Hey Everyone!!
I hope you are all enjoying your weather - it's been beautiful over here!
So what I forgot to write was that in Lisbon, I tried roasted chestnuts and they tasted pretty good! They were very warm so that helped since it was a cold night!
I have truly lost all concept of time so if there are inaccuracies in my stories, I apologize!
Sunday the 5th (I hope!) I left Lisbon at 11:39am to take a train in to the city of Porto where I would be catching a flight. The original plan was to explore Porto for a little while and then get to the airport which would have been nice. However, the airport was so far away from anything to do in the city and I didn't want to get lost so I stuck it out in the airport. Turned out alright because I picked up a Portuguese history book and some gummy worms and started reading! The flight went well - it was pouring rain as we headed out to the plane so we all got soaked.
I arrived at the airport and the hotel in Barcelona had a free transport so I took that to the hotel. I ended up having a king sized bed and a huge marble bathroom with a massive tub and it was pretty awesome although it would have been nice to share it with someone!
The next morning, I allowed myself to sleep in given the luxury of the room and then I headed off to find the hostel. Turns out the hotel was in a section called El Prat which is a town within Barcelona. I eventually was able to understand which bus line and metro line I needed to take to make it to the hostel. I arrived just fine after quite an adventure but I was able to laugh at my Spanish skills. I plan on asking people at home who know Spanish to only speak to me in Spanish from now on otherwise I will never learn! At the hostel, I hopped ont he computer to check the emails and such and figured out that Scotland is not a great place to be right now! The entire university shut down, buses and taxis barely run, trains are also very unreliable and no one can fly out or in. All of the exams are rescheduled as well! What this means is that I might be crossing Berlin off my European tour because if Lisa doesn't make it to Germany then I would like to head back to Scotland to see eeryone who is stuck there!
I was feeling a bit lonely yesterday just because it's been 5 days alone already but I met some really nice people here yesterday - a kid named Josh from Boston who asked if I went to WPI when I said I go to school in Worcester haha and a girl named Zainib from Morocco. She and I went out to dinner and walked around the market last night and then came back and called it a night - it's exhausting!
Today, Zainib and I headed out to Casa Museu Gaudí which is a beautiful park featuring the architecture of Gaudí. I took a lot of pictures but you don't to see those until later! After that, we headed back on the metro to go and see Temple de La Sagrada Familia and the two parks surrounding it. This is a very beautiful temple with gothic style architecture - it's actually huge but we didn't pay to go inside of it because the line was incredible! We had some lunch back near the hostel and then I left to take a walking tour of the city.
On the walking tour, we explored a lot of the old Barcelona where gothic architecture is still very present. We saw quite a lot of churches that I forget all the names of but all very beautiful and impressive structures. The church called Santa María del Mar was one of the ones that stuck out because it was built by the people with al of their money - the government wouldn't give them any aid. It was also built in the middle of the plague and famine so it is just that much more impressive. The patron saint of arcelona is Saint Eulalia who died at the age of 13 because she failed to convert religions. We also saw the art school that Picasso attended and a plaza dedicated to George Orwell because of the aid he gave Barcelona. You can still see all the remnants of the firing squad and bombs from earlier times in the walls of the plaza.
Barcelona is Spanish but more commonly, it identifies with it's ancient roots of Catalonia. Catalonia was a small territory that was stuck between Spain and France and has continually fought for their independence (once, the city was being attacked for 13 months with no chance of winning but they fought til the daeth anyway.) Barcelona is the main city and capital of Catalonia but it also includes Girona, Lledia and Tarragona. The tour guide put quite a lot of emphasis ont he fact that the people of Catalonia still identify with their roots. Here in Barcelona, they speak Catalan and then Spanish - all the signs are in both but Catalan comes first. It has a lot of French roots as well so it is quite a bit different from Spanish. There is your history lesson =]
After the tour, we stopped off for a drink and a girl I met came with me and we got a waffle (gofre) with nutella at their version of the Christmas market. There are loads of street performers here!! I think when I come back in the future, I will spend a lot more time here because there is just way too much to see when I only have two full days here!
Tomorrow, I move on to Seville bright and early in the morning! I already have the bus trip to the airport planned out and I looked up directions to get from the Seville airport to the hostel when I get there so for now we can all assume I will make it there without a problem! I was able to charge the lovely British phone tonight so I should be all set!
I took loads of pictures of everything I could since I have been here so you will all have a lot to see when I get home! Also, spell check here is in Spanish so it doesn't help me very much...My bad if there are errors!
Heading out for now to a late dinner and then bed early for the flight tomorrow! Love you all!!!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
PORTUGAL!!!!!!
Hey Everyone!
So here is my Portugal update!
Day 1 - A whole lot of travel involved! I was in the train station by 11:30am but with all the time delays from the trains due to the 'severe' weather, I didn't end up getting a train out of Stirling until 12:45pm! While I was on the train and the bus to the airport, I met a guy from Rome and he was giving me a lot of pointers on how to see the city when I am there which was really nice! Made it to the airport in time to discover that my flight was delayed 2.5 hours. We finally boarded the plane at 6:50 (when we were supposed to depart) and then sat in there at the terminal for another 1.75 hours until we finally took off at 8:36! (Yes, I watched the time carefully!) At the airport, there were two guys waiting for me when there was only supposed to be one (long story short the other company is scummy) and my shuttle guy took me to the hotel only after he drove me around downtown to show me the train station. The woman at the reception desk was very sweet and I was able to access internet. My room was awesome! I had a very comfortable double bed with amazing pillows, a full bathroom, a neat TV and my own balcony that overlooked a portion of the city!
Day 2 - I started the morning off with continental breakfast from the hotel and I think I ate enough to feed a small army! I then went on a walk to explore the city of Faro and started off near the marina. The water looked beautiful and it was a very warm day. I strolled around the market plaza which had blue carpet lining all of the shopping streets so I didn't get lost! The town has a bit of poverty but all of the shops were very high end. There was a man playing the accordion in the street which was really neat! I had to purchase a pair of sunglasses because it was so bright thaqt I couldn't see. I hopped on the train at 1:20 to take the trip into Lisbon. The Portuguese country side isn't too fancy - I saw a lot of vegetation and a lot more poverty. Rolling hills and tiny streets are everywhere! I made it into Lisbon at 5:05pm and was so overwhelmed with how huge the Oriente station was that I decided to just take a taxi to the hostel. The driver got me there pretty quickly and safely so I was pleased! The person running the hostel (Guillereme, the French version of William) is very friendly and he gave me a tour and I met some of his friends and my roommate. I have an amazing balcony out of the room of this hostel so that was really nice to wake up to! I followed the map Guillerme gave me and went to a local little shop and had a delicious and cheap steak dinner! When I got back, Frederick, Guillerme and I sat around and chatted for a while. I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted and wanted to do a lot today!
