Thanksgiving weekend

Hello! I have had SUCH a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Of course, it would have been great to spend it at home with loved ones but this year I got to spend it in Scotland with my friends Jennifer and Kristin who are studying there and my roommate Brooke. I am actually writing this post from the train back to London. I wish you could all see the sights that I am currently looking at. As far as the eye can see, there is frost covering everything, the sea is off in the distance (every so often you can see the waves crashing against the cliffs) and we even passed by a Scottish golf course- completely white with snow, mind you- and there were still dedicated golfers out there playing! Only in Scotland....

We left London on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Edinburgh at about 8 pm. Brooke and I stopped in a quaint little restaurant at King's Cross station and got our Thanksgiving dinner: Irish stew, bread and butter, strawberries and cream, and a slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It was very good! No turkey, but that's ok. The stew was amazing so it turned out to be a great dinner. Once we got to Edinburgh, we took a taxi (first one in my life!) to Kristin and Jennifer's flat and met up with some of their friends and caught up since the last time we had seen each other. Even though Kristin and Jennifer where just in London last weekend! It was great to be able to see so much of them though.

On Friday morning, we woke up really early and headed to the bus station for our trip up north to Inverness. It was a long bus, but it was totally worth it because once we got there, we went on a 3.5 hour tour of Loch Ness! I came really close to catching Nessie by the way.... I'll show you all proof when I get home but the picture I posted is just a little preview (Rumor has it, Nessie likes oats, so we were prepared to feed her ;). On our tour, we took a small bus to the Loch (it was only about 7 miles away) all the while learning fascinating facts all about Inverness and we learned tons of Gaelic words (Loch just means Lake in Gaelic) and our tour guide got really excited when I asked him about the clan Matheson- he whipped out about 6 books and told me all about the history of where they were from and what they did! He was such a nice guy! Apparantly the Mathesons are from a region called Ross just north of Inverness. And we were a very important clan there, fyi! My Scottish pride is stronger than ever. Anyway, once we got to the Loch we boarded a little boat and cruised around for a while and got to see snow capped mountains and a beautiful castle ruin. The boat pulled over and we got to tour the castle (Urquhart Castle) which was SO beautiful. Then we went to the Loch Ness Monster museum and got to learn all about the mystery of Nessie. She is definitely out there, by the way. Once our tour was over, we had to take our bus back to Edinburgh. As luck would have it, Brooke and I missed the bus when we were across the street buying food and had to chase it down for two blocks.... but don't worry we made it! It was probably the most stressful minute of my life but just thinking about the situation makes me almost cry with laughter. The bus driver was so mad and we made such a scene! But it is hillarious in retrospect.

On Saturday we went to a little market and bought porridge for breakfast. Then we walked down the Royal Mile and went into a few little shops (I bought a great Christmas CD called "A Piping Hot Christmas"- all bagpipes!) then we went to a mountain/large hill called Arthur's Seat and climbed to the top for a great view of Edinburgh. The view was amazing; we could see EVERYTHING! I love heights so it was fun to be up that high and just watch the city. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went back and warmed up back at their flat. Then Kristin and I went out with some friends from her school, which was fun. We played pool boys vs. girls ....we won of course. Kristin may have slipped a few of our balls into the holes when no one was looking... but that is beside the point. And then, sadly, we had to leave early today, Sunday. But it was a great weekend in Scotland. I love Scotland so much! I will be coming back here for sure.

So now I'm coming into the home stretch at the end of the semester. Its so wierd to think that I am about to come home! But before I get too ahead of myself, I still have a paper to write, a timed essay to study for and several finals to prepare for. Wish me luck! Cheers, have a great week!

Paris, je t'aime

Hello loyal fans of my blog (if any of you exist)!! Today is a great day because I no longer have my pending oral presentation hanging over my head. Thats right, I enlightened my class about the physical changes of late adulthood, and I did it like a pro. If anyone wants any details of whats to come in life's glorious process of aging just feel free to ask. In other news, I am now trying to recoup after an AMAZING weekend in Paris! It was so so so so wonderful there! I know I say this about every place I visit, but you all NEED to go there someday! Paris is just a very beautiful place, even when its dreary and gray and rainy, I can only imagine how great it is when it's sunny out! We did so many things while there (which was only 1 full day and 2 half days) so here is a little overview:

First we got our stuff settled and took the metro (which is really gross and old and not nearly as reliable and high tech as the London tube; dont worry that is my solitary complaint about Paris) to the Louvre and ate ham omlettes in a little cafe. Then we went to the Louvre because it is free for students on Friday nights. I got to see Mona! Thats Mona Lisa for all of you who aren't on a nickname basis with her like I am now. Some other famous artworks included the Venus di Milo and some other famous things that I can't actually remember the names of.... sorry! I am not the most art savvy person out there, but I try. After that, we went on a trip over to the Moulin Rouge! It was very cool but we couldn't see a show because the show alone is 100 euros! Yikes. So we settled on pictures of the outside, which was almost as cool.

