Oh you know, just another week in paradise :)

The last week of classes proved to be just as amazing and relaxing as all the other weeks I've spent in Edinburgh. Because none of our grades here transfer back to my Bowdoin transcript (thank goodness), it is much easier to take school a lot less seriously, and that is exactly what we have all been doing this semester. So, now that all of our essays had been turned in and we still had about a month and half before we even had to start thinking about exams, we just soaked up the city for a week before we all departed off in different directions across Europe for our 4 week spring break.

The week was filled with highlights, lots of lazy days, and lots of coffee shops. On the Friday before the last week of class, Natalie, Carolyn, Nora and I decided to hike up Arthur's Seat when we woke up and saw the sun was out. However, we did not factor in the intense wind that was blowing at the top of the mountain, and were rudely reminded of how strong wind could blow once we were about half way into our hike. The wind was blowing so hard that it was hard to stand up straight...in fact, it was easier to lean back into the wind for support. Once getting to the last pitch, Carolyn and I decided to turn back, while Nora chose the method of rolling down the hill to get out of the wind. It was hilarious to have to deal with that kind of wind on the only sunny day we'd had in weeks! Emily had a visitor in town, so after our hike, we went to meet up with him and help tour him around the city. I finished up the day with some shopping on Princes Street with Alice--not bad at all.

Nora and Carolyn hiking into the wind

The rest of the week flew by. On Saturday, Alice, Emily, Carolyn and I headed to the weekly Farmer's Market that is held right at the base of the castle, and we sampled all of the good chocolates and cheese on display. Afterwards, we headed to The Three Sisters (an outdoor pub that has a large courtyard) to watch the last game of the Six Nations Tournament--Ireland vs. Scotland. Since The Three Sisters is an Irish pub set in Scotland, the placed drew a pretty rowdy, enthusiastic crowd for both teams. Scotland, astonishingly, pulled off an impressive win, and afterwards to celebrate, we headed out for a girls night out. Sunday was spent walking through the Princes Gardens down below the castle. It was exciting to imagine all of the flowers blooming in the next couple of weeks...I can't wait to see the gardens in May! The next few days are a blur...attempting to get ready for a 4 week tour of Europe while simultaneously finishing up a semester's worth of classes was pretty intense. However, by Tuesday night, I had done all my laundry and last minute cosmetic shopping, so I was ready to begin my adventures and ready to see my mom in Scotland!!

Alice and Em watching the rugby at Three Sisters

A Whirlwind 2.5 weeks--Argyll weekend, essays, and the 6 Nations Rugby game!!

It feels like it's been forever since I've blogged, and really, it has been. I cannot believe the road trip was already almost 3 weeks ago....where does the time go?? I do apologize for the lag in posts, but I promise this one will be very thorough and entertaining. So, to start with, I definitely experienced post-road trip depression. Well, depression might be a strong word, but coming down from the road-trip high was hard. It was an incredible trip, and looking through the pictures during the next week made me fully realize how amazing it was. Part of what made the next week so hard too was that I had to spend the majority of the time researching for papers and presentations that I had to due in the coming days. So, most of my days were spent in Starbucks (with the free-wifi) or in the library, studying up on the Highland land problem in Scotland, African migration, and Celtic Civilization....all not bad topics, but for some reason, I have far less patience for work here then I do at Bowdoin, so all of it seemed tedious. It was fun though in a way to be doing it with all of my friends here...we got to spend lots of quality time together in and out of our study places.

March 8th--Argyll Adventure Weekend!

The week really did fly by though...before we knew it, it was Friday, and we departed on our IFSA-Butler planned adventure weekend to Argyll--a west-coast island off the coast of Scotland. The trip was incredible. We started off on a big tour bus with a bunch of the kids from our program. Not everyone chose to go on this weekend (and if you ask me, they were crazy to miss it) so the bus wasn't completely full, but Emily, Carolyn, Natalie, and Nora were there, so the bus ride was a lot of fun. It was, of course, absolutely stunning scenery the entire drive. To get to the region we were going, we even took a ferry at one point! That was pretty cool, to be on a massive tour bus and have to take a boat out to our destination. Shortly after the ferry ride, we arrived at the big hostel we were staying at. It looked more like a castle; in fact, I'm fairly certain it was a castle at one point, converted to an outdoor center/hostel. It was huge, and it needed to be, because not only were the Edinburgh IFSA-Butler kids there, but so were all of the people studying in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Sterling. All and all, I think there were around 150 kids at this castle for the weekend! The first afternoon we were there was spent exploring the castle and being broken up into groups for the next days activities. After dinner, the heads of the hostel, who also happened to be our adventure/outdoor leaders for the rest of the weekend, gathered us all up (it felt slightly like summer camp) and told us that if we wanted to, we could go on a night walk. They did not tell us what the night walk entailed, but only told us we would not be walking a long distance, but to wear boots and a warm coat. SO, we all went...my friends and I ensured that we were in the same group, and we headed off on this mysterious walk. Little did we know what we were about to get into. About 5 minutes after walking through complete darkness, our leader stopped and told us that for the next hour, we would need to listen to our senses. He also told us to not let go of the rope. Literally, these were our only instructions. So, the girls and I, set off up this mountain that we were standing at the bottom of without being able to turn on any type of light or flashlight...we were single file, and we all had a hand on the rope. What followed was basically a test of how well we could all listen to each other, and how well we could lead ourselves through a wilderness route that took us up the base of a mountain and back down the other side. We traded off who was leading, because that was definitely the hardest job--not knowing what was coming in front of you, having to bump into branches and logs before you knew where you were going, and then relaying the information back to the girls behind you--was not an easy thing to do. The majority of the walk was a success...we all couldn't believe what we had gotten ourselves into, but it was so fun! However, mid-way down the downhill section of the walk, we hit a major mud pit. I'm talking MAJOR mud pit. We all tried to navigate it the best we could, but in the end, we couldn't tell how far the logs were apart from each other that we had to jump on, so we all ended up knee deep in this thick mud. Fortunately I was wearing tall wellies, so I survived unscathed, but I cannot say the same for Nora's tennis shoes. They are, currently, still in the mud pit, and Nora had to finish the walk without shoes. All and all, definitely another bonding experience for us, and quite the adventure.

Our castle/ hostel for the weekend

The walk set the tone for the rest of the trip--we were definitely at an adventure-outdoor summer camp for the weekend. We got our group assignments for the next day when we got back from the walk, and I was assigned to gorge climbing in the morning and high ropes in the afternoon. Having no idea what gorge climbing entailed, we decided to go to bed early to get plenty of rest for the next day, but before we did, the five of us girls sat for a while and talked about everything you can imagine. The next day, we split up into our groups, and mine set off towards the gorge. It turns out, our task was pretty self-explanitory...we were going to climb through a gorge. Basically, it's a little like caving, but outside. With a river flowing through it, we were to walk up the side rocks and walls that formed the wall climbing out of the water. We got decked out in waterproof pants and jackets, and set off into the gorge. Before we knew it, we were climbing up waterfalls and rock walls, all with the help of our guide. We did, however, slip and fall many times in our attempts to climb up the rocks, so by the end of the trek, we were all drenched with freezing cold gorge water. At one point, to ensure that everyone was equally wet, our guide made us slide down a rock slide into a pool of water! It was incredible, and quite the physical and mental test of endurance. Thank god it was sunny and warm that day, because once we were out of the gorge, it was nice to warm up in the heat of the sun.