Day 3 - I woke up and had a filling breakfast in the hostel. After breakfast, I headed out with Frederick and we went to a cathedral. After seeing Notre Dame, this one was not impressive but it was still nice. After the cathedral, we continued down the hill and checked out some shops and ended up in one of the main plazas. This +articular plaza used to be called the kings palace because that used to be the site of the royal gardens but when the earthquake and the tsunami hit in 1755, it was destroyed so they rebuilt and renamed it. It started to rain a bit so we headed back to the hostel to grab another coat then went back downtown. We took a tram into the city and that was quite an experience! It was absolutely packed and the ride is the farthest thing from smooth possible but it was so much fun! A fight broke out so the driver made the guys get off but we carried on! Frederick and I stopped to have some food and coffee at one of the famous cafes in the city and then we went to meet for our guided tour organized by the hostel. This is where we met the group o 7 or so Spanish men that are staying here with us. The tour was given by a woman named Ana who is an archeologist and likes to do these kinds of things for fun. It lasted 3 hours long and was incredibly historic and took us to a lot of unknown sites throughout Lisbon. I tried to get to a computer fast enough to write down all she told us before I forgot but that didn't happen! Part of the tour covered the oldest monastery in Lisbon that they decided to build around after the tsunami/earthquake knocked it over. There is a very strong Muslim influence here in Lisbon and there was a wall all around that city that still exists in some parts.
After the tour was over, Ana took us to ti a shop to get a shot of gin
jinh. This is a very Portuguese liquor that is very strong and has been soaked in cherries for a very long time. It's sweet at first and then it hits you! After the tour, we went to a little restaurant where they have Fado. Fado is a very traditional Portuguese style of music with a Portuguese guitar, as well as normal ones, and a singer. Songs are usually about something that is lost (like love) or can be about the town and can be sad or hilarious. The style of Fado we went to was kind of like an open mic night and it was great! I have some videos that I will put up as soon as I get back to my laptop! Tonight, Ana made dinner for those of us in the hostel. We had some pork mixed with clams, salad, potatoes and onions. Yes, I tried the clam. No, I did not like it. But the point is, I tried! All the seafood I have had so far is just too seafoody...I don't like it. THe hostel got pretty full last night because the Spanish folk are all on holiday since next week they have Monday and Wednesday off. The people I had dinner with were Frederick, Ana,
Guillerme and 10 guys from Spain. They are hilarious though!! Definitely exhausting. Their English is comical and they wanted to tell us jokes but they needed to have the other Spanish people translate them first! On the way home to dinner tonight, I asked the lady for Portuguese sweet bread (in Portuguese) and I purchased some for 1 Euro...it was not Portuguese sweet bread. I haven't found it anywhere but I will keep looking!
Tonight, a bunch of us are going out to do a pub crawl. Tomorrow morning, I will have to take the metro to the HUGE train station then get a train into Porto. From there, I will check out the town and then head on another metro to the airport and get ready to fly to Barcelona! Can't wait!
I hope that everyone is having a great time back at home and you are all decorating for Christmas! I keep forgetting that is coming up because I don't have a tree =[ I will update you next when I am in España!!
Love you all tons and am sending you hugs and smiles from Portugal!!
***I will put up all the pictures and videos I have when I get back home!***
So here is my Portugal update!
Day 1 - A whole lot of travel involved! I was in the train station by 11:30am but with all the time delays from the trains due to the 'severe' weather, I didn't end up getting a train out of Stirling until 12:45pm! While I was on the train and the bus to the airport, I met a guy from Rome and he was giving me a lot of pointers on how to see the city when I am there which was really nice! Made it to the airport in time to discover that my flight was delayed 2.5 hours. We finally boarded the plane at 6:50 (when we were supposed to depart) and then sat in there at the terminal for another 1.75 hours until we finally took off at 8:36! (Yes, I watched the time carefully!) At the airport, there were two guys waiting for me when there was only supposed to be one (long story short the other company is scummy) and my shuttle guy took me to the hotel only after he drove me around downtown to show me the train station. The woman at the reception desk was very sweet and I was able to access internet. My room was awesome! I had a very comfortable double bed with amazing pillows, a full bathroom, a neat TV and my own balcony that overlooked a portion of the city!
Day 2 - I started the morning off with continental breakfast from the hotel and I think I ate enough to feed a small army! I then went on a walk to explore the city of Faro and started off near the marina. The water looked beautiful and it was a very warm day. I strolled around the market plaza which had blue carpet lining all of the shopping streets so I didn't get lost! The town has a bit of poverty but all of the shops were very high end. There was a man playing the accordion in the street which was really neat! I had to purchase a pair of sunglasses because it was so bright thaqt I couldn't see. I hopped on the train at 1:20 to take the trip into Lisbon. The Portuguese country side isn't too fancy - I saw a lot of vegetation and a lot more poverty. Rolling hills and tiny streets are everywhere! I made it into Lisbon at 5:05pm and was so overwhelmed with how huge the Oriente station was that I decided to just take a taxi to the hostel. The driver got me there pretty quickly and safely so I was pleased! The person running the hostel (Guillereme, the French version of William) is very friendly and he gave me a tour and I met some of his friends and my roommate. I have an amazing balcony out of the room of this hostel so that was really nice to wake up to! I followed the map Guillerme gave me and went to a local little shop and had a delicious and cheap steak dinner! When I got back, Frederick, Guillerme and I sat around and chatted for a while. I went to bed early since I was pretty exhausted and wanted to do a lot today!
