The Last Goodbye

Hello again, and for the last time! After nine short months, I returned home early on the morning of the 21st. I did take a brief thirty-six hour stop in Iceland on the way home, just to say I’d been there. The weather was cold and a little overcast, but the city of Reykjavik was pretty, and the ocean was gorgeous.

This is the last blog post for my abroad blog, and it’s a post of goodbyes. Goodbye to Cambridge, goodbye to Europe, goodbye to my friends, goodbye to studying abroad. That’s a lot of goodbyes in just a short period of time, and to be honest, it’s been emotionally taxing, and that’s partly because there’s nothing anyone can say or do to prepare you for a goodbye like this. Nobody talks about this part. Yes, in our pre-departure classes we were all told that we were ALL going to experience the phases of adjustment where we miss home, and then, just when we’re used to the place we live, we don't want to leave. But that never happened to me. From the moment I stepped foot in this country, I never wanted to leave. I knew that the clock was ticking faster than everyone else's, because even though they were here for shorter amounts of time than I was, they could say at the end of the day that they were ready to go back and see their friends, family, Valpo, etc. I was not. And when you don’t want to leave, there is nothing anyone can do to prepare you for this sort of goodbye, a goodbye to a place that has given you so much in ways that you can’t even describe to anyone.  

I have seen people look back and reminisce and say, “Wow, I’m so grateful I had this opportunity!” and that does not begin to say how much I have appreciated this opportunity. The impact of this experience has forged its way into all aspects of my life, and I will never be able to express just how much these nine months have meant to me.

They say that home is where the heart is, and if this is true, then I am definitely not home; my home lies in the rolling green hills of England. The truth is, there are things that I've done here, places I've seen and things I've learned that some people can only dream about, and it changes you. I am not the same person I was nine months ago, not by long shot, and I would never go back to being that person ever again. So if you see me, and I’m different, you'll know why, because my body might be back in Colorado, but my heart will be, forever, in England. 

As sad as it is that this is over, it’s time for something new and something different. It’s time for new adventures and new travels. There are bigger plans for my life than just nine months in England, and I know that if it means so much to me, I’ll be back. But for now, this is goodbye.

Not only is this a post of goodbyes, but also a post of thank-yous. There are so many people who made this experience amazing for me. For anyone who has sent money, letters, and kind thoughts my way, thank you so very much for your support. Thank you to Matt our director, who had to have me around for a year and survived. Thank you to the people of C-94 and C-95—you were my best friends and family, and I love you all.

This is has been fun, and thank you very much for reading. I’ll leave you with the words of the song, “The Last Goodbye,” sung by Billy Boyd, because the first time I heard them, I knew that they would be the anthem of my goodbye to Cambridge:

To these memories I will hold

With your blessing, I will go

To turn at last to paths that lead home

And though where the road then takes me

I cannot tell

We came all this way

But now comes the day to bid you farewell.

I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Stephanie

Luck of the Irish

Hello again! As promised, I'm catching up from our busy second break, and I'm here to share with you all the exciting travels of my weeklong trip to Ireland, the land of my people (or at least, 1/16 of my bloodline).

Four of us began our second break by traveling to Dublin together. We spent our first day seeing Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was especially nice to have a tour of Dublin Castle because a) the Chapel Royale was gorgeous, and b) I didn't really have a sense of any Irish history, and this tour gave me a better outline of what kinds of things went down that led to Irish independence from England.

Dublin Castle

Trinity College

St. Patrick's Cathedral

We broke off into pairs in the afternoon, and Brendan and I went to the Guinness factory, where we became certified to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. The end of the night was spent at the Temple Bar and Oliver St. John Gogarty's listening to traditional Irish music. I just have to share a video I've got of the guys we heard at the Temple Bar, because they were just that good.

