Packing

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this. Sorry everyone who may or may not read it. Anyways, my semester here in Scotland is over. Right now I'm sitting in my room, having just finished my last exam of the semester! It feels sooo good to be done! Most of my stuff is packed, and I'm working on the last little bit right now. My room is slowly dwindling down to nothing as all my clothes and stuff gets packed up. Packing was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be...things have gone well so far. Now I just hope my bags don't weigh more than 23 kilos (51 lbs), but I think I'll be safe here. So now I'm spending the rest of my day finishing up this packing, saying my goodbyes to the few people I haven't seen yet, then we're going out to dinner tonight before leaving. I'm gonna miss these people, that's for sure. Off to bed tonight, then up bright and early to head to the bus station for the airport bus. Glasgow to London to Philadelphia (nice 4 1/2 hour layover) to Charlotte! It's a little sad to leave this place, but I am so excited about going home to see everyone!
I'm so glad I had the opportunity last night to see a bunch of people and say goodbye. Hopefully I'll get to see everyone I wanted to tonight to finish off my goodbyes before I leave. Studying sure was hard yesterday...I had home, goodbyes, and packing all on my mind, so this history class was the last thing I was thinking about. But I think I did well on my exam this morning. I think I have passed all my classes here, but I guess there's no promises on that one haha...I'll find out soon.
Well tomorrow I say goodbye to the city I lived in for the past 4 months. Some people say they feel like they're leaving home. I know that I'm going home. Glasgow never felt like home to me...I lived here for a while but it was never home, never even felt close. I know where my home is, and I know where I want to be. I love my family, and I love my friends (especially that one...), and I can't wait to get back to them. I have had an incredible time over here, but it just isn't the same as home. Definitely worth the experience, definitely the opportunity of a lifetime, and I loved it! They say home is where the heart is, and if that's true then my home is in South Carolina. This felt more like an extended vacation than moving to a new city. My home has not changed, my heart never left, and I can't wait to get back to it. I'm going to miss this place and the friends I made, but my heart is aching to go back to where it belongs. I know where I belong, and I can't wait to get back there.
It's hard to believe this semester is already over. Freshman year studying abroad sounded like a pretty cool opportunity, then it started to become a reality. I got more information, thought about it, talked with my parents about it, and we decided to go for it. Things fell through with my original plans to study in Italy this time last year, but the reality never faded. Scotland became the better option as I got so excited. I was looking forward to this semester for so long. I got thrown a curve ball last semester, but decided to stick to my original plan. I was preparing all last semester for this time, and now it has come and gone. I've done everything I planned, enjoyed every second of this semester, and loved my time abroad. But now it's over, and it's time to go home. Time to find a job and start earning back all the money I spent this semester haha. But it has been an incredible time, and I'm so glad I came here. Now for these last little bits of packing!

Rome

Rome was just incredible. There is so much to do and see in Rome, and so much history lies in this city. Our first day here we went down to the Colosseum. We had heard that there are some excellent tour guides outside which can show you around. We found one and it was definitely worth the price. We got to skip the lines, plus we heard the entire history of the Colosseum and learned a bunch of different things that you just wouldn't know if you toured it on your own. If you ever have the chance, I definitely recommend getting a tour guide. The Colosseum was amazing. To see a building that has been standing for this long, and to walk around inside where emperors and Roman Senators and gladiators once walked. Then we went up to Palatine Hill and saw the Roman Forum, different cathedrals and palaces and places like that. This whole area is just full of such rich history and it's beautiful. I loved walking through the ruins. I jumped up on an old pillar for a picture. I just loved walking through this area, simply incredible.

Our first day was just kinda spend seeing the major parts of Rome...Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Roman Forum, all the different arches and memorials, cathedrals, piazzas, and other big sights like that. We were supposed to have a walking tour of the city that night, but not enough people showed up so they couldn't do the tour. But we did get a great restaurant recommendation...great food!

