Moving out at the University of Aberdeen

It feels like only yesterday that I was writing about moving in at the University of Aberdeen… and now I’m back at St. Olaf writing about my last week in Aberdeen! Oh, how time flies.

Despite having some finals to finish during my last week, I had a LOT of fun. I think some of the best memories I have of Aberdeen came from that final week!

Dessert & movies with Alyssa

Alyssa only had one full day in Aberdeen after we returned from Prague, so I spent as much time with her as I could. We had lunch together on campus and then dinner at Hillhead. That night after dinner she said to me, “aww I never got to go to Shakes n’ Cakes again”. Shakes n’ Cakes is a dessert shop just down the street from campus. I hadn’t been there yet, but she had gone while I was in Budapest and loved it! My response to her comment was, “well, why don’t we go then?!?!?”. Even though it was just a short trip to get dessert, it was fun to do something spontaneous together on her last night!

At Shakes n’ Cakes, we both got half-baked cookie dough. Mine had strawberries and chocolate, and it was delicious!!! I wish I would have gone to that place sooner. Oh well, at least I got to try it once!

While we were enjoying our dessert, we got talking about movies and the Madagascar series came up. I had completely forgotten about those movies! We decided that we were going to watch the entire series when we got back to Hillhead…

And we (almost) did!!!

I went over to her room and we watched Madagascar 1 and 2. We would have watched the third, but I kept falling asleep so we decided to call it quits. When I woke up the next morning, I found a sticky note on my door that said, “I love you! See you soon”.

Even though I was sad that Alyssa had to leave so early, I was excited for her to go home and see her family. She was originally supposed to leave a week later but ended up changing her flight due to some issues with the first plan. However, she hadn’t told her dad that she was coming home a week earlier, so it was going to be a HUGE surprise. I can only imagine how wonderful that reunion must have been!!!

A fun afternoon with friends

One afternoon, I went to campus for lunch with some of my friends from Adam Smith. We all sat at a long table and talked for a while. Then, we left to go to the library to take a group photo. When we stepped outside, it was snowing!!!! The snow was coming down so hard that we decided to have a snowball fight right outside of the library. It was so much fun! I felt like a little kid again.

After a while, Ethan said he had to get going so that he could catch a bus to the airport. The bus stop was about 15 minutes away from the library, so we all offered to walk him there. On the way, we ran into some teenagers. One of them threw a huge snowball at me! I caught it before it could hit me and I threw it right back at him.

When the bus finally came, we all stood and waved goodbye to Ethan. Everyone on the bus was smiling at us. It was such a sweet moment!

Once the bus had left, we decided to go to T.K.Maxx (like T.J.Maxx) for a bit since it was nearby. I didn’t actually buy anything since my luggage was already going to be overweight, but I did try on a fun hat!

After T.K.Maxx, the group split up for a bit. Half went to the gym, and the rest of us went for a walk at the beach. We were at the beach right when the sun was setting, which was absolutely beautiful. There was snow right up next to the water which made it even more magical!

We were just about to head back to Hillhead when I noticed something floating in the water. I looked closer and discovered that it was a seal riding the waves! How cute is that?!

Pub quiz

That night, we all met up for dinner and made plans to go out for one last pub quiz (I swear this is actually the last one). Ewan and I decided to leave a little earlier so that we could watch a bit of the World Cup game at Wetherspoon’s aka “Spoon’s”. I hadn’t been to Spoon’s yet, even though it was one of the most popular bars for college students.

Once we finished our drinks, we went to the Christmas market for a bit. I hadn’t been to that yet either, so it was fun to go and see it!

At 9:00, we met the rest of the group at Slain’s for the pub quiz. This time, we actually had a table!

Sunset walk at the beach

I had enjoyed our sunset walk at the beach so much that I decided to go again the next two afternoons by myself. I spent hours collecting seashells, sea glass, and pretty rocks along the water.

Living next to the North Sea was one of my favorite parts of my study abroad experience. Not only was I able to walk at the beach whenever I wanted, but I also learned a lot from living in a coastal city.

Before I ever went to Aberdeen, I had imagined that it would have a lot of amazing seafood. I figured that since the city is located right along the North Sea, the main industry would be fishing. However, the longer I lived in Aberdeen the more I started to realize that wasn’t the case. I met several people downtown that had said that they worked in the oil industry and that they work out at sea for several weeks at a time. Later on, someone explained to me that the reason there are so many helicopters flying around Aberdeen is because they constantly have to bring people to and from the ships.

Snowmen & shooting stars

I had just gotten out of the shower and was starting to get ready for bed one night when I heard a knock at my door. It was Isabella! She said, “come outside!!! it’s snowing!!!!”. I tried telling her that I was going to bed, but she wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. Soon, I was putting on all of my snow gear and going outside to play in the snow. We spent the next two hours building a snowman, and we weren’t the only ones! There were SO many people outside having snowball fights and building snowmen, despite it being midnight.

After our snowman was built, a bunch of us went to the Brig O’ Balgownie one last time. We were standing on the medieval bridge and looking up at the stars when all of a sudden we saw shooting stars! Sure enough, there was a meteor shower in the forecast. It was so magical!

A solo night out

Friday night was my last night in Aberdeen, so I decided to go out one last time. Everyone else had already left, so I went by myself!

First, I went to a place called “Tippling House” for a couple of drinks. Alyssa, Brennan and I had gone there one other time and gotten the BEST pink gin and tonics. I sat at the bar and talked with the bartenders for a bit while trying the cocktails I asked them to surprise me with. I couldn’t tell you what either of them were, but they sure were tasty!