On our second day, the other three went to the Cliffs of Moher on a tour, but since I had one planned for Monday, I went up north to Northern Ireland to see Giant's Causeway. We stopped to see Duluce Castle, the Dark Hedges, and Belfast along the way, but by far the most amazing thing was Giant's Causeway itself. The origins of the causeway are surrounded by legends involving a Scottish giant and an Irish giant, but it is actually a volcanic rock formation that comes up out of the ocean in perfect hexagon shapes, some only a few inches tall, some several feet tall.

Giant's Causeway

Looking back, this was definitely my favorite part of the trip. I could have spent more than the two hours we had there climbing around and taking pictures. It was a windy day, and the waves crashed up on the causeway, and it was beautiful. The feeling of invincibility is something everyone should feel some time in their life. I can't begin to tell you how on top of the world I felt when I was standing down, looking at it all.

The next day, we all split ways, and I began my solo traveling in Ireland. I took a train from Dublin all the way to the west coast of Ireland, to Galway. Galway is famous for the Claddagh ring and traditional Irish song, "Galway Girl" (and for those who know the song and are curious, yes, I did talk a stroll down the Salthill Prom like a Galway girl :) ). I stayed at a very nice hostel right on the main square, and made a friend that I travelled with for the next two days.

Galway Bay

I booked a tour out of Galway for the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, with stops at the High Crosses and Dunguaire Castle. Unfortunately, the weather was really windy, foggy, and rainy, so when we got to the Cliffs, I couldn't even see them. So that's one thing I'll be going back to Ireland to see. However, the Burren was pretty cool. Our guide told us that the rocky terrain is similar to what we would see on the moon, and it was fun to climb over rocks for awhile on our stops (when it wasn't raining).

The Burren

Dunguaire Castle

When I got to Galway, I was planning on spending my last full day there just walking around the city and sightseeing. I didn't realize just how small the city actually is, so when I got there in the afternoon on Sunday and walked around for awhile, I had already seen what I wanted to see. So I decided to book another tour in Ireland, this time north of Galway in the Connemara region. Parts of this region are still owned by the Joyce family (appropriately named Joyce Country), and is the family of writer James Joyce. Luckily, except for the cold and the wind, we had sunny weather, and the country was absolutely beautiful, so after Giant's Causeway, this was probably my next favorite tour.

Our first stop was at Kylemore Abbey. This was originally a castle built in the early 1800s by an English doctor who loved the land so much that he decided to move there with his family. He built the castle right up against the lake and, when his wife died, also built an accompanying miniature chapel and mausoleum in her honor. It was a beautiful location and I was very happy I got to see it.

Kylemore Abbey

The majority of the tour was spent in the bus, driving through the mountains and lakes of Ireland. We passed by Killary Fjord, which is sixteen miles long, Lough Nafooey and Lough Mask. We also made a stop in the town of Cong, where the film "The Quiet Man," starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, was filmed. We also stopped at an old Franciscan friary on the way back. Both the Abbey in Cong and the friary were very interesting to explore, because they were both in ruins, but well-kept ruins.

Lough Mask

On my last day in Ireland, I trained back to Dublin, and then had four hours to kill before having to be at the airport. I had wanted to see Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced "jail") earlier on in the trip, but it was too far away from our hostels, so we had skipped out on it. Because it was close to the train station, I decided to give it a go. It was pure luck that I walked there with six euros left (all of which I needed to pay for my bus ticket back to the airport) and found out that the day I visited the jail was a one-day free-entry event!

The jail was very cool to see, especially because they showed us some of the cells of the leaders of the 1916 Easter uprisings. They also showed us where these men were executed, and their museum had lots of great exhibits about what this jail has meant to Ireland all throughout its history. Again, I got a very good lesson in Irish history just from visiting the jail. I was relieved, however, when at the end of our tour, our tour guide informed us that we were free to go.

There were a few people I talked to that were concerned that I was traveling by myself, but I have to say that it was a great experience and I was not afraid at all. I know how to plan all my travel, and I get the chance to do what I want when I want. But that kind of thing never scares me. Being on my own and being independent like that doesn't scare me. Because when you've been to the most beautiful places in the world, and felt like you can conquer them, then what is there to be afraid of?