After drying off and eating lunch, my group set off to the high ropes course. This was also pretty much what it sounds...a series of high ropes and platforms that we were to climb up. The course included a platform about 50 ft in the air that four of us were supposed to climb on at a time, and then we were supposed to hold hands and lean back as far as we could before letting go, another 50 ft. high platform that we jumped off of to grab a trapeeze bar, and a series of logs that teams of 3 had to conquer within a certain amount of time. All of them were definitely mental challenges, and by the end, I was so enthused and proud that I had done them. After the long day of adventure activities, we gathered everyone into a room and watched the movie Braveheart before calling it a day. The last hurrah of the weekend was our stop at loch lomond on the way home. It was just another gorgeous scenic view of Scotland...

Jumping off the platform and reaching for the trapeeze....no pictures of the gorge climbing because our cameras would have gotten soaked!

The girls at Loch Lomond

The weekend was incredible--all things I would have never done without having signed up for the program I did, and to say I did them in Scotland is even cooler! However, I unfortunately did not finish my essay before I went on the trip, so Sunday/ Sunday night/ and the wee hours of Monday morning turned into an all day/night writing session that did not end until 4pm Monday afternoon when I finally handed in my essay. It was worth it in the end, because I had a fabulous weekend, but an all-nighter is never fun. Unfortunately again, the rest of the next week was spent back in the library, because I still had two more essays to due before the next week. Ughhh, who knew I'd be working so much while in Scotland!! However, this time I had motivation to not have to pull another all-nighter, and to finish up the work before the coming Saturday, because that was the day of the BIG GAME!!

Saturday, March 13--The Big Game aka Scotland vs. England 6 Nations Rugby game at Murray Field Stadium.

Yes, I went to the game. Thanks to an early birthday present from my dad, I was able to get tickets to this INCREDIBLE sporting event. The Scotland/ England rivalry can only be compared to that of the Yankees and Red Sox, except this one goes back centuries, and centers around the most tradition-based sport--Rugby. Needless to say, everyone who knew I had a ticket was jealous. I've been looking forward to this game for months, and when the day finally arrived, I put on my jersey that I had gotten earlier in the week, painted my face with a blue flag on it, and met up with my friends who were coming with me to the game. The atmosphere in the city starting in the morning of the game was incredible. I walked out to get coffee on high street hours before the game started, and everyone I saw was wearing some form of a brave-heart face paint, a kilt, and a rugby jersey. The scene didn't change much when we got to the stadium. Out of the 40,000 people that had tickets to the game, I'd guess about half were in kilts and were singing Scottish songs any chance they got. Before the game started, Scottish dancers and bagpipers covered the field, and fans were going crazy for whatever song the bagpipers were playing. Not much changed once the game started...during every break, the bagpipes and singing would pick up again. It was the most unique sporting event I'd ever been to. "You take the high road, I'll take the low road" was generally the song of choice, and so we got very good at singing it by the end of the game. The game itself was incredible as well...I love love love rugby, and it was sooo cool to see some of the best rugby players in the world playing each other. It was a close one, with Scotland playing extremely well to fight off the better English team, and in the end, the score finished in a tie. In rugby, there is never overtime, so the tie was how the game concluded. Not ideal, but at least Scotland didn't get killed (like everyone thought they were going to).

Murray Field stadium for a good seats. The bagpipers and dancers covered the field at the beginning..

Not the best pictures, but that's me at the end of the game! You can almost see my scottish flag on my face

This past week has been pretty relaxing--after turning in my final essays on Monday, I have just been hanging out with friends, reading in my favorite place (the Elephant House) and getting caught up on things like laundry, cleaning, and of course, the all-stressful summer plans. Monday night we had a big dinner and a movie night with Natalie, Emily, Carolyn, Nora and I which was so good to see everyone all together again. Wednesday was St. Patrick's day, and Alice and I celebrated early by going to an Irish pub (Dropkick Murphy's) that was giving out free t-shirts. We picked up our shirts and then enjoyed the nice weather and no-stress afternoon. Not a bad St. Patty's day at all, and now I have another fabulous weekend in Edinburgh to look forward too. Spring break is next week, and my mom arrives on Wednesday, so there is a lot to get ready for and get excited about!!

New things for the past couple of weeks:

--pulling an actual all-nighter

--climbing through a gorge

--standing on a 50 ft. platform in the middle of Scotland

--going to the Scotland vs. England rugby game!!!!!

Until next time...

XO

Conquering Scotland Road-Trip Style...We Survived!!!

Well, I made it. For all you doubters out there (ahem, you know who you are) this may come as a surprise, but it's true...I lived through my first cross-country road trip. First country tackled by car--Scotland. Not only did we live, but we conquered!! There really isn't a better word to use, because (to use another cliche) we had decided to go big or go home...and yes, you guessed it, we went big. I'm not really sure how I'm going to describe the three day journey, because I know words cannot explain the scenery, the experience, or the feeling I have now having completed the trip, but I promise I will do my best. Plus, the pictures will help me out on this one. So here goes...

Day 1: We ventured off on our EPIC road trip on Friday, very very early in the morning. We all met up at the Starbucks on High Street...this is also right above the train station where we would meet our shuttle bus to the airport car rental place. Emily, who had rented the car, unfortunately missed her alarm clock at 6:30am, so Nora, Carolyn and I were forced to sip coffee while we waited for her to make it to the meeting point, but since it was raining and windy, we didn't mind staying warm for a little bit. The weather on Friday was slightly troublesome...we had woken up to rain so we just crossed our fingers it wouldn't turn into snow and decided to continue on with our plans. Once we were all together, we headed down to the airport shuttle and then to the airport. We picked up our car, packed up all of our stuff, and then reality started to sink in. We were actually doing this!! Emily was first to try driving, so I sat in front to help her navigate. We pulled out our Scotland road map (which I quickly became veryyy attached too), buckled up, took a few deep breaths, and slowly ventured onto the road. Emily took a few trips around the parking lot to figure out which side of the road we needed to be on at all times, practiced some right-hand turns, and then pulled off on the highway. I know what you're thinking--these girls are crazy--but just breathe, and stick with me. Trust me, we did alright. Of course, immediately outside the airport, there was a series of round-a-bouts, so our first real test at driving came right at the start. Emily mastered them though, and once we were on the highway, we all started to relax...just a little though. I stayed concentrated on the map while we sat back and started to take in the amazing scenery that was all around us right outside the city. It did not take long to get away from the crowded buildings of Edinburgh...in fact, maybe 5 minutes out of the airport there was vast fields, mountains in the distance, and snow covered houses scattered around. Of course, we all started taking pictures right away, and this did not stop until the end of the trip. Once we were all comfortable in the car, we turned on the radio and found our selection of Gaelic stations and BBC Scotland news stations. Incredible choices. Gaelic is definitely a different language...somehow, this shocked us, and the novelty of that station did not go away for the entire trip. We definitely continued to tune into that station (because, of course, Gaelic stations never lost service throughout Scotland) so that we could pick up some Gaelic...this did not happen, but we tried. We also just felt more authentic as we were listening to the bagpipes and Gaelic singers, so you can't blame us!

