Hello friends! I am so sorry this page has been so quiet! I decided not to upload the rest of my Spain and Scotland footage because that time period and the month after were very bad for me; you can watch my life update video if you want more on that - find it in my lifestyle page. Anywho, I went to Amsterdam last month and finally got around to editing the footage! It is my favorite vlog I have ever done and I am super proud of my improving editing skills! Please check it out, and head to my fashion page to see details on what I wore for the trip! Much Love Truly, Taylor
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Hola y Bienvenidos a Sevilla! Hey friends, welcome back! I am super sorry about not posting on this section, or at all, in a while. I went into detail about why on my Lifestyle section so be sure to check that out if you haven't read it! Today's post will be the first of a series on my recent Christmas vacation, or holiday as my new British peers like to call it, to Spain. We flew into Alicante and from there rented a car to drive to Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona! We started off in the beautiful city of Seville. When we got to Seville, we headed straight towards our Airbnb. The place was in a perfect location! It was right near a big marketplace area and a very quick drive into the city center. Downside: it took us, I kid you not, an hour and a half to find parking. Even after we found parking, it cost us 20 Euros per day. On top of that, when we got into the garage, I couldn't park the car because it was so tight; so we ended up having a very nice local offer to park for me. After the parking conundrum, we got into the airbnb and it was so cute. Small place, but for the price and location we were thrilled! I will leave a link to the listing at the bottom if I can find it again! After finally settling in and resting, we got ready to go out and explore our little market area. We walked around and I bought a vintage Wrangler jean jacket from a street vendor. Then we got some postcards and tried to find dinner. Dinner was a bust, so we decided to try a local dessert to remedy it. We tried "Churros con Chocolate" which we assumed would be like hot chocolate and Costco churros. Not the case. The chocolate was essentially hot Hershey's syrup, and the churros had no sugar on them and tasted very "fry-oily". I am glad we tried them however, because at least we know we didn't miss out on the local thing. The next morning, we headed into the city center and started at "La Plaza de España". Here is a snap of the Spain Squad. Left to right it is Me :).\, Rhydian, Hiruni (Insta: hiruniperera_) and Celsa (Insta: lecelsa). Behind us is the beautiful Plaza de España; fun fact: This was used in the filming of Star Wars Episode I. So I think I am a Jedi now! This place is crazy beautiful and I know that I won't be able to convey it's beauty in pictures! The tile work, the arches, the towers, the woodworking, all of it! It was simply stunning! As far as things to do here, there were performers and many vendors for souvenirs, I bought a fedora, I know... surprise! There is also carriage rides, and boat rentals. Then we walked through the park next to the Plaza. The park has Christmas markets and ice skating, and we even met a cute guy for Celsa to talk to. Then we walked towards the Cathedral of Seville and found food on the way. I tried Croquettes for the first time and they were excellent. Tay/Tay recommends! This cathedral is the largest, gothic cathedral in the world. It was stunning and although it cost 4 Euros for a student ticket, we thought that the view you get from the bell tower is worth that in and of itself. The bell tower is only 36 ramps up and it is definitely worth the climb! From there, we headed out of the cathedral and got some gelato before walking back to the car. We then left the city center and went all the way back to find parking, and after bout 50 minutes of driving around, we ended up parking in the same place as before. Then, we rested and watch "Daddy's Home" and packed up to head towards Madrid in the morning. Alrighty friends! That wraps up day one in Sevilla! Next up: Madrid, the capital of Spain! I hope you enjoyed this post and I am so thankful for those of you who keep up with me! Be sure to follow me on my other social media's to get more frequent updates of my adventures. I also vlogged this whole trip so check out the Spain vlog series! I will link that video below and be sure to follow my channel so you don't miss coming on my next trip with me! I love you all Truly, Taylor
Hello there friends! I am so sorry that this page has been so silent! I feel like I have been so busy with school these past 2 weeks, and I have not really gotten to travel, so I have been neglecting this new page! Enough of that, I am back today to bring you to Stonehenge and the Roman city of Bath with me!
My university population is 1/3 international students, and the international student support office has various trips and activities planned that you can buy tickets to. When I got to the UK, I looked up the trips and saw that there was a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Immediately I was interested and signed up because I feel like Stonehenge is something that I need to see as an American in the UK.
Stonehenge was about a two hour drive from the town that my university is in so we travelled by coach bus. When you get to the facility, you start at the visitors center. When you pull up, you can't see the monument. I was initially confused and my first thought was... where is it?
Then I was informed that we had to take a shuttle out. When you arrive, you get an audio tour that has a keypad to type in the number that corresponds with where you are around the monument. I liked this format because it allowed you to move at your own pace.
Then I walked around the monument and listened to the tour guide tell me about what the different rock placements mean and how they were engineered to stand up. Sadly, visitors are not allowed to walk into the monument because the ground has not been fully archeologically explored and they don't want the history to be ruined, understandable.
Then we headed back to the visitors center, bought some souvenirs and headed back on the bus for an hour long ride to Bath.
The drive was beautiful and I am continually stunned by God's beauty in creation of the English countryside.
So when we got to Bath, my city exploration started at the nearest coffee shop, as do most of my city explorations! Side note: if any boys want to know a way to my heart, it is cute aesthetic coffee shops that serve iced coffee and hot mochas ;) At this coffee shop they give 10% off to students and I *highly* recommend the salted caramel brownie!
