Hi! Nice to meet you :) I'm Laura. I'm not a writer. I'm a graphic designer. I started my company in 2010 with a friend and am now making a living from it. The lifestyle is more prone to self reflection and my brain is full. I thought putting some of it on virtual paper might help me concentrate on the job. I'm 22 and like yourself I think it's pretty young to own a company. I'm discovering a lot of things along the way. I'm also learning who I am and who I want to be.
Frankfurt, Germany…. of train problems, language barriers, and poor weather
It was nice to spend these days in Frankfurt, as it’s pretty much the first city we visit whose skyline is dominated by skyscrapers. It felt a bit like being in North America and so it felt to me a little bit like home.
Strasbourg: Walking, eating, drinking…. and eating AGAIN?!?
We got to Strasbourg this Saturday afternoon, my head still buzzing from the night out in Paris. We were bummed when we saw it was raining, and it felt like we were gonna spend a slow, lazy day of rest, and only get going on the visiting on Sunday. BUT THEN we met Florian, our host for the weekend. Florian is a very nice, always smiling guy, around my age. He has only been living in Strasbourg for 2 or 3 weeks, because he is an Erasmus student, coming to study from Germany (he speaks excellent French though!) And Florian had big (and great!!!) plans for us. So we didn’t get the rest we thought we’d get in Strasbourg, but instead we got the best experience of the city we could have had.
Paris, je t’aime. Mais putain que tu fais chier
Our arrival in Paris was a series of wonders. First we were setting foot for the first time in a month in a country where people spoke French around us, although not quite the same one we’re used to. It felt very strange but we were slightly relieved at the same time. Although we’re doing pretty good with our English it’s still an additional effort to address small everyday matters in another language than your own. Second, we realized, while riding the French underground that we had been sitting in the London Tube mere hours ago and it felt a bit surreal.
London: The biggest city in Europe
Disclaimer: We were too busy to make numerous posts while staying in London so you get a huge one. Consider reading it in several sittings 😉
Cornwall, of shopping, beaches, and epic adventures
We will forever remember Cornwall and Penzance for our achievement of walking 23km, our walks on the beach and the beautiful landscapes.
Oxford: “I wanna study forever”
We arrived in Oxford Saturday afternoon, and got a bit lost looking for our hostel. The first one we came into wasn’t ours, but the second was! Since it was almost 4PM already and we figured lots of things would be closing soon, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Later, on our way to look for a grocery store, we found a leaflet lying on the sidewalk titled: “Oxford Open Doors”. It turns out that this weekend was very special: almost every college in Oxford was opening its doors to the public for free. That was some great luck for us, especially since at first we weren’t supposed to be in Oxford until Tuesday; we were supposed to go to Cornwall first but switched up the dates. If we had visited Oxford later this week, we would have had to pay to visit these colleges and many of them might not even have been accessible.
Cardiff: “I could live here”
Overall review? It’s a nice town to live in … but if you’re lacking in time on your travel to the UK, don’t make a point of going.
Liverpool: Of Rain, Beatles and… Beatles…
It was a relief to finally get out of the bus into the Liverpool streets, almost 10 hours after we had left our hostel that morning. Since the moment we set foot in Liverpool, we immediately liked this city. Laura said she really felt at home here. Then, when we arrived at the hostel, we got even more enthusiastic, as this was like paradise, especially when compared to the last one.
Highlands, monsters and fireworks… good stuff!
On Sunday we woke up at 6.30 to get ready for our Highlands day trip. By 7.35 we were at the pick-up point and at 8 sharp the bus left.This was the first time we were hearing the Scottish accent for an extended period of time and we were happy to get to know it a bit better. It was our last day in Scotland after all. We were also very happy to have another beautiful day. Although we passed under some nasty looking clouds on our way, there was no rain and the whole afternoon was sunny.
Edinburgh, or the City of Weeping Feet
We were immediately blown away by the impressive landscape of the city. It seems that the city developed around Edinburgh Castle, a big castle on top of a hill, that used to be the home of the King and Queen of Scotland. The city is built in and around those hills. This means that parts of the city are very high, with very low parts in between.