flight home schedule

Thu, 03JUN10 CO88741
ABERDEEN GB(ABZ) 7:00AM MANCHESTER(MAN) 8:20AM

Thu, 03JUN10 CO101
MANCHESTER(MAN) 11:30AM NEWARK EWR(EWR) 2:25PM

Thu, 03JUN10 CO328
NEWARK EWR(EWR) 6:05PM CHARLOTTE(CLT) 8:06PM

So I am leaving Aberdeen at 2 am SC time and leaving Manchester at 6:30 am SC time. Be home soon!

finished

So classes are done, exams are done. They went well, and they're over now so that's all that matters. My first exam was divinity, I had to write 2 short answers and 1 essay. My 2nd was sociology, 3 essays and my last one was anatomy/physiology 100 mc questions. That one was by far my hardest. I'm not sure when I'll be finding out my grades

Last week, I spent the week traveling with Trey's family. We went to Isle of Skye, Isle of Mull/Iona/Staffa, Fort William and drove a lot. The countryside in Scotland is the most beautiful countryside ever. It was a great way to spend my last trip in Scotland just seeing the country that I've called home for 5 months. The drive to Isle of Skye was beautiful. I got to see the Eilean Donan castle finally, absolutely breathtaking. While we were there a fighter plane flew between the mountains. SO COOL! We stayed in Kyle of Lochalsh, saw 2 double rainbows. Went to Skye Thursday morning. Stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast in Portree. We went around both tip corners of Skye, my favorite was the Uig bit, SO BEAUTIFUL. The Dunvegan bit was pretty, but not as pretty... Friday morning we made our way to Isle of Mull. We got on 2 different ferries to get across. Trey and I played Cluedo on one of them. Isle of Mull was pretty. We ended up staying in a B&B with a very needy cat that loved Trey's bunk bed and went to Iona (where Christianity started in Scotland) and Staffa where i finally saw PUFFINS! Not as close up as i wanted too, but they were flying around and they were precious! Saturday after we did Iona and Mull, we made our way to Fort William. Fort William was so pretty! I would love to go back and visit there again. Sunday, we made our way back to Aberdeen. We passed by Ben Nevis but it was too cloudy to see all of it :-( I was sleeping most of the drive, but what I did see near Loch Ness, the forests were wonderful. We stopped at some falls and hiked down to them, they were pretty as well. We made it back to Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday, I sent Trey off on his last megabus ride to Edinburgh, where he spent the night at the airport and now he has made it to London. His flight leaves out in about an hour to leave for Dallas. It's a 9 hour flight. He'll make it back to SC around 10 tonight, 4 am tomorrow morning. Which is about when i'll be getting up to get a taxi and head to the airport myself.

This has been beyond one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have laughed, I have cried, I have been scared and nervous, I have been reminded of the wonders of God's beauty, I have made life long friends, I have lived. I want to thank everyone who has played a role in this experience for making it amazing. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, I have truly grown as an individual and I have enjoyed every minute that I have been here in Scotland and Europe. I am beyond thrilled to get home and be with all of my family and friends but I am still sad that I have to leave. I am bidding Aberdeen, Scotland, Irn Bru, Haribo, haggis, and many other Scottish things goodbye today. Until we meet again!

homesickness and stress is not a good combo

I'm writing this as I sit in MacRobert's getting funny looks from girls at other tables because I am crying because I miss my home. One thing that most of these people will never experience is having to be away from home for such a long period of time. I am so glad and thankful that I had this opportunity to do this and that I actually did it. I thought it would be easier having Trey here, but it's only seemed to make it harder. I thought it would be nice to have my best friend around, but it's proved to be even more difficult than it has been worth. It was nice having a travel buddy and to have someone to share these experiences with, but I don't enjoy having to miss home and have the one thing that can help me not miss home so much refuse to be there. This is probably going to be a jumbled mess, but oh well, I need to get my feelings out somewhere. I can't wait to go home because that means I will finally have trey back and he won't feel the need to act like an immature child and we can have a summer together without people stopping it. I can finally be with my friends and it will be so nice to see them. It will be sunny and warm and sunny and warm and more sun and more warmth and i can go swimming. I just want my best friend. I want someone to be there for me and be willing to put something else behind for a second and realize that if they love someone they need to be there. i want my best friend and i want him now.

i honestly cannot wait to go home. it'll be the happiest day of my life.

Just some thoughts...

It was quite an adventure home to say the least. I can't wait to go back to Europe one day and see different places in Germany and France and then to go to Spain. For now, I think I need to spend my last month and few days seeing the rest of the country I've called home for the last 5 months.

I can't wait to go home and it will be so nice to be back on American soil, but it is also sad to think about leaving here and how I'm so used to seeing all the people I've seen here everyday and how I've grown accustomed to being in a completely different culture. I am very surprised with myself that I actually did this and proud at the same time. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my 20 years. It has helped a lot that Trey has been here and that the girls that I live with are experiencing this as well.

I love Aberdeen, it's such a beautiful city and it's been my actual home, where I sleep and eat most of the time but Dundee is definitely more of my home because I feel more at home with the people there. That's probably the big reason why I spend most of my weekends in Dundee and I go down on Tuesday nights to go out with Trey's flatmates because they make Scotland more home than anyone in Aberdeen ever can. I'm not sure if they read my blog at all, but I will just say how special and unforgetable they've made this experience for Trey and I. Although I didn't exactly live with them, they took Trey in and when I'm down there, they take me too and it just means a lot to me. I seriously don't know what this experience would have been like had Trey not lived in West Park. So if you are from Dundee and you are reading this, thanks for taking me in and making me feel like family and I've seriously enjoyed every moment I have spent with you guys.

As for the rest of the semester... last week I had 2 papers due... one on monday for divinity and one on friday for music. Both were turned in on time. I got a 16 (which is a B+) on my sociology essay. Friday night, I went to Stacey's apartment for an Ann Summers party, then to the Bobbin for drinks, Number 7 then Liquid. Liquid was crap, but I had fun on my first night out in Aberdeen. Saturday and Sunday I didn't do much. This week I have a midterm in Anatomy on Wednesday. I might be going out one day this week with the flatmates. I will be heading to Dundee this coming weekend (mainly because I miss home and Trey helps me not miss it as much and he has an exam next Tuesday and doesn't really wanna leave Dundee). I have 2 more weeks of classes left (PRAISE THE LORD). My bathroom and kitchen on my floor will open on Wednesday (WOO) and then after the midterm the only other thing is a presentation for music on May 14. I have 3 finals, may 24 Divinity, May 25 sociology and June 1st anatomy.