Day 3 - I woke up and had a filling breakfast in the hostel. After breakfast, I headed out with Frederick and we went to a cathedral. After seeing Notre Dame, this one was not impressive but it was still nice. After the cathedral, we continued down the hill and checked out some shops and ended up in one of the main plazas. This +articular plaza used to be called the kings palace because that used to be the site of the royal gardens but when the earthquake and the tsunami hit in 1755, it was destroyed so they rebuilt and renamed it. It started to rain a bit so we headed back to the hostel to grab another coat then went back downtown. We took a tram into the city and that was quite an experience! It was absolutely packed and the ride is the farthest thing from smooth possible but it was so much fun! A fight broke out so the driver made the guys get off but we carried on! Frederick and I stopped to have some food and coffee at one of the famous cafes in the city and then we went to meet for our guided tour organized by the hostel. This is where we met the group o 7 or so Spanish men that are staying here with us. The tour was given by a woman named Ana who is an archeologist and likes to do these kinds of things for fun. It lasted 3 hours long and was incredibly historic and took us to a lot of unknown sites throughout Lisbon. I tried to get to a computer fast enough to write down all she told us before I forgot but that didn't happen! Part of the tour covered the oldest monastery in Lisbon that they decided to build around after the tsunami/earthquake knocked it over. There is a very strong Muslim influence here in Lisbon and there was a wall all around that city that still exists in some parts.
After the tour was over, Ana took us to ti a shop to get a shot of gin
jinh. This is a very Portuguese liquor that is very strong and has been soaked in cherries for a very long time. It's sweet at first and then it hits you! After the tour, we went to a little restaurant where they have Fado. Fado is a very traditional Portuguese style of music with a Portuguese guitar, as well as normal ones, and a singer. Songs are usually about something that is lost (like love) or can be about the town and can be sad or hilarious. The style of Fado we went to was kind of like an open mic night and it was great! I have some videos that I will put up as soon as I get back to my laptop! Tonight, Ana made dinner for those of us in the hostel. We had some pork mixed with clams, salad, potatoes and onions. Yes, I tried the clam. No, I did not like it. But the point is, I tried! All the seafood I have had so far is just too seafoody...I don't like it. THe hostel got pretty full last night because the Spanish folk are all on holiday since next week they have Monday and Wednesday off. The people I had dinner with were Frederick, Ana,
Guillerme and 10 guys from Spain. They are hilarious though!! Definitely exhausting. Their English is comical and they wanted to tell us jokes but they needed to have the other Spanish people translate them first! On the way home to dinner tonight, I asked the lady for Portuguese sweet bread (in Portuguese) and I purchased some for 1 Euro...it was not Portuguese sweet bread. I haven't found it anywhere but I will keep looking!
Tonight, a bunch of us are going out to do a pub crawl. Tomorrow morning, I will have to take the metro to the HUGE train station then get a train into Porto. From there, I will check out the town and then head on another metro to the airport and get ready to fly to Barcelona! Can't wait!
I hope that everyone is having a great time back at home and you are all decorating for Christmas! I keep forgetting that is coming up because I don't have a tree =[ I will update you next when I am in España!!
Love you all tons and am sending you hugs and smiles from Portugal!!
***I will put up all the pictures and videos I have when I get back home!***
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Travel Plans!
Hellooooo!
I am gearing up to head out on my trip around Europe! Here is my itinerary!
Dec 2 - Faro, Portugal
Dec 3 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 4 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 5 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 6 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 7 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 8 - Seville, Spain
Dec 9 - Seville, Spain
Dec 10 - Madrid, Spain
Dec 11 - Rome, Italy
Dec 12 - Rome, Italy
Dec 13 - Rome, Italy
Dec 14 - Florence, Italy
Dec 15 - Venice, Italy
Dec 16 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 17 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 18 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 19 - Stirling, Scotland
DEC 20TH - HOME TO CONNECTICUT! (arrival at 6pm in Boston!)
Dad helped me out a lot with this trip and was able to book me some great hotels and hostels since everything is a little overwhelming when you wait until there isn't much time left!
I know that it is an ambitious trip but that's what makes it exciting! I will be traveling on my own until I get to Berlin and then I will be staying with Lisa at her dad's place for those three nights. Everything is all set and ready to go!
Hopefully, the weather here stays good - the airport has been closed more often than it's been open since this weekend...Flights in Ireland, the UK and France are all having issues with the amount of awful weather we have had (yes, it is STILL snowing!)
Sunday night, I went out with some people from Urban Dance and we had a Vietnamese dinner called a hot pot. This involves a pot of boiling stew in the center of the table surrounded by bowls of food and you toss whatever you would like in and take it out when you think it is cooked. The only dangerous thing about this is that you never know what you are getting in your bowl...I wish I had a picture of the food because there were baby octopuses floating around in the pot. To be fair, I tried tofu and prawns and possibly by an accident, a piece of cod. Not a fan of the tofu or the prawns one bit but I think the potential piece of cod was so small that I shouldn't count it...After dinner, the taxi could only drive us so far so we hopped out and found some people with trash bags and went sledding! It was loads of fun but going in a trash bag is not recommended!
Monday, I had my last classes and I finalized all of the flights I would be taking and began packing for my journey!
Last night (Tuesday night), my friends threw me a surprise going away party since I am the first one to leave. They filled a whole room with balloons with nice writings on them and they all wrote in a card for me saying some very sweet things. Elsa also cooked everyone crepes - ham, egg and cheese, nutella, butter and salt, etc. It was delicious and we all had a great last night together - I am so lucky to have found such amazing friends over here and knowing that they think just as highly of me as I do of them is a good feeling. I hope that we can all stay in touch (they all told me to keep writing them emails in Spanish to keep practicing!)
Tonight (Wednesday), Lisa and Melanie made us dinner for German night. We had Knödel which is a potato/bread dumpling that doesn't have yeast. They made it with a sauce of red wine and mushrooms and some other gravy like sauce. It tasted pretty good and certainly is filling! I tried the mushrooms (both cooked and uncooked) and it's really not a food I care to continue eating.
Keep your fingers crossed for a flight that doesn't get canceled and takes me safely to Portugal! The plane takes off at 4:10pm! (on a side note, I have internet almost everywhere I go so I will update you along the way but you won't get pictures until I get home!)
I will leave you with some pictures of all the crazy snow on campus! Love you!
Sledding with 'bin bags' (trash bags!)
Frozen Loch
View of Dumyat on the way to class
Frozen Loch and the Library
Frozen Loch with Dumyat and the Dorms (and you can see the bridge I cross over to get to class everyday!)
I am gearing up to head out on my trip around Europe! Here is my itinerary!