After that, I went to Slain’s one last time. I had a glass of pride (not a pitcher for once) and then said goodbye to my favorite bartender.

At the end of the night, I got Taco Bell and walked the 2.5 miles back to Hillhead for old time’s sake.

Moving out

On Saturday, I packed up all of my stuff and moved out of my room. I ended up leaving some stuff behind (worn out shoes, all of my bedding, etc) because I could NOT fit everything in my luggage! I had to sit on my suitcase to get it closed 😂. Once I finally had everything ready to go, I went down to Union Square and had lunch at Nando’s. I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned going to Nando’s, but I had been there a few times throughout the semester. It’s a South African fast food restaurant that has the best chicken ever.

After lunch, I caught a bus to Edinburgh. I was really happy to have bought my bus ticket the day before because ALL of the buses ended up being sold out for that day. Everything transportation-wise had been really messed up that week. The snow caused all of the buses to get canceled in the days leading up to my departure, and there were rail strikes all week long meaning the trains weren’t running either. There were some people who had to taxi from Aberdeen all the way to Edinburgh, which must have costed them hundreds of pounds!

Edinburgh

Since everything worked out perfectly for me in terms of getting to Edinburgh on time, I was able to spend all day Sunday just having fun in the city. I decided that I would spend the day going to all of my favorite places one last time.

First, I walked the Royal Mile. I saw a guy dressed up as William Wallace, and another guy was playing the bagpipes. There weren’t nearly as many people as when I was there in the summer, but it was still surprisingly busy for it being winter!

Next, I went to the Grassmarket area and admired the great view of the castle. From there, I walked up Victoria Street and went to a place called “Maxie’s” for lunch. There, I had a Highland coffee (whisky coffee) and a huge serving of mussels. I was so happy to eat one of my favorite foods again before leaving!!!!

After lunch, I went to the Christmas market. It was located near the Scott Monument and had rides, a Ferris wheel, food, clothes, and crafts. I ended up finding a map of Aberdeen in 1851 that I will be hanging right above my desk here at St. Olaf 🥰.

Next, I went to a place called “The Dome” for a drink. Alyssa and I had meant to do this when we returned to Edinburgh from Prague the week before, but we were too tired. I had never been there before, so I was really interested to see what it was like.

I waited in line for about an hour to get into the bar, but it was well worth it. The inside of the building was even more spectacular than the outside! There was a chandelier made of gold and diamonds, and everything was decorated for Christmas. Even the drinks had Christmas-themed names! The one I got was called “Dome Alone”.

Oh, and a choir was performing just outside of The Dome which made waiting a lot more enjoyable.

When I was finished with my drink, I went back to the Grassmarket area for dinner at Maggie Dickson’s. If you recall from my previous posts about Edinburgh, this is the pub that is named after a woman who came back to life after being hanged.

I arrived at Maggie Dickson’s at the perfect time, as the World Cup game was just finishing up. I got to watch the penalty kicks happen and witness the entire pub go wild when Argentina won! After much of the crowd left, I found a place to sit and ordered… FISH N’ CHIPS!!!! I just had to have it one last time.

I couldn’t leave Edinburgh without having another one of my favorite foods: deep fried mars bars. I went to the same place where I had gotten one back in August. When I ordered, the guy working asked if that’s really all I wanted. He didn’t know that I had just eaten dinner! Then, when he gave me my mars bar he asked one more time to make sure it was really all I wanted. The two guys waiting next to me in line turned and said, “HA, she’s a tourist!”. I had to laugh. Then, I assured them that I had lived in Scotland for several months. It felt good to say that I was no longer just a tourist!

That entire day in Edinburgh felt like one big full circle moment. My study abroad experience had both started and ended there!

Flying home

I woke up at 4:30 the next morning, chugged some Irn Bru (a Scottish soda), ate one last Scottish breakfast at the hotel, and then made my way to the airport. My journey home was the BEST flight experience of my life… because I was lucky enough to get to fly in business class!!! Thanks to Kirk booking my flight under his United account, I had gotten put on a waitlist for an upgrade. When nobody had bought the remaining seats, I was the first to be moved up.

Our plane was late arriving to Edinburgh, so we had to wait a while to board. Once we were boarded, they discovered that some door was broken on the plane. We had to wait a wait even longer for someone to come fix it. At first, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t make my connecting flight in Newark, New Jersey. However, once we were ready to go, the pilot announced that our flight would take 6.5 hours instead of 8. I guess we were putting the plane in speed mode?! 😆

I have to say, I was wishing our flight was longer for how comfortable my seat was! I was given an entire comforter, a fuzzy blanket, and two pillows AND could recline my seat all the way back to be a bed! It was amazing. Other perks included having two windows to look out of and getting fed five times throughout the flight! I ate a muffin, a chicken burrito, fresh fruit, a croissant, Mediterranean quinoa, and several bags of snacks. And to think my mom thought I would be hungry when I arrived in Chicago…

As we approached Newark, I saw the Statue of Liberty from the sky!!!

I made it to my gate with only ten minutes to spare. Once I arrived, I found out that I had gotten upgraded to business class AGAIN!!! Once again, my flight was super comfortable, and the time went fast. Before I knew it, I was in the Chicago O’Hare airport!!!

I had expected to take the shuttle to the Hyatt and meet my mom and Kirk there… but they surprised me by already being at baggage claim when I landed! It was the best reunion ever. I couldn’t help but scream and run over to my mom for a long hug. I maybe cried a little too 😉.

THANK YOU for joining me on my journey these past few months!!! It thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences with you all. I plan to continue blogging all of my travels in the future. Who knows where I’ll go next and when… but that’s all for now!

Until next time,

Clara