May 7-9 Dundee for the weekend
May 11 Dundee for the last Skint most likely
May 14-21 is my week of revision and I will be in Dundee
May 16 Trey and I are going to Rosslyn Chapel and stuff for a day trip
also that week I'll probably go to Edinburgh to hike Arthur's Seat
May 23-June 1st Trey's family is coming and I am going to try to meet them after my exams to go to Isle of Skye and such
Trey also moves in with me on the 22nd of May
June 2- Wes should be arriving and we'll be hanging out with him from then to the 11
June 12 HOME

Adventure Home

Wednesday morning we got to the train station around 12 and sat around soaking up the sun. We saw the buses parked by the station and waited around in that general area. Around 1:45 we headed over to the buses because they said to meet there at 2. One very British lady showed up and that was it and we were like hmm this isn't right. So Trey ran over to where other buses were meeting and found the group of them. We went over there and they basically told us the drivers needed more rest and we weren't going anywhere until around 5. So Scott, Trey and I found a nice spot in the grass at the park that we were by and waited for about an hour and a half, I got fried, it was great.

At 4:30 we started loading the bus. There were 3 buses for everyone going. Thankfully, they put the families with children in one bus and everyone else into another. A lot of older couples on holiday and a group of students from the unni at Leeds there in Milan for design week. We got on the road about 4:45. We ended up stopping in Switzerland for a break before we went through a 17 mile long tunnel. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland. Don't go there. While we were in one of the many tunnels we had to go through, the other bus pulled over so we pulled over as well. We almost got hit by 3 different 18 wheelers. Scariest thing ever. We still don't know why the other bus pulled over. I was asleep for most of the time. I do remember hearing that instead of going across the French border we went into Germany for like a minute then back into France. Trey and I joked that we did our whole trip backwards, me excluding Amsterdam. The next thing I remember we had pulled into Calais, France about 8:30 the next morning. The ferry ride took about an hour and a half. We got to Dover, UK and then took the coach into London. We arrived into London around 12:30. We actually had a news anchor for BBC with us, most the people on the bus got interviewed (we decided not to talk because we weren't British haha). The whole trip from Milan to London only costed 60 euro, which was about 3 to 4 times cheaper than how many of my flatmates got home.

Once in London, we said bye to Scott (he wanted to get home ASAP so he paid 130 pounds for a train). Trey and I opted for a 15 pound bus ride from London to Dundee at midnight that night. So Trey and I spent the day exploring London. We found a Krispy Kreme and ate a whole dozen. We then went to Picadilly Circus, Westminster (which was closed AGAIN, we missed it by 15 minutes), London Eye (28 dollars to ride in a giant ferris wheel) and then the globe theater and abbey road. All in all the second trip to London was a success. I hope to do Westminster before I leave though... While we were on the bus ride back from Abbey Road, we stopped at a bus stop, and then we didn't move for like 30 minutes. Trey and I figured we should start walking to the metro and when we got out we saw that the street was blocked off and then the metro was closed. We went through a shopping mall and as soon as we walked in the alarm went off and they kicked everyone out. Come to find out a bomb had gone off in the Foot Locker on that square... At this point, I was like okay so we're never going to get back home. We asked a cop which metro was working and walked to the metro on the central line. We got to Victoria and got off and got Subway for dinner before getting on the bus.

The bus ride was a blur mainly because we slept the whole time. I woke up in Glasgow and I knew we were in Scotland because the sun had disappeared. We got to Dundee about 10:30 that Friday morning. It was such a long trip, but it was nice to finally be home. I stayed with Trey in Dundee until Saturday, so we could do laundry together and I could take a break from being in a bus for over 30 hours.

Verona: home of Romeo and Juliet

We arrived in Verona Sunday afternoon. We had to take a taxi to the B&B because we had no idea where it was at. We waited for about 4 hours (with a lunch break of pizza) in between for someone to finally let us in. We actually snuck in once and got yelled at by the neighbor because we apparently weren't allowed to do that. We went to the payphone and called them once we got the number and finally the cleaning lady came and let us in. She had just started working so she knew nothing about the place. We had a really nice room and thankfully free internet. Trey and Scott went on an expedition for food and drinks while I stayed in the room and figured out options of getting home if our flight got cancelled. When they came back we decided to check to make sure we could get the B&B for an extra night. So we had to go back out to the pay phone and ask. We also called the British Embassy (Brembassy from now on) to see what they could help us do. That night we decided to go to McDonald's for dinner and go to the store one more time for more drinks.

The next day we decided to tour Verona, just to see the place. We saw Juliet's house, Romeo's house, a collessium type thing. We had lunch at a place called like hipopotomaus or something, and they royally screwed up Trey's order. We also got gelato.. which was more like a coldstone.. I had nutella and oreos in vanilla. There was SO MUCH nutella, I couldn't even eat it.

That night was the night we had the bed and breakfast to ourselves. The owner wasn't around and neither was the wee cleaning lady. We decided to drink out on the balcony, which we snuck into the kitchen through by moving the rope that was blocking us out of the kitchen and climbing in and out of the bathroom window. We talked a lot of home, just so Scott would know all about American football and how amazing it is. After that we realized that we were alone. So we decided to move the keys around to the different doors (because they left the key to every room in the door?) play hide and seek and play with their masks. It was great fun.

Back to the Brembassy....because Trey and I were with Scott (a British citizen) the Brembassy decided to help us get back. They had planned a coach to leave Wednesday at 3 from Milan. It would go from Milan to London. So we had booked a hotel in Milan (which ended up being an hour or so outside of the city) so we didn't go there and ended up paying 60 euro each to stay in a hotel closer to the station. I'm sad that I didn't get to see as much of Milan as I had hoped...

Naples and Pompeii

We left at like 6 am on Friday and got to Naples around 8 or 9. I was not impressed with Naples, the people there were much more nasty there than in Rome. Which is saying a lot. We figured out how to get to Pompeii, bought our ticket for that then went to buy our ticket to get back to Rome then to Venice. When we got to Pompeii a guy sold a tour guide book that had information about every little stone and piece of ash that was there. We decided on the two hour tour that took us way more than 2 hours, mainly because we got lost like 10 times. We did see Ash people, and lots and lots of ruins. It was actually really cool especially because all the stuff I had learned about it from elementary school. And also because a volcano was currently spewing in Iceland. We got to see basically everything we wanted to see in Pompeii and headed back to Naples where we tried some famous Napolean pizza... which wasn't that great at all. Of course we had to go to a place right next to the train station to make sure we didn't miss our train.

We got to Venice, bought a 48 hour ferry ticket and went to our hotel. We unpacked and stuff and had a roommate who was stuck because of the volcano from getting to Spain. We were going to buy alcohol and stuff to drown our sorrows because of our concern about getting home... but we never found a store and we had to go to the train station to figure out how we were going to get home. We waited for about 3 hours to figure out what we were going to do. Basically at this point we didn't know whether our flight was for sure cancelled so we just had to book our tickets to Verona just in case.

