World Heritage Site Update

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Last year in January, I posted my list about which of the 981 World Heritage Sites I've visited.  Despite traveling extensively in 2014, I actually only increased my total to 41. 

Venice

There are a ton in the USA that I haven't yet gotten to see, so those are my focus in the new year. Plus,  some of them are located in the West, so they are also easy to get to! 

Take a look at the sites I've visited below! What sites have you visited?

Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn
Semmering Railway
Historic Centre of Vienna
La Grand- Palace, Brussels
Historic Centre of Brugge
Flemish Beguinages
Historic Distric of Old Quebec
Historic Centre of Prague
Palace and Park of Versailles
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Romanesque Monuments
Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Paris, Banks of the Siene
Histoic Centre of Avignon: Papa Palace, Episcopal Ensember, Avingon Brdige
Loire Valley
Palace and Parks of Berlin
Museumsinsel (Musuem Island), Berlin
Acropolis, Athens
Historic Centre of Rome, The Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritoral Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Vatican City
Venice and its Lagoon
City of Verona
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Foritifcations
Seventeenth- Century Canal Ring of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht
Historic Centre of Krakow
Auschtwitz Birkenau
Wooden Churches of Maramures
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
Stonehenge
Blenheim Palace
City of Bath
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey includng St. Maragret's Church
Tower of London
Old and New Yowns of Edinburgh
Maritime Greenwich
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dorset and East Devon Coast
Statue of Liberty
Rila Monastery
Royal Domain of Drottnigholm

Goodbye 2014

I haven't posted a substantial blog post since this summer. As many of you guessed, I took a break from blogging when I started my job, moved to Vegas, and got used to not being in school.  I won't promise anything, but I do hope to get back into the blogging world.

For now, here is my annual recap for 2014.

Looking back on the year, 2014 was one of the best yet. A year of change, tons of travel adventures, new friends and acquaintances, a new home, and lots of memories.

In January, after a month home in the USA, I returned to London to start the lent term at LSE. Capstone was still going on, and while it was stressful, I was glad that I had two close guy friends in my group. I started to explore the parts of London I hadn't spent much time in as well as starting the job search process. 

In February, I hopped the pond to Princeton for the editing weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. I got to see one of my closest friends as well as swing home for some snow during the week back in the States.  I checked out the Royal Photography Exhibit at Kensington Palace as well as taking a selfie with John Travolta. 

March was my birthday month. I kicked it off with finishing the dreaded capstone project followed by celebrations with the boys. I turned 24 with the majority of the MPA program present. The MPA Ball was held the weekend after, and we danced all night. 

April brought me home for a five week vacation. Much of that was spent applying to jobs and having interviews, but that work would soon pay off. 

I barely spent time in London during May. After finishing final papers,  I took off to Bulgaria, Sweden, Las Vegas for my job interview, did several day trips, and really enjoyed my time in Europe before I had to start studying for finals. 

June was my final month in London. I found out in the beginning of the month that I had gotten the job offer I had been waiting for. I would be moving to Las Vegas. I did a lot of fun things for my last month in the midst of finals. I was sad to leave London, but I was excited to start a new chapter of my life. 

July brought the start of a new life. I did a road trip across the country with my friend Nicola. I moved into my apartment in Summerlin, and I started working a job that I love! I missed graduation, but I still celebrated. 

And, if you do follow my blog regularly, you know I took a hiatus from July until now. I posted one or two small things. The short recap of August-December: Visited California three times, reunited with some friends from freshman year, stopped getting lost in Vegas, met some great friends, joined Junior League, and continued to wander. 

Stay tuned for new adventures in 2015!

Basildon Park

Last Friday, I took a day trip up to Basildon Park. 

I started off the day bright and early at Paddington Station to catch a commuter train to Goring.  I had to grab an early train as once I arrived in Goring, I had to catch the 11am bus to the estate. As it is a small town, there are irregular bus services. Thankfully, everything worked fine, and I got to the estate a bit before 11:30am.

Before I continue, Basildon Park has been used for numerous films and television shows.  The house, itself, has a cool history. But, part of the reason I went was to take the film tour at 11:30am. Most recently, Basildon Park was used in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice and the 2013 Christmas Special of Downton Abbey (season four).

The film tour provided an overview of how the house was transformed for the Downton Abbey episode that was shot there. The insides of the house were used for the Crowley's Hyde Park home with the front lawn being the setting for the Hyde Park scenes. It was fun exploring each room where a still was set up to help recall what was shot in each room.

Carson!

Mrs. Crowley

Room used as the ballroom for Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice 

Library

Following the tour, I explored the upper part of the house which showcased how the house had been modernized from the 1950s. 

While some of the grounds were shut down for maintenance, I did grab a few shots of the backyard.

Just a tiny backyard, huh?

Following a quick lunch, I ended up walking back to Goring as the bus schedule wasn't conforming to my schedule. I did get lost for a bit, but it helped me discover a few other small towns along the way!

Windsor Castle

The day after my last exam and celebrations, my friend, Josh, and I took a day trip up to Windsor. Yes, we can all be shocked that I hadn't made it up there in my entire time in England.

