What a Girl Wants is another of my family’s favorite movies. Amanda Bynes stars as Daphne Reynolds, a teenager with dreams of finding her absent father. To this end, she runs off to London in pursuit of Lord Henry Dashwood, played by Colin Firth, and enters the world of British politics and social standards. Trying to fit in with her dad’s political image, Daphne has to reinvent herself to be the perfect socialite daughter, which, of course, alienates her love interest. After dramatically rushing out of her own debutante ball to return to America with her mom and be herself again, Henry realizes that his priorities are seriously messed up, and he follows them. The resulting reunion is both happy and extremely cheesy, in that Henry also brought the love interest who, of course, loves Daphne just as she is. Aww!
Throughout the whole movie, Henry’s advisor Alistair, who happens to be the father of Henry’s fiancé, is manipulating Henry to further his own position. When Henry decides to leave British politics, and his fiancé, all of the advisor’s lies come to light, and he is fired, left with no job and no power. In the final montage detailing what happened to the advisor and his daughter and granddaughter, Alistair is shown riding on top of the iconic bright red, double-decker tour bus telling the stereotypical American passengers that Big Ben is “not the name of a giant hamburger.”
When Kelli and I boarded our first open-top double-decker tour bus in Edinburgh, this is what immediately came to mind. No, the bus was not red, and no, we were not in London. But I thought about this scene anyways. I thought about it when we boarded our second tour bus as well, though the second time I did not actually laugh out loud. We ended up taking two different tour buses over our weekend in Edinburgh, and we rode each one around its route multiple times. I have to say, if you don’t know what to do in a city, but you know they have hop-on-hop-off bus tours, they are well worth it. I saw more of the city and learned more about the city than I would have if we had explored on our own for two days.
We took bus tours Thursday and Saturday, taking the time on Thursday to tour The Scotch Whiskey Experience and the Dublin Castle and Saturday to tour the Britannia. The Britannia was Queen Elizabeth’s yacht for about 40 years in the nineties, and it was well worth the time it took to tour it. On Friday, we decided to spend the time at the horse races in Musselburgh (which is kind of a suburb of Edinburgh). That was a unique experience, and I’m really glad we went (I’m also glad I only put money on a horse once. I would have lost all my money if I had bet more than that.).
In my last post, I mentioned the hostel in Dublin, and how I hoped the one in Edinburgh would be better. All I can say is, I would stay there again in a heartbeat. While the wifi at the hostel wasn’t free, the hostel was amazing. It was clean and comfortable, and our roommates were very nice. There was even a little restaurant in the lobby that didn’t charge an arm and a leg for dinner!
Throughout the whole movie, Henry’s advisor Alistair, who happens to be the father of Henry’s fiancé, is manipulating Henry to further his own position. When Henry decides to leave British politics, and his fiancé, all of the advisor’s lies come to light, and he is fired, left with no job and no power. In the final montage detailing what happened to the advisor and his daughter and granddaughter, Alistair is shown riding on top of the iconic bright red, double-decker tour bus telling the stereotypical American passengers that Big Ben is “not the name of a giant hamburger.”
When Kelli and I boarded our first open-top double-decker tour bus in Edinburgh, this is what immediately came to mind. No, the bus was not red, and no, we were not in London. But I thought about this scene anyways. I thought about it when we boarded our second tour bus as well, though the second time I did not actually laugh out loud. We ended up taking two different tour buses over our weekend in Edinburgh, and we rode each one around its route multiple times. I have to say, if you don’t know what to do in a city, but you know they have hop-on-hop-off bus tours, they are well worth it. I saw more of the city and learned more about the city than I would have if we had explored on our own for two days.
We took bus tours Thursday and Saturday, taking the time on Thursday to tour The Scotch Whiskey Experience and the Dublin Castle and Saturday to tour the Britannia. The Britannia was Queen Elizabeth’s yacht for about 40 years in the nineties, and it was well worth the time it took to tour it. On Friday, we decided to spend the time at the horse races in Musselburgh (which is kind of a suburb of Edinburgh). That was a unique experience, and I’m really glad we went (I’m also glad I only put money on a horse once. I would have lost all my money if I had bet more than that.).
In my last post, I mentioned the hostel in Dublin, and how I hoped the one in Edinburgh would be better. All I can say is, I would stay there again in a heartbeat. While the wifi at the hostel wasn’t free, the hostel was amazing. It was clean and comfortable, and our roommates were very nice. There was even a little restaurant in the lobby that didn’t charge an arm and a leg for dinner!
With the end of the program quickly approaching, I’m getting a bit more stressed with my classwork. There has been more classwork for the classes here than I was expecting from the very beginning, but these last few weeks are going to be rough. We had an essay due the day after getting back from Dublin, and I now have another essay and a project to complete before the end of the trip. With field trips scheduled for the last two weekends and last minute adventures planned for any free time I have left, I’m starting to wonder when I’m going to get these things done (though I take responsibility for the fact that I technically could have been working on the project from the very beginning of the semester).
These last two weeks are going to be hectic, filled with trips, adventures and packing (oh, and school work). Our trip to Northern Ireland is this weekend, and I’m interested to see what that will bring. It’ll be a busy four days, but hopefully the adventures will be worth it.
Until next time!
These last two weeks are going to be hectic, filled with trips, adventures and packing (oh, and school work). Our trip to Northern Ireland is this weekend, and I’m interested to see what that will bring. It’ll be a busy four days, but hopefully the adventures will be worth it.
Until next time!