Dec 2 - Faro, Portugal
Dec 3 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 4 - Lisbon, Portugal
Dec 5 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 6 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 7 - Barcelona, Spain
Dec 8 - Seville, Spain
Dec 9 - Seville, Spain
Dec 10 - Madrid, Spain
Dec 11 - Rome, Italy
Dec 12 - Rome, Italy
Dec 13 - Rome, Italy
Dec 14 - Florence, Italy
Dec 15 - Venice, Italy
Dec 16 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 17 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 18 - Berlin, Germany
Dec 19 - Stirling, Scotland
DEC 20TH - HOME TO CONNECTICUT! (arrival at 6pm in Boston!)
Dad helped me out a lot with this trip and was able to book me some great hotels and hostels since everything is a little overwhelming when you wait until there isn't much time left!
I know that it is an ambitious trip but that's what makes it exciting! I will be traveling on my own until I get to Berlin and then I will be staying with Lisa at her dad's place for those three nights. Everything is all set and ready to go!
Hopefully, the weather here stays good - the airport has been closed more often than it's been open since this weekend...Flights in Ireland, the UK and France are all having issues with the amount of awful weather we have had (yes, it is STILL snowing!)
Sunday night, I went out with some people from Urban Dance and we had a Vietnamese dinner called a hot pot. This involves a pot of boiling stew in the center of the table surrounded by bowls of food and you toss whatever you would like in and take it out when you think it is cooked. The only dangerous thing about this is that you never know what you are getting in your bowl...I wish I had a picture of the food because there were baby octopuses floating around in the pot. To be fair, I tried tofu and prawns and possibly by an accident, a piece of cod. Not a fan of the tofu or the prawns one bit but I think the potential piece of cod was so small that I shouldn't count it...After dinner, the taxi could only drive us so far so we hopped out and found some people with trash bags and went sledding! It was loads of fun but going in a trash bag is not recommended!
Monday, I had my last classes and I finalized all of the flights I would be taking and began packing for my journey!
Last night (Tuesday night), my friends threw me a surprise going away party since I am the first one to leave. They filled a whole room with balloons with nice writings on them and they all wrote in a card for me saying some very sweet things. Elsa also cooked everyone crepes - ham, egg and cheese, nutella, butter and salt, etc. It was delicious and we all had a great last night together - I am so lucky to have found such amazing friends over here and knowing that they think just as highly of me as I do of them is a good feeling. I hope that we can all stay in touch (they all told me to keep writing them emails in Spanish to keep practicing!)
Tonight (Wednesday), Lisa and Melanie made us dinner for German night. We had Knödel which is a potato/bread dumpling that doesn't have yeast. They made it with a sauce of red wine and mushrooms and some other gravy like sauce. It tasted pretty good and certainly is filling! I tried the mushrooms (both cooked and uncooked) and it's really not a food I care to continue eating.
Keep your fingers crossed for a flight that doesn't get canceled and takes me safely to Portugal! The plane takes off at 4:10pm! (on a side note, I have internet almost everywhere I go so I will update you along the way but you won't get pictures until I get home!)
I will leave you with some pictures of all the crazy snow on campus! Love you!
Sledding with 'bin bags' (trash bags!)
Frozen Loch
View of Dumyat on the way to class
Frozen Loch and the Library
Frozen Loch with Dumyat and the Dorms (and you can see the bridge I cross over to get to class everyday!)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Last Weekend in Scotland!
Hello Everyone!!
I hope that Thanksgiving was a fantastic celebration for all of you! I went to the pub for dinner because if you buy a full price drink, you get one meal for free (out of three choices). How could you not be thankful for that?! I also had a lovely time on skype with all of those who were able to make it to the Carey household for the holidays! Just as crazy as always and Lisa is determined to visit so congrats on the fantastic impression =] There better be a buckeye bar for me...
Friday morning, I headed out to Glasgow with Elsa. We arrived nice and early in the morning and some things weren't even open yet! Our first stop was the oldest church in Glasgow - St. Mungo's Cathedral. The church was beautiful and quite large! The first floor was the chapel and then you could go down to the basement/lower levels and it was just a smaller version of everything above with crypts, other areas of worship and artifacts displayed from around the church. We also visited the necropolis that lies behind the cathedral and got some really nice early morning views of the city.
Our next stop was the Provand's Lordship which is across from the church and officially the oldest house in Glasgow. The information said that no one knows that the original function of the house was but now it acts as a 'rare example of 15th century Scottish domestic architecture'.
Following the old house, we went back across the street to the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Architecture. This focused on religions from all over the world as well as an exhibit that involved people being interviewed regarding questions of religion to show how greatly everything is interpreted.
We decided to talk a walk through Glasgow and head to Glasgow Green. The park was much larger than I thought and it had the most amazing playground!! Inside the green is the People's Palace and the Winter Gardens. The People's Palace was constructed to give people a history of Glasgow starting from the 18th century. There is a very beautiful fountain outside of the palace made of terracotta and is one of the largest (?) of it's kind in the world.
After some lunch, we went through the Christmas market in Glasgow (which wasn't nearly as nice as Paris) and then headed towards the other side of town to check out the Burrell Collection. This is a large building filled with historical artifacts and fine art that started out as the private collection of a man named William Burrell when he was only a teenager. He donated the collection to be displayed in Glasgow after his death. It is quite an impressive collection!
Elsa headed home and I headed to Edinburgh to meet Melanie and Lisa. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel (which was right in the center of Edinburgh on the 4th floor!) and went to check out the Edinburgh Christmas market - much better than Glasgow and just about as awesome as Paris! The streets of Edinburgh were all lit up with Christmas lights and it actually started snowing!! We went out to a restaurant that gives out good student deals then spent the night checking out a few other local pubs.
This weekend was St. Andrews weekend meaning that all of the historical sights in Scotland are free. Saturday morning, we headed out to go see Edinburgh Castle. It was just a larger version of Stirling castle but had a bit more historical information displayed with the exhibits. The views from the castle were pretty awesome! You could see the city, the water and the mountains and everything was covered in snow! We spent the rest of the day walking to a section where they have a bunch of second hand shops and explored down there. It was freezing so we decided to head home early. This ended up being a nightmare because when it snowed the night before, it messed up how all of the trains worked so we waited about 2 hours to get home since almost all of the trains were canceled. Train stations are not warm...
Melanie, Lisa and I spent quite a bit of time this morning watching an epic snowball fight from the window of our kitchen! There are about 20 people running around the green making snow forts and throwing snowballs at people with their windows open - some already had coolers full of snowballs and have been throwing back. It makes me miss home! It snowed a bit on Wednesday and then again Thursday and Friday and hasn't stopped snowing since last night! It's awesome! The weather reports are saying that last night was the coldest November night documented in the UK and that it will keep snowing through the week. Let's just hope that this doesn't change plane, train or airplane times because I need to get to the airport Thursday!!
