really missing my international friends and Europe by next week. I can't believe it's over now. It really hasn't hit me yet, but next week I will start my next adventure so to say. I'll be interning at a production company in Nashville this summer, and I am so excited.

I've really enjoyed sharing this blog. Hope you have enjoyed it too! This experience has meant the world to me. I am so thankful to have been given this opportunity. Although, I did work very hard to make it possible. This has been planned since I first heard about studying abroad at UT's freshmen orientation. I feel like it has definitely given me the travel bug. Maybe, it has also given me a new appreciation for traveling. I mean that I will probably want to take longer trips if I can... or at least venture to places off the beaten path. I love talking with the local people. Greece taught me a lot more about that.

Gosh, there are so many things I have learned and not only from school and in a journalistic since, but about life in general and being independent and on my own. If you have ever thought about studying abroad, I encourage you to find a way and do it! Just remember to start saving early!!

Thinking about Greece

This is in Santorini. We were watching the famous Oia sunset. It was a bit cloudly that day, but still so beautiful.

This was in Rhodes after walking around about an hour deciding where to eat... the Greek Vanna White reeled us in. Meet Nicole and Katie if you haven't already.


And here is just a taste of how many cats there are running around Greece. This was taken on the island of Kos.