Saturday we decided to head to Murano, to see the glass blowing. It was actually super cool. The guy made several vases and a horse. Afterwards they gave us a discount, so Trey bought a gamecock, I bought a penguin and Scott bought a horse. We had crap lunch there, basically because it was super cheap. I don't really remember what we did that night, probably because it was an overall gross and rainy day. So I'm sure we just sat in the room and talked about how doomed we were at this point about getting home.

Roma, Roma, Roma

We arrived in Rome and found our hostel... I'm not going to lie, it was pretty sketch. The 3 of us were unfortunately seperated and Trey and I were in a room with another couple and our showers were out next to the living room. Scott ended up downstairs. It was strange. But we wanted to do laundry that night because our clothes were stinking, but we walked to the laundromat and it had just closed and Scott was hungry so he went and got food. That was my first experience with inappropriate Italian men. The next morning, Trey and I got up early to take our laundry to the mat and get it washed. It was done at 10:30 and the 3 of us decided to go look at Rome. We walked to the Republique which was next to our hostel, it was interesting then we got the metro towards the trevi fountain and we did the typical touristy "toss the coin in." We decided to walk towards to collesium and as we did we ran into more ruins and a monument. The monument was for the tomb of the unknown soldier. We then found more Roman ruins and bought a pass to go there and the collesium. We walked through the ruins and then to the collesium. Which was quite impressive. We had a lot of fun making fun of the tour guides and just making up random crap about what happened in the collesium, like the pope had slaughtered men and the cross was where Jesus was hung, just dumb stuff. We had decided that morning that we wanted to do a pub crawl, so during lunch we decided to do one that night. We went to find the place to buy the tickets and got like 15 minutes of free internet while we were there. We walked back to the hostel after that to rest up for the pub crawl. I wasn't feeling too good because Trey got both Scott and I sick. The pub crawl was tons of fun. We met at the Spanish Steps and then went to a Scottish pub first where we got a shot, 3 jagerbombs and as much beer as we wanted and free pizza. As well as a free shirt. Trey and I played in a game where the girl had to take a cold can of beer and run it up inside the pant leg of the guy, around the crotch and back down the other side. I totally finished with that like 30 seconds before any other couple, but Trey didn't think he could chug the beer yet, so someone else had caught up to us by that point and we lost :-(. The next few bars after that, the drinks were ridiculously expensive. Everyone on the tour were Americans and every single one of them (but us) got so drunk, it was actually embarassing. We got a bus to the last bar and by that point I had no idea where we were in Rome, but I knew we were safe. We went to a club at the end of the night where they gave us directions on how to get home. The club was fun, we just sat around and talked. Met a guy from Boston College, heard my southern accent and basically proposed to me right then and there. He was really fun to talk to and had a lot of cool stories especially because he was living in Rome for the semester. The club kinda sucked so we headed home early, by a bus, which we didn't pay for...When we were heading home, Trey decided that he had to pee really bad. So he gave me all these wild looks like he was literally about to explode. I'm pretty certain his bladder is the size of a pea. So thankfully the next stop was ours, and we got off and he peed in a bush.

The next morning, Scott never woke up. So Trey and I decided to leave him after 1) we had lost him the day before in the metro because he decided to go down the escalator and 2) he didn't wake up in time for us to go do anything on our last day
So Trey and I headed towards Vatican City. We decided to stop at this little square that had some cool buildings and Trey and I found a pretty park. It was probably my most favorite place in Rome. Scott finally met up with us and we headed to Vatican City. We got to Vatican and ran into one of the guys from the pub crawl and we talked to him for a while. Vatican City was quite impressive. We waited in line to see St. Paul's basilica, I'm disappointed we didn't climb to the top, but it was pretty nonetheless. We then went to try to find the sistine chapel. Three hours, 3 people working in Vatican, 8 euro, and miles of museum later, we reached the Sistine Chapel. Of course Trey got illegal pictures (my camera had died otherwise I would have as well). It was crowded and I was tired, but it was still impressive. After that we decided to get some gelato and chill in the sun. I got fried. It was great. We walked to the castle, then over a bridge and then back to the hostel. I'm pretty certain every meal we had was pasta/pizza or gelato. We had to sleep that night because the next morning we were getting up to head to Naples and Pompeii

Venice, Florence and Pisa

We got to Venice on Sunday morning/afternoon and went to find our hotel. You either had to walk or take a water ferry or a boat taxi (so cool). Liz was in Venice when we got there, so we texted her to try and meet up. After we had got ourselves situated in the room (which had free wifi and wasn't supposed too) we went to find the beach that Liz was hanging out on. Once we got to Lido, we got a gelato and tried to find Liz. We found her after walking along the beach for like 15 minutes right at the entrance, haha. We walked back to the ferry and took it to San Marcos Square. That night we made dinner (pasta and wine and salad) in Liz's hostel. We went back to our hotel so Liz could get internet and then went to bed. Venice was absolutely beautiful. We walked around on Monday and saw a farmers market and stuff like that. I am so in love with Venice. We didn't get to see Murano, famous for glass blowing, because we only bought 12 hour ticket instead of 24, stupid us. So we left for Florence instead.

We arrived in Florence, bought a map and went on to our hostel... which we found the street, we just couldn't find the house number. We weren't looking close enough because there was no sign, just a little name on the wall next to do the door. It was a cute little hotel/hostel. We walked around Florence that night, and saw a lot of naked statues, and many things like that. We went to a student pub like forever away from our hotel. It had a pretty sweet drink deal, 1 litre of any cocktail for 10 euros. So Trey and I split a Malibu and coke and it was good. We also got dinner there, it wasn't too good though. The bar was surprisingly not busy, I'm hoping it was because people were on break?? We went back towards the hotel, hoping that there would be another bar nearby.. .false... just a club that wasn't even a club it was more of a hotshot bar, but we got in (the bouncer just asked if we had an ID that said we were 18). The drinks were SO expensive, 14 euro for just a vodka redbull. And there was WAY too much vodka, Scott didn't even finish it. Trey and a Jim Beam and coke, disgusting.. mainly because they don't measure out how much alcohol they put in. After, we just went back to the hotel.

