Finals were as horrific as I thought. Actually no, Disney wasn't. 100 multiple choice questions was actually pretty fun! And the research paper I had to do for my Islam class was great, I felt really proud of it. Spanish, now that was horrific. It took me the full 3 hours to do, and I have no idea what I ended up writing in my composition about what the best art form is. However I did get a B- in the course so YAY!
On Wednesday I packed up and headed to the airport, bound for Nashville, Tennessee, to stay with one of my friends I know from home. It was set to be a long trip as I had used airmiles to pay for the majority of the flight and so was airport hopping across the country! First stop, Las Vegas, where we had to circle the city for 45 minutes as President Obama had decided to fly in. Just before we took off from Las Vegas, to Dallas, we saw Air Force One take off which was pretty exciting! On the next flight we flew over the Grand Canyon which I had never seen before! A sprint through Dallas airport to a different terminal to catch the next flight, and I found myself in a hot, muggy, Nashville at 10pm!
The first couple of days, not much sightseeing was done as it was rainy and stormy, and my friend had a lot of other commitments at her university; Vanderbilt. This is a private university and is absolutely gorgeous! Buildings dating back to the 1870s gives it a Harvard kind of a feel. As well as all the posh kids walking around in polo shirts and chinos. You can definitely tell who belongs to a frat or sorority! We took a walk down frat row and the houses are just ridiculous; huge buildings with the American flags and their symbolic names in gold on the front, one was in the shape of a castle....
Vanderbilt has such a different feel to UCSC! I'm used to the forest and the ocean and the laid back, hippy lifestyle; whereas here, you are in the middle of a city, the buildings are ffarrr nicer, and all the people are a bit more... i'm not sure what the word is, upper class? hmm, i'll have a think.
Those first few days I got to sample some good ol' southern chicken, fried okra, lime and cardamon ice cream, Chick-fil-a (southern fast food) at a mall, and eat a corned beef omlette at a restaurant called 'Noshville' while looking out at Taylor Swift's penthouse.
I sat in on my friends Bible class where we listened to some hymns, including one that was to the tune of 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' which blew my mind. That night, it was her boyfriend's birthday party, so we all went down to this Asian market/ canteen style restaurant, ate some Asian food, went and got ice cream (Lemon yoghurt and Brambleberry crisp this time) then headed back to campus. My friend, her hall mates and I played some drinking games in the hallway before heading over to the party at McGill, an accommodation building. It was exactly how it is in the movies! Kids spilling out of the building, plastic cups in hand, music blaring, the best type of house party! These don't tend to happen at UCSC so it was great fun meeting all her friends and sampling the local 'punch'!
The weekend came and this is when the sightseeing began! We went to the Parthenon which is an exact replica of the one in Greece. It looks a bit out of place, but the fact that they built it out of brown stone instead of white, meant that it wasn't as out of place as it could've been! It was a really over cast day so it made it very dramatic. We somehow managed to sneak past the guy on the front desk, so didn't have to pay to go into the building and see Athena in all her golden glory. All the statues were replicas; the originals being in the British Museum, and this gave it a slightly fake, and a bit of a cheap feel to the place but it was cool to see.
After this me and my friend went downtown to hit up the Wild Horse Saloon so that I could experience some southern nightlife. It was AMAZING. I want to go out and do this on every night out! We paid out entrance fee, got huge black 'X's on our hands so that there was no way in hell alcohol would be passing out lips without us being jumped and hauled out of there, and then headed into the saloon. Lots of people of all different ages ranging from 20 to 80, wearing cowboy hats, boots, eating buffalo wings, drinking cocktails out of glasses shaped like a boot, and occasionally getting up to line dance! We ordered some wings, sat and absorbed the place, then got brave and headed out to do some line dancing to country music we obviously were not familiar with! It was sooo much fun. There was horse statues everywhere, including propping up the bar, and on the ceiling. I can't really describe it, so I shall let you see for yourself in the video below.
We took a walk down Broadway, the main bar and music venue street to soak up the atmosphere. Every place you walked past was just crammed solid, and live bands doing a mix of country and pop/rock; of course, I heard Journey and some Dolly Parton. It was a such a brilliant night! I just wish I could of afforded those $500 cowboy boots, but at least I made a friend...
Ok, that is quite enough. I still have two more days left in Nashville with activities including the Pancake Pantry and The Country Music Hall of Fame, but you will have to wait until next Sunday...rules are rules.
Hi Jen, great blog. Looks absolutely fantastic. Have a great time.
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