We have a lot of catching up to do...
You know the friend that you have where you can go months or even years without talking and it’s like nothing has changed and you’re happy to just catch up on everything that has happened since the last time you spoke? Oh good, ‘cause that’s what this blog has become.
We have five months of catching up to do. This is not how I had intended this blog to be and I’m a bit disappointed with myself that I’ve gone five months without a single update considering all of the great adventures I’ve been on in the mean time. For the summer I’m entertaining the idea that I will do at least 1 post a month, which is totally attainable. I’m planning to stay in Europe over the summer and I have some friends and family visiting over the next 4 months so I will not be short of things to write about.
Anyway, here’s the Reader’s Digest version of my life over the past five months though a lot has happened so this post is longer than my others:
Christmas 2017: London, Vienna, and Bled
I decided to stay in Europe over the Christmas holiday. We got a 5 week break and I had plans to spend some time in London, Vienna, and Bled. My friend was kind enough to let me stay in her London flat while she went to home to Canada and for the latter half of my break I had plans to meet up with a couple friends from my Halifax to explore Vienna and Bled.
Firstly, I was blown away by the lights and decorations alone. London knows Christmas. It made how we decorate at home look like peanuts in comparison. The lights on Regent street and Oxford street were stunning. I also checked out Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and multiple Christmas markets around the city. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of skating rinks set up around the city and was sure to take advantage of them.
Christmas decorations at Spitalfields Market.
This was the first time that I would be spending Christmas away from family. I hadn’t made it home to my immediate family for Christmas 2016 but I had gotten to spend it with my aunt and uncle who lived in Edmonton, a city only a few hours from Calgary, so it didn’t hit me in quite the same way it had hit me this year. There were multiple points during the day where I regretted not going home. However, I wasn’t completely alone, a friend from school had also decided to spend Christmas in Europe and so the two of us were making the most of our surroundings.
We went to the service at Westminster Abbey for Christmas morning. I’m not a religious person in the slightest however, I was able to appreciate the service in a way that I had never experienced church before. The sense of community and just genuine joy that seemed to be in the air was comforting. This was also the first time I had been inside the Abbey and it was incredible.
Our original plan was to go to the movies after the service however literally EVERYTHING is closed on Christmas day in the UK. Who knew? So, we went on a mission to at least find a restaurant that was open. We ended up in Chinatown for a late Christmas lunch and after lunch proceeded to go on a nice walk through the city: seeing Marble Arch, through Kensington Park and past Buckingham Palace. Even though I had been feeling homesick more than I had ever been since arriving in the UK, I was also really happy to have spent Christmas day experiencing things I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to.
The next city on my list over the holiday break was Vienna. This was also where I would be ringing in the New Year. I had come to notice that the over-the-top Christmas decorations wasn’t just a London thing but rather a European thing. Vienna did not disappoint. The city was oozing with culture and history and I was excited to explore.
We went to the Albertina museum, saw a small ensemble performance of Strauss and Mozart (twice!), and went to the state opera over the next four days in addition to checking out other museums, Christmas markets, and (more) ice skating. I think the thing that I loved most about this city was the food! I definitely overindulged while in this city but that’s what vacation is for, right? It was also so lovely catching up with my friends. I hadn’t seen one of the them in almost two years so we had a lot of catching up to do - she had been on some crazy adventures herself, through Southeast Asia!
With the year coming to a close I had the opportunity to reflect on all that had happened. 2017 was good to me: not only had I moved overseas and started law school but earlier in the year I had learned to ski and was getting more into rock climbing and hiking. I had also reconnected with old friends and made many new ones. I was looking forward to continuing this positive trend and seeing what the New Year had to offer.
City Hall Christmas Market. The NYE fireworks display went off behind City Hall.
We rang in the New Year with a bottle of Champagne in the City Hall square watching fireworks and dancing to live music. Again, a moment where I had a brief sting of homesickness but also surrealness - I was ringing in the New Year in Vienna! How incredible is that?
From Vienna we travelled 6 hours by train to Bled, Slovenia. Not the first place on everyone's travel list but it definitely should be! I was so pleasantly surprised by this town. It seriously looks like Narnia and that we had walked through the wardrobe upon arriving. The Alps are literally the backdrop to the town and Lake Bled, with its island church, adds to the picturesque landscape.
View from a look-off we hiked up to. Notice Bled Castle in the background on top of the cliff.
We spent two days in the town, hiking around the lake and up to the castle. The town isn’t very big but it was nice to just wander around and relax after the sights and sounds of Vienna and London. Bled is very sleepy in comparison.
Most of the other tourists around are there for the skiing. There are shuttles leaving regularly from the town centre to the ski hill. I noticed that Bled also offers “adventure vacations” in the summer with SUP, canoe and kayaking tours, and white water rafting. Again, not a destination I would consider for an adventure vacation but now that we’d been there I would love to go back and experience that.
Panoramic of town from Bled Castle.
After our time in Bled we trained back to Vienna for one final night before parting ways to fly back home. I spent the final days of the break in London. Another friend of mine had moved to London on the 30th and it was great catching up with him before heading back to Canterbury.