In four days, it will be one month until I arrive back in Denver, ending my Study Abroad experience. I try not to think about it too much, and try to forbid everyone else in the house from talking about it, because it's hard to think about. At some point, I'll need to start preparing myself for the reality that is leaving the place I love the most in the world, but for now, I'm trying to enjoy what time I have left with my friends, who are like my family. Because when I say goodbye to England, I'm saying goodbye to the way things are with them. I know we can be friends back at Valpo, but we have our own friends and activities, and it will never be the same as it was when we were traveling in Norway, singing Carly Rae Jepson at the top of our lungs, or pulling pranks, or singing to the guitar, or the millions of other things we do. So I am trying to make the most of the time I have left with these crazy people, because I love them all too much to let it go just yet.

And now that I have succeeded in being overly sentimental, I'll be signing off for tonight. As always, comments, questions, and donations are always welcome!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Fish and Fjords

Hello again! It's been a very busy month and a half since I've last written, so right now I'm playing a little catch-up. So bear with me as I hop back about a month in time, and then go from there!

Scandinavia was at the top of my list for places to visit when I came over here, and for awhile, it looked like I wasn't going to be able to come. But then the new group came in January, and as I was talking about trips with everyone, Sarah and I discovered that we both really wanted to go to Norway.  After further discussion with others in the group, we found that there were other people that were interested in seeing fjords, so I was absolutely overjoyed that we got to plan a trip to Norway.

We went for a weekend in early March. Most people we talked to said we were crazy, because it was going to be super cold and we wouldn't get to see any fjords. But after that weekend, I think we all agreed that it was amazing, and we wouldn't have changed anything about it for going when we did. We had perfect weather, and all of our travel plans and hostels all fell into place perfectly.

On Thursday after classes, we went to the train station and caught a flight to Oslo, the capital of Norway. We got in pretty late, and by the time we got to our hostel for the night, it was already one in the morning, and we had to leave the hostel at 7:30 in order to catch our train. Luckily, the hostel was very nice and had a better shower than we have at the Center.

We all wanted to see the fjords, and the best place to see them is across the country in Bergen, so we took an early morning train across the country to Bergen. It was a six and a half hour train ride, which most people would find tiring, but I have the best train buddy on the planet in my lovely friend Jessica, so it was all fine.

The landscape on the first part of the train ride reminded me a lot of driving through the mountains in Colorado. There were little town tucked away into these great big hills covered in dark green pine trees and I couldn't help but think, "Okay, this is great, but it's like I've seen it before. I want something new!" And as we kept moving, I got my wish. We travelled up in elevation in the mountains to the point where everything was covered in snow and people were traveling between houses on skis and snowmobiles. We rode over glaciers and feet of white sparkling snow, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Bergen, I am convinced, is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I can only imagine what it looks like in late spring, when all of the trees and flowers are blooming, and you can take river cruises out to the other fjords. We all took a tram to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city, and we stayed up there until the sun set over the Bergen fjord. It gave us a great view of the city, of little islands out on the water, and over the whole Norwegian landscape. I took about a hundred pictures just of the sun setting over the city, and I could have stayed up there for hours. I know I speak for everyone in our group when I say that it was one of the prettiest places we've ever seen.

We spent the most of the next day in Bergen, walking around the city. We got pancakes at a stand by the pier, and walked around an old Norwegian fortress. At the top of what I assume was the old castle keep, we took pictures for over an hour and looked out over the city and the fjord again. I had the best salmon sandwich for lunch, and we spent the rest of the day shopping and walking around the city.