We went to the Academia Galleria where the real David was, waited for about 20 minutes and finally got in. It was pretty huge, there were also a lot of other interesting art works there. After, we went back to look at the Duomo (just a building with a dome) and walked up to Michaelangelo plaza to take a look over Florence, absolutely beautiful. We found the best gelato in Florence. The shop reminded me of some kinda tourist attraction with flashing lights and all, but there were over 60 choices of gelato. SO STINKING GOOD. Afterwards, we decided to head for Pisa. Once we got to Pisa, we had to purchase our reservations to Roma. Then we hoped on the bus (which was only 1 euro and good for 60 minutes) and headed for the Leaning Tower. Thankfully, the people on the bus were nice enough to tell us which stop was the tower. I was actually in awe that I was seeing something that is such a popular landmark. We took our typical pictures and went to see about climbing it... that was a negative, not for 15 euro! So we drank wine and talked on the lawn right next to it. :-) We left for Rome around 6.

Paris and the adventure to Italy

The trip was long to Paris, but we finally made it. We stayed in the Crowne Plaza. The first night we went to the Sacred Heart up on Montmatre (sp) hill and I finally got to see Trey and Scott. Afterwards we took a drive around Paris at night. Absolutely beautiful. We got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 11, very neat. The next day we had breakfast and went to climb the tower. I officially think that I a afraid of heights. I wasn't as impressed with the skyline of Paris, not many tall buildings, plus it was foggy. After, we went to Versailles Palace. WOW. Someone had way too much money. But it was beautiful nonetheless. It was cool to see where Marie Antoinette lived all that jazz. The Hall of Mirrors was cool as well. That afternoon/night we had to ourselves. We went to the Louvre (for free bc I'm a student) and saw all the things in there I wanted to see. the mona lisa was surprisingly tinier than I thought. We had to keep asking people to find Aphrodite. One lady basically didn't speak English and was like schoobadibly tick tick tick and we were like WHAT IN THE WORLD?!! We found her and then left. That night we mostly packed and Trey and Scott came over for a while and we planned Italy. France was currently experiencing a railstrike so we didn't really know what to do because the train station didn't know when any trains would be running to Italy.

Saturday morning my parents were leaving to go back home. It was so nice having them here and to finally see them. So of course I cried when they after. Trey, Scott and I headed to the train station to wait to leave for Italy. We were there from 7 to 3:30. It was a long day of watching people (getting pooped on by pigeons) and catching up. We basically ran for the train once it got there because we didn't know if it would be difficult to get on. It wasn't, we got a seat and then we were off. The next thing we know the train was stopping at the border of France and Italy. There we had to get off to catch a bus into Tolino (or something)... We had NO IDEA what was going on... mainly because no one spoke english and we didnt speak italian. We got on a bus and had a 2.5 hour drive through the alps of Italy and France. We would go through tunnels and everytime we came out it would just get darker. It was an experience to say the least. We got to Tolido or whatever it was called and had to figure out how to get to milan. Luckily the train came right when we got down there and we got to Milan around 11 and found a really nice and fairly cheap hotel to stay in for the night. Equiped with breakfast and tub and a mini bar. The next morning we got on a train to Venice.

Guten Tag

I think the last time I left off we were in London or just about to leave London.
Sunday…
We met our tour guide Paul Felix and headed to St. Pancras station to get onto the Eurostar. It was a super fast trip. I fell asleep during the time we were under the channel, and when I woke up I was watching French farmland pass by the window. We ended up in Brussels, got on our motorcoach and started our long journey to Amsterdam.
We arrived in Amsterdam and went on a cruise through the canals, it was raining but it was beautiful regardless. We then went to check into the Carlton. My parents and I wanted to do the excursion of a Dutch dinner and a walk through Amsterdam. The dinner was interesting. We got to chose a starter and Mom, Dad and I tried all three… a fish platter (yuck), a ham platter (yuck) and pea soup (yum). Main dish mom had hodgepodge which was carrots and mashed potatoes with a meatball, I had chicken with potatoes and dad had steak. For dessert we had ice cream with fruit salad, ice cream with pancakes and ice cream with chocolate (orgasmic). We then had coffee… which was bitter so I literally put half the bottle of sugar in it and then it was perfect.
After dinner we went on our tour of Amsterdam. We saw a lot of interesting things and learned a lot of history. We also went through the red light district. Women were seriously standing in windows with nothing but lingerie on posing… I felt so awkward, especially being with my parents. People also tried selling dad some marijuana. Marijuana was being smoked everywhere and it was disgusting.
Monday morning we were up and heading for Germany. In Germany we went to Cologne or Koln and saw the Dom Cathedral which was ridiculously beautiful. We walked around and had some pastries and then walked around Cologne some more, we didn’t really have much time there. After, we tried heading to the Rhine river to do a cruise, but traffic was awful because of a bike race… Thankfully we got to the river cruise right when it was about to leave. The Rhine River was BEAUTIFUL. So many castles and quaint little villages. After the cruise, we headed on to Heidelberg. We were staying at the Leonardo hotel… where we had dinner. Dinner was salmon (gross) not our choice with rice… So after, dad and I walked the streets to find more food. We only found a café open seeing as they celebrate Easter both on the Friday before and the Monday after so it was empty. Dad and I got a German beer and some pommes with mayo and ketchup.
Tuesday… we headed to the Black Forest, which was amazing. There we stopped at a cute shop that had cookoo clocks, dolls, nutcrackers and anything else German that you can imagine. We got a bunch of stuff, but we won’t get it until we get home. We walked around the town for a while before leaving for Switzerland. Since Switzerland isn’t a part of the EU we had to cross security at the border. Once in Switzerland, we stopped at the Rhine Falls, not quite Niagra Falls, but still impressive. We got into Lucerne around 4:30. Our hotel is on a hill and our bus driver backed up the hill to get to it, it was very impressive. Mom, dad and I walked around the Lake and saw Mt. Pilatus and the alps surrounding Lucerne.
Tonight, we did a traditional Swiss Folklore dinner party. We had cheese fondue, veal with hashbrowns, and ice cream. It was yummy. We also had traditional music, complete with alphorns, yodeling, and many other things. I got to go on stage and dance, mom and dad had to yodel (and chug beer). It was one hilarious and fun evening.
Tomorrow our plan is to have a tour of Lucerne, climb Mt. Pilatus (by a cable car) and then have the afternoon to do whatever. Thursday we leave bright and early for Paris!

Happy Easter!

I haven't updated this in a while... oops :)

I left last Thursday to head to Dundee. Stacey was kind enough to drive through ridiculous fog and I am so grateful to her!

We arrived at Dundee around midnight and from then until Wednesday I spent in Dundee with Trey!

Friday was my birthday! I am 20!! WOO! Trey brought me breakfast in bed, oatmeal and toast. That night we had a steak dinner with salad and a baked potato. We were going to go to the casino, but Trey's flatmates never made it that far. We went to the Union and Trey bought me a birthday shot. We also went to Templelane, which is a cheap cocktail place, LOVE IT. Scott smokes funny and Bruce is a rapper, although nothing like Eminem.

