Have you ever seen anything so lovely? 
Yes, sirs and madams, I have returned triumphantly to my beloved home. But fear not! I will continue to adventure in the future. And so, until that time comes, I leave you here. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays & has a happy new year!
Since most of my end-of-year work was done the second to last week of school, I was able to spend the majority of my last week here relaxing and doing some holiday related things. It was a nice transition period into the winter break (which I am officially on as of last night). Also had the side effect of making me not want to leave…
A miscellaneous update of things that I have done recently:
Went and saw the English National Ballet perform The Nutcracker 
This is going to be the most photo-heavy post, I think. I didn’t really *do* a lot over this weekend (December 2-4) because it was rainy and miserable in Denmark and then I only had a day in Sweden, most of which was spent in the same location. Not a lot of description of things going on. So without further ado, here’s my final European adventure of 2011!
The morning after Thanksgiving, I took a 6:30 flight to Berlin. Because it was so early, I couldn’t take a train to the airport & had to take a coach bus. There ended up being an accident on the M5 so we had to go the long way around, which got us to the airport late, which meant I ended up having to jog to the gate & managed to get there like five minutes before it closed. Phew, close one! I was flying Ryanair, which was seriously disturbing. I know they’re low-cost, but so is EasyJet, & EasyJet still feels like a normal airline. Ryanair plays advertisements during the entire flight, and when we landed, we actually bounced back up into the air after the tires hit the runway. Scariest landing of my life. I thought maybe it was just that one flight, but my roommate (who I was meeting in Berlin, she left the day before) also had a really bad landing, so we concluded that Ryanair pilots just can’t fly. Sometimes it’s worth splurging on a slightly better airline in exchange for not having stewardesses trying to make you buy stupid things or feeling like you are going to die on arrival. Continue reading
One exam left to the end of the semester and it’s not for three days, so woohoo taking the evening off to get caught up on episodes of Misfits, postcards that need to be sent, and blogs that need to be written!
Day 1
I almost didn’t get a chance to go to Dublin/Ireland, which was clearly unacceptable, so I squished it into two days the weekend after fall break. Got to the airport, figured out which bus I needed to take to the center of the city, and got there. My hostel was just a few blocks from where the bus dropped me off, so I headed there first and left my backpack in the luggage room so I could go about armed with just my purse & camera. 
My mom arrived in London the day before I got back from Amsterdam and stayed for a week. I was in classes for most of the second half of that, but for the rest of my fall break we went around doing various things, but also bumming out at home watching British game shows. Some of the things we did were on my list, which I admit were the only things I took pictures of since my mom was taking her own pictures. Also I’ve already forgotten the order of things that we did so this is going to be a jumbled post.
We went shopping at Harrod’s, got a few Christmas gifts for people. Had some tea & scones. Wandered through the pet department and got a cookbook for dog treats that I will making extensive use of when I get home (lucky puppy). Saw some Bengal kittens, which were adorable. I had already decided, thanks to Animal Planet, that if I ever get a cat, I want a Bengal, because they’re active & playful & would make a decent companion for Snickers. Still want a Great Dane before that though. Mini Snicks found a bed he liked as well. 
So, where did we leave off? Ah yes, it was the wee hours of the morning and we were departing Budapest for the second half of my fall break wanderings in Amsterdam! Every time I have another night of 3-4 hours of sleep, I just remind myself that I’m in the prime of my life & can bounce back so I might as well make the most of it. I can sleep when I’m old! (slash all of winter break when I have nothing else to do down South) 
Unlike most of my fellow abroad-ers, I only travelled half of my break, spending the other half back in London with my mom (post to follow eventually). I spent two days in Budapest and another two in Amsterdam (also a post to follow eventually). I didn’t really have any expectations for Budapest – my roommate had mentioned it offhand earlier in the semester & it just seemed like a random place to go, so I thought “why not?” Everyone else was going to Italy or Spain, let’s be a bit quirkier and go somewhere possibly sketchy!
As it turns out, Budapest is really freaking awesome. And has a fabulous nightlife, go figure. I would definitely go back, although I don’t want to live there permanently (Scotland is still winning that one, with Germany in second place. Then Ireland, then Amsterdam, then Paris, just in case you’re wondering). My friend & I left early Sunday morning, around 5AM-ish for our flight on Wizz Air. Yes, that’s a real airline. I know. It’s actually less creepy than Ryanair is (oh dear god, I don’t ever want to fly Ryanair again. I’m pretty sure their pilots aren’t trained. Details in the Dublin blog, following eventually).
The Friday that fall break started (November 4, for those keeping track of just how far behind I am right now), a friend and I took a day trip out to Cardiff to see where they filmed Torchwood, because we are nerds. Also wanted to see some of Wales.
Hopped on an early bus and once we arrived, just started wandering around, no plan in mind, seeing bits of Cardiff 
Girl Goes Gallivanting 