That night we trained back to Oslo, and spent most of Sunday in Oslo. We walked over to the castle in Oslo, which strangely enough, had a statue of FDR standing in front of it. I don't know the whole story, but I believe Norway had some significance during World War II, and Hitler wanted to house German ships in their ports? I don't know. That's the only reason I could think of for that statue being there. Anyway, we walked around the castle walls for awhile, and then spent the rest of the day trying to figure out where we wanted to get food before we had to go to the airport.

It was a wonderful trip, and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to go and see at least a little piece of Scandinavia. I am also very glad that there were people who wanted to go with me and were excited to see what I wanted to see. I love that I got to spend this weekend with these people, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Coming up next is my trip to Ireland, but we'll end this one here for now, since it's so long. As always, questions, comments, and donations, are always welcome!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Castles, Cathedrals, and Coffee: the Travels of First Break

Hello again! In the time between my last post and this one, I've been getting to know the new group a lot better, and have been getting back into the routine of classes at the Center and at Anglia Ruskin. It was literally in a blink of an eye that our first break from classes at the Center was upon us. While most everyone else went off galavanting to Spain and Italy, I decided to stay here and travel around England with Jessica.

Our first trip was to Dover for the day. I really wanted to go to Dover because Dover Castle looked cool, and I really wanted to see the White Cliffs. As it turns out, I really saw neither of those things. For starters, we didn't check to make sure that the castle would be open on the Friday that we went. We got into Dover and walked all the way up to the castle (which is on top of one of the cliffs, so it was quite a hike) and found that it was closed. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed, but did get a few pictures of the outside of the castle.

Dover Castle

The next item on our agenda was to get a good view of the White Cliffs. Since Dover Castle is on top of the cliffs, we had to go back down and walk along the pier in order to get a good view. Now, the way down from the castle to the pier was this long, winding road. Jess and I decided that we didn't want to go the long way around to get to the road, so we walked a little ways to a sheep pasture and hopped a fence and walked down a hill toward the end of the road. It was a lovely walk and not at all illegal or unsafe.

The first fence we hopped

The field we walked through

Finally we got down to the pier and started to walk toward the White Cliffs. However, we realized that if we were going to get a really good view of them, we would need a car to drive toward them, because they were just too far away by walking. So we didn't end up getting a good view of the cliffs, although we did spend some time on the beach watching the waves come in and out.

The best picture of the Cliffs I could get

Overall, it was a fun trip because we got to see and do some things that no law-abiding citizen would see, but I would love to go back again and actually see the castle.

Our second trip was to see Windsor Castle. We made sure ahead of time that the castle would be open when we got there, because let me tell you, it takes a long time and four different trains to get there. Luckily, it was open for the day, and because it was winter, the State Rooms were also open. We got to see St. George's Hall, with hundreds of different family crests on the walls and ceiling, and the entryway staircase displaying hundreds of different guns, swords and other weapons that show the might of England to any visitor that comes to Windsor.

My favorite part was in the late afternoon when the sun came out from behind the clouds and we got some really great pictures of the castle and of St. George's Chapel. It was the perfect way to end the day and end our weekend of travel.

Windsor Castle

St. George's Chapel

While working at Target over the summer, I had a lady come through my line who had studied abroad in England when she was in college. When I asked her what her favorite place in England was, she said York. So Jess and I planned our last day trip to York.

Our day got off to a lovely start when we took a nap on the first train, got coffee while waiting for our second train, and met a man native to York, who gave us lots of great tips for things to see in York. It got weird on our second train because there was an Oompa Loompa in the next car. I kid you not. This man had green hair, an orange face, and was dressed in purple and white. There were many times where he was coming toward me from the other car and I thought I was going to be turned into a blueberry. Luckily, he didn't get off in York.

If I didn't live in Cambridge, I would definitely choose to live in York. It is the perfect combination of ancient and modern, of small town and urban city. It is surrounded by a nearly intact Roman wall, and you can walk around the entirety of it. The center of the city has lots of small local shops. Jess and I stopped into a used bookstore where they were selling first edition and other old copies of many great writers, such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Hardy, etc. We also had the chance to have afternoon tea at Molly's Tea Room, which we would absolutely recommend.

