By Louise Lauzon, Exchange student in Wales
I just got back the other day from an
amazing Reading Break trip. Me and some of the other international
girls planned it out in late September and booked it all in October.
It was fairly inexpensive, but I don't recommend doing what we did
and eat out four times a day! Whoops!
We had won a free minibus trip to
anywhere in Wales; this was from something called Hall Wars back in
October, where we had to go through different trials. Shockingly, our
team came out first, from riding a mechanical sheep for the longest,
winning at gladiator battles, and eating a mouthful of crackers the
fastest. So, we utilized our free mini bus trip to take us up to
Hollyhead, where we took a 3 hour ferry ride over to Dublin. We spent
the night in Dublin and the next day did a free tour of the city,
heading to Trinity College afterwards to see the Book of Kell. The
library was amazing in there, beyond anything I could
have imagined.
Fun fact: a scene in Star Wars is fashioned after this room!
We had another day in Dublin, but we had seen all we
had wanted to see. To be honest, it wasn't as big as expected, and
sort of dirty looking. On the free tour, our guide had mentioned they
work with another tour group that takes people to the east side of
Ireland, to see the Cliffs of Moher. So, being the spur of the moment
people we are, we dropped 35 euros on the trip. We got to stop at a
300 year old farm, and climbed up to the mountain the family owned.
The view was incredible, the pictures don't do it justice.
(The tour guide is sponsored by Hansen, the rain gear company, so we get to wear all the gear to stay dry)
Then it was off to the Cliffs, which were incredibly windy but only
added to the awesome experience!
We returned to Dublin that night, then headed towards the airport the
next morning. All we had were backpacks weighing about 20lbs,
because we'd booked with RyanAir, which incredibly cheap flights, but
a very low baggage allowance. For 15 pounds we got a flight from
Dublin to Edinburgh – for people thinking of doing this, I strongly
recommend to book as far in advance as possible. I checked the day
before we left, and the tickets were up to 45 pounds. Despite the
strict 25 lbs bag limit, no one actually weighed our bags, and
despite the signs everywhere insisting purses or laptops had to be
stowed in your backpack in accordance with the 1 item limit, no one
bothered to tell us to combine our purses and backpacks. So, it was a
very good and very short flight. A fanfare played upon arriving in
Edinburgh, which is the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my
life. It felt homey and friendly, especially in comparison with
Dublin. We stayed at a very central hostel, and while the location
and price were great, they did not have outlets to charge our phones
in the rooms. So, in the morning we would stumble down the stairs and
give the receptionist our tangled mess of five phones and adaptors
and whatnot, and at lunch we would go to the same place everyday,
mostly because there were plugs under the table, but also because the
food was amazing. We did so much more in Edinburgh in comparison; a
ghost tour of the most haunted place in the UK (very scary!), visited
the Zoo, the Museum (which is huge but you can power through it in
two hours if you go for it. It's also very interactive, which I
enjoyed), the Portrait Gallery, the Edinburgh Dungeons, Colton Hill,
and The Elephant House Cafe, where J.K. Rowling penned the first
Harry Potter book. The view from the back window is a gorgeous castle
upon a cliff and looks very similar to Hogwarts. The bathroom is
covered from ceiling to walls in marker; people writing their
favourite Harry Potter quotes and thank-you letters to Rowling.
We
were in Edinburgh for two and a half days, and despite getting so
much done, there was still a lot to see. I plan to head back at the
end of term, because I have ten days to travel, but that's a
different story.
We
booked trains to come down from Edinburgh over to Aberystwyth, a town
about 45 minutes north of the University in Lampeter. The only
problem when we booked was the cheap advance tickets were only for
two people, so the five of us ended up on three separate trains,
several hours apart. I arrived in Aberystwyth first with one of the
girls, and we decided since we had 8 hours to spare, we would see a
movie in the little theatre. There aren't any movie theatres in
Lampeter, so it was very odd being in one again! Two more of the
girls had shown up by the time it was over, so we grabbed dinner and
drinks while waiting for the fifth. Because the bus service is rather
limited, and by this time it was midnight, we had booked the schools
minibus to come pick us up. It wasn't free this time, but really
inexpensive; 6 pounds each between the five of us.
So
now I'm back in Lampeter, which is much warmer then Ireland or
Scotland were! Back to school in full swing, but sadly it will be
over before I know it.
Here's
a handful of pictures from the trip:
At the University in Edinburgh
A happy Penguin at the zoo
The clock that helped me orientate where I was . . .
View of the same clock but from Colton Hill
On top of the monument!
The city at night
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