The Guide to Colorful Houses!!

Something I have come to discover about Europe thus far is that there are lots of small, quaint towns with super colorful houses! I LOVE it. The rows of homes in pastel colors add such character to towns, and plus, they are the perfect opportunity for pictures, especially on a sunny day.

So, here are my favorite places that I have seen colorful homes so far. PS - there might be more to come because we are going to Cinque Terre in a few weeks and rumor has it, it is very colorful there. But this is what I have for now.:)

*The Infamous Homes of Nottinghill (LONDON)*

Morgan and I knew from the get go that hitting Nottinghill was a must. However, we wanted to make sure we saved it for a perfect, sunny day! So, we waited until that day came. SO worth the wait. We walked around the Kensington area and Nottinghill for probably four-ish hours, soaking in the sun, admiring the cherry blossoms, walking through every street with a hint of color, and hitting the boutique shops. I was discouraged at first when we arrived at the Nottinghill Gate tube station because I did not immediately know where we were supposed to go to find these pretty houses. I had seen them in countless pictures from others, but it's always that struggle of actually figuring out where the heck we are supposed to go. So we just wandered, and trust me, you will end up coming across a ton of beautiful houses!

*Chelsea/King's Road Area (LONDON)*

One day, Morgan and I were shopping in one of our favorite areas, King's Road, when we came across this random street with beautiful houses. It was honestly completely unexpected, we weren't seeking anything other than the Free People and Anthropologie at the end of the street, but this was such a fun find! Also King's Road is the bomb and Kate Middleton casually shops at the Lululemon there(v angry we missed her there a few weeks ago), so I suggest going there and taking a pit stop to see these lovely homes.

*Sneem Village (IRELAND)*

On the Ring of Kerry Tour in Ireland, one of the stops was at a small village called Sneem filled with ice cream shops, restaurants, and local boutiques. I think it would have been WAYY cooler in the summer, because we were there in the middle of February and it was freezing and everything was closed. Nevertheless, it was still quite pretty.:')

*Aberystwyth (WALES)*

Walking along the seafront of Aberystwyth, I couldn't not snap a pic of these pretty homes!! And the fact they were on the water made it even more beautiful!

So, if you're ever in London, Wales, or Ireland, or possibly Cinque Terre too (I'll keep ya posted on that in a few weeks) and are on the hunt for colorful houses, I gotchu covered.:')

<3Bren

WALES!

I didn't really know what to expect when Morgan and I traveled to Wales for the weekend to meet some of her extended family and explore. We took a horrible nearly 8 hour bus ride to the city of Aberystwyth, which I have only just learned to spell (& say, for that matter). 

We were warmly welcomed by two of her sweet relatives, Elsie and Morris. They brought us into their home, made us traditional home cooked meals and hung out with us! 

As it turns out, the town of Aberystwyth is beautiful!! It was wonderfully warm, so we got to stroll along the seafront, ate a traditional Sunday lunch at the Marine hotel (also owned by some of Morgan's relatives), walked around the castle, and visited the countryside to see the abundance of sheep or lamb (tbh, I don't know which is which)! 

But now (even though I sadly don't have any pics of it), I must rave about how amazing the lunch was. It was literally like having a Thanksgiving meal in March, and ps - I LOVE Thanksgiving food, so it was heaven. So we started out with a “starter” and I had some quiche and bread with butter! I wouldn't have had so much of the starter if I would've known all the goodness that was to come! So the actual meal started and we were given the meat portion which consisted of slices of beef, turkey, and ham with the most amazing mint sauce! And then we had stuffing with gravy, amazing crispy potatoes, cheesy baked cauliflower, and Yorkshire pudding (which kind of reminded me of a croissant)! And, the cranberry sauce with all of this food was the best cranberry sauce I have ever tasted! So, that was the savory part of lunch! And even though I was already soo full, we had to try some sweets after because c'mon, gotta try everything! So I got this delicious butterscotch crème puff that was so creamy and some bread and butter pudding! 

BEST lunch ever! Thank you Morgan's relatives and the Marine hotel! 

This weekend I learned:

1) People in Wales are really talented - most can speak both Welsh and English fluently! I wish I could speak two languages fluently!

2) Wales is dang pretty!!! And you can go from the countryside to the seafront in about 10 minutes!

3) Coach bus rides all the way to Aberystwyth SUCK! Yes, it's cheap, really cheap, but it is not fun! Don't do it. Both ways consisted of 8 hours of pure misery on narrow, windy roads. And on the way back, about 15 minutes into the bus ride, the man sitting diagonal to us projectile vomited everywhere. What a lovely way to start an already miserably long bus ride!!!:) Okay, maybe I'm a baby, but if you know me well, you know I am absolutely terrified of throw up, so this was like my own personal nightmare!