Our drive was extremely smooth for the first part of the day. Our first stop was Loch Leven...on it is the castle in which Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned. Tourists can usually get there by ferry from the parking lot, but since we decided to take this trip at the end of February, the loch was frozen, and the ferry was definitely not operating. However, we still went to see the loch, and it was stunning. Once back in the car, we headed to Pitlochery--a little town in the Perthshire region of the Highlands. When we got there, we immediately headed up to see Atholl Castle...the first real castle we would see on our trip. Doubling as a hotel, the castle sits above Pitlochery and has stunning views of the Highlands that surrounds it. We stopped in the parking lot and found a little stairwell to climb up so that we could see the views, but realized quickly we were not supposed to be up on the deck because there was a traditional dance lesson going on for people staying at the castle. So, we headed back into the town and stopped to take a driving break and eat the sandwiches we had all packed. We walked around for a little bit, bought some postcards, and stopped at an adorable chocolate and coffee shop (what combination could be better!?) Once re-charged, we headed up A9 to Inverness in hopes of getting there in time to see Loch Ness that afternoon. However, fate had other plans for us. Five minutes outside of Pitlochery, we hit a traffic jam. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to get out (all except Nora, who was driving), and take pictures and dance to the CD's we had found in Pitlochery (we ended up with a stellar collection--Michael Jackson, The Carpenters, John Denver, 50 Country Hits, a 2 sided Rock and Roll Hits mix, and a Scottish Sing-a-long) so that's what we all did. However, after about 5 minutes, we realized we definitely weren't moving, so Carolyn and I decided to walk up to the front of the line of traffic to see what the deal was. We got up to the front and talked to the police officer, who told us that the road ahead was closed due to winds and snow and it would not re-open for a couple hours, if that. We headed back to the car to relay the information, and on the way, were stopped by every single car in line...everyone wanted to know what we had found out. So, there Carolyn and I are, running from car to car, talking to Scottish families about road conditions and travel. Along the way, we met one woman who 'holidays' in Colorado, we picked up new road information along the way, and we had great conversations with people just trying to get to Inverness. It was one of the funniest experiences of my life!! So, once we got back to our car and upon the police man's suggestion, we decided to NOT give up on the trip and instead, drive up the west coast of Scotland (which was about 5 hours out of our way) to make it to Inverness. The great thing about our group was that we didn't panic--we didn't hesitate--we just went with the flow and spontaneously changed our route so that we could still make our trip happen.

Loch Leven (covered in ice) and castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned

Nora and I...we were excited to be at Loch Leven!!

Our pit-stop in Pitlochery...talking to the cars in front of us about the road closure

Our west-coast decision turned out to be spectacular. The drive took us through Aberfeldy, Kenmore, Loch Tay, over Glencoe Pass, and finally to Inverness. The roads were much narrower than we had driven on before, so Carolyn took over driving and was a total champ. The further we got from Pitlochery, we started to realize why the other roads had been closed. There was MUCH more snow around once we got further and further into the heart of the Highlands. I was excited because our new route was going to take us right past Loch Tay, and for the first part of the day, I had been trying to convince the girls to go out of our way to make it there--I thought I had remembered someone telling me how beautiful the loch was, so I really wanted to go there...the funny thing was though, that the second we drove into Kenmore (which is a little town that sits on the edge of the loch) I remember having been there with my family on our first Scotland Roadtrip!! It was the place we'd celebrated my dad's 50th birthday, and I recognized the beautiful town immediately. So, apparently, I had been the one telling myself Loch Tay was beautiful, because I had already seen it! The loch did not disappoint though...and to see the town and the loch in the snow was spectacular. We stopped to take pictures on a road pull off when we saw 2 Highland Cows sitting right up against the fence, so we thought it'd be a perfect picture opportunity. These cows are ridiculous! They look pre-historic or something, and they are everywhere in the Highlands. I also never got sick of seeing the sheep. All of it was just so quintessential Scotland, that it never got old.

The town of Kenmore!! Right on the edge of Loch Tay...I've been here in May before!!

Loch Tay in the winter...looks a little different huh?

Me and the Highland Cows

After Loch Tay came Glencoe Pass. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. Yes, we drove through it during a relatively snowy time, but still, it was spectacular. The snow added a different kind of beauty to the surroundings. I remember having driven through the pass in May with my family, and the green mountains were definitely beautiful, but being there surrounded by these massive peaks covered in untouched snow was magical. There was an eery, almost ominous pressence about the mountains, and the tops of the peaks were hidden by the white sky, so you couldn't always tell where the mountains ended and the sky began. There would be times though that the rugged rock-sides of the mountain would jut out, and you'd be reminded of where you were. The entire time we drove through, I was glued to the window, trying to remember the pass in my mind forever. I did think to myself many times that if I was in Colorado, there would be ski-tracks all over the peaks, which made me smile thinking about Independence Pass in June, but it was incredible to see how untouched and clean everything looked. Hopefully the pictures can show a glimpse of how cool the pass was, but I'm pretty sure it was one of those drives you had to be on to fully understand.

View from the front seat going over Glencoe Pass

Glencoe Pass again

Again...amazing

The mountains in the background don't even look real!