Our second day in Rome was spent at the Vatican. We decided to follow this same company and do another guided tour. The Vatican Museum is just so huge that we wouldn't have seen it all or learned as much as we did. For example, there is this red marble which is known as the most expensive marble in the world. It's from Egypt, and 80% of it lies in Vatican City. We saw statues, paintings, courtyards, sarcophogi, and all kinds of famous works of art painted by the greats. Vatican City is it's own separate country, and it's pretty incredible with the collection of art they have. We went to the Sistine Chapel, which was probably my favorite part of the whole tour. To be standing beneath Michelangelo's work, to see the magnitude of it, the beauty of it, and just how incredible the whole project really is...it's just amazing. That room is huge, and to imagine the task before Michelangelo. You aren't supposed to take pictures in there, but I secretly snapped a few haha. I got caught once, but the guards don't really care, just as long as you don't use flash. Flash messes with the paint and over time it can become more distorted than normal, so that's what they really look out for. But the Sistine Chapel was probably my favorite. It's so famous and it really is beautiful, but you just can't fully appreciate it until you see it for yourself.

Rome was a beautiful city, simply incredible. I think I could have just walked around the city everyday for a week and been happy. But our third day in Rome we decided that we had seen all the major parts of the city that we wanted, so we jumped on a train out to this little town of Civitavecchia, on the Mediterranean coast. It was beautiful out there, and the weather was amazing. Then again, anything would be incredible when you're used to the clouds and rain of Glasgow haha. I loved being able to wear shorts again...something I'm afraid I won't be doing again until I get home. But Civitavecchia was very nice...just a nice relaxing day to the coast and walking around. It made me miss the beach a lot.

I think one thing about Italy that I love so much is that it reminds me of home in a lot of ways. The weather is about the same, and the countryside is pretty similar. We were walking around in Rome and we found this one street where we just had to stop and look up and down the street. Finally Keith broke the silence and said "Um, can you say downtown Greenville?" It was like our city planners came to this street in Rome and just copied it straight into downtown...it was kinda weird. But I just love this whole country...the people, the culture, the food, the history. It did remind me a lot of home, and it's just one of the most beautiful countries I've been to yet. Definitely my favorite stop on this trip. I'll miss Italy, and I hope I get to go back again one day. It is absolutely worth the trip.

Florence

(Sorry, I'm bad at this blogging thing and haven't really been on top of things, so sorry this is late)

Well Florence was probably my favorite stop of this whole trip. I absolutely loved the city! We stopped in Pisa first, and that was really cool. We got to the leaning tower around sunset and got to go up it. That was definitely a lot of fun, and a great stop before heading on into Florence. On the way into town we met these other American students who are studying in Florence. They had been out for the day and were taking the train back into town. They showed us how to get to our hostel, which was good because I don't know if we could have found it on our own haha. But the city itself is just beautiful. It's not very big, and it feels like a very genuine Italian city. I felt like Rome was very commercialized and built up for tourists, plus it's a big busy city. I loved Florence because it was smaller and it was just a neat city. There was a restaurant that advertised having the World's Best Pizza. We decided to stop and try it, and I disagree with the sign. Although it was good, I don't know if I'd say it was the world's best. But still very good.

We saw the Baptistry, the church of San Lorenzo, Santa Spirita, and all the major things we were supposed to see. One of my favorites was going up in the cupola, the dome built by Brunelleschi. After one of my classes at Clemson last semester, I felt obligated to go up in the dome since we spent about 1/3 of the semester studying this dome alone haha. It was awesome though. We had to walk the entire way...400something stairs, up then back down too. But it was worth it...beautiful views and a great place to be.

While walking through the streets we decided to stop at this little place and get some gelatto. The lady makes her own right there in the store, and you could tell! It was hot outside for the first time, plus we were close to the Mediterranean, so I had craving for a pina colada. Granted that's more of a Caribbean drink, but hey, it's close enough. And my pineapple and coconut gelatto was better than any pina colada I've ever had! Oh it was so good! I had a goal to eat gelatto every day from then out while we were in Italy, but I never found anything as good as that little store. Incredible gelatto.

Well Florence was my favorite city, and I wish we had more time to spend there. I loved it there...especially crossing the river to the Piazza de Michelangelo...incredible view of the city. You can see the Tuscan hills all around the city and it is just beautiful. If you ever have a chance to go to Europe, you have to stop in Florence for a day or two. I absolutely loved this city. I felt like I was really in Italy, surrounded by Italians, truly experiencing Italy for what it really is. I absolutely loved it!