Sadly, we did not have much time to explore this city, and my phone died so I did not get to see as much as I wanted and I have nearly no pictures of the city. Never fear! I am already planning on going back to explore with my momma when she comes in March. I did however, get to go to the Bath Fashion Museum, perfect tourist spot for a Fashion Merchandising student! Best part of this museum, they had a dress up room which satisfied my inner child.
After the fashion museum, I met up with the group from school to go and see the Roman baths. The baths are made from natural hot, mineral springs and it was used by the Romans for healing, cleansing and leisure over 2,000 years ago when the Romans had control of Britain. Sadly, I did not get any photos because my phone died upon leaving the fashion museum, but as I said, I will go back.
It was such a surreal thing to see because it is so well preserved and as "untouched" as it can be. Since it is preserved, you're actually walking on the same stones that the Romans walked on which is such a crazy thing to think about. Overall, LOVED the city and I am excited to go back to explore more!
And that Ladies and Gents is the end of my little history trip! Thank you so much for coming back and reading this! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you can get excited for the next one! Let me know if you like this section of the blog and be sure to share it if you like it :)
Also, in new news, I have linked this blog, and the other two blog pages, on Bloglovin' so that it is easier to follow along when I post! Head over and follow this blog, as well as the fashion and lifestyle blogs, so that you can be notified when I post! ALSO! There is a new vlog up on this day trip! Head over to my youtube channel to check that out and subscribe to come on my adventures with me! I love ya all! Much Love! Truly, Taylor
What I am wearing:
Raincoat: Jessica Simpson from Marshalls Rainboots: Charlotte Russe Leggings: Tangerine from SAMs Club Free Spirit Graphic Long Sleeve Shirt: Target Hat: Gift :) Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters Backpack: Steve Madden from TJ Maxx
Hello friends and welcome to the second new blog page that I have created! This page will be dedicated to showing and sharing about the places that I have been fortunate enough to travel to.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to travel with a group of international students to the Seven Sisters cliffs. These cliffs are on the Southern coast of England and they are massive cliffs made from chalk. I was told that in many movies, they use these huge cliffs as "The White Cliffs of Dover" instead of the ones actually located in Dover.
Here are some pictures of the group. We were made up of people from many different countries. In total, there were 2 Americans, 2 Koreans, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Brit, 1 girl from Kenya, and a guy from India. It was such a unique group to go with since mostly everyone was from outside of the UK! We did have one Brit which was great because he was a little bit of a tour guide for the rest of us.
This is my new friend Ranti! She is from Texas and is here doing her Masters after graduating from Baylor, 'Sic Em (Shoutout to Annie B). It has been rare to find another American here so we were both excited to meet each other a church a few weeks ago!
These cliffs are called the Seven Sisters because they have 7 prominent crests, as you can see from this second photo. We started from the beach in Seaford and walked up one hill which was large, but we had no idea how tall, and steep, the hills were ahead of us.
So naturally, we had to get some photos on top of the cliffs! The guy in the last picture with me is one of my flatmates who I dragged along on this day trip with me. His name is Milen and he is here in his first year of uni to study Engineering. He is from Bulgaria originally so it has been really cool to learn a bit about his country from living with him and sharing meals in the kitchen. He has even gotten me to try some Bulgarian foods which I was weary about, but they were pretty good!
So after we crested the initial hill, we were down in a valley where the water has cleared a space. We ended up coming upon a Bollywood movie filming. The guy that was with us from India is a bit of a Bollywood buff and he gave us some information about the film. According to him it is not a very wholesome series, but it was still cool to see. We also grabbed a photo with the main actor when they were finished with their shot. Afterwards, we had to cross the water on this sketchy looking "bridge", if you can even call it that. We made it across though and were finally on the side of the 7 major cliffs.
After we moved through the valley, we had to go up a very steep and narrow path to get to the first "sister". The first one is called Haven Brow and it is the tallest of the 7. We took a rest here for food, water and a music break. Then, we decided to walk to the nearest town so that we could catch a bus back to town for lunch and then catch the train back to campus. I would love to go back and hike further down, but it is ALOT further than it looks, take my word for it!
We then made it to the nearest town where the visitors center was so that we could use the restroom, find some postcards, and found a beautiful fall backdrop for photos! The leaves actually turn colors here in the fall and it is STUNNING!
It was then time to go home! This place was absolutely beautiful and was a perfect showcase of God's creation! I highly suggest it for anyone coming to the South of England to travel. I do have some tips though for anyone wanting to embark on this day trip. 1. Give yourself a whole day to do it, especially if you want to travel the whole way down to the Lighthouse at Eastbourne. 2. Bring a water bottle, or two with you. There are no rest areas along the hike so make sure you stay hydrated and if you've got room, pack a small snack like a cheese stick and a apple. 3. Wear sensible shoes! If you've got hiking boots/shoes then great! But if not, wear good sneakers instead of boots or anything without traction. 4. Finally, make sure you can take pictures because you definitely want to get a good shot, or 100, for your Instagram!
I hope you all liked this post and I hope you're excited for this new section of the blog! If you've got recommendations of places to see in the UK and in Europe, please leave me a comment!
Make sure to follow me on Instagram for a more day-to-day perspective of my life @taybeth1 Also, I just started a youtube channel and there will be a vlog of this day trip coming soon so be sure to go check that out! Here is the video link to my channel and be sure to subscribe for the vlog on this day trip coming up in the next few days!
I love you all and I appreciate you coming back to read my blog every time I post!
Much Love Truly, Taylor
What I am wearing:
Vest: Francesca's Glasses: Urban Outfitters Shirt: Vineyard Vines Pants: Tangerine Leggings Shoes: Nike Hat: a lovely gift from my friend Andrea |