Me at the base of Glencoe Pass

We made it through the pass, stopped at the town at the bottom to take more pictures of the scenery, and continued on to Fort Williams and finally to Inverness. Fort Williams is where I took over the driving (AHH) and I'm happy to report that I had absolutely no disasters driving. It was a little (actually VERY) weird to get used to being on the other side of the car, and the road, especially when you make right-hand turns and have to end up on the left-side of the road. I had trouble gauging where I should keep the car on the road...not too close to the median but not on the curve. Basically, I felt like a new driver, and when it came time to pass my first car, I definitely held my breath, clenched the wheel, and experienced that rush of driving. Because we had to go so far out of our way due to the road closures, it was pretty late by the time we finally made it to Inverness, so our drive into the small city was in the dark. Yes, I drove on the other side of the road at night. And I did well! Unfortunately, we couldn't tell that we were driving past Loch Ness as we approached Inverness, but having made it to the city was our main goal, and we did it. However, we quickly realized that Inverness was a much bigger place than we had thought, and we did not have directions to our hostel specifically. So I was left to navigate the city at night, with very vague driving directions. I picked a few cars to stick behind and aimlessly drove around the city until we finally found our bearings and made it to the hostel, but it was definitely an interesting experience that I'm sure some of you will not be happy reading about. (But we did make it! Just keep telling yourselves that :) )

So Inverness rapped up our first day on the road...we stayed at a hostel for the first time, and were so tired that quickly ate dinner at a close pub and then passed out. At that point of the day, the trip already felt like a dream. We couldn't believe that we had just driven up the west coast of the country, instead of the more direct route we had planned, and how well it all worked out. Being here, I have completely come around to believing that absolutely everything happens for a reason, and that in the end, things have a way of working out for the best. I know, it took me a long time to trust that, but I finally do. And this was just another example of it...we had been flexible with our plans, and our first day could not have turned out better!

Emily and me on the river in Inverness

Day 2: Saturday started off early, because due to the detour we had to take on Friday, we needed to fit in Loch Ness before we headed up north. So, that's exactly what we did, because things just seemed to have a way of working out for us. We ended up taking a ferry out on Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, which dates all the way back to St. Columba (someone I am learning about in my Celtic Civilization class) in the 6th century. There is still an impressive structure that remains of the castle, and the ferry ride was beautiful, of course, but we did not get to see Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. We pulled up to the castle and breaked for a little bit before heading back to the car and headed off on our way up north. Again, immediately outside of Inverness, the city-like feeling disappeared and we were again surrounded by snowy mountains and wilderness. We drove towards Dornoch and were impressed at how quickly we hit the coast. It was really impressive to be in snow covered mountains one minute and then next to the ocean and sprawling green fields the next. Near Dornoch, we spotted signs for Dunnrobin Castle, so (of course) we decided to pull in. We were the only ones there!! It was like the entire castle was ours, which of course we loved, and our mass-photo shoot ensued of the gorgeous building, amazing gardens, and the view of the water. At that point, we had realized that a major plus about traveling around Scotland in February is that there are very few other people who have chosen to do that, so we were the only people at most of the touristy points we stopped at. This allowed us to imagine this entire castle was all ours, and it was so nice to just be able to do whatever we wanted without crowds of people everywhere.

Urquhart Castle from our ferry on Loch Ness

Me in front of the castle

Dunnrobin castle--completely deserted...it was all ours for the day!

Nora drove away from Dunnrobin up the east coast, and we quickly realized this was a mistake. Nora drives about 2 mph, which we all realized shortly after she proceeded to slow down to about 1 mph on the first hill we hit. SO, needless to say, we replaced Nora at the driving thing almost immediately after she started. I'm not saying any of us drove too fast, but 2mph was slightly unnecessary. Our destination for the night was Castletown, which is about 10 miles from Wick and about 5 from Thurso, so that's where we headed from Dornoch. I think this was my favorite part of the entire drive. We reached the coastline, and the highway hugged the North Sea all the way up for the rest of the drive. In every direction, there was stone walls, sheep, rolling green hills, snow covered mountains in the distance, and the stunning cliffs that dropped into the water. It was breathtaking. Trying to capture with my camera just wasn't working, so I sat back and just took it all in. We all asked each other questions about what we wanted to be when we grow-up, what our siblings were like, ect. to pass the time, and it was so nice to just be in a car with amazing friends, relaxing outside the craziness of Edinburgh. Our Michael Jackson and John Denver CD's weren't bad either. I took over driving about an hour outside Wick, and we stopped once we got there to take a break and get some food. We ended up in a little pub, watching the England vs. Ireland rugby game on a small little tv. It was surreal...here I was, in Wick, watching rugby. Crazy!! Once the game was over, we headed for Castletown...the whole rest of the drive just marveling at how remote the area was. I mean, there would be houses off by themselves on cliffs in all directions. It is absolutely beautiful and peaceful up there, but I cannot imagine living in that remote of an area.

Scotland's northeast coast

Out of the snow and into the green fields and ocean

Finally, we reached Castletown, and our hotel was not difficult to find this time. In fact, it was the only hotel in the area, and it boasted the only bar for miles. We checked in, talked to the nicest receptionist, who was also the owner, the bartender, the waitress, AND the chef, and relaxed for a little bit before heading down to the bar because that Saturday night was the monthly pub quiz for the town!!! Seriously, how lucky could we be?? Yes, we absolutely participated in the trivia night. The quiz master was probably the most Scottish man I have ever seen with the heaviest scottish accent I have ever heard, and the entire time he asked questions, he would look at our table and smile, just knowing we would get the answers wrong. Of course, the trivia was based around farming, Highland politics, and Scotland, so no, we did not win. But, it was the most incredible trivia night ever...I mean, the whole time we were there, we just kept reminding ourselves that we were in the wayyyy north of Scotland, in the smallest town ever, in the smallest pub ever, with some of the nicest people I've ever met. Wow, crazy huh?

Day 3: The next morning, we woke up to an impressive breakfast provided by the hotel...and yes, the receptionist from the night before and her husband had made it. They asked us what our plans were, and after telling them we were headed to John O' Groats before heading back to Edinburgh, they reminded us to stop by Dunnet Head, which is the most northern point in main land Great Britain. Obviously wanting to go there, we set off in that direction...it turns out, we were only 5 miles away from this point, so the entire night, we were pretty far north!! We got out to Dunnet Head and again, were all by ourselves out there. I can't even explain to you what we saw when we got out there. We stepped out of the car to SUN! It was a blue-sky day and 360 degrees of absolute solitude...and the edge of the point looked straight out across to the southern tip of the Orkney Islands. On our side of the cliffs were green but we faced the Orkney Cliffs that were covered in snow. I have never seen cliffs covered in snow going into blue ocean, and it was stunning. Without anyone else being out on Dunnet Head, were were able to say with confidence that we were the most northern people in mainland Great Britain. Being out there was the craziest thing in the world. I can't begin to describe the rush of emotions that ran through my head. It all started to sink in that I had done this...I had rented a car, driven off into Scotland, and survived. I felt so incredibly accomplished, so proud of myself, so alive, so grown-up, so confident in my abilities to deal with anything in the world, and, maybe most of all, so happy and lucky that I had met friends here that allowed me to have this experience. There definitely aren't enough words to completely explain that feeling I had when I was standing there, but I know I'll never forget it.