Nice, France

Well I feel like our last few stops have just been pit stops to our true destination. If I could go back, I think I would skip Geneva and Nice and just head straight into Italy. We couldn’t find a decent hostel for 2 nights in Nice, so that’s why we ended up in Geneva. And the only reason we stayed here was because we wanted to see the French Riviera. But if I could go back I would change that and just head straight to Italy. You can’t see all of Europe in 2 weeks, so you have to pick and choose. Looking back, I would have chosen something else. But then again it would also help if I weren’t on such a tight budget. Our hostel for Nice is quite interesting. First our directions from the hostel told us to come down this street, find this restaurant and ask for the “Pink Lady.” So that sounded pretty interesting, and it turns out that the “Pink Lady” is this little old lady who is always dressed in pink. She speaks about 3 words of English. Somehow we got checked in and stuff with no real problems. We have wireless internet available, but she doesn’t really know how to describe to us how to get on, so she just says that none is available haha. So at the time I am writing this, no internet at our hostel. I knew every hostel I booked said we had internet, I just didn’t think about little old ladies who don’t speak English and can’t tell us the password to connect. Oh well, hopefully we can figure something out in Italy (and if ya’ll are reading this, then obviously I’ve figured out something along the way…)

Some good news is that I have seen the Mediterranean Sea! I looked up during our 6 hour train ride today an saw ocean and I was so confused. Then I remembered the route our train was taking and realized I was looking at the Mediterranean. So that was pretty cool. Keith and I ate dinner at this little restaurant near the sea. Then we walked down to the water. It was weird because they don’t have sand. They have a bunch of stones, and it’s kinda hard to walk on. It was quite strange, but it was pretty. It also made me miss home and wish I could be back at the beach in the hot summer sun, enjoying a nice cold Pepsi and just sitting on the beach enjoying a vacation. That’s how every other Spring Break of mine has been spent so far. Oh well, I’ll be there soon. 1 month and 1 week. Wow, that seems sooooooo close…

Geneva

Well there isn’t really too much to say about Geneva. We got here tonight and we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon. We’re going to find a church to go to here since it’s Easter Sunday. I’m not gonna lie, I really wish I could be home with my family on a special day like this. This is one thing I do regret about this trip, not being able to fully relax and enjoy this day as I should. Instead I’m finding a foreign church, then jumping on a train to Nice, France. There wasn’t really much point in us coming to Geneva other than not being able to find a hostel anywhere else on Saturday night. Nice was full, so we had to find another alternative. This is one time where I definitely wish I could be home though. I want to be with my family and the ones I love on a day like Easter, celebrating the day for what it means and enjoying the time together. But I’ll get through it, and hopefully there will be many more Easters in the future to make up for this time. I do have a nice long train ride to Nice, so I’ll certainly have time to think, reflect, rejoice, and celebrate. Until then, I’m just getting by in Geneva. Oh! We did find this store that was having a CRAZY sale on chocolate! We figured hey, it’s Swiss chocolate, so even the cheap stuff is amazing. They had a sale of big chocolate bunnies for 3.20 (a little more than $3), but 50% off! So I got 2 big dark chocolate bunnies for abut $3!! I’m starting in on one…already through the head. Other than that, not much going on…probably about time to do some laundry though…

Interlaken

Well we got into Interlaken and this place is absolutely beautiful! The town is just as its name suggests, situated between two lake. It’s this little valley, with the Alps rising all around it. It’s just absolutely beautiful around here. Friday we decided to take a little hike through the mountains. A lot of the ones around us were still covered in snow and inaccessible, but there were still some good ones left. We decided on this trail called Harderkulm. Apparently people in Switzerland don’t eat breakfast, they just drink their beer and wine haha. So no breakfast, and we had to go to McDonalds for lunch food before hiking. Bad idea #1. Our next bad move was assuming it would be kinda chilly outside. I mean, Swiss Alps, beginning of April, snow on the mountains all around us…but no, very hot outside and we were sweating to death. So we didn’t have any water with us, and came to regret that VERY quickly…

But we made it to the top, stopping at some streams nearby to drink some water when we needed it. The area is even more breathtaking the higher we climbed. It was simply awesome. Mountains all around us, the two lakes, and just all kinds of beautiful sights. Breathtaking, awesome, beautiful…these are just a few ways for me to describe what we saw. We made it to the top, sat and enjoyed the views for a while then headed down.