Sorry there aren't too many pictures up this port - I have quite a bit to do before I take off and I just did this on my study break!!
I will be posting my travel plans online soon so stay tuned!
Inside the cathedral
The Necropolis
Sign in the People's Palace
Fountain outside the People's Palace
Building in downtown Glasgow
Christmas Market
Melanie, myself and Lisa
Edinburgh Castle
Inside the walls
Bag piper on the street corner
I hope that Thanksgiving was a fantastic celebration for all of you! I went to the pub for dinner because if you buy a full price drink, you get one meal for free (out of three choices). How could you not be thankful for that?! I also had a lovely time on skype with all of those who were able to make it to the Carey household for the holidays! Just as crazy as always and Lisa is determined to visit so congrats on the fantastic impression =] There better be a buckeye bar for me...
Friday morning, I headed out to Glasgow with Elsa. We arrived nice and early in the morning and some things weren't even open yet! Our first stop was the oldest church in Glasgow - St. Mungo's Cathedral. The church was beautiful and quite large! The first floor was the chapel and then you could go down to the basement/lower levels and it was just a smaller version of everything above with crypts, other areas of worship and artifacts displayed from around the church. We also visited the necropolis that lies behind the cathedral and got some really nice early morning views of the city.
Our next stop was the Provand's Lordship which is across from the church and officially the oldest house in Glasgow. The information said that no one knows that the original function of the house was but now it acts as a 'rare example of 15th century Scottish domestic architecture'.
Following the old house, we went back across the street to the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Architecture. This focused on religions from all over the world as well as an exhibit that involved people being interviewed regarding questions of religion to show how greatly everything is interpreted.
We decided to talk a walk through Glasgow and head to Glasgow Green. The park was much larger than I thought and it had the most amazing playground!! Inside the green is the People's Palace and the Winter Gardens. The People's Palace was constructed to give people a history of Glasgow starting from the 18th century. There is a very beautiful fountain outside of the palace made of terracotta and is one of the largest (?) of it's kind in the world.
After some lunch, we went through the Christmas market in Glasgow (which wasn't nearly as nice as Paris) and then headed towards the other side of town to check out the Burrell Collection. This is a large building filled with historical artifacts and fine art that started out as the private collection of a man named William Burrell when he was only a teenager. He donated the collection to be displayed in Glasgow after his death. It is quite an impressive collection!
Elsa headed home and I headed to Edinburgh to meet Melanie and Lisa. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel (which was right in the center of Edinburgh on the 4th floor!) and went to check out the Edinburgh Christmas market - much better than Glasgow and just about as awesome as Paris! The streets of Edinburgh were all lit up with Christmas lights and it actually started snowing!! We went out to a restaurant that gives out good student deals then spent the night checking out a few other local pubs.
This weekend was St. Andrews weekend meaning that all of the historical sights in Scotland are free. Saturday morning, we headed out to go see Edinburgh Castle. It was just a larger version of Stirling castle but had a bit more historical information displayed with the exhibits. The views from the castle were pretty awesome! You could see the city, the water and the mountains and everything was covered in snow! We spent the rest of the day walking to a section where they have a bunch of second hand shops and explored down there. It was freezing so we decided to head home early. This ended up being a nightmare because when it snowed the night before, it messed up how all of the trains worked so we waited about 2 hours to get home since almost all of the trains were canceled. Train stations are not warm...
Melanie, Lisa and I spent quite a bit of time this morning watching an epic snowball fight from the window of our kitchen! There are about 20 people running around the green making snow forts and throwing snowballs at people with their windows open - some already had coolers full of snowballs and have been throwing back. It makes me miss home! It snowed a bit on Wednesday and then again Thursday and Friday and hasn't stopped snowing since last night! It's awesome! The weather reports are saying that last night was the coldest November night documented in the UK and that it will keep snowing through the week. Let's just hope that this doesn't change plane, train or airplane times because I need to get to the airport Thursday!!
Sorry there aren't too many pictures up this port - I have quite a bit to do before I take off and I just did this on my study break!!
I will be posting my travel plans online soon so stay tuned!
Inside the cathedral
The Necropolis
Sign in the People's Palace
Fountain outside the People's Palace
Building in downtown Glasgow
Christmas Market
Melanie, myself and Lisa
Edinburgh Castle
Inside the walls
Bag piper on the street corner
Thursday, November 25, 2010
PARIS!
Hey Everyone!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!! Gobble Gobble! <--- (that's for you mom!)
As you know, Jessica and I spent the past weekend in Paris! We left at 4:50 am Friday morning and arrived back in Stirling at 1:30 pm on Sunday! What a weekend we had!
The plane ride to Paris went just fine. We had to take a bus from the small airport into Paris (about 1 hour) and then we began walking. The first stop for us was the Arc de Triomphe. It was magnificent! The detail carved into the stone was amazing and the size of the Arc is incredible! There are some pictures of Jessica next to it and she looks like an ant!
Next, we went down some side streets and found a cafe/restaurant to eat some lunch and a cheeseburger and a coke cost me 19 euros - awesome! We spent some more time walking through the streets where there was a huge Christmas fair/market and continued to a park that was right next to the Louvre. We never made it inside the Louvre because the hours of operation never seemed to fit our schedule. It took us 2.5 hours to find our hotel Friday night and thanks to a man on the street who we refer to as our angel, we were able to get there. We went back to the Christmas market and stopped at several different booths to get some dinner - mostly dessert!
Saturday, we waited in line forever to get up to the top of the Eiffel Tower but we did it! While we were waiting, I witnessed a couple getting engaged! Woot! The view from the top of the tower was pretty amazing - you don't realize how tall it is until you get to the top. We had a lovely cloudless day and you could see the entire city. After the tower, we headed down to the park next to it and took some more pictures before we walked through some smaller neighborhoods. We went to a bakery with the most delicious food and then walked through a flea market before we got on the metro and went to visit Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was impressive. Jess walked me there while I was forced to look at my feet and she stood me right in front of the door and told me to look up. All the little figures crafted into the stone was mind boggling. It really is a beautiful building. The beaut on the outside is equally reflected inside the cathedral. The ceilings are amazing and each of the little side room type things had it's own unique look or had some form of carving, statue or painting in it. We were half way through the church when mass started so we were able to see and hear all of the songs and prayer. I was also able to light a candle for Brenna, one of the girls I babysat this summer who has leukemia.