Saturday was the headphone disco, which was a lot of fun. Basically, each person got headphones and there were 2 different dj's and you could chose whichever station you wanted and rock out. It was awesome.

Sunday was a lazy day, at least from what I remember. We planned the Europe trip mainly.

Monday we went to Stirling. We left about 10 and got there around 12. We walked up to the castle. Saw a statue of Robert the Bruce. We went ahead and bought a ticket and went it. It was interesting. Not as cool as Edinburgh Castle. After, we tried walking to the Wallace Monument but we didn't have the time to get all the way there. We went to an Irish pub and had lunch and then left and headed back to Dundee. It was pouring when we go back so we took a taxi back to Trey's flat. We kinda hung out on Monday night and finalized all the hostels and flights for Trey's adventure and our Italy trip.

Tuesday, Trey had class and I worked on my essay. We also watched Shutter Island. It was a very interesting movie. I liked it.
That night was skint. Everyone was getting to a slow start. Kirsty and Rachael wanted to straighten Ciaran's hair and curl David's hair. Ciaran's hair looked good but David's not so much. Everyone but Trey and I were drunk before we even left. But only a few of us left at like 10:30. We hung out in the liar for a while before we went to mono. It was an interesting night. I didn't dance with Trey but I danced with Adam, Tom and Craig. Cathy and Emma are so sweet. I really enjoy everyone on his flat. And I'm seriously going to miss them once I leave.

Wednesday was when I was going to meet my parents in Edinburgh. Trey had class, so I met him downtown at 1 before I left. My bus arrived in Edinburgh around 4. My parents didn't get to the hotel until like 5. We got in our room and then went walking down the Royal Mile. They tried Irn Bru (they weren't big fans) and then we ate at the Filling Station. My parents were jet lagged so at like 8 we were back in the room and they were asleep.

Thursday we took one of those touristy tour buses around so my parents could see Edinburgh. We did that until we caught a bus to the airport. We arrived in London at 6. We took the Heathrow Connect into Paddington Square. We're currently staying in the Hilton London Metropole. We went to a cute Italian restaurant for dinner. Trey's bus ran like 2 hours late, so when he got in we just went to a little store and picked him up something.

Friday we were typical tourists. We took a bus into the main area of London. First stop was Buckingham Palace. We saw the changing of the guard. SO COOL. We then went into the main area of London. And what do you know, it POURED. We saw Downy Street, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, the London Eye. We tried figuring out the bus to the tower, but gave up and went to McDonalds :) We found a tourist info point and asked what bus to take. We caught the bus to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We toured the Tower of London and sadly it was nothing like how it was in Winning London. After we walked down and spent FOREVER waiting for the bus to get us. We were going to try and do Abbey Road and the Globe but that didn't happen :(

When we finally caught a bus, Trey and I decided to go find his hostel for the night. It was freakin far away, so we decided that he would just stay with us again. We walked to Hyde Park but it was too dark to do anything. We walked back to the hotel and met my parents to find dinner. We ended up at KFC because everything else was some kinda hookah smoking place that we didn't want to venture into.

Saturday... Trey was up at 6 to leave for the train station to head to Heathrow for his flight to Berlin. I hate saying goodbye to him. The tour had a tour around London today. It was a lot of fun. The tour guide was hilarious. I saw where Sean Connery lives, St Paul's Cathedral (which is GORGEOUS), Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament and all that again. Something cool I learned was that they have a hawk that flies around Trafalgar Square to keep the pigeons away. The tour lasted from 8 until 12:30. We got back to the hotel and we all took a nap because we were exhausted. I finally heard from Trey around 2 saying that he had made it to the hostel. So I felt so much better after that point.

After, we walked to where Trey and I were last night and bought some souvenirs and then went into Hyde Park. We saw Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived and then went to find Peter Pan. He was very well hidden but I found him! Princess Diana also did a park for children called Never Never Land and the rule is no adult can enter without a child. So I didn't get to go in.. although I did contemplate stealing a small child to go in.

We just got back to the hotel and now we're just chilling because we have to be up at 5:45 am to have our luggage out and ready to go. We're taking the Eurostar into Brussels and then a bus into Amsterdam.

Trey's in Berlin now and Scott will be joining him tomorrow. Please keep all of us in your prayers for safe travels!

Brussels

I absolutely LOVED Brussels. Despite being so sick to where I was constantly dizzy, couldn't sallow, breathe and coughed the whole time...

Friday, our bus ride from Aberdeen to Glasgow was early early and long. We got to the airport smoothly and got through security fine. We arrived in Brussels and got on a bus to the city centre. We kinda not really forgot that they speak French, but we weren't really prepared for that. We spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out where our hotel was before we ended up just taking a taxi, which only costed about 7 euro anyway.

We got situated, I took some medicine and we headed to find food. We found a cute little cafe called Snack Shop. I had salad and a pear/apple sandwich. Afterwards, we kinda just explored for a little bit. We went to bed early Friday because we knew Saturday was going to be our exploring day.

Saturday, we started walking in the direction of the city centre and got some what there. We stopped and got yogurt/muffins and stuff for breakfast. We asked the cashier for some help getting into the city, luckily we were in the right direction anyway. We also decided to do the hop on and hop off bus tour so that way we could see more things. I'm going to be honest here. At this point, we saw so much stuff that I couldn't begin to tell you everything we saw. If you have a facebook, check out the pictures there. We saw the royal palace, the business district, the european parliament, the atomium, the conference center, lots of museums, lots of churchs and of course their castle.

The atomium was probably the coolest thing ever. It basically is a giant atom. You can see the whole city from the very top. Most of the other balls had corny exhibits.





We also walked into some square.. which I'm not sure what all was in it. But it was by far the prettiest place ever. While there, Trey and I split a Belgian waffle covered in chocolate and strawberries. YUM!!



We walked around for a little bit more to find one more statue. Brussels was literally covered in statues. All over buildings, on the sidewalk, they were everywhere. This little statue is called Manekkin Pis.

That night we went to a little pub called Le Stephany, and I got macaroni and cheese. Not that I could taste it because my nose was so stopped up.

Sunday, we had an early morning. Our flight left out at 10:50 and the bus met 3 hours prior to that. So we were checking out around 7:15 Sunday morning. We took a taxi in just because I still wasn't feeling better and we were scared if we walked we were going to get lost. We got to the airport and checked in and all that. Our flights were on time and we got to our bus in Glasgow with about 30 minutes to spare.

I'm still not feeling well. I have a nasty cough. Some man on the street today told me to stop smoking and I told him that the sad thing is I have never smoked. I got my practical turned in, as well as my paper. Now I'm catching up on the school that I missed last Thursday. I'm also in the process of packing, seeing how this week is my last week of class until April 19!! Also, my birthday is on Friday!

