The Imperial Gardens, Tokyo, December 2012

The Imperial Gardens are right in the center of Tokyo basically, close to Tokyo station, a major subway/train station. They are really cool to walk through, its a lot of like forest trees and rocks and really cool landscaping. It’s a nice place to walk around and spend a hour or so, its so quiet you don’t even feel like you are in the city. We went at just the end of the leaves turning color for winter, but about two weeks earlier it was suppose to be amazing, still was anyway ;)

Chiba, Japan Dec 4-8

Chiba is the part of Japan where the University my school was working with was located. It is definitely a post industrial city that was built up a lot in the 70’s. It’t not the prettiest part of Japan, but it was a great view into the lives of the average people in Japan. They and a ton of convenience stores and vending machines, much of it is sort of old, but I went on a walking tour one morning and found some beautiful sites. The sunset you see was from Chiba University, in one of their buildings. It was an interesting place to be, not too much going on, there was a few busy streets, then the rest of it was really just built up really quickly and left there. The architecture of the whole place doesn’t really match but I found that to be common across Japan. 

Exciting News!

I found out recently I will be going to TOKYO for class! So in literally three weeks I will be in tokyo for about ten days! I am so excited to take pictures and I am sure there will be many multiple posts about how awesome Japan is. Then after Tokyo I will be going home for Christmas in New York, and I am sure I will have some great posts from home as well! Just to keep you guys excited! I love and appreciate all the reblogs and you guys following me so #muchlove! If I can help with any questions about any where that I have been or camera questions, ask away! 

Cardiff, November 3, 2012

I went on a walk through the ‘high street’ and did a little shopping and a lot of eating, mainly welshcakes and goodies. They had some lovely arcades, with a lot of cool shops, some that I had heard of such as Urban Outfitters and a lot that I had not heard of. It was a clear morning again (surprise) and I was able to wander through town and take some really nice pictures and eat some really good food. My overall impression of Cardiff was that it was beautiful and the people were just friendly and kind. I ran into a few conversations with people that were just nice, and it was even more kind than Glasgow, so overall the UK is just friendly. But, I was able to get a few gifts as well, which I am looking forwards to giving them for Christmas. 

Hiking in Cardiff! November 2, 2012

I went to Cardiff for about 4 days over reading week, it took a six hour train each way to get there, but it was so great! In Cardiff on my first full day, I took the train with my friends just outside of Cardiff and went on a little hike. We used the “free to wander” policy in the UK and just walked up a rather large hill! It was great to get out of the city and get some sun, cause we all know it was raining in Glasgow! 

Cardiff!

Just got back from my travel to Cardiff, Wales! It was lovely and six hours by train each way! I went for four days and got to see an old friend and it was incredible. AND I must rave about the WELSHCAKES cause I really did eat at least ten during my trip, but they are tiny and delicious! Beautiful sweet city (with some sun) and pictures to come! 

Portobello Road, London October 6, 2012

This is one of the really amazing markets in London. I went on a Saturday, so it was very crowded but it was beautiful. It was great to look through all the little shops, and if you know what you were looking for your could get some good prices for things! I got some wood block prints, which I am very excited about. They had a lot of silver, and tea sups, and vintage cameras. There were also street performers which was awesome to see and to watch. 

A little bit of LONDON, October 13, 2012

I took the train from Glasgow to London, about 5 hours to stay with my friends sister and go shopping! It was really nice because it wasn’t touristy, and I got a better feel of London shopping :) It was beautiful weather and I got some really cool gift for people. London is a huge city so only focusing on a few places this past weekend made it feel manageable. 

Oban, Scotland, October 5, 2012

This is along the west of Scotland, and we had lunch here on our way back from the North East. We had decided to late the long way to see more of a view on the way back. We stopped for lunch here and I had a smoked salmon and horseradish sandwich. Very good, strong flavors but it was great. Then we walked around and I ate some Iron-Bru icecream. Iron-Bru is the national soft drink of Scotland. I can’t describe how it tastes, so you have to try yourself! This place was a very beautiful fishing town, and it seemed like a lovely place to take some pictures and go for a short holiday. 

Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, October 4, 2012

The Foundation is not something you would expect to have in a very quaint part of Scotland, yet here it is! There are a ton of ideas flowing in and out of The Foundation, that it becomes a special place. The Angel Cafe is absolutely someplace to eat. The Whiskey Barrel Houses (first picture) are something great to view, and so are the original sustainable houses that are so unique that you have to look at each one. Very cool and interesting place to go, no matter what you go for! 

Burghead, Scotland, October 3, 2012

Burghead is the next town to the east of Findhorn. A very safe community that relies heavily on fishing. There is a harbor that leads practically right into the town center! I think it had even better views of the North Sea than Findhorn. The lot of us traveling spend a lot of time sort of captured by this sunset. If you love to take pictures this is definitely a place to go! 

Elgin, Scotland, October 1-5, 2012,

Probably the biggest town in the area is Elgin (the beatles played here once!). It is a very old-fashioned look and culture to this “city”. It has the most shops in the area unless you want to go to Inverness or Aberdeen. It is a very quaint place, but has some really good food! I found a pumpkin spice latte at a Starbucks and it felt like home here! I also had some deep fried shrimp and chips and a veggie open-faced sandwich! Delish! The Moray College seems to be a big hub in the town as well! 

Findhorn, Scotland, October 1-5, 2012

I stayed up in Findhorn with people from class to study the culture of the North East of Scotland. This town was beautiful. A very very small village with a large fishing culture. There was the North Sea that was connected to this inlet, where you could see the boats come in and out, and when the tide was low the boats would touch the bottom of the inlet. Many people paint and create artwork in the region that is a little “slower paced”.

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, September 23, 2012

Now if you have not figured out, I like museums’ and I like to take pictures in them. This is  a free museum open daily! They had a new clock with a cricket on top representing how time gets taken from us, and lazers lights that indicated time. It was mesmerizing especially because it was inconsistent, seeing how everyone experiences time differently. Every five minuets it resets its self to the correct time, but this clock is absolutely one of the coolest things I have seen.

This museum had an interesting layout because they mixed the old and the new. In one exhibit about egypt they would have something from 2,000 years ago paired with something from the last 50 years done by a local artist. It definitely made it interesting but also a little more like an art museum than a history one. They also had lots of hands on stuff for kids. 

The Elephant House, Edinburgh, September 23, 2012,

I went back to Edinburgh for the day with my friend! It was great that we could take a 50 min train to Edinburgh and be there and back in a day! We went to some of the same places I saw the first time, but then we stumbled across one of the best places ever (if you are a harry potter fan that is…). The Elephant House is now famously know for being the place where J.K Rowling started writing the best book of all time. It has been really cool living in Glasgow and seeing Edinburg and picking up on some references that were some of her inspiration. Like in Glasgow there is a hospital called Saint Mungo’s! The restaurant has a great hippie/homey vibe and has far too many things on the menu to only go once! I ended up eating chicken tikka on a baked potato, and my friend had stromboli. They had everything from lamb pie to coffee. The the tables were all different sizes and the place was adorable. It is a must to go again!

The Little Town Around Loch Ness, aka Fort Agustus, September 9, 2012

I was going through my pictures, and I decided that the town on Loch Ness needed it’s own post. So a little-out-of-order, but whatevs. We stopped for lunch here on our tour, and there was a big bike race going on. The town seemed decently built up mainly due to tourism, but it was good for it, and Nessy brings in a lot of business apparently. There were plenty of places to eat like fish and chips, but my family and I went into a like butcher and had sandwiches. I had a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and it was delicious. So enjoy the pictures because this place was adorable. 

Glennfinnan, Scotland, September 17, 2012

This was a stop along the way to the beaches, a places called Glenfinnan. From the tourist stop you can see the railway bridge where they filmed “The Hogwarts Express.” There was a church a little up the road, and there was a statue of a Scotland guy that fought the british lol. They like those guys, haha. Again, beautiful with all the mountains.

West Coast Beaches, Scotland, September 17, 2012

Drove to the west coast, it was beautiful (again). The weather held and it was just a bit windy. It was amazing to see the mountains in the distance, the colors are incredible here. The rain makes the mountains all blue colors and foggy but you can still see the crisp line of the mountains.