After Notre Dame, we walked around some more side streets and eventually found a restaurant. I had pizza with Parma ham - a smoked ham that looks and kind of tastes like it was never actually cooked. And here is a shocker for those of you who know me - I tried salmon. Yup, you heard right! Jessica somehow inspired me to try it. And I will say this - it didn't go disastrously! She said it wasn't good salmon so I guess that means there is even more hope for me! haha
On the way home we went to go visit Moulin Rouge and the small neighborhood around it. We also stopped at the Christmas fair again and watched the Rock n' Roll tree cutting show - the guy had music blasting and revved the chain saws to the beat and even included his own dance moves. He has a big ego - even started giving a speech after... We mastered the metro system and made it to the bus transport with time to spare! At the airport in France for the trip home, I got in the wrong line first then had to go back and have them check my visa since I am not a member of the EU. Jess and I both managed to set of the metal detector. The man asked if I spoke French and I said no. He then asked if I spoke English and I responded "Sí". He was pretty confused and so was Jess...It was really confusing! I was practicing my Spanish for my exam Tuesday and trying to learn French and that wasn't the first time I had done that... After the lady wanded me and made sure I wasn't smuggling anything, I was able to watch another woman unpack my entire bag only to find nothing. She was not very pleased and either was I. She stinks at re-packing bags by the way.
Once in Stirling, Jess and I ran to the cinema with time to spare! Of course we went to see Harry Potter and we didn't feel like making another trip back into town. I had a lovely postcard from my parents waiting for me and lots of homework!
This week, I had a Spanish language exam which went fair enough. I also had my Spanish culture exam which also went pretty well. Spanish is officially over for the semester and I will spend my time focusing on History and Linguistics. Tomorrow, I will be spending the day in Glasgow with Elsa and meeting up with one of Steph Brink's friends who has some inside knowledge of the city! From there, I am heading into Edinburgh to meet Lisa and Melanie to enjoy St. Andrew's weekend (all of the historical sites are free!) We will be staying in a hostel and heading back Saturday night.
I also got a haircut - Jess has always cut her own hair and as a spontaneous decision, I told her to cut mine. It looks amazing and people keep saying it looks professional! Woot! I was her first customer =]
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to say that I am an incredibly lucky girl to have the most amazing parents in the world who inspire me and believe in me no matter what. They continually encourage me to see the world and expand my horizons and I wouldn't be here without them. My little brother is pretty fantastic too =] I am currently wishing that I could have magically arrived home to spend the Thanksgiving break with my family and friends. I never miss family holidays and it is breaking my heart that I can't be there. Here's hoping that you are all playing some football, making some horrible music videos, failing at karaoke, and eating loads of food for me! (Save me one of Aunt Lynn's buckeye bars mommy!!!)
That's all I have for now! Apologies for taking so long to post again - it's been crazy and Paris was incredibly exhausting! Oh yeah - we got a wee bit of snow last night and I think the forecast says more is coming! And the sun sets at 3:50 today - the sun was only out for 7:57 hours =/
Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!
Arc de Triomphe
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
NUTELLA at the street fair =]
Part of the Christmas street market
Eiffel Tower!
Looking down from the very top!
Arc de Triomphe and all the roads that lead to it
Jess and I atop the Eiffel!
Casting its shadow over the city
Inside the Notre Dame
Full view of the front of Notre Dame
Moulin Rouge
**There are tons more pictures on my facebook page so go check them out =]
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!! Gobble Gobble! <--- (that's for you mom!)
As you know, Jessica and I spent the past weekend in Paris! We left at 4:50 am Friday morning and arrived back in Stirling at 1:30 pm on Sunday! What a weekend we had!
The plane ride to Paris went just fine. We had to take a bus from the small airport into Paris (about 1 hour) and then we began walking. The first stop for us was the Arc de Triomphe. It was magnificent! The detail carved into the stone was amazing and the size of the Arc is incredible! There are some pictures of Jessica next to it and she looks like an ant!
Next, we went down some side streets and found a cafe/restaurant to eat some lunch and a cheeseburger and a coke cost me 19 euros - awesome! We spent some more time walking through the streets where there was a huge Christmas fair/market and continued to a park that was right next to the Louvre. We never made it inside the Louvre because the hours of operation never seemed to fit our schedule. It took us 2.5 hours to find our hotel Friday night and thanks to a man on the street who we refer to as our angel, we were able to get there. We went back to the Christmas market and stopped at several different booths to get some dinner - mostly dessert!
Saturday, we waited in line forever to get up to the top of the Eiffel Tower but we did it! While we were waiting, I witnessed a couple getting engaged! Woot! The view from the top of the tower was pretty amazing - you don't realize how tall it is until you get to the top. We had a lovely cloudless day and you could see the entire city. After the tower, we headed down to the park next to it and took some more pictures before we walked through some smaller neighborhoods. We went to a bakery with the most delicious food and then walked through a flea market before we got on the metro and went to visit Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was impressive. Jess walked me there while I was forced to look at my feet and she stood me right in front of the door and told me to look up. All the little figures crafted into the stone was mind boggling. It really is a beautiful building. The beaut on the outside is equally reflected inside the cathedral. The ceilings are amazing and each of the little side room type things had it's own unique look or had some form of carving, statue or painting in it. We were half way through the church when mass started so we were able to see and hear all of the songs and prayer. I was also able to light a candle for Brenna, one of the girls I babysat this summer who has leukemia.
After Notre Dame, we walked around some more side streets and eventually found a restaurant. I had pizza with Parma ham - a smoked ham that looks and kind of tastes like it was never actually cooked. And here is a shocker for those of you who know me - I tried salmon. Yup, you heard right! Jessica somehow inspired me to try it. And I will say this - it didn't go disastrously! She said it wasn't good salmon so I guess that means there is even more hope for me! haha
On the way home we went to go visit Moulin Rouge and the small neighborhood around it. We also stopped at the Christmas fair again and watched the Rock n' Roll tree cutting show - the guy had music blasting and revved the chain saws to the beat and even included his own dance moves. He has a big ego - even started giving a speech after... We mastered the metro system and made it to the bus transport with time to spare! At the airport in France for the trip home, I got in the wrong line first then had to go back and have them check my visa since I am not a member of the EU. Jess and I both managed to set of the metal detector. The man asked if I spoke French and I said no. He then asked if I spoke English and I responded "Sí". He was pretty confused and so was Jess...It was really confusing! I was practicing my Spanish for my exam Tuesday and trying to learn French and that wasn't the first time I had done that... After the lady wanded me and made sure I wasn't smuggling anything, I was able to watch another woman unpack my entire bag only to find nothing. She was not very pleased and either was I. She stinks at re-packing bags by the way.