We heard of this chocolate shop nearby which has tours and demonstrations everyday, so we decided to check it out. In my opinion it’s the best thing we’ve paid for on this trip yet, and absolutely one of the highlights for me. But that may be just because I love chocolate so much haha. The main chocolate chef guided us through the process of selection, making the chocolate, and forming it into what you want. He even showed us how to create things like the chocolate bunnies from the molds. He told us all about chocolate, more than I can remember. We got to sample this chocolate that he picked out when he first got to this chocolate shop a few years ago. Last year it won the award of best milk chocolate in the world, so the man knows what he’s doing. And I have to admit, I agree with the judges on this one. He showed us how to make truffles also, and we got to sample some. He also had this sample of chocolate which he specially created…it’s his own recipe. It’s a dark chocolate, 70% cacao. It was SOOOOOO good! I bought a bar for myself, and sent a bar home for dad, along with these truffles he had made of dark chocolate. Those were probably the best dark chocolate truffles I’ve ever tasted. The place was called Shuh, and they’ve been around since 1818. The chef (who I swear is the identical twin of Commissioner Gordon from Batman), has been in the chocolate cooking world for 42 years and has won many awards. He had on display many of his models which had won awards. So dad, be expecting some pretty darn good chocolate coming that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in the world other than Interlaken, Switzerland.

I know one thing…I’m ready to leave Switzerland and find some cheaper prices. Their prices aren’t as bad for Europeans because the Euro is stronger than the Swiss Franc. But for us it’s about the same, so prices have been pretty steep. But I love this country so far, and Interlaken was one of the best places for us to pick in Switzerland. I wish I had the money to stay longer haha. Now off to Geneva, then back into France…

Munich Day 2

Sleeping in was such a nice thing! We’ve been getting up so early during this trip (sometimes 6:00 or 7:00), and if you know me that’s just not a good thing haha. I’ve gotten used to it though, and it hasn’t been too bad. But we got to sleep in til about 8:30 today (amazing how suddenly 8:30 is sleeping in for me), and that was nice. Destene fixed us a nice German breakfast of croissants, meat and cheese, cheese spreads and rolls, pretzels, and a mix of other things. We said goodbye to Emily as we dropped her off at the train station to head to the airport, then Destene was nice enough to drive Keith and I out to Dachau.

Dachau was one of the first concentration camps built by the Germans before WWII. It was originally a prison for political opponents of Hitler and the Nazis, then it turned into what we think of now as a concentration camp, complete with a gas chamber, ovens, crowded barracks, firing walls, and many other horrible conditions. This phrase on the entrance gate means "Work Brings Freedom" and it was their motto and part of their propaganda. It was very sobering to actually see and walk through something like this. Brings it to life, and reveals the true evil in this world that many of us underestimate sometimes. It was almost sickening to hear and read about the things that went on. So many died during the war, and more afterwards because of diseases and horrendous living conditions. Very sobering experience.

On the way back to Central Station, we met this little old German lady. She noticed us trying to find trains and offered some help. Turns out she had lived in Orange County, California, for a couple years, and had spent some time in South Carolina too! She had some family living there now. Her daughter I think lives in Orangeburg, and her grandson lives in Anderson now. It was crazy to randomly run into someone like this who knew exactly where we were from. We talked to her while waiting for the train and on the train itself, covering a variety of subjects from doctors to lawyers, politics to war, the US vs Germany, and so many other things. It was really cool to meet and talk with her, and she was so nice in making sure we got where we were supposed to be. She got off with us even though it wasn’t he stop, and walked us up to the train platforms (even though we knew where we were going from here haha). Her name was Bridgette, and I’m really glad we ran into her. Now we’re on the train to Interlaken, Switzerland. We hope to go hiking tomorrow if the conditions permit…we’ll see how the trails are with snow and ice and everything melting. Hopefully our luck with the weather will continue…

Neuschwanstein

Well this day was a little different from most days, but that’s to be expected considering the circumstances. It was a little hard for me to focus on what I was doing rather than what was going on back home, but thankfully I was able to find some peace from God. I think today was just what I needed. We set off for the town of Fussen, where we got on a bus to the village of Hohenschwangau, where we hiked up to Neuschwanstein…welcome to Germany haha. Those first two are just stops on the way to the Disney Castle, Neuschwanstein. We had the debate on whether or not it was Cinderella’s Castle or Sleeping Beauty’s castle…ok let me clarify: Keith and Emily had that debate, I have no clue what those two movie castles look like haha. Anyways, we went to the castle used by Walt Disney as a model…it was absolutely beautiful there!