Dublin

I figured I should write about Dublin before I left for Brussels. Before I left for Dublin, me and Liz went to Dundee on Tuesday to experience their nightlife. Which I must say... is amazing. Their student union is really awesome, free entry and 1 pound drinks. All of his friends got completely plastered, which was entertaining for the most part. On Wednesday, Liz and I went to St. Andrews, which was a really pretty golf and college town. They had ruins of an old cathedral and of a castle. It was about 50 degrees that day as well so it felt good and we walked along the beach and had a grand ole time. We left Dundee around 8 that night. Thursday was Liz's 21st birthday. Let's just say, she probably doesn't remember any of it.

Friday, Trey and I left for the airport around 3:30 for our 4:45 flight. Thankfully we made it in time. The flight was about an hour from Aberdeen to Dublin. Once we got there, it took us a while to figure out which bus to take to our hotel, but we finally got it. We were staying in a Travelodge in Swords (which is a 25 minute bus ride from the centre of Dublin. Once we checked in, we got settled and went to find out how to get to the centre. It took us about 30 minutes of walking to realize we would not be able to walk from Swords to the centre. So we waited for a bus, and headed into town. We got food at a McDonalds (because it's cheap) and then just walked around for a little bit. Stupid us didn't know how to get back to Swords with the bus, so we had to take a 27 euro taxi back to the hotel. The driver was hilarious. He told us a bunch of jokes about Dublin like Dublin's the largest city in the world because it keeps "dublin" everyday. We got back to the hotel and immediately fell asleep. Until the super annoying Americans staying next door woke us up with the drunkselves and kept us up for about 2 hours. We tried calling the receptionist, but our phone didn't work. So we just kinda had to deal with it.

Saturday, we got up super early and headed to find where the Free Tour started. We got to the city hall in plenty of time. Our tour guide was Freda, she had red hair, green eyes and freckles and had an Irish accent. Perfect. We saw the Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn, Dublin’s Medieval Walls, Viking Remains, Norman Dublin, Georgian Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, Adam and Eve Church, The National Library, Famous Writers, Temple Bar, U2- Origins of the rock legend, Ha’Penny Bridge, Spire of Dublin, City Hall, Trinity College, Leinster House, Chester Beatty Library, St. Stephen’s Green, 1916 Easter Rising. All in a matter of like 2 hours, instead of 3. Because... Ireland was playing Wales in a Rugby match that day. So after the tour, Trey and I went to the Porterhouse (where Freda recommended us to go to watch the game and eat). I had a mushroom burger and it was AMAZING. We watched most of the match before heading off to find Saint Patrick's Cathedral and all the Oscar Wilde stuff for Trey. We found the Oscar Wilde stuff, which was just a statue and a house. St. Patrick's Cathedral was closed, so we didn't get to go in, but it was gorgeous from the outside. We walked around a shopping centre and some random streets before the pub crawl started at 7:30. We hung out in the Purty Kitchen with some Welsh fans, who sang the whole time.

The pub crawl started at 7:30 and we got as much beer as we wanted for 30 minutes, which was like 2 glasses for me and even that was disgusting. We met some students from the real USC, Marcos, Nemeisha and Melissa. They were a bunch of fun. The pub crawl was super lame because you had to buy a drink at every pub (and that was about 5 euro) in order to get a free shot. We met so many people during this pub crawl it was insane. Like... Collee (who does the pub crawl to meet girls), Steven from Minesotta who is studying in Amsterdam, 3 Australians, Eddie from the States who was a wicked rapper. It was a lot of fun to just sit around and talk to people for sure. Trey and I ended up leaving early to catch the bus back to Swords, but we grabbed some dinner at McDonalds again before we left. When we got to the hotel, the room next ti us had their music blasting and so I went and told reception and they basically told them that if they didnt quite down they were going to charge them for disturbing thir neighbors.

Sunday we tried getting up early, but that didn't happen. By the time we got into town we only had time to eat bfast before the next bus we needed left. Breakfast was good. It was much like the Scottish breakfast. Eggs, beans, mushrooms, toast, and hashbrowns. We walked to a little park and took pictures because it was a really pretty day. We walked to the bus stop and left for the airport after that. The flight to Edinburgh was really short, like 45 minutes. When we got there, we were expecting Megabus to pick up there.... wrong. We had to take a stagecoach bus to the bus station about 45 minutes away. By that time, we had missed our first bus. Thankfully when we got there, the guy at the desk gave us two seats for the next bus for free.

Monday, I had lab at 9 and then again at 3. I have a paper due next Monday as well as a practical for Anatomy. I also am sick, I do believe it is the flu. I've had a fever for the last 3 days. I think I just need to slow down and relax. After I go to Brussels of course.

Bressay, Scalloway and the ride home

We got up Monday morning and had a full Scottish breakfast. It's starting to grow on me, not going to lie. We were running late, so we took our time packing before leaving for the ferry. We got to leave our stuff at the B&B and left for the ferry. We went on the 10 oclock ferry to Bressay. Bressay was 5 minutes away and kind of lame. We walked around, saw more seals, and that was about it. We got on the next ferry out not even an hour later. I feel like if we had had a car, it would have been easier to get around, but we really didn't want to spend 3 or 4 hours walking around Bressay. We got into town and walked over to the Viking Bus Station. We got picked up 5 minutes later and went to Scalloway. The bus driver pointed us in the direction of the castle and then headed to find the key. We had to ask the Scalloway hotel for the key. Once we got the key, the castle was like right there and we unlocked the door and went in. It was really creepy. The roof was missing and the walls were leaking. It was really cool, but creepy nonetheless. After about 30 minutes, we went back to the hotel, returned the key and got some more fish and chips. They were super good. We got finished like 4 minutes before the next bus into Lerwick and ran to the bus stop. We made it just in time. We got dropped off in town and then walked back to the B&B. We hung out there for about 45 minutes because we wanted to rest because we were exhausted from all the walking. We got out the map of Lerwick and found an easier walk to the ferry. Thankfully that walk only took us about 10 minutes instead of the 30 to 40 minute walk we were expecting. We topped up our phones and the post office and then went to the grocery store and got tuna, crackers, cheese, and candy for dinner. We got to the ferry early so we couldn't check in yet, but as soon as we checked in we headed straight to a table and played cards and ate crackers and cheese. The captain came up to us again and gave us the keys to the same room, which we were not expecting. But we took it gratefully. We bought some post cards, movie tickets and some good smelling soap (because Shetland apparently makes its own soap)... We hung out in our room for a while. We watched Valentine's Day and as soon as it was done, we went straight to bed. We woke up at 7:30 this morning. Got breakfast at the bus station (blueberry muffins) and Trey left at 8:35 and I got back to Hillhead around 9. I have a full day of classes and then I'm heading to Dundee for tonight.