Roman Wall

We got the chance to see York Minster, which is incredibly big, and very intricately designed. We also saw the remnants of York Castle, and a road in the city called the Shambles, where the buildings are medieval and crooked and leaning. In some places, they are so close together that you can lean out the upper story windows and shake hands across the street.

York Minster

The Shambles

York Castle

It was a great break and I love traveling with Jessica. We have pretty similar tastes when it comes to things we want to do, so it was nice having a traveling partner that was equally as excited about what we were doing. 

Yesterday marked the three month mark: three months until I return to Denver. Matt, our director, asked me the other day if I have thought about coming home, and I told him that I don't even want to think about it. But I do think about it quite a lot actually. It still baffles me how fast time has gone. I mean, it's nearly March. And it's only going to move faster from here on out. It doesn't feel like I've been here for six months, and it certainly doesn't feel like I'm going back to the US soon. I would be lying if I said that I wanted to come home--I am home. 

I know I've still got time, so I'm going to live it up, take lots of pictures, and have the time of my life in what I've got left. As always, questions, comments, and donations are always accepted! (And props to you if you made it all the way through this blog--sorry, it was a long one!)

Until next time,

Stephanie 

Halfway There

Hello again! I have returned from my time away from blogging civilization during Christmas break. I had a lovely time staying in Cambridge, relaxing, writing papers for my Anglia Ruskin classes, and mentally preparing myself for the arrival of the new Study Center group and the second semester.

You might be wondering about the title for this blog. What am I halfway to or from? It seems pretty vague, so I will clarify. Halfway there, as in, halfway gone. As in, halfway over. As in, I've got less than four months remaining in my time in England. I still can't believe that it's already nearing the end of January. I mean, I just got here. I shouldn't be halfway done already. I don't know where the time has gone, but I'd like a little more of it back.

This past weekend, the group went to London for the weekend. Since I am technically no longer a Study Center student, none of the trips are planned and paid for for me. However, since London is so close, and Matt our director planned a wonderful day of activities, I tagged along with everyone on Friday.

Our first stop was the Tower of London. Before Friday, I hadn't been to the Tower of London yet, but it had always been on the top of my list to go and see. My favorite English monarchs were the Tudors, and a lot of things happened at the Tower with the Tudors, so I was really excited to go and see it. I loved walking around the outside of the tower and climbing up all the narrow spiral staircases. Being in a castle helps me to imagine what it would have been like back in the days of the Tudors, and I feel like I'm a part of the history when I do that. I also got to see the tower where the two princes were (supposedly) murdered by their uncle, Richard III, and the Crown Jewels.

Our second stop was the Imperial War Museum. Since we are celebrating a hundred years since World War I, there was a World War I exhibit in the museum that was very well done. I also appreciated the work that they put into the Holocaust exhibit, and it was very moving, as things of that nature always are to me.

Our last stop of the night was my absolute favorite thing that we did, and the biggest reason why I wanted to see London with the group. Friday night, we went to the Apollo Victoria Theatre and saw "Wicked." This was my first time seeing "Wicked," but I have wanted to see it since it first came to stage when I was in middle school. For those who don't know, it is a musical about the Wicked Witch of the West (named Elphaba) and Glinda the Good Witch. I already had very high expectations about what this show was going to be like, and it was even better than I had imagined it could be.

The best part of the play was when Elphaba sang "Defying Gravity" and then rose up into the air, declaring that there was nothing in the world that could ever bring her down. I can't describe the feeling I got when that happened. I got goose bumps and started tearing up. I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it. It was an absolutely incredible show with a wonderful cast, and I wanted to see it again as soon as I stepped out of the theatre.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, to say the least :). Now I'm back in Cambridge again for a little bit. I'm excited about this new group, and I really look forward to getting to know all of them better throughout what will be another short, adventure-packed semester! As always, questions and comments are accepted, appreciated, and encouraged.