On the train ride in I saw the Alps in the distance, and these were the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen…these dwarf the Appalachian Mountains, and I’ve never seen the Rockies that I remember, so these win in my book. I was captured by this sight and stared in wonder for the rest of the train ride. The castle itself was amazing, yet not exactly what I expected. For some reason it wasn’t as grand as I had imagined…but that’s probably because I had unreal expectations. After touring the castle we followed this little trail to a bride overlooking the castle with an incredible view! Unfortunately there was scaffolding all over the back of the castle, but from a distance you can’t really tell in the pictures. We continued walking and of course ran off the main trail and hiked up this mountain. The views were simply awesome. Talk about a great place to unwind and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

After the castle we headed back into town and found some dinner before catching the train back to our host’s house. I cannot thank Brian and Destene enough for letting us stay with them…that was so kind of them. I got a chance to talk last night with some of my family. We learned Tuesday that my little cousin Jordan died in a car crash that day, and everyone is up in Charlotte. Brian, who is in Munich for work after living in South Carolina for a while, has Vonage and still has his SC phone number, so thankfully I was able to get ahold of Mom and Dad and talk to some people back at home. It’s hard being over here during all this, but getting to talk to some people was nice. Pray, and think of my family during this time. I know we’ll get through it…this is what families are for…

Amsterdam- The Rose of Love

Ok, so Amsterdam has absolutely nothing to do with the “Rose of Love.” But this is a pretty funny story. Awkward, but funny. We booked this cheap hostel in Amsterdam…a private room because it aas actually the cheapest option. And it worked out perfect. But when we got to the Amsterdam Inn, Bed and Breakfast, we found the staff to be slightly awkward. The whole city has a strange aura to it. But this was like something from a creepy strange movie. We got to our room and found a double bed for me and Keith to share rather than 2 singles like we thought. We’re friends, so not too awkward…EXCEPT that the bedspread and pillows were red and covered in roses with “Rose of Love” written in fancy romantic writing. When the guy left we died laughing. It was like some cheap cheesy honeymoon room (with an extra bed?), and Keith and I had to sleep here, together. Strange…

We bought a UK converter to charge phones and my camera battery. But it didn’t work, so Keith and I took it apart, found the problem, and MacGyvered it to make it work…and it did! I say “we” but it was more of Keith, I just helped a little haha. I charged my camera while at dinner, so I have some pictures here haha. But we explored the city, unfortunately finding Anne Frank’s house (I HATED that book and didn’t really want to have anything more to do with it), and went to this carnival thing. I wasn’t feeling too well and the mixture of heights and spinning would just not mix well with my queasy stomach. So I passed on the swings. We went back to our lovely hostel room for the night and went to sleep.

The next day we took a bus out to this little hamlet village called Zaanse Schans. They have all these windmills out there and we were able to tour a mill where they make peanut oil. We got this great Dutch sweet bread…mine was cinnamon flavored and VERY good. We had a great time there, and I’m actually typing this from our train to Munich. Everything has been great so far (other than the weird hostel room last night…). I’ve had a mix of dead battery and internet problems the past few days, so that’s why all these have been posted at the same time haha. Hopefully I won’t run into anymore internet problems, and we have our outlet adapter problems fixed, so I’ll be able to keep in touch more. I haven’t checked my email in a little bit, so I apologize if I haven’t gotten back to someone yet, but I will soon. Miss you all and can’t wait to see you soon!

Brussels

Well we made it to Brussels and after a confusing journey through the city finally found our hostel. It was so much nicer than the one in Paris, and a lot cheaper too haha. Oh well, I guess that’s just the nature of Paris. We got there earlier than we thought, but our Clemson friend in town, Helena Williams (in one of Keith’s classes, and friends with Lauren) wasn’t feeling well so we set off on our own. My camera battery died (320 pictures and some videos in Paris…), and our UK to Europe outlet converter didn’t actually fit so I had no camera during Brussels. I’ll try to steal some pictures from Keith and post them. But we walked around and saw a good bit of the city, then made our way back to the hostel.

Thankfully on Monday Helena was feeling better. She met us at the Mannekin Pis, which is this famous statue/fountain in Brussels of this little kid peeing…quite entertaining. It was nice to catch up with another Clemson student. She showed us these Belgian waffles which were INCREDIBLE! I got bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate on mine, and it was just amazing. I don’t know if I can ever eat another waffle again because it will just never live up (just kidding…I’m heading to Waffle House very soon once I get home for a waffle and some hashbrowns, smothered and covered!). But she took us out to the Triumphal Arch and the EU corridor, then she had to leave for other things she had to do that afternoon. We walked around for a while longer, found some AMAZING chocolate (yeah, you can be jealous…), then went off to the train station. Brussels was beautiful, especially the Grand Plaza/Grote Market. Really cool, but I’m jealous we didn’t get to see it with all the flower gardens. Victor Hugo said this sight was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But they only come out at a certain time of year.