Dunnet Head lighthouse...looking across to Orkney Islands covered in snow

Me, at the most northern point in mainland Great Britain

Me and Carolyn

Contemplating how great life is...looking at Orkney Islands

Once we left Dunnet Head, we passed the Castle Mey and John O' Groats, the whole time being mesmerized by the scenery around us. I could have stayed in that car forever, just looking at the landscape...I remember driving around with my family a few years ago, thinking the exact same thing--Scotland is one of my favorite places in the world. The drive back down the coast was just as spectacular as the way up, and this time, we had a beautiful blue-sky day to drive through. All four of us were trying to process how we were feeling on the trip back, so a lot of the time, we just sat back, listened to good music, and took in the scenery. This was interrupted frequently by all of us expressing again how we couldn't believe we had pulled this trip off, and then we would go back into silence, all lost in our thoughts again. We made it back through Pitlochery, stopping for lunch there for the 2nd time, and then cruised back to Edinburgh. Carolyn and I split the driving for the day, and I finished the drive up by getting us back to the airport safely. We took a picture in front of our car (which we named Elvis by the way) before we handed over the keys, and then we bussed back into the city. We hugged on the street corner outside the Starbucks we had started off the journey in, commenting on how long ago Friday felt and how we couldn't believe it was all over, and then all went our separate ways back to our flats.

View from the drive from Dunnett Head to John O' Groats

The fabulous four...we made it! In front of Elvis, our amazing car.

That night, I just sat in my room, thinking about the trip, and couldn't believe it had actually happened. It felt like the most incredible dream. The trip as a whole was different than any other trip I've ever taken. Again, it's hard to convey what I mean...It was definitely the most adventurous (and maybe slightly dangerous) thing I've ever decided to do. It went against what most people told me they think I should have done (and they were probably very just in their advice). But it ended up being one of the most incredible weekends, and is definitely and Abroad experience that I will never forget. One of the best parts about it also is that I'll always have the people I took the trip with to remember each moment with.

However, eventually on Sunday night, I was forced to face the reality that I had to get back into life in Edinburgh (trust me, that's not too hard...I am obsessed with this city). I watched part of the USA-Canada Hockey game and talked to some friends here that were all dieing to know if we had survived the trip. Monday I headed to the library to work on big papers I have due over the next couple of weeks, and now I get to look forward to this coming weekend...my abroad program has organized a trip for all of us to Argyll, one of the western islands of Scotland. Another weekend traveling around Scotland? Yes, I think I can handle that.

As for now, I think that is plenty of reading for one blog post. New things I did this past week? I don't even think I can list all of them but I'll try.

New Things:

--driving a car on the other side of the road

--road tripping around scotland

--staying in a hostel

--pub quiz in Castletown, Scotland

--being the most northern person in mainland Great Britain

--CONQUERING SCOTLAND!!!

Can't wait to tell you all about next weekend!

XO

Edinburgh--the magical city

Besides my first weekend here, this was the very first time I spent all weekend in Edinburgh!! I know, that seems highly ridiculous. However, I have been making my weeks very productive in terms of exploring the city, knowing that I was traveling on the weekends. But, having said that, I was still ridiculously excited to be here for an entire weekend. SO, we decided to start the weekend on Thursday of this week, because, let's face it...why not?? So on Thursday, Nora, Carolyn and I decided to go on a walk and explore the city before we had to go to class. Luckily, we got sun (!!) for those brief couple hours in the middle of the day, so we took advantage them. First off, Carolyn and I sat at the Starbucks right on High Street, waiting for Nora to come and meet us and just talking about life and how much we love being here. I can't believe I only have 3 months left in this city, and with these people I've met here. That thought really bums me out, but I'm determined to make the most of all of it. Anyway, once we were all together, we walked down across the bridges towards the Walter Scott Memorial...we looked like total tourists the whole time, because all three of us had our cameras out, snapping shots of everything we could see. We paid to get into the Memorial and proceeded to walk up all 287 stairs to the top of it! Half way up, there is a little museum that explains what the monument is for, and what accomplishments Walter Scott had during his life. He was a pretty impressive guy! At each stair landing though, there was incredible 360 views of the city, and the further you went up, the more beautiful everything got. We could see the ocean, the mountains, and of course the amazinggggg city skyline and the castle!! The best part of the walk though was that there was a bagpiper playing on the street below us, and we could hear his music the entire time. The second we got to the top of the building, he started playing Amazing Grace, so we just stood there, looking over the entire city and listening. It was an amazing moment for sure. First of all, the bagpipe is beautiful, and second of all, I cannot imagine a more perfect city to listen to it in. Once we had taken about a million pictures, we headed back down the steps and walked to class...not a bad way to spend a couple hours!

Carolyn, Nora and me with the city and the castle in the background--on the Walter Scott Monument

View of our beautiful Castle and the National Gallery down below

View of Arthur's Seat from Walter Scott Monument

Friday was another incredible day exploring my home city. Nora, Emily, Carolyn and I decided to walk the entire Royal Mile--something I can't believe I saved until a month and a half in, but oh well, better late then never! It was a beautiful blue-sky day...a VERY rare occurrence here, so we were feeling pretty lucky. Our end goal was to get to the new Scottish Parliament building because it is open to the public 7 days a week, and then over to Holyrood Palace. We began our journey down the famous street, and even though it is only about 3/4 of a mile down from where we started, our journey took us about an hour to get down to the bottom. We were just wandering, stopping in stores and looking around at the buildings. We wandered into a modern-day Scottish museum, Carolyn stopped to buy presents for her dad's birthday, and Nora got sucked into an antique map shop before we finally made it to our intended destination. The lengthy walk was so much fun--the whole time, I kept reminding myself how many people in the entire world have walked that exact street. The history in this city just boggles my mind. However, we did finally make it down to the Parliament building. It definitely stands out amongst the rest of the gothic architecture that is everywhere. It is a modern building, with a spanish influence to its style--very interesting to say the least, and apparently very controversial amongst the Scottish. Also, despite it's promise to stay open 7-days a week to the public, it was closed on holiday, so we were unable to go inside. We did however, get to cross the street and look around the Holyrood Palace. It's the queen's residence when she comes to stay in Edinburgh, so it's very royal and spectacular. We didn't go inside because it was 17 pounds, but we did peak through the gates and take lots and lots of pictures. After that, we started to feel the cold, so we ran back to a little tea shop to warm up. Reality began to sink in right around then, and we all realized we needed to get some work done that afternoon, so we capped the day off at the elephant house, looking at the sunset and reading some books.

Scottish Parliament Building

Nora, Emily, Carolyn and I outside Holyrood Palace

To finish the night off, Nora had Emily, Carolyn and I over to her apartment because all of her flatmates were gone for the weekend. She lives in a flat that is slightly more removed from the city, and is about a 20 min walk from all of our flats, but the walk is absolutely stunning, so her commute isn't that bad. WE headed over there for a good old slumber party that night, and completed the event with baking a cake and watching girly movies while compiling our blankets and pillows in a pile on the floor. We ate the entire cake (needless to say) and stayed up talking until the early early morning. The next day, after having slept in till about noon, we got up, cleaned, and went for a nice walk around Nora's apartment. She lives across this huge park, and once you get to the other side, there is a whole little community of cute shops and restaurants over there that exist outside of the downtown area that I live in. It was so much fun exploring a new place in the city that I hadn't seen before, and it was another gorgeous day weather-wise, so there were really no complaints! On our way back home though, we saw mass amounts of police men lining the streets of Edinburgh. That day, there was a mass protest/riot going on being led by anti-Muslim people. It was a little scary and really crazy to be int eh city that day, but luckily, we were able to avoid the majority of the gathering. For the most part, I haven't experienced any racism or anti-feelings towards any of the muslims here, but obviously there are some intense underlying tensions that exist throughout the city and the rest of the UK.