Until next time,

Stephanie

Mischief Managed

Hello again!

As some of you can probably already tell from my title, this blog is going to be about Harry Potter and my trip to Warner Brothers' Harry Potter Studios. But I also thought it was quite appropriate since my first semester in Cambridge is coming to a close, and all of my "mischief" with this group of Valpo friends is also ending in thirty-six hours. We'll start off with my magical day (pun intended) at Warner Brothers' Studios.

Since England is the home of Harry Potter, it was only fitting that we would take a trip to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios just outside of London. For any Harry Potter fan who comes to the UK: GO SEE THE STUDIOS. It was the most amazing thing. My face was frozen in a perpetual smile, and I think I even cried. Seriously, go see it.

I went with three friends to see the studios on Friday. Naturally, since there were four of us, we all had to dress up as a student from each of the four houses. I was the only one wearing green, so I ended up being from Slytherin. We completed our ensembles with chapel robes borrowed from Westfield House next door so that we could look like real Hogwarts students. And we sure did. We had people stop and ask to take pictures of us. Not just pictures for us, mind you, but pictures of us for themselves.

Our first stop on our way to the studios was King's Cross Train Station, where we stood in line and took pictures as Plaform 9 3/4. Since I was from Slytherin, they let me weird the wand of Voldemort. I felt quite powerful, and I'm pretty sure that I cursed a lot of other people in our line. Apparently, I also took on many of the characteristics of Voldemort and a Slytherin, because my friends continually said that Slytherin was "sassy" today. I think you can be sassy if you're the most powerful and feared wizard of all time. Just saying.

The studios themselves were fascinating. When we arrived, we were taken into a room with a screen where we watched a short video. After the video was done, they lifted the screen, and right in front of us were the doors to the Great Hall of Hogwarts! And so we just waltzed right on in to the Great Hall, where it was decorated for Christmas and everything! I (unfortunately) already knew that this surprise was coming, but it was funny to watch my other friends' reactions to it :).

 

The Great Hall with costumes

Harry's and Ron's costumes from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" 

There were so many different sets to see. They had sets from Harry's bedroom, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Ministry of Magic, Harry's house on 4 Privet Drive, and so many more. We got to sit in the Weasley's flying car, walk across the bridge into Hogwarts, ride broomsticks, and pretty much jump right into the world of Harry Potter.

 

One of the coolest things about the studios were all the props they had saved from the movies. You could go inside the Burrow and see Mrs. Weasley's knitting needles that knit all on their own. I didn't know this, but those needles, and a lot of other props as well, were run mechanically, not created by CGI. I think that's pretty cool that they would create something like that instead of using graphics. 

My favorite set had to be Dumbledore's office. It was a little bit smaller than I had imagined, but other than that, it looked exactly like it does in the movies. Everything was there, including the sorting hat sitting on a shelf. We had a great time taking pictures in front of everything and reliving our childhoods in the days of our youth when we first read and watched Harry Potter. 

Going to Harry Potter Studios was a lovely treat before finals week, and a nice way to bring things to an end with my C94 family. It's a funny thing to watch everyone stress out about finals and packing and going back to Valpo when I'm not even close to being ready for that yet.

Last Wednesday was our last common meal together in the house, and one of the things we did was to go around the table and say our favorite thing about our time in Cambridge. Naturally, my first thought was, "My favorite thing is that I don't have to leave yet." And it's true. I am very happy that I don't have to go back home yet, because I knew coming into this year that four months was not going to be enough time for me to experience everything I wanted to, and I was right.

But that got me thinking: why would I not want to leave? What is it about Cambridge that makes it so easy to want to stay? It's a question worth asking, and here's what I've come up with:

Since graduating high school, I have felt like a nomad. I move in to a dorm room, only to move out nine months later with all of my stuff. When I go home for Christmas and Spring Break and summer, I don't have a room and I sleep in an unfinished basement with all of my things in boxes. It's very hard to feel like you have a home when you live like that.