Sorry about my failure with the camera haha. I’ll steal some pictures and post them soon. Hope everyone is doing well back home! 2 cities down…

Paris Day 2

Well, thankfully for our second night in Paris we had the room to ourselves. So far I haven’t had trouble getting up early. I’ve actually enjoyed the time to myself to relax and start my day the right way. But we got everything packed up, ate a little breakfast, stored our stuff in the luggage closet there at the hostel, and headed off to the Louvre with our tour guide again…thanks SO much James!!!! We got there and luckily this was like First Sunday or Open Day or something like that so we got in free. We had a great time in there! It was really cool (and kinda weird) to walk through and see all these famous paintings I learned about in school, and they were RIGHT in front of me. Unfortunately I hated those art classes so some bad memories were brought up as well haha! The Mona Lisa was cool to see…sorta. It’s more of a tourist attraction than an art piece. They have it roped off, glass or some kind of protective covering all around it, and lots of guards. People just get as close as they can to snap a picture or two, then get shoved out of the way. It’s a huge mob there, all fighting and pushing towards the front. But the rest was really cool. We got to Napoleon III’s apartments and James (Lauren’s cousin) and I had a pretty funny moment. There was this beautiful Vanity Desk (I think that’s what it’s called…makeup stand and mirror). It was crystal, outlined in gold, with a matching chair. Very beautiful and ornate. I turned with a comment on the tip of my tongue, and as I turned to James he beat me to it. He looked at me and said “You should ask Lauren if she wants one of these!” I died laughing, then told him how I was about to say something along the exact same lines, and we both cracked up.

After the Louvre we did a little shopping in the side stores, made our way down the famous Champs Elysees and up to the Triumphal Arch. It was a beautiful day, but unfortunately we had to reserve an earlier train than we thought so we had to leave. We grabbed our bags and set off for the train station. We said goodbye to James, thanked him for everything (which was more than we could have imagined…we all agreed that he made Paris amazing for us). We had a great time and I left Paris VERY impressed. Now on to Brussels…

A day in Paris...

Wow, Paris is a pretty sweet city! Walking through it in the dark last night was not too much fun and we were in a rush to make our check-in time at the hostel. However, we woke up today, ate breakfast and met my friend James. James is Lauren's (girlfriend) cousin who currently is studying/working in Paris, teaching French as part of finishing his masters degree. He had the weekend free and thankfull was willing to show us around the city. We were so thankful to have someone who not only knew the city but also spoke French. I cannot thank him enough for getting us around the city...he was incredible today! I honestly don't know what we would have done without him.

Well we met this morning and started heading out to Versailles, which is the palace built by Louis XIV. The palace was incredible! Louis was not shy about his wealth and loved showing everyone how much gold he had haha. The gates are covered in gold, part of the palace, statues and busts, and so many other things. We saw so much gold today haha. We toured the palace, then walked through the gardens and around Hamlet, which is this little village area built by Marie Antoinette. Apparently she went from party girl to shepherdess and decided to build this whole village for her shepherdess stuff. She also didn't want to live in the palace, so she built her own little area. The entire estate was pretty cool...gardens, fountains, palaces, houses, villages, and everything you can imagine. Huge, elegant, ornate, and very cool. And now I see why France went bankrupt after Louis finished...

After Paris we found some lunch, then walked to Notre Dame, booked our seats for our train to Brussels tomorrow, and set off for the Eiffel Tower. We got there at dark (we spend a lot of the day at Versailles...the place was huge and definitley an all day trip). The tower was lit up, and we were able to go all the way to the top. Me being scared of heights, I was terrified the entire time. But it was very cool at the top. We got a nice view of the city (which is huge!), and I'm pretty sure I felt the tower swaying up at the top...it's so tall that I wouldn't be surprised. Every hour they do something very cool. All along the outside of the tower are light bulbs (besides the ones lighting it up at night). On the hour for about 5 minutes, these light bulbs flash, so it looks like the tower is sparkling...very cool! I'm gonna try to figure out how to load a video of it on here so you can see. But the Eiffel Tower was very cool, and definitely worth going to the top.

