Alex Janzen: Adventure Time

It’s hard to wrap my mind around with where to start in this blog. I have been so stressed in trying to plan trips, start my coursework, and plan for what I’m going to do in the summer months. Our plan to take a trip to Ireland fell through since flights are way cheaper in April and May. My cousin also lives in Dublin so I have been trying to plan to stay with her. She is studying nursing so she is insanely busy and stressed with studying. Planning to visit her has become increasingly difficult and I’m worried I’ll miss out on the twenty pound round flight deals. Hopefully it will work out. If I could start this adventure from the beginning I would plan all my trips as early as possible. Starting my coursework ASAP would have also been ideal.

 

Erica and I did make it to Inverness, Lochness, and Elgin. This was our first real exploration of another area of Scotland, other than Stone Haven. Inverness was breathtaking, we had perfect weather while we were there, and the town is so adorable. We planned to take a trip down to Lochness to see the famous lake but of course the transportation to get down there is ridiculous. Only one bus a day in the morning. Too bad we didn’t look into this before we slept and got up after it left. After dealing with the disappointed I thought of the idea to bike to it. We found the cheapest bike rental shop in town and made our way. The bike ride was so enjoyable, especially with such great weather. It took us about five hours to do the whole bike ride; we were rushed in time to get the bikes back, so we could not stay at the lake for long. But it was still worth it. During our trip to Inverness we were keen to enjoy the nightlife. But the travelling must have gotten to us because we lost all motivation to go out and went to sleep at a decent time. I would have liked it if we stayed one more night to explore Inverness in more depth both day and night since our trip felt very rushed.



Sheep along to Lochness

A lot of Scotland involves sheep in the pastures. I love these sheep, I think they are so funny to watch prance around and stare at us as we make noises at them. They make me giggle every time. We saw loads of them on the way to Lochness.



Lochness, Scotland



Inverness, Scotland

Inverness, Scotland

 

Inverness, Scotland

Elgin – Mansion House

We then spent a night in Elgin. Our accommodation was a very cool and elegant mansion house. We decided to pamper ourselves here and get spa treatment and enjoy their hot tub and steam room. Elgin was a bit disappointing and I would not recommend it to travelers. However, the  cathedral there was impressive, but the towers were closed off while we were there and only got to roam the grounds. We didn’t stay long in Elgin and made our way back to Aberdeen in the late afternoon.  


Elgin Cathedral

 

Since Erica and I have been living in Aberdeen we decided to explore more it and took a stroll around Old Aberdeen to admire the cobble-stoned streets and impressive architecture.

 

Old Aberdeen mostly consisted of the University of Aberdeen. This is a very nice building. We didn’t explore too long since it started snowing and we were freezing.

University of Aberdeen

Amsterdam – I Amsterdam Letters

The weekend finally came for my trip to Amsterdam. Amsterdam was absolutely amazing. I would recommend it to anyone. We travelled there through a bus ride to Newcastle where we took an overnight ferry boat to Amsterdam. The Boat was very nice with a couple of restaurants, bars, and a movie theatre. I was lucky enough to have a cabin to myself both ways of the trip. Our group stayed up late in the bar and it was only us dancing away all night long. We arrived at Amsterdam the next morning where we settled in our hostel and then were free to explore the city. The architecture of the city was my favourite, I loved the canals and how the buildings were built. We did a free walking tour of the city where we ended at the Ann Frank House that we decided to go in. The tour made me rather emotional it was a very respectful place. Once we finished going through the house we had to rush back to the hostel because we had a boat party to attend. The expectation of the boat party was far beyond what we ended up getting. When we arrived to this small gondola on the canal with no washroom, no bar, and no inside and outside option was provided for us like we were told we would have. People were not happy and started yelling at the tour guide.

Amsterdam – Holland

It ended up being loads of fun, to me anyways. You really got to make it how you want it to be if your going have a good time. Positive attitudes and good vibes is the way to go. The next day my new friends and I explored more of Amsterdam then had to get ready for a pub crawl. I wasn’t feeling the start of the crawl and ended up going back to the hostel and drinking at the bar there, where I met the most handsome and lovely bartender! He gave me free drinks all night and I fell in love. After drinking at the bar we met the rest of the crew at the final club at the end of the pub crawl, and had a great night. I would go back to Amsterdam if the opportunity came up.

Amsterdam Boat Party

Coming back to Aberdeen was around the time of the sun setting. The city looked so beautiful in the dying light. It made me appreciate the city more and happy to be studying abroad here, even though most of the locals and other exchange students don’t like Aberdeen very much. If I could go back and change my location, I probably would choose somewhere other than Scotland, only because flights would be a lot cheaper and easier to plan. Erica and I have finally planed some set trips. We leave to Vienna on April 1^st then I leave to Barcelona on the 5^th.  I get back home on the 8^th and then the 9^th is my birthday! After that every weekend we are going somewhere. Glasgow – Isle of Skye – Edinburgh – Iceland – Dublin is the travel itinerary.

With all these trips planned I’m now very stressed with school. I only have three papers and an exam to write. But with all these travel plans, I need to get the papers done now. I almost done one, but I feel like it has taken me forever to finally get to where I am.  Planning trips and staying on top of my coursework is something I wish I was focused on during the first month of being here. 

                                   

I have had a lot of great moments in Aberdeen, I will be sad to leave this place. I feel like I can’t enjoy it as much since I have been sitting in coffee shops and at home working on papers in a rush to get organized. Bowling, games night, hikes, student flat parties and more are just some of the fun things I have done here. I can’t wait to see what my upcoming travels will bring me and hopefully I will get all my obligations attended to.

 

Bennachie Hike – Scotland

Alex is a  Bachelor of Business Administration Degree program student at Capilano University. Alex is studying abroad at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.