We grabbed a train out of Waterloo, and before we knew it...we were there! It took about an hour which was fairly quick for some day trips.

Windsor, the town, is exactly what you imagine it would be. Old buildings, cobblestone streets, some modern buildings, and a ton of monuments. 

To start the day, we took a duck tour. It was Josh's first duck tour! If you haven't done a duck tour in a city before, I say run and do one now. It tends to be a bit cheesy, but being a tourist eliminates those words from your vocabulary.

Back of Windsor Castle 

Entering the Thames River

Windsor Castle 

Windsor Castle

The Windsor duck tour started at the base of the castle, took us down to the base of the castle grounds, showed us where some of the horrific floods occurred this past fall, and then we cruised on the Thames. The cruise allowed us to catch a glimpse of the famous Eton College. 

Post the tour, we grabbed a pub lunch. As this all happened in my last week of London, I was adamant about eating traditional fare. Fish and Chips won over for lunch that day.

And, then...the sad part of the day happened. Windsor Castle closed early for some unknown reason. We were left on the outside looking in. While it was a bit disappointing, we looked at as much as we could and then wandered the town.

Cutest Phone Booth Ever?

Fitting Pub Name

As we all know that I'll go back to London sooner rather than later, I'll have to take another day trip up! 

Viva Las Vegas

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I creeped over to the United States last weekend.

I went to Las Vegas for four days, primarily for business (more on that, later). Yet, I also got to have some fun.

I got in late Thursday night, and I chose to stay at a hotel farther up the Strip. I actually had a view of the famous Stratosphere from my room.

Stratosphere

On Friday morning, I tended to some business. But, I then found myself by the pool. 

Cheers!

My brother, Ben, lives in California. He came in to spend the day with me for some sibling bonding! 

We soaked up the sunshine before heading out to see the casinos. We rode the roller coaster at New York, New York...which I do believe I passed out due to being so afraid.  We took in the Dueling Pianos Bar, caught the fountain show at the Bellagio, and just had a lot of fun catching up! 

Ben and Me

Ben left the next morning which meant I got to decide how to spend my last full day in Nevada. I started out by grabbing a pedicure. Post traveling around Europe, it was much needed.

From there, I went on a Hoover Dam Tour! I have always wanted to see the Hoover Dam in person being a history nerd. It was an incredible tour, and I don't say that lightly. One of the best day tours that combined the normal tour of the generators inside the Dam. 

Lake Mead

At the Hoover Dam

Generators 

Hoover Dam

Returning to Las Vegas, I took a night-time tour to see all the light shows, casinos lit up, and to learn more about the history of the City. 

We started at the famous Las Vegas sign!

Viva Las Vegas

Then, we stopped at the Golden Nugget and Freemont Street! What an experience!

Golden Nugget

Freemont Street

World's Largest Golden Nugget

And, finally, we got to see the volcano show at the Mirage and the fountain show at the Bellagio! 

Volcano Show at the Mirage

Bellagio Water Show 

I left fairly early on Sunday for the airport as I had a 10 hour flight back to London. It was a quick, fun, and exciting weekend! I hadn't been to Vegas in 10 years, so it was nice to go back.

And, stay tuned...I'll let you in on another secret on why I was in Las Vegas! 

Bulgaria Day Trip

While I was in Bulgaria, I got to take a day trip to the countryside! One of my favorite things to do is being able to observe the way people live throughout an entire country. And, at the same time, there are some real gems hidden across the Bulgarian county-side! 

The morning was an early one. I grabbed some breakfast at the hotel before the tour company picked me up. Luckily, the group was fairly small that day. Myself and three other women plus the tour guide. It got to be much more customizable due to the small group! 

About two hours post being picked up, we started up the curvy mountain roads to Rila Monastery. When I say curvy, I mean the type that caused me to get motion sickness. I ended up having to put my sunglasses on, closed my eyes, and then chugged a bottle of water. But, the drive was worth it!

Rila Monastery

Rila Monastery is listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Built in the 10th century, Rila Monastery is known as largest Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria.  At one time, there were more monks than there were rooms. However, today, there are only nine monks in residence. 

Oldest Part of the Monastery 

Say Cheese!

We toured as much as we were allowed to see. Inside the main building, there were numerous relics from the original building of the monastery.

While we were there, we also tried the "famous" bread made at the monastery. Sadly, I likened it to fried dough from a state fair. Still had to try it though!

Post viewing the monastery, we stopped at local "famous" restaurant. Known for their access to a fresh water stream from the mountain ranges, we all dined on the trout. 

Re-engergized, we headed to Melnik for our last stop of the day.  

Melnik used to be a huge city and served as a seat of the Ottoman Empire at one point.  It is roughly 15 km from the Greek border (no small trip, that day). Apart from the fact that only 450 people now live in the city, Melnik is famous for its wine. We got to tour a wine cellar, sample our way around the city, and see how people live in the town. It has to be one of my favorite memories of Bulgaria.

Wine Cellar

Sampling...Check!

Melnik

Old Ottoman Empire Building

It was an amazing day trip to the country-side. If you're in Bulgaria, make sure to get outside of Sofia!