In Cambridge, I don't feel nomadic or out of place. When I walk into town, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. The guy at the crepe stand knows me and recognizes my face. Cambridge has felt more like home than any other place in the past two or three years. What's more, it's not only my home, but I actually feel like I belong here. I don't feel out of place or awkward, because I am so comfortable here that the smallest inconveniences of not being in America don't matter to me at all. So of course I don't want to leave and I'm glad I'm not leaving yet, because who wants to leave the place where they belong?

I know that when we get back to Valpo, things will be different than they were here and we won't all be close like we were here. On one hand, that makes me sad because times change and people change. But I'm very happy that this semester happened, and I am happy to have a small part of my life that was spent with these people experiencing the unlimited possibilities in the world. Thank you to all of you, and I wish you the best when you get home. Mischief managed!

As always, questions and comments are welcome at any time. Wishing you all a happy Christmas!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Monster Hunting, Scotch Whiskey, and Scottish Music

Hello again! I figured it was about time to share my adventures in Scotland. To start off, I should say that I have travelled a lot, and been to a lot of different countries and places in the United States, but Scotland has been my favorite place I have visited thus far. I would absolutely recommend visiting there if you ever have the chance. The music is great, the food is awesome, and the accents are wonderful. I had the absolute best time.

There is no direct way from Cambridge to Edinburgh, so our indirect route took us five hours. We went up on a Thursday evening, and spent Thursday night in Edinburgh. Christmas lights get put up early in the UK, so we got to see all of the lights on the stores at night. This was also right before Veteran's/Armistice day, so all of the cathedrals had poppies on their lawns in honor the fallen soldiers. It was very pretty at night.

Friday was spent in Edinburgh. We didn't really have any plans for what we wanted to do, so we just wandered around for a little bit. We went up to Edinburgh castle, and on our way down, we came across the Scotch Whiskey Experience, a company that sells whiskey and gives a whiskey tour and tasting. During our tasting, we got a little introduction about how scotch whiskey is made and got to taste a little scotch from one of the regions where it is made. There were five different ones we could taste, and since there were five of us, we each got to taste a little bit of whiskey from each region. And in the end, we got to keep our whiskey glasses :).

World's largest collection of Scotch Whiskey

In the afternoon, we wandered around town and stopped in little shops. We also took a hike down to the water, and got there just as the sun was setting. Some of us (Nichol) were not thrilled that we walked down there for nothing, but she eventually got over it and we got some nice pictures :).

On Saturday, Kathryn went home and the other four of us that were left took a train up to Inverness. For those who don't know, Inverness is probably the biggest city in the north of Scotland, and sits at about the same latitude as Alaska. It is also the home of the famous Loch Ness.

We took a boat tour of Loch Ness. We had the boat to ourselves and our tour guide was awesome. He was one of the original volunteers to work with the Loch Ness Investigation in the 60s, and he took one of the videos that supposedly showed the Loch Ness Monster. He showed us a video that he had made with footage from when he was working on the loch, and gave us many possibly explanations for what we could be seeing on the lake instead of a monster. He even let us drive the boat at the end.

After wandering around on a trail through the Scottish highlands, we went back to Inverness for dinner. We stumbled upon a lovely local pub called Hootenanny's, and decided to eat there. I had skink, which is a fish and potato soup, and SOUPER good (see what I did there?). After we were done eating, there was live music played by a guitarist and an accordion player. They were two of the best musicians I have ever heard in my life, and they played traditional Scottish folk music all night. I had the best time listening to them and dancing all night long.

Our Sunday was spent mostly on trains. The trip from Inverness all the way down to Cambridge again is about eight hours, not including train stops and switching trains. By this point, we were all so tired that we slept most of the way down. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and I would go back to Scotland in a heartbeat.

As always, questions and comments are welcome!

Until next time,

Stephanie