This has been a very busy day, and an amazing day thanks to James! We worked our way through Paris, covered most of the things we wanted to cover, and now I'm exhausted and am going to crash in bed after a great day. My feet are killing me, but I hate to think about what it would be like if I didn't have these new hiking shoes. Support and padding were two things I did not have in my old tennis shoes. These are great, and I don't know if I would have survived this trip without them. Tomorrow we are heading to the Louvre in the morning, then jumping on the 2:25pm train to Brussels. I hope we can get through all of the Louvre in time, and I hope the lines aren't too long. Its opening day or something tomorrow, so we can actually get in free (always good news for a college student)! I still can't thank James enough for what he did for us today. We would have never made it without him, and I am so glad we were blessed to have him. Tomorrow hopefully will be a nice relaxing day...walk around the Louvre for a few hours, grab our bags, and jump on a train to Brussels. We're actually getting there earlier than we thought, so hopefully that will translate into extra time to relax and hang out with friends. Check back soon for pictures if they aren't already up! Sorry, I'm just too tired to load them from my camera tonight, then load them onto here, but I'll do it tomorrow. Now off to bed before finishing up Paris then on to Brussels...

Paris!

Well I made it to Paris! This Spring Break trip across Europe should definitely be interesting! I got out of class at 12 on Friday, finished packing up some little things, then jumped on a train out to the airport and flew into Paris. We have 2 weeks to travel across Europe, hitting Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich, Interlaken (Switzerland), Geneva, Nice (France), Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Venice. Saturday night we're flying back into London. We'll be too late to catch the midnight train, so we have a hostel in London, then we're spending all of Sunday in London before catching an overnight bus back to Glasgow. We'll get back Monday morning at 7:15 haha. So pretty much every second of Spring Break will be used during this trip. But it should be a lot of fun! I'm so excited to begin this trip.
Well we thought our flight was going to be a little delayed, but we ended up leaving on time. We got into Beauvais (outside of Paris...it's the small airport RyanAir flies into). We had to wait on a friend who was joining us from Spain where she is studying abroad this semester. Her flight was actually delayed 2 1/2 hours, so we didn't actually get into Paris until close to 11:00. We got off our bus then had the nice task of finding our way around the city. I honestly was not expecting much. I've had so many people tell me that Paris was a dirty city, the people were unfriendly and rude, and it was just an overall bad experience. However, we got off the bus and walked to an intersection. We started looking at this city map when a couple walked up to us and asked if we needed help with anything. We told them that we were looking for our hostel, showed them the name and address, and they tried to help us find it. When we couldn't find it on the map the man actually pulled out his phone, called the hostel, and got us step by step directions to the hostel. He told us exactly how to get through the subway system, and exactly which stops to take and where to change trains. He then explained exactly how to get to where we needed to go. So right away I am very impressed with the people of Paris. Others may prove otherwise, but that man left a great impression on me, and I am so thankful he stopped to help.
Our hostel isn't the greatest, but what do you expect? Haha it's a youth hostel called Woodstock Hostel, and it isn't in the greatest part of town. But it's a bed, and it's cheap, and it serves all our needs. Tomorrow we are heading to Versailles and hopefully the Eiffel Tower late that afternoon. I'm excited to see that part of the city and I can't wait to see Paris in daylight. So we'll see what tomorrow has in store, especially since we have a guide coming with us who knows what he's doing. Lauren's cousin James is here in Paris studying French. He's coming with us all weekend and showing us around. So we'll not only have someone who knows the city, but also someone who speaks the language. So far it hasn't been to hard and we've managed. But I'm excited about tomorrow and I can't wait to see what all we get to do!

Missing parts of home...