The rest of the weekend finished off by cramming in some work and research for papers that are coming up. The beginning of this week was pretty much the same--it has started to sink in how much work I have to get done over the next 2 weeks, but I'm trying to remind myself that 2 weeks of stress isn't too bad considering that I deal with much much more at Bowdoin. However, I have gotten very comfortable in the Library over the past couple of days, despite my hatred for that place. It makes it better when you have all of your friends cramming with you as well, and we've been making the week do-able with mandatory movie breaks and walks to get outside. Also, yesterday, the library got even more exciting when we had a famous visitor stop by....the Duke of Edinburgh, aka the Queen's Husband, paid us a visit!!! Emily, Natalie, and I were just walking back from a study brea when we saw a bunch of security gaurds gathered around and lots of students huddle together. We stopped one guard to ask what was going on, and just then, the Duke walked by! He came over to our group and said hi, asked what year we were, and asked if we like the library!!!! That was the first royal person I've ever seen, let alone spoken too!!!! Definitely made the long day in the library worth it.

Tomorrow, I am off on my Scotland Roadtrip Adventure. Certain family members have their reservations about this trip, because yes, we will be driving on the other side of the road, but I'm so so so excited!! I can't wait to tell you all how it goes!! Wish me luck!

New things I did this week/weekend

--visited Walter Scott Monument

--walked the Royal Mile

--saw the Parliament Building and Holyrood Palace

--explored new Edinburgh neighborhoods

--saw a racial protest/riot

--met the DUKE!!

Denmark and Bowdoin Reunion!

Wow--another weekend, another city. The good news....I have officially survived my first cross-Europe solo travel experience! There were a couple of moments that that fact remained uncertain, but in the end, I made it to Denmark and back safe and sound. The trip was wayy to short, and very fast-paced, but all and all, it was an incredible weekend with Bowdoin kids from school, and I'm so sad it's over already!

My trip started off last Thursday, when I woke up early to catch the free shuttle from the train station to the airport. I cut the timing a little close, but in the end, made it to my gate in time and flew to London for my first stop on my way to Copenhagen. I hung out in London for a while before my next gate was announced, and when the number finally came up on the screen, I headed towards the shuttle so that I'd be on time for my flight. That's where my first travel troubles began. The transport shuttle malfunctioned and shut down just in time to keep me stranded on the other side of the airport, wayyy too far from my Copenhagen gate, and right as the announcer was calling for all passengers to board my plane. Uh oh. So, I looked around, saw a girl about my age also looking flustered, and asked her if she was flying to Copenhagen. She was, and so we both freaked out together. Luckily, we found enough people who were in our same boat that we figured they'd have to hold the plane. Well, we weren't exactly correct in that thought. After finally finding another way to our gate, we stepped off the shuttle just as the announcer called gates closing in 1 minute! So, we started running. Yup, I sprinted through the airport with 10 of my new best friends. Luckily, we made it just in time, and boarded the plane completely out of breath, but happy to have gotten on. About 15 passengers weren't so lucky, and were stranded in London. Phew!!

Ok, so, I made it to Copenhagen on Thursday and met Gillian at the airport. Let me take a sec to tell you about this airport.....it's incredible! There's wood floors everywhere, designer shopping, and car displays!! It's also soooo incredibly quiet. Just imagine thinking that about JFK or Chicago O'hare. Never!! Anyway, Gilly and I hugged for about 5 minutes, freaking out that we were both finally reunited, and in Denmark of all places, and then headed for the train so that we could go to her homestay house. We made it out to suburbia Denmark, and she showed me around her incredible house that she gets to stay in for the semester. Her parents are amazing and they had the best dog in the world--Candy Chanel. Its a Finnish (?) lap dog, and it's the cutest, best thing in the world!! Gilly told me that it sleeps in the snow sometimes because it gets so hot inside! The inside of the house was beautiful as well. The Danish architecture was very evident in this house, and it was just so nice to be in a home again! So for the rest of the night, Gilly and I just hung out, relaxed, had an amazing homemade lasagna for dinner, and caught up on the last month that we've both been going through this crazy abroad experience.

The next day, we got to sleep in and were woken up by Gilly's host dad making chocolate croissants for breakfast. Not bad huh! We headed out on a walk with Candy Chanel after breakfast...and that's when i learned her true abilities as a Finnish lap dog. She likes to hunt. And lucky Gilly and me....we got to see her in action. I wont go into too much detail because it was one of the most disgusting things in the entire world, but we saw Candy hunt a field mouse and come up with it in her mouth!! She then proceeded to walk with it like that for the next 5 minutes before hse finally dropped it. UGHHHHHHH. awful. BUT, then, we headed into the city center of Copenhagen so that we could walk around a bit, see her school, and be in the city in time to pick up the rest of the kids from Bowdoin arriving from Spain! Getting off the train in the city, were were immediately surrounded by tons of bright colored houses lining the streets. I loved them! We did a little city-walking tour then, and Gilly showed me her school building and the BEST place to get pastries in the world. Literally, the pastries in Denmark are incredible. I had this chocolate croissant with chocolate chips and whip cream and strawberry filling...ahhh to die for. I loved walking around though, and learning all about the history of the city. It was so interesting to be out of the UK and see how different another city could be. Each city and place I've been to so far has such a different feel and atmosphere to it. Edinburgh is full of old stone buildings that are gothic or romantic looking...Copenhagen is filled with colorful buildings each side by side mixed in with old churches and monuments. And not to forget the canals here and there! Also, everything's in Danish! Funny thing, I totally forgot that they speak other languages in Europe!! I've gotten so used to having English everywhere, but nooo, in Denmark, they speak Danish! Yes, most people speak English too, but it was so funny to see all the street signs in another language. Props to Gilly and everyone else that has to deal with that in their host cities!

All the buildings that I loved so much. Why can't we have this much color in our cities??

BEST. PASTRIES. EVER! (there's a reason we call them Danish's!)

