Burlington, VT, and Bar Exam Prep Begins

Getting a late start today after arriving in New York at 9:30 PM last night, completing 550 miles from Quebec to Montreal to Burlington, VT, and finally home to NYC. To say I'm a bit creaky this morning is an understatement.

Since we had such a long day ahead of us, we decided to do two minor detours -- drop by Mont Royal to see the views of Montreal and eat lunch in Burlington, VT.

Montreal cityscape from Mont Royal

Montreal was unfortunately a bit hazy but it was still wonderful to look out over the city and see the Olympic Stadium from the top of Mont Royal. 

Next up -- Burlington, VT! I officially get the Vermont love after driving through more of this state than I had before. The northern part, with its mountains and lakes, is truly beautiful. Make sure you take the Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7) if you are driving through Vermont!

Adirondacks view and the bottom of Lake Champlain from Route 7

Burlington, VT, was also a really cool town that I'd love to travel back to this summer. It's right on Lake Champlain and has a lot of neat local stores and cafes plus plenty of chain stores, like Banana Republic. 

The downtown, walking-only area

I feel like going to school at the University of Vermont here would be like summer camp. I went to school in a town less than 1/10 the size of Burlington and always wished there was more to do, so Burlington seemed like the perfect mix of country and city!  I am officially applying for enrollment (ok, not really, no more student debt for me).

See? Adorable!

Using Yelp, I found my parents and I a great little cafe in downtown Burlington: Zabby & Elf's Stone Soup. It had lots of vegetarian and vegan options, a hot and cold salad bar, and some incredible baked goods. I got a plate of mixed salads and veggies from the salad bar then split a piece of apple cake with my mom. It was stuffed with chunks of apple and spice. It was so good that my dad got a piece for himself as well!

The fabulous Zabby & Elf's Stone Soup

So, as of today, I'm officially in bar exam study mode. That means 3.5-4 hours of online lectures every day, Monday to Friday, and homework assignments for the afternoons. It should be lots of fun (*sarcasm*). Still, it'll be nice to have a clear-cut schedule for studying. I'll update you all on how it's going occasionally because I know some of you are grad students who have similar exams that you'll be studying for and may be curious to hear how it goes!


Do you ever have college town envy? Have you had to study for something like the bar exam?