Once in Stirling, Jess and I ran to the cinema with time to spare! Of course we went to see Harry Potter and we didn't feel like making another trip back into town. I had a lovely postcard from my parents waiting for me and lots of homework!
This week, I had a Spanish language exam which went fair enough. I also had my Spanish culture exam which also went pretty well. Spanish is officially over for the semester and I will spend my time focusing on History and Linguistics. Tomorrow, I will be spending the day in Glasgow with Elsa and meeting up with one of Steph Brink's friends who has some inside knowledge of the city! From there, I am heading into Edinburgh to meet Lisa and Melanie to enjoy St. Andrew's weekend (all of the historical sites are free!) We will be staying in a hostel and heading back Saturday night.
I also got a haircut - Jess has always cut her own hair and as a spontaneous decision, I told her to cut mine. It looks amazing and people keep saying it looks professional! Woot! I was her first customer =]
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to say that I am an incredibly lucky girl to have the most amazing parents in the world who inspire me and believe in me no matter what. They continually encourage me to see the world and expand my horizons and I wouldn't be here without them. My little brother is pretty fantastic too =] I am currently wishing that I could have magically arrived home to spend the Thanksgiving break with my family and friends. I never miss family holidays and it is breaking my heart that I can't be there. Here's hoping that you are all playing some football, making some horrible music videos, failing at karaoke, and eating loads of food for me! (Save me one of Aunt Lynn's buckeye bars mommy!!!)
That's all I have for now! Apologies for taking so long to post again - it's been crazy and Paris was incredibly exhausting! Oh yeah - we got a wee bit of snow last night and I think the forecast says more is coming! And the sun sets at 3:50 today - the sun was only out for 7:57 hours =/
Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!
Arc de Triomphe
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
The Louvre
NUTELLA at the street fair =]
Part of the Christmas street market
Eiffel Tower!
Looking down from the very top!
Arc de Triomphe and all the roads that lead to it
Jess and I atop the Eiffel!
Casting its shadow over the city
Inside the Notre Dame
Full view of the front of Notre Dame
Moulin Rouge
**There are tons more pictures on my facebook page so go check them out =]
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Another Week in Lovely Scotland =]
Hello Everyone!
Yet another week has gone by which leaves me with mixed emotions. I want to go back home to see everyone and to be able to communicate with everyone easier but at the same time, I don't want to leave Europe until I can see it all (which we all know isn't possible in the time I set aside for travel ha). So I already know that getting on the plane December 20th will be both happy and sad but for now, I continue to live it up Scotland style (which is surprisingly hard to keep up with!)
Some good news - I found some girls who are taking the first leg of the trip home with me so we will all rent a van together to take us to the airport when it's time to head home (which saves me money and gets one thing checked off of my pre-departure list!)
It's been getting dark just after 4pm everyday when the sun sets and my flat mates told me I should look forward to it getting dark closer to 3pm. Yay.
I won't be able to go on any more hikes for the rest of the semester. I will be in Paris this weekend and the following weekend, I will be staying in Edinburgh with Lisa and Melanie to sight see and experience the city. It is St. Andrews weekend and all of the historical sites are free!
I just booked another ticket - I will be in Germany for the last 3ish days here so I just booked my flight back to Stirling which will leave my PLENTY of time to pack everything up and hopefully weigh my luggage in the laundry room!! (Mom - if the laundry room is open, I will even do all of it before I come home!!)
I had another Spanish assignment this week - an online test that I only had 1 hour to complete but I think it went well!
Lots to do before I go but I will update after Paris!
Yet another week has gone by which leaves me with mixed emotions. I want to go back home to see everyone and to be able to communicate with everyone easier but at the same time, I don't want to leave Europe until I can see it all (which we all know isn't possible in the time I set aside for travel ha). So I already know that getting on the plane December 20th will be both happy and sad but for now, I continue to live it up Scotland style (which is surprisingly hard to keep up with!)
Some good news - I found some girls who are taking the first leg of the trip home with me so we will all rent a van together to take us to the airport when it's time to head home (which saves me money and gets one thing checked off of my pre-departure list!)
It's been getting dark just after 4pm everyday when the sun sets and my flat mates told me I should look forward to it getting dark closer to 3pm. Yay.
I won't be able to go on any more hikes for the rest of the semester. I will be in Paris this weekend and the following weekend, I will be staying in Edinburgh with Lisa and Melanie to sight see and experience the city. It is St. Andrews weekend and all of the historical sites are free!
I just booked another ticket - I will be in Germany for the last 3ish days here so I just booked my flight back to Stirling which will leave my PLENTY of time to pack everything up and hopefully weigh my luggage in the laundry room!! (Mom - if the laundry room is open, I will even do all of it before I come home!!)
I had another Spanish assignment this week - an online test that I only had 1 hour to complete but I think it went well!
Lots to do before I go but I will update after Paris!
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Cobbler and More!
Hello Everyone!!!
It's been fun since the last time I posted!
Tuesday we had a group dinner night and the four of us made enchiladas! Yum! And it was a cheap meal =]
Wednesday involved a trip to the brewery in Bridge of Allan (the small town next to Stirling). I went with some of my friends from Skye and we followed it up with a mountaineering club dinner and a movie.
Thursday involved some urban dance and during our lesson we learned some basic and intermediate break dancing moves! My arms were ridiculously sore the next day! There was a birthday party for some of my friends and I had a chance to skype with my lovely parents again =]
Friday was a pretty awesome day! I picked up two of the four papers that I turned in before mid semester break and I stayed within the grade range that I wanted so I was really thrilled! My history professor sat me down and talked me through the good and the bad of my paper so I know what to do for the next one! On Friday night, there was a bonfire and a fireworks show for Guy Fawkes day. The bonfire had an effigy of Fawkes and he burned with the fire. After they lit him up, the fireworks began. The event came with live music from some local band as well as some guy from X-Factor and the little food trucks they have at fairs.