4) Morgan has a lot of extended family in Wales! And I'm not sure how most of them are related to her, but everyone was extremely nice and welcoming, so that was a plus!

If Wales is in your travel plans, I highly recommend taking a plane or train to Aberystwyth, because despite the commute, the town is totally worth it!:)

Have a great week all! 

<3Bren

Here, NOT there!

I think one of the greatest challenges about being abroad is to not let yourself get caught up in life at home (well, at least for me). It's soo easy to do so - it's right in front of me every single time I get on any form of social media! I can't help but feel a little jealous as I watch the business fraternity I am a part of go through their spring rush process, see pictures from every sorority event that I am missing, hear the stories of the events going on at Chapman - the opening of the Musco center, skit, concerts, etc -, and hear about all that happens at my actual home in Seattle!!

And that might sound snobby because obviously being abroad is a huge privilege, believe me, I completely understand that! And I am very very glad/lucky/blessed to be here. But these feelings still happen. And I think that's completely normal, well at least I think.

So, here's my outlook on dealing with this!

Enjoy exactly where you are, abroad, at home, at school, wherever it may be!

because while I sometimes get envious of what's going on at school or at home, people at home might be envious of what's going on with me here.

but the reality is, no matter where you are, no place will ever be perfect, no matter how perfect it may look on the outside.

and chances are, the people and places you feel tinges of jealousy for might feel the exact same way about you!

I think as humans, it can be really hard for us to feel content exactly where we are. We're always longing for something different or something more. However, the more we have that outlook, the more we will feel that way! And who wants to feel that way?!

So, here's to me trying not to get caught up in the things I miss or wish I could be apart of, but instead being happy for all my peeps at home and school doing what they are doing and embracing exactly where I am and what I'm doing!

Wishing all a good week from London! Happy Sunday. :)

<3Bren

Amazing Amsterdam!!

I just got back from the most amazing excursion and I am sooo excited to share all about it because I loved it so much and there is just so much to share! 

A Weekend in Amsterdam!!!

*Left on Sunday morning waaaay too early for our own good and hopped on the 45 minute wonderfully quick flight to Amsterdam! We stayed until Tuesday and again, left waaaay too early in the morning to head back to London. It was a perfect two days!*

*Perk 1 of Amsterdam is the fact that the airport is convenient to the city center and just requires a simple 20 minute, cheap bus ride to the central area of the museum.

*We checked into our hostel. Side note - this was my first time ever staying at a hostel and I was a little nervous.. Morgan and I did book a private room though because there was absolutely no way I could do a multi-person dorm, but the hostel we chose was amazing! To anyone looking to travel to Amsterdam on a budget, I strongly recommend the Hostel Van Gogh! It was clean, nice, Van Gogh/artsy themed, and in the absolute perfect location! Plus, it was voted as one of the top 20 coolest hostels in Europe!!

*Perk 2 of Amsterdam - EVERYTHING is walkable! It is soo easy to get around. From our hostel, we could walk two minutes to get to the City Center, where the Van Gogh, Rjiks, and Stedelijk Museum are, as well as the IAMSTERDAM letters! If we walked two minutes in another direction, we could get to luxurious, super high end shops! And within 15 minutes, we could get to the 9 streets, Anne Frank House, Tulip Museum, and Cheese Museum! 

Okay, in case anyone is wondering, here are my musts for Amsterdam!

*The 9 Streets: The canals run through the streets and they are beautiful! The 9 Streets are filled with independent boutique shops, and are a great place to walk around!!

*Classic Tourist Move, but the IAMSTERDAM sign: There were a lot of people there and it was kind of annoying to get a pic, but still worth it!:)

*One of the three art museums: Van Gogh, Rjiks, or Stedelijk! I did Van Gogh and it was awesome, but I think any of the three would be equally great. Also - the area around the museums is a super open park/field area that is great to walk around in, especially during the sunny weekend we had!

*Ice Bakery: This bakery is completely amazing and delicious and by Nutella, so everything there is Nutella themed and wonderful! Morgan and I got the strawberry nutella crepes!

*Anne Frank House: I promise the line is soo worth the wait. This museum is such a worthwhile and enriching experience that really helped widened my perspective. (no pics were allowed, so I have none to share of the museum)

*The Tulip and Cheese Museums: These are right next to each other and they are quick and fun stops!! Plus, the Cheese Museum is free and literally has samples of every single type of Gouda and they are amazing. Very worthwhile, less touristy, and fun stops!

Overall, Amsterdam far surpassed any of my expectations! The city just had such a great feel and is so quaint. I loved how walkable everything was, how much there was to do, and just everything about it! I can't  say that enough and I am so excited to go back in the future!!

Thanks for reading!!

<3Bren