Sumburgh

This morning Trey and I were up at 7 to have breakfast at 7:30. I had cereal and yogurt and toast and Trey had all that with eggs. We left Breiview at 8 and headed to the bus station. We got there early and the bus didn't get there until 9:15. We headed off for a 40 minute bus ride to Sumburgh. We got off at the wrong stop farthest away from the lighthouse, but it was whatever.

Once we started walking, we walked on the beach. And then up past a farm with Shetland Ponies.



The hike to the lighthouse wasn't too bad. We got up there in about 30 minutes. It was kind of sad because we had just missed the killer whales. But that's okay. We were super hungry so we hurried down to the hotel for lunch. I had a cheese and tomato quiche and Trey had barbeque chicken. It was very good. Sumburgh is also famous for it's archaeological site, but it was supposedly closed. But we walked down there anyway and the gates were open. It was actually kind of lame. I guess because there was no one working there. The bus didn't come until 1:50 so we sat at the bus stop and just played games until it came. On the ride back to Lerwick, we actually saw a whale playing around in the ocean. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but we definitely saw it.

We got back to the bed and breakfast and took a three hour nap. When we woke up we decided to go find dinner. It was like a ghost town in the city centre tonight. And the Queens Hotel was too expensive. So we had Chinese... haha, but it was actually very good.

Tomorrow we plan on catching a ferry to Bressay and then go to Scalloway castle. Our ferry leaves out at 7 again. We're not too sure if we'll get so lucky as to get another free room...

I'm going to Dundee on Tuesday night and then St. Andrews on Wednesday. This is going to be a very long week.

Lerwick

Yesterday, Trey and I got on a Northlink Ferry in Aberdeen and headed towards Lerwick, Shetland. We got on the boat about an hour and a half before it was set to sail off. We sat around and ate our dinner of a sandwich and potato chips. We then went and hung out and watched the simpsons on the tv. There were about 50 people on the ship, if that. So we bought a movie ticket to watch The Princess in the Frog. While we were in there waiting for it to start, the captain came and talked to us and told us that they just put in the new tvs and made it an HD tv. The movie was super cute. When it was over, we went back and sat in comfy chairs and watched tv. The captain came up to us and asked us where we were from and kind of got to know us. Randomly, he asked if we were staying in a cabin and we told him we were not. So he left and came back with a cabin for us. For free... when normally we would have had to pay 45 pounds for just a bed. He took us to the cabin which had 2 beds, a tv, a shower and everything. It was so nice. So we were incredibly grateful. After we got settled, we went to the bar and got something to drink. While we were up there the bartender asked us about home and then a guy named Matthew came and talked to us. He's from Shetland and works in Aberdeen as an engineer. We talked for about an hour and a lot of stuff. It was really interesting just to hear about what his life was like here. We talked about mission trips and Edinburgh and Aberdeen. It was a lot of fun.

We went to bed around 1. The ferry arrived in Lerwick at 7:30 but Trey and I didn't get up and leave until 9. When we got up we thanked the captain one more time and left. As we were leaving, we realized the last bus into town had just left so we talked to the lady, Evette from the front desk about how to get into the city center. She was trying to tell us with a map how to get to Breiview guest house and was like.. you know what, I get off work in 15 minutes, how about I just drop you off. Trey and I literally couldn't believe our luck.

We got to Breiview and unpacked and stuff. Our room is so big. We have a double bed, a tv, a twin bed, a huge closet and a big bathroom. We took showers... but the water was too hot so I ended up just washing my hair in the sink, haha. We headed off into town through the scenic walk. As we were walking past the coast we saw some rocks we could climb on and we started climbing and then we saw a sea lion hop onto one of the rocks. It was so amazing. We tried walking over to it and by the time we got close enough it slid off the rock. We walked around for a while and then ran into sea lion jackpot. There were literally about 30 sea lions just chilling out on the rocks and in the ocean. We ran into the owner of Breiview and he told us that yesterday there apparently were orcas spotted here that had the sea lions for a snack. We walked around more cliffs and ran into a pretty kitty. The cliffs were amazing to see. About an hour later, we ended up in the city center and had to get food. We got a pizza and a milkshake and had a picnic. We went to the Tourist Info center and got a lot of info on what we could do here. After, we went to Fort Charlotte and then the Shetland museum. We then went to find a place to hire a bike for the day because we want to try doing that on Monday.

When we got finished with that we went to a fish and chips shop and got some to go. We went to Tescos and got some drinks for the night. I am trying to upload pictures up on facebook and Trey and I are just watching tv and relaxing. We're going to head to bed early tonight so that we can get up early tomorrow to head to Sumburgh tomorrow morning.

Edinburgh

This blog is coming way too late, but this is the only free time I have. And I only have about 30 minutes before I peace out to Shetland for the weekend.

Our bus was a little bit late coming into Aberdeen because of snow. And then half the group didn't even realize it was our bus. Psh, they need to listen to me, I'm the queen of traveling. Anyway, when we arrived in Dundee, we had to switch buses and finally I got to see Trey. We got to Edinburgh about 30 minutes late and it was pouring down rain. So we checked into Brodies Hostel. We tried to do a ghost tour but by the time everyone had checked in it was too late. So we went to pubs instead. Trey, Liz and I partied with some 50 year old man for his birthday, it was loads of fun. Saturday we did a free tour that lasted 3 hours. We learned a lot of interesting stuff about Edinburgh (check out the pictures on facebook, it has a bunch of explanations). After that Trey and I did the Scotch Whisky experience, which was loads of fun. I do not like whisky by itself, but I don't mind it in coke. We then walked down Royal Mile and saw a bunch of little historical places. That night we ate at the Bank Hotel (3.50 for dinner) and it was pretty good, I had mashed potatoes and a roast. We then did a pub crawl were we had 3 shots, a pint, whisky coke, vodka coke, vk, jaggerbomb and lots of laughs. We also went into Frankensteins which was a lot of fun! We also went to espionage, but it was way too crowded. That night when we got back to the hostel every bed was full, so that kind of sucked so we had to be super quiet while getting ready and stuff. Also, the room next door had a huge party untul about 4 am and kept Trey and I up. So we got maybe 3 hours of sleep. One of the guys from the party was so drunk he fell down 3 flights of stairs, sucks to be him. We had breakfast on Sunday and went to the castle. The rest of the group didn't go, but that is their fault. The castle was really cool. It was really windy and snowy but that didn't stop us from experiencing it. Pictures are also up on facebook. We then went to that National Museum of Scotland and it was interesting to see all the history of Scotland and everything that they have gone through. It was definitely worth 5 hours. At that point it was almost time to leave, so we met up with the group at the bus station. There were several things that I didn't get to do like hike arthurs seat hike, do a ghost tour and visit palace of hollyrood house which is where the queen lives when she comes here. OH at the castle, I did get to see the crown jewels (some stupid american college student was like are those real?!)