January 2018: Oslo, Norway
Within the first few days back in classes I booked a weekend trip to Oslo with some of the other girls at school. Flights were only £20 round trip! We quickly realized that our flight would be the cheapest thing all weekend. Norway is very expensive in comparison to other places I’ve travelled. That’s not to say that we didn’t have an excellent weekend, just that my original budget for the weekend was severely underestimated. Sorry bank account.
This is when I’m supposed to justify my actions by yelling YOLO! and saying quotes like “travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” Regardless, Oslo is a beautiful city and I loved learning about Norse culture and the Viking Age and would love more time to explore this city. Sculptures and paintings depicting Norse mythology are all over the city. We also went to the Viking museum where we got to see three Viking ships, including the world’s best preserved ship. The museum also had countless artefacts and a visual journey through the Viking Age. I highly recommend checking this place out if you’re in Oslo.
This picture does not do justice to how large these ships were. Like, look at the rudder! Also notice the carvings on the ship.
Another highlight of our weekend was Holmenkollen National Arena, which hosts cross-country and biathlon venues as well as Holmenkollbakken, a large ski jumping hill. We venture up to the Arena for what we’ve been told are stunning views of the city and to watch the sun set. However, the day we went, the city is covered in a sea of clouds. The sunset is still spectacular and the arena also has a small museum of the history of the ski jump which was interesting.
Under that sea of cloud is Oslo.
Other quick highlights from the weekend include seeing the architectural gem The National Opera House, the nightlife of the Grünerløkka district, the Vigeland sculpture park, and the Mathallen food hall. We packed a lot into that weekend!
Mathallen Food Hall from above.
Reading Week - February 2018: Warsaw, Poland
I travelled to Warsaw over the Winter reading week in February with two friends for a week-long conference on international commercial and corporate law hosted by ELSA - Warsaw (European Law Students’ Association). While this trip was mostly academic, the organizing committee also scheduled free time for us to explore during some of the days and hosted great social programmes in the evenings.
This was my first academic conference and it did not disappoint. We got to connect with law students from across Europe and engage with lecturers and professionals from around the world.
Warsaw is a beautiful city with a mix of old and new architecture. Fun fact: about 90% of the city was actually rebuilt after the war due to destruction and the modelling of the buildings came from pre-war pictures and paintings.
Entering the old part of the city.
The historic campus of the University of Warsaw is incredible and some of the buildings remind me of Dalhousie University where I did my first undergrad. The university is actually where Chopin studied music! And the law faculty is actually the oldest on campus, founded in 1808.
On the main gate leading into campus.
The academic program for the week was organized around lectures, panel discussions and debates, and allowed ample opportunity to ask questions. At the end of the week we also got the chance to participate in workshops hosted by local firms. This conference supplemented the material that we’d been learning so far in the company law module at school.
When not in class we skated at the National Stadium, checked out local nightlife, explored the Jewish Institute and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and went to a gala dinner hosted at the National Library at the end of the week. The week went by a lot faster than we would have liked.
The Supreme Court of Poland.
March 2018: Stirling, Scotland
Lastly, my most recent trip (end of March), and second major ELSA event for the term, Scotland! I was so excited to go. Another weekend trip, I went with one of the friends I travelled to Warsaw with. We represented our local ELSA group at the National Committees Meeting for all of the UK ELSA groups. We also got to reconnect with some of the participants we had met at the Warsaw conference.
This weekend was a chance for us to meet other local ELSA groups, hear about what they had accomplished over the last academic year, and see their plans for the upcoming year. The University of Stirling group were excellent hosts and the campus was beautiful.
Though we were based in Stirling for the weekend we also did a day trip to Edinburgh before heading back to Canterbury. Scotland is stunning. There are no other words to describe it. The history, the lush green space and mountains (which was a nice change from the flatness of England), and the people, who were so nice and genuine, made for a fantastic weekend.
Wondering through old town in Edinburgh.
A part from the committees meeting, we toured Deanston Distillery and did a whiskey tasting paired with chocolate. We also explored Stirling Castle and the town centre. On our day trip to Edinburgh we walked through old town, tried the declared “best haggis in the city”, and went on a tour of Holyrood Palace (Fun fact: this is the official summer residence of the Queen!). I enjoyed Scotland so much and have already booked a trip back to Edinburgh for late August when my brother comes to visit the UK.
Our whiskey tasting after the tour of the distillery. We were the only two to sign up!
Scotland made me feel like home. Which isn’t that surprising seeing as many families in Nova Scotia have origins in Scotland and in some communities in Cape Breton Gaelic is still commonly spoken.
Panoramic from Stirling Castle. The weather was unseasonably warm.
If you made it this far reading about my recent adventures, I thank you for bearing with me as I chose the highlights to mention. I found it hard to keep things short.
The first year of my degree is quickly coming to an end and I’m honestly so shocked that I’ve already been in the UK for 8 months. I feel like I only just arrived! I’ve definitely been bitten by the travel bug and have started to plan a couple trips for after my exams.