The Fireworks!
Jessica, myself and Melanie with the bonfire!
Jessica and I went out to see the movie Due Date Saturday night which was pretty funny! The cinema here is cool - some of the most awesome seats ever with little trays between the seats for your food! Saturday was also American food night in the flat so I made the girls bacon cheeseburgers (with American bacon, not the Scottish kind) and root beer floats. It was nice to have a taste of home! Next week is German week!
Sunday was another hike with the mountaineering club! We set out to hike the Cobbler! At 9:30am when we stepped out of the cars, it was freezing but thankfully the sun decided to pop out from behind the clouds and keep us warm until we got to the steep incline. This hike involved a lot of water and waterfall-ish streams going down the mountain and a whole lot of ice and snow! When we made it to the first flat part, we decided to go up to the top of one of the smaller mountains and were able to catch a glimpse of the view before the fog rolled in. After some lunch, we set out for the actual summit called the Iron Needle. This particular section required you to crawl through a small gap in the rocks (just like the eye of a needle) and step out onto a ledge that was maybe 3 feet wide. You had to glue yourself to the rock and shimmy along the side. After hoisting yourself up on the footholds (which was a huge reach because it was as high as my leg), you were staring at a death defying view over the mountains looking at a straight drop down on all four sides. And you are still not at the top... After you get up past the footholds, you need to shimmy yourself on your stomach over the icy little ledge that was probably 1-1.5 feet wide and then you were able to crawl to the large part of the rock and if brave enough, stand up. Needless to say the three people on the rock watching me go back down had a great time because my short little legs needed guidance from the person below since they were too short to reach a foothold on my own... Aye! We took a different route down the mountain that was much easier since there was no need to go on the steep, water and ice covered portion again. We stopped at a chippie (what most people call a fish and chips place) and I was home in time for dinner!
That little teeny, tiny rock that is the second 'peak' in from the left is where the summit of the mountain is!
All the snow around us!
The Iron Needle close up which is like a death trap...
I signed up for my final four courses at Clark University with success so I am all set to go back to school in January!
And the best news of all - Jessica and I will be going to Paris!!!!!!!! We will be leaving from Edinburgh airport at 8:30 am Friday morning and coming back at 12ish in the afternoon on Sunday. We booked through Ryanair because it is the cheapest one to fly through Europe. Jess can speak the language so it will be easy to get around. We will be staying at the Hotel Studios Phenicio Porte de Versailles! The hostels were actually more expensive so we have a lovely hotel room for two nights! I am so excited!!
I think those are all of the updates for now! Oh - Since the US finally observed daylight savings, I am back to being 5 hours apart from most of you! And a fun fact; the sun set at 4:18pm today. Yay.
Love you all!!
It's been fun since the last time I posted!
Tuesday we had a group dinner night and the four of us made enchiladas! Yum! And it was a cheap meal =]
Wednesday involved a trip to the brewery in Bridge of Allan (the small town next to Stirling). I went with some of my friends from Skye and we followed it up with a mountaineering club dinner and a movie.
Thursday involved some urban dance and during our lesson we learned some basic and intermediate break dancing moves! My arms were ridiculously sore the next day! There was a birthday party for some of my friends and I had a chance to skype with my lovely parents again =]
Friday was a pretty awesome day! I picked up two of the four papers that I turned in before mid semester break and I stayed within the grade range that I wanted so I was really thrilled! My history professor sat me down and talked me through the good and the bad of my paper so I know what to do for the next one! On Friday night, there was a bonfire and a fireworks show for Guy Fawkes day. The bonfire had an effigy of Fawkes and he burned with the fire. After they lit him up, the fireworks began. The event came with live music from some local band as well as some guy from X-Factor and the little food trucks they have at fairs.
The Fireworks!
Jessica, myself and Melanie with the bonfire!
Jessica and I went out to see the movie Due Date Saturday night which was pretty funny! The cinema here is cool - some of the most awesome seats ever with little trays between the seats for your food! Saturday was also American food night in the flat so I made the girls bacon cheeseburgers (with American bacon, not the Scottish kind) and root beer floats. It was nice to have a taste of home! Next week is German week!
Sunday was another hike with the mountaineering club! We set out to hike the Cobbler! At 9:30am when we stepped out of the cars, it was freezing but thankfully the sun decided to pop out from behind the clouds and keep us warm until we got to the steep incline. This hike involved a lot of water and waterfall-ish streams going down the mountain and a whole lot of ice and snow! When we made it to the first flat part, we decided to go up to the top of one of the smaller mountains and were able to catch a glimpse of the view before the fog rolled in. After some lunch, we set out for the actual summit called the Iron Needle. This particular section required you to crawl through a small gap in the rocks (just like the eye of a needle) and step out onto a ledge that was maybe 3 feet wide. You had to glue yourself to the rock and shimmy along the side. After hoisting yourself up on the footholds (which was a huge reach because it was as high as my leg), you were staring at a death defying view over the mountains looking at a straight drop down on all four sides. And you are still not at the top... After you get up past the footholds, you need to shimmy yourself on your stomach over the icy little ledge that was probably 1-1.5 feet wide and then you were able to crawl to the large part of the rock and if brave enough, stand up. Needless to say the three people on the rock watching me go back down had a great time because my short little legs needed guidance from the person below since they were too short to reach a foothold on my own... Aye! We took a different route down the mountain that was much easier since there was no need to go on the steep, water and ice covered portion again. We stopped at a chippie (what most people call a fish and chips place) and I was home in time for dinner!
That little teeny, tiny rock that is the second 'peak' in from the left is where the summit of the mountain is!
All the snow around us!
The Iron Needle close up which is like a death trap...
I signed up for my final four courses at Clark University with success so I am all set to go back to school in January!
And the best news of all - Jessica and I will be going to Paris!!!!!!!! We will be leaving from Edinburgh airport at 8:30 am Friday morning and coming back at 12ish in the afternoon on Sunday. We booked through Ryanair because it is the cheapest one to fly through Europe. Jess can speak the language so it will be easy to get around. We will be staying at the Hotel Studios Phenicio Porte de Versailles! The hostels were actually more expensive so we have a lovely hotel room for two nights! I am so excited!!
I think those are all of the updates for now! Oh - Since the US finally observed daylight savings, I am back to being 5 hours apart from most of you! And a fun fact; the sun set at 4:18pm today. Yay.
Love you all!!
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