Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! With formal classes finished for the semester and a much needed break on the horizon, my friend Sarah (an Ambassadorial Scholar living in Aberdeen, Scotland) and I decided to travel around Europe—specifically down to London then over to France, Switzerland, and finally Italy before we returned back to Scotland to prepare for our final exams.
As I’m sure many of you have heard, Great Britain is having the coldest winter in 100 years! Oh my! What does this mean? Well it is cold and snowy and Great Britain isn’t exactly equipped to handle that mess. Thus, my flight to London was cancelled, which was why I found myself on an all night bus down to London (By the way, I would not recommend that!) After arriving in Edinburgh, I realized I didn’t know the way to the Bus Station. No worries since I was about 3 hours early—I stopped at Burger King and had some dinner. (Subway is the only American fast food joint in St. Andrews, so I indulge when I can!) Then I began my trek around the city in Operation find the Bus Station. So off I went...and went until I realized that I had apparently made a circle because after about an hour I was right back to where I had started from! So I back tracked and stopped people to ask for directions finally I found it. Thus, at 10:00pm I departed Edinburgh, Scotland and arrived in London, England at 6:45 am.
Once I got to London, I met up with Sarah and we began exploring—riding the Tubes to and from different historical sites-The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and so on so forth. We also wandered around different streets and went to a Christmas market.
The next day, Sarah and I went down to Dover and saw the Famous White Cliffs of Dover as we jumped on a Ferry and headed to Calais France. The Channel was very choppy and while Sarah closed her eyes to rest and ensure she didn’t get sick, I chatted away with some friendly French people heading back home. Once in France, we made our way to Paris and took in all the sites, The Eiffel Tower, the Louve, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, etc.—we walked all around Paris and then had dinner in the Latin Quarter. It was Christmas Eve and we departed for Switzerland on Christmas Day.
Switzerland: home of the Swiss Army knife, Swiss Watches, and famous for cheese and chocolate! Christmas Day was spent in Lutenbrunnen, Switzerland, a beautiful little town in the Alps—but so very cold. We played in the snow, posed for pictures in the picturesque scenery and just enjoyed a relaxing day. That evening, while we were having dinner, we actually heard a group of older men yodeling!
After Switzerland, we made our way to Italy--by far my favorite country that we visited. We went to Pisa and tried to help push up the Leaning Tower, then we went to Florence, where we saw where the Renaissance was born and we saw the great art by the Masters. Florence was a beautiful city and one of my favorites in Italy. After Florence, we went on to Rome. Rome has such an amazing history, which I love. It was surreal standing inside the Coliseum and walking among ancient Roman ruins. We also went to Vatican City, saw the Sistine Chapel and other artwork, and went to St. Peter’s Square. In Rome, I decided to stay in a Convent, which was so nice. Only one of the nuns spoke English, but they were all so kind and we got by via hand motion, broken English, and very little broken Italian on my side.
While in Rome, I also took a day trip to Anzio, the site of a famous World War II battle where the Allies suffered great casualties and also earned a well deserved victory. I was especially excited about visiting Anzio because it served as a large part of my Honors Thesis in undergrad. I wrote about the evolving perceptions of the German enemy by American soldiers before, during, and after WWII, specifically focusing on the 45th Infantry Division. During that research, I interviewed several soldiers who told me about their experience, so it was very exciting to see the town. It was also very special to me because my grandfather fought in that battle as well. I wasn't able to see the Memorial to American troops because I went on New Years Day and everything was shut down. However, I did meet an Italian gentleman on the train who was so kind and began telling me how American troops are heroes and that America gave Italy their freedom and saved them from Mussolini. It was so nice talking to him.
I am going to put pictures up on my facebook when I get back to St. Andrews. So please enjoy looking at them. If anyone has trouble accessing my facebook site, let me know. I am still trying to figure how to put lots of pictures on this site--I know it can be done, so hopefully I will figure it out soon!!
Love you all,
Amanda
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