Classes have been good this week. This week has gone by so freakin slow. But I'm off to Shetland until Tuesday. Then Tuesday night I'm going to Dundee with Liz to party, Wednesday we're going to St. Andrews. Thursday is Liz's 21st birthday and Friday I'm going to Dublin for the weekend. Can we say busy?!?!

Oban, West Highland Lochs and Castles

Sunday morning my bus was leaving at 10:35 for Dundee. I left an hour before to get there in time and it ended up being way too icey so I slid everywhere and was getting late. So I took off my scarf and jacket to start running to the bus station. By the time I got to the bus station 5 minutes before the bus left, I checked for my scarf and it was gone. I was very upset because it was my favorite scarf. Of course I cried and was very mad at myself, but I got taught a lesson that material things aren't what is important in life. So I have to just remember that it's just a scarf and maybe someone who needed it picked it up and is using it now

Anyway, I got to Dundee at noon and Trey and I ate KFC and it was pretty good. We then went to primark to buy a new scarf and i also bought a cute pair of shoes all for 4.50. We got back to his room and hung out for a bit. We got a phone call from the timberbush tours saying that our tour to the Rosslyn Chapel had been cancelled and that there were 2 other tours that were going, one to loch ness and one to oban. we decided on oban since i had just been to loch ness. we were quite upset about that happening, but oh well. We also booked our trip to Shetland islands the weekend of march 5-8. We got a cute little bed and breakfast that we're going to stay in. We looked into going to Barcelona, because I would LOVE to find a sun and 60 degree weather, but it didn't work into our budget right now... maybe in May, when it's super hot. We then booked a trip to Dublin for March 12-14. We then checked out a bunch of tours for other weekends or day trips for us to go on. That night, I finally got to meet his friends. I really enjoyed them. They were difficult to understand but were funny. There was one that I'm not fond of, but I don't have to hang out with them, it's Trey who does.

Monday was a long but good day. We got up at 4 to get ready and head to our bus at 5. We pulled out at 6 and left for Edinburgh. We had to change buses at Perth and then got into Edinburgh around 8. We found a McDonalds and got breakfast and headed to where we were to meet our tour bus. We looked at the castle some because they were beside each other. Our tour bus got there around 9:15 and we met 3 people from France, 2 from Germany and a girl from Austria. Our driver was Alli, and he was really cool. He told us a bunch of interesting stories about Edinburgh. Like how they used to have to pay a window tax so people put up boards to cover them so they wouldn't have to pay it. We also passed by Murrayfield which is where Scotland plays Rugby, it was kinda funny because it only holds about 67,000 people. We passed by Stirling Castle and Wallace monument. We passed by several castles and I tried to get pictures, but he was definitely driving super fast. Our first stop was Duone Castle, which was where Monty Python was filmed. We then went to meet Hamish. I'm not entirely sure what kind of cow he is, but he was cute. He is 17 years old and supposedly this is the cow they use for the meat here. We had a little coffee break where Trey and I had a scone and hot chocolate. After this we started to get into the Highlands. We passed several Lochs, all frozen. Alli told us that birds get stuck in there when it gets frozen and the foxes come and eat them while they are stuck in the loch. As we got higher into the Highlands, everything was covered in frost. We got some amazing views of the mountains

In the Highlands, they still speak Gaelic. Every single road sign there had both gaelic and english written on it.

As we headed towards Oban, we passed by the Atlantic Ocean. Oban was a cute town. It was a fishing community. Apparently, some dude wanted to build a roman colliseum and he died before it was finished, so they never finished it. I wish I could remember the exact word, but the name of it is gaelic and means unneccessary or something like that. Trey and I got fish and chips that were pretty good. We had to pay to use the bathroom, which I find ridiculous.

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After we went to Dunstaffnage Castle. It's supposed to be haunted. Alli told us that a couple of Americans paid to go in and they saw children dancing and asked why they were there and the lady at the ticket office said there werent any children here that day... We then went to the Kilchurn Castle. We couldn't get out too it because it was on a peninsula without any road leading too it. It makes me sad that most of the castles here are just ruins now.

Inverary castle was amazing. Although it's not the original castle... the last duke wanted to build one that was more for show of money than for protection. It resembles a French Chateau. The Duke actually still lives there with his family, we didn't get to tour it because it was closed but that's okay. We took another bathroom/ coffee stop and Trey and I got an Irn Brew and some candy to keep us awake.

Our next stop was at a rest stop called Rest and Be Thankful. It had amazing views of a valley and some mountains.



After we went to Loch Lommond. It's the biggest body of water in Scotland, I do believe. The sunset was reflecting into the loch and it was absolutely breathtaking.




On the way back to Edinburgh, the bus played a game to win a mini bottle of whisky. Alli had 17 songs from movies and we had to guess what movie they were from. Trey and I played together and we totally won. We got 6 songs right... most of the songs were from movies in the 80s so that's why. We were ahead of schedule, so Alli took us by 2 bridges on the outside of Edinburgh. One was a newer suspension bridge and the other was a bridge from the 1800s that trains used. They were both really pretty at night.





Since our first tour got cancelled, we had to buy a new bus ticket. We got back at 7:30 and our next bus back home didn't leave until around 8:45 or so. We had McDonald's for dinner and just hung out until we had to head to the bus station. Luckily, Trey got to ride with me until we hit Dundee and then I switched buses and then headed to Aberdeen. I didn't get back till midnight and I took a taxi back to Hillhead.

Classes on Tuesday were good. I have no class today and the weather is super yucky out. I was supposed to get my fridge today, but Stacey forgot the chord for it, so I'm not sure when I'll be getting one. I really just want to stay in my room all day and do homework and relax because the weather is so gross.

Trips

So I'll update about my weekend in the next post probably tomorrow...

This weekend I'm going to Edinburgh.

March 5-9 Trey and I are going to the Shetland Islands. We're staying in a guest house (http://www.breiviewguesthouse.co.uk/index.html). Taking an overnight ferry Friday and Monday

March 12-14 we're going to Dublin and gonna see some of the St. Patty's Festival

We're also looking into doing several more bus tours because the one we did was awesome. We got to see so much in the little time and I feel like if we had done that by ourselves we would have never seen that much stuff. We're probably gonna go see Stirling Castle/ Wallace Monument on our own, do a bus tour to Melrose Abbey and then a bus tour of Isle of Skye/Loch Ness