After seeing some sights throughout the city, Gilly and I headed back to the train station to meet up with our friend who's also staying in Copenhagen and everyone else coming in from Spain. Greg, Becky, Alyssa, Emily, Kate, Sam, Danny, and James all arrived at the station at about the same time, and a complete hugging and screaming reunion commenced in the middle of the crowded station! It was sooo amazing to see everyone again...I can't believe it's been so long since we've all been together at school. And the one thing we couldn't get over was that we were all reunited in a European country! Such a weird feeling. Everyone but Greg is all studying in Spain, most in different places, but there nonetheless, so for the entire weekend, we heard lots and lots about Spanish culture. The Spain kids were all starving, so we headed for lunch--there was a quick stop at a 7-eleven on the way though, because in Copenhagen, you can drink beer while walking down the street in the middle of the day! Needless to say, we all wanted to take advantage of that and cheers to being reunited! The rest of the day was filled with catching up, walking around, and finally getting ready for going out that night. We went to a thai place for dinner and the headed to Greg's apartment before going dancing. We ended up at this dance club that had snow falling from the ceiling, fog machines going full force, and lots of strobe lights. It was definitely alot of fun to dance and just be out with everyone from home. One thing we found out really quickly about Copenhagen...it's SOOOOO expensive! I don't know how those kids are doing it for the whole semester!

Saturday was another good, long day in the city. We woke up late again, but this time, Gilly's house dad had laid out the most impressive breakfast spread I've ever seen. I'm not kidding around here...there was orange juice, tea, coffee, chocolate milk, amazinnnggg cheese, meats, all different kinds of breads and jellys, nuetella, and then an omelete dish with tomatoes and sausage on the side just in case we weren't satisfied with everything else. Ah so so so good. So we all got to sit around the table and eat with her parents and catch up some more before heading into Copenhagen--once we left the house, we headed for the Carlsburg Brewery but met a few disasterous speed bumps on the way. First of all, I lost my clutch on the way there. Luckily, I had taken out my credit cards and phone the night before, so all I had lost was my ID's and some money, but still, I was so frustrated with myself at the time! (Just wait, the story about my clutch will come back by the end of the weekend). We did finally arrive outside brewery after getting slightly lost walking there, but unfortunately we couldnt' find the entrance for the longest time, and then realized the brewery had been closed for 30 min by then!! So, we got some cool pictures of the outside of the place, but none of the inside. We ended up leaving and going back into the city to go see Nyhaven at night...it wasn' t as cool as seeing it during the day, but it was beautiful nonetheless and so cool to see the canal all frozen over! While walking down the canal though, we found a Scottish pub to go into to warm up!! I was very excited about that as you can imagine. After that though, we did pretty much the same as the night before--got some dinner, hung out for a while, and then went out dancing! We also did make it to the ice bar in Copenhagen!! We all had to get dressed in these massive blue coats with fur hoods and then got 40 minutes to hang out in this big ice cube basically. It was definitely an experience. The only stressful part about the weekend was trying to go out with such a big group. Once we were all out and it was dark and crowded, it was hard to stay together and decide where we should all go...none of us had working cellphones and none of us could speak Danish, so moving a group our size around the city became pretty stressful. Luckily, both Friday and Saturday night went smoothly enough and it ended up being so so so much fun!

Nyhaven at night--not the best picture, but hopefully you can sort of see all the colors!

The whole Bowdoin crew outside the City Hall--Sam, Emily, Greg, Danny, James, Gilly, Alyssa, Kate, me and Becky!!

Ice bar!!--I really wanted to take that coat with me, but I figured it'd be kinda obvious

Ok, Sunday morning we didn't have much time to do much of anything before our planes home, but there is a story that ended my vacation on an extremely high note. Remember my lost clutch? So, I woke up on Sunday to a text message saying that a person had found my wallet!! I didn't know how they had gotten my European cell phone number, and I was a little nervous to find out, but luckily my host parents got on the phone with the guy and spoke Danish for a while, and when they got off the phone, informed me that the man was coming over to their house to drop of my wallet!! About 5 minutes later, this man came in and handed me my clutch with everything it, wished us all a Happy Valentine's Day, and left. It was incredible!! I got so so so lucky and the Danish are such nice people! Definitely a great way to finish off the vacation.

After 3 crazy days in Copenhagen, it was nice to be excited to head back to Edinburgh. I mean, I love this city. I still get excited when I'm walking around, anticipating what incredible view is coming around the next corner. I can't imagine I'll ever get sick of seeing these cobblestones streets winding up a hidden alley way, or seeing the castle over the city. Don't get me wrong--getting to see all of my friends from home in Copenhagen was amazing. I'm so glad we all did it, and it was a great way to celebrate Gillian's 21st birthday. It definitely made me realize how lucky I am to have all of those friends at school, and how much I miss them while I'm here...but it also made me realize how happy I am to be in Scotland, and how incredible it will be to relive this experience with everyone once we're home! As for now, I'm just enjoying Scotland, and can't wait to be in Edinburgh this weekend...for a whole weekend!

One more thing--yesterday was Pancake Day here!! (Well, technically, I think it was Pancake Day across Europe) But, anyway, my friends and I decided to celebrate by cooking pancakes and getting together for dinner. Their pancakes are more like crepes here, so that's what we made, and they were delicious!! We had fresh fruit, syrup, and chocolate sauce, and dinner was definitely a success! Ok, that's it for now....peace out cub scouts.

New things for this week:

-Going to Copenhagen!!

-Cooking crepes for pancake day!

1 Month in the City and Family Home-stay Weekend!

Hellooooo all,

It's been a little over a week since my last post, and believe me, I have lots and lots to share, so bare with me with all of the stories I'm about to throw your way. Last week was a great week back in Edinburgh recuperating from my last adventure and this past weekend was an incredible experience in northern England (although very different from spending a few days in London!). So here goes...my life over the last week and a half:

Last week was spent basically recovering from my whirlwind weekend in London. I was still getting over my cold, and had to do a lot of research for a paper in my Scottish History class, so most of my days were spent in the Elephant House, curled up with tea, and reading books. Not bad, but slightly stressful because there is absolutely no way I can keep up in this class...I mean, I'm not Scottish, and therefore no very little about the UK current and past state of affairs. It is extremely difficult to keep up in a class that is dominated by UK history majors that know much much more about the subject matter, but the material is really interesting, so I'm doing my best. As always, studying in the Elephant House isn't really something I can complain about either, and my friend Emily is in the class with me, so at least we got to stress out together. Even with the relative work stress, I still managed to socialize with everyone and relive our past weekend many many times over in conversation. In fact, in hopes of continuing our show-biz experience, the girls and I decided to check out a local production of the Beauty and the Beast on Thursday night that was showing in a really cool theater near our campus. We got all dressed up, went out to a cute dinner, and then headed to the theater for the show. Maybe it was the fact that we had just come off of the most amazing show production I'd ever seen with Wicked, or maybe the fact that it was realllyyyyy an amateur production, but the show was a slight dissapointment. Not the best costumes, actors, sets, ect and there was actually a near disaster when the boy playing chip fell over in the middle of the show and broke the table and huge tea cup he was hiding under. However, it was still so much fun to be out with all the girls again, and we decided to chalk up the experience to yet another funny night in our lives in Edinburgh.