The next day we took a free 4 hour walking tour around town. Our guide was awesome; we saw so many historical sights and learned so much about the monuments and areas. We saw the big things like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc. and other cool things like the exact cafe where the orders were given that began the French Revolution. After this, my friends and I ventured over to the Eiffel Tower and took thousands of pictures and then began climbing the many stairs to the top of the tower. It was a tough climb, but after all the cathedrals and things I have toured around Europe, I am no stranger to climbing huge amounts of stairs. We were there at night which was great for the view, but bad for pictures so I dont have many great pictures of the view. But It was still worth it. And then we got crepes.

The last day was dedicated to the Catacombs. For those of you who aren't sure what these are all about, I will tell you. It is basically a large and winding tunnel 20 meters underground that serves as a mass tomb for the remains of millions of Parisians from the late 18th century. The king at the time ordered that the remains of people who had been burried in a cemetary that the locals thought were spreading diseases (they weren't) be arranged underground in a decorative manner. It may sound really creepy and ghoulish, but that really isn't the intention, so I didnt feel scared or spooked at all. It was very interesting and I'm glad I went but I would have to say that the adjective for the whole experience would just have to be: Weird.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, I was on the train back to good ol' London. I will be keeping busy in the next few weeks with two papers and studying for exams and such but I'm never too busy for an update from home! Yes, reader, I am talking to YOU! Shoot me an e-mail, it would delight me and probably be a welcome distraction from my tireless hours of school work (dramatization, sorry). Have a great week, Cheers!

Guy Fawkes Day

HELLO!! I am so sorry that it has been so long since the last time I posted. I would like to say that my life has been so hectic and crazy and I have been WAY too busy to post, but in all honesty I just haven't gotten around to it. However, I have been doing tons of fun, adventurous things since I last posted so sit tight and I will fill you in. As some of you may already know, I went to Florence, Italy for my fall break to visit my best friend LAURSIE!! I was there from the 18th to the 25th of October. I'm telling you, everyone must go there within their lifetime, it was so so so beautiful and fun there! It was so great to see Lauren and we got to spend some quality time roaming around Firenze (as you can see I picked up some Italian words, I can count to 10 and I even had a semi conversation with an Italian man at the airport who didn't speak a word of English!). We climbed to the top of the Duomo which was 463 steps (that's where we took the picture that I posted), we climbed up a huge mountain/hill- it felt like a mountain- called St. Miniata which also had a great view, and ate more gelato that most people do in 5 lifetimes. We spent a lot of time just hanging around her cool apartment and browsing through outdoor markets, one of which supplied us with the BEST GRAPES KNOWN TO MAN!! Mmmmm they were straight of the vine and could not have been any more tasty! Then, sadly, my trip in Italy came to an end but fortunately London's not so bad.....

So life went back to normal upon my return to da UK. Since I am now past midterms, I am nearing the "home stretch" period (ahh so sad!) and I have realized that up until now, I have had little to no homework. But alas, I have several papers and oral presentations to prepare now, so that fills my days with endless hours of joy and excitement. But the good news is, my friends and I have been doing some really fun things to distract us from our boring work! Yesterday we went and saw the musical Les Miserables. It was REALLY good, and very heart wrenching. I'm hoping to go see at least one other play within the next few weeks, but I am for sure going to see Spamalot with my mom and Sandy when they come!! I am so excited!! That will be a very fun way to end my long extended vacation in London. Oh yeah, and yesterday was also Guy Fawkes day which is kind of like independence day is in the USA. There are fireworks and bonfires and tons of parties everywhere. Who is Guy Fawkes you may (or may not) be asking? Oh he is just the Catholic revolutionary who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Why is this day so joyously celebrated? Despite my attempts to become a local, I am a little bit mystified by this holiday. But hey, "When in Rome"! Have a lovely day.... Cheers!