Friday, me and half of the IFSA Butler students left on our home-stay weekends to a town called Shap, located in the lakes district of Northern England. We took a bus down there, and after about 3 hours of riding in complete darkness, we arrived at a McDonald's pit stop in the middle of nowhere to be picked up by our families that we would be staying with for the rest of the weekend. Luckily, my host mom arrived shortly after us, and picked up me and the other two girls I was staying with. My host family was a farming family, we quickly found out on the drive to her house. After another 30 min drive, we pulled into her house and met her husband and three kids (age 9, 8, and 3). None of us had eaten dinner so our mother laid out the most incredible spread of cheese (that was made by the milk their cows produced) and meats. SO GOOD! We stayed up after that and drank tea and talked to the parents for a while about their lives on the farm, our lives in the states, and stuff like that.

The next day, we woke up early so that we could drive around the lakes district before we met the entire group for a fish and chips lunch. Waking up at the house was beautiful! It was so exciting to see where the house was located, because the night before everything had been dark. It was a quaint farming house set on a hill above the actual farm. The father's parents and brother lived on the property as well, so the farm was definitely a family business. It felt like we were in a scene from Pride and Prejudice though....surrounded by sheep, farms, and rolling green hills. So, the drive was incredible. We drove to the town of Windermeere and then over the mountains to Keswick to have our lunch. The entire time, I was just wishing I could capture how beautiful the scenery was. I was not expecting to see mountains that big in England, nor was I expecting to see stone walls going straight up to the tops of those mountains. The rolling green fields and hills were so expansive, and there was something so peaceful about the entire region. Of course, each bit of land was scattered with sheep and horses, stone houses and walls, which just made me love the whole place that much more. After driving around though, we made it to Keswick and found our chippery (the place where we had fish and chips). Keswick was an adorable town, set in, you guessed it, the middle of nowhere. It was like a fake town...there was a farmers market set up outside and no cars were allowed to drive down the city center, so everyone was walking around. It was sooo pretty but very sureal. Also, my first fish and chips experience was a success! After the drive home though, we were ready for some fresh air, and so me and the two other girls that were there decided to explore the area around our little cottage. We walked down the road for a while right as the sun was setting, and it was amazing. Again, straight out of Pride and Prejudice. Our walk was even complete with a tractor driving past us as we returned to the house. I realized that I could be totally happy on a farm somewhere in the countryside of Scotland...I love love love Edinburgh, but I think I'm more of a countryside or wilderness person. Also, needless to say, when I was walking down this narrow road in the countryside of northern England, it was really hard for me to imagine that I'd been in London just the last weekend! It's like my life is a whirlwind of traveling and new experiences. Anyway, we got back to the house just in time for the first Six Nations Rugby game England vs. Wales to start, and since my host father and I had both bonded the night before over our love for rugby, we sat down to watch the entire game in the den before dinner. England ended up winning...hopefully an occurrence not to be repeated when I see them play against Scotland in March! Watching the game with my host father was so fun...he knows so much about the game just from playing as he was growing up and watching it all the time...and he was definitely into it! Not a bad place to watch a game. Then, after the game, came dinner. Our host mom made the most incredible mintz meat pie (from scratch) and then an incredible apple crumble. I don't know how she did all of that cooking when she had three little kids running around, but she did, and it was delicious. We had to clear our plates before we could be done for the night, so needless to say, we were all stuffed. All and all, it was a fabulous day on the farm!

Windemere and the Lakes District

View of the Lakes

Our host family's house and HUGE tractor!

View from the house down to the farm

Gorgeous view from our sunset walk

Typical view of the countryside

Ok, so Sunday we woke up early to help our host father with his chores on the farm. First, he took us in this huge tractor down to the barns where cows were kept, and showed us around. They have over 100 cows on their farm, and they are all in these huge barns. Then, he showed us where the milking happens...unlike in the old days, they do not milk all 100 cows by hand anymore, but he did show us how it was done on one cow. And yes, I did try it out too! Holding a cow's utter was not my favorite experience in the whole world, but at least I can say I've done it, I can add it to the list of new things I've tried in Scotland, and I NEVER have to do it again! When they aren't milking cows by hand however, they have these machines that pump thousands of gallons of milk each week into these cooling tanks, where the milk is then taken and sold to cheese farms. It was an incredible production, and listening to our host dad explain all about the machines, the cleanliness of the barn, and all the uptake it requires to keep a milk farm running was really neat. He could have talked for hours! After we left the cows, he took us up to the sheep pasture where we got to feed the sheep! When we entered the pasture, about 50 sheep started running after our open ended modern-day wagon, and they surrounded the farmer the minute he stepped out with food. I was a little scared to be that close to the sheep, but also sooooo excited. THey were all so cute! Again, the dad explained all about the different markings, the wool industry, and the different species of sheep he had. Basically, anything you want to know about sheep or cows, I can now tell you. After farming, we went back to the house for another incredible meal...this time, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. SO GOOD! I was definitely not excited to go back to my cooking, which still consists of mainly cereal, pb and j and the occasional stir fry if I'm feeling super motivated. Oh well. After lunch, we headed back to Edinburgh. The weekend was amazing--a completely different weekend than the one before, and full of new experiences. It was really nice though to be headed back to Edinburgh and have it feel like home.

The cows!!!!

View from the back of the tractor...all of the sheep chasing us down for food

Sunday night, I was face with the ultimate question--write my paper that had been looming over my head for the past week and was due at 4pm the next day, orrrr watch the Superbowl. Needless to say, I decided to watch the game. We all stayed up late, headed to the sports bar in our student union, and tuned into the game. Unfortunately, we missed all of the good commercials because they weren't broadcast in the UK, but the game was still fun. GO SAINTS! That did mean though that Monday morning came wayyy to early, and I had to lock myself in the library for the rest of the day. The paper got done....it was a close call in the end though. At about 3'45, having just finished my bibliography and emailing it to myself, I rushed around the University library (one of my least favorite places in the city) trying to find a computer to print my paper out from. I ended up begging my way onto this girl's computer, frantically running around to find a printer, and then sprinting to the office where I handed my paper to the secretary at exactly 3:59. I definitely won't be doing that again....but it all got done somehow!

I just also have to say that I'm finishing up this blog post while sitting at my desk and just looked out to see an incredible sunset over the city from my window. I'm loving every part of this city, and I can't believe I've been here a month already! I'm both soooo excited for the next couple of months, and scared they will go by too quickly! Ok, that's it for now....tomorrow I head to Copenhagen by myself (AHH) to meet up with some Bowdoin kids, so get excited to hear all about that next time!

New things I did this week:

--Explored the city with the girls, and went to a theater production

--MILKED A COW!

--fed some sheep

--handed in a paper at the very very very last minute

XO