I was talking to Lauren last night and she said something which I think is very true. She said that one of the things I missed most while abroad was the food, and I think she's right. I miss my friends and family, and I miss Clemson, but I really do miss food back home. Now don't get me wrong, I have eaten some fantastic stuff over here. These people know how to do bacon...but it's more like ham haha. And there's plenty of other things here that are great. But Tuesday night I went out to dinner with some friends...they kept raving about this Ultimate Burger at one of the pubs. So I ordered one, and ever since then I've been craving a nice juicy, greasy chili cheeseburger. The Ultimate Burger was pretty good, but it was very dry. So was every other burger I've tried. It's just not juicy, and it's not that it's necessarily overcooked to the point that it's dry, they just don't know how to cook them to where they're juicy and greasy (which I guess in some ways is good...). But I really miss juicy burgers. I miss sweet tea and lemonade. You ask for lemonade here and they bring you Sprite. That's just weird... But I miss onion rings, and fried okra, and meatloaf, and macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy, and ribs, and bbq. I wanna go out to Mema's and have homemade ice cream straight from the ice cream churn...chocolate is the best. And I want to go to a bonfire with friends where we have fried fish, fried pickles, fried chicken, and all other fried things you can imagine (you know how those things go...you try to fry anything and everything around, but most stuff just doesn't work out haha). Lauren was right, I miss the people and places back home, but I have friends here and places to see and enjoy here. But nothing can replace the food. I swear when I get back we're stopping at the Beacon on the way home. I want some sweet tea and a chili cheese-a-plenty. Before I left I joked that the only thing I cared about being at the airport was a glass of sweet tea. I said I didn't care who was there, or how many people were there. Heck, if it was just Mom and Dad and Lauren (which is what I'm expecting honestly), I'll be perfectly happy, as long as the bring me some sweet tea. I joked about that before I left, but not I think it's kinda true. I'm not serious about that part, but I really do want to stop at the Beacon on my way home. The best sweet tea around, and one of the greasiest burgers you'll ever eat. I couldn't imagine anything better....

Random Thoughts...

Well, this weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday, Mike and I ran down to the Starbucks downtown to steal wireless internet from the Apple Store across the street. Mike bought ESPN360 so we can watch basketball games (especially March Madness). However, because of the way internet is set up on campus (something about a proxy server), we can't receive live feeds, so we can't watch the games on campus. The only other problem is that Starbucks here has some strange hours. On Saturdays they close at 8:30. So we can't stay up very late to use the wireless internet and watch games, but trust me, we'll figure something out. There's some benches outside the Apple Store, so you might just catch us down there at 2:00am watching basketball haha!
Other than that, I spent Friday night doing some hw. I have 2 big projects, a 2,500 word essay (about 8-10 pages), and a big class test all due on March 20, with one project due the 19th. This was supposed to be a little more spread out, but a sudden change of plans pushed everything together. Talk about little time and no fun haha. So this weekend was spent studying and doing some work.
Saturday I decided to go out and buy a webcam! So now anyone on Skype (Scott_Banish...search for me) can talk to me with video! It's pretty exciting, and even though the technology isn't the greatest it's still fun!
So random thought here...ever wondered why movies in the US go out of theaters but take so long to come out on DVD? I have. And I've found out that it's due to more than just timing and advertising. Yeah, you want to release movies when they will sell the most (e.g. wait 2 extra months for Christmas time to release a movie), but there's also another factor to consider. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was released around Christmas in the US. It just now came out in the UK. "Marley and Me" isn't even out yet. "Seven Pounds" was a huge hit when it was finally released here. I could go on and on. But it also goes the other way around. I saw "Taken" sitting in a Blockbuster in Edinburgh before it ever hit theaters in the US. Weird... So I guess it's more than marketing strategies, but you also have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up before releasing movies on DVD.
Anyways, that's all for now. I'll post on here soon about our church experience on Sunday. Let's just say we won't be going back there again haha... I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all! It's hard to believe that 2 months from now I will be starting my exams and getting ready to come home. I'm excited for what's ahead...

Cafe Crepe

So I heard about this little cafe in town. My friend Mike found it his first day here, when he couldn't quite get into his room yet. And he's been talking about it a couple times. So yesterday I decided to go check it out. It's called Cafe Crepe, and it may just be my favorite place in Glasgow haha. Their breakfast is incredible. It costs 4.25 (which is about $6), and you get bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, black pudding, toast, a potato scone, and coffee/tea (don't worry, I got coffee haha...haven't quite gotten used to this idea of hot tea that isn't sweet). First I need to explain some of these things. Bacon over here isn't the bacon we think of. It's like 2 big slabs of ham. Bacon isn't thin and crispy, it's big, thick, and juicy. Sooooo good. Sausage isn't always the same either. Sausage links are the same as we have, but their sausage patties are way different. I don't even know how to explain it. It's really weird to think about having beans with breakfast, because it basically looks like baked beans (and kinda tastes like them too, but the sauce isn't as strong). But they are pretty good. The potato scone might be my new favorite dish here. It isn't what you think of as a typical scone, it's more like a potato cake, very good. Now for the black pudding. When I first ate this, I didn't know what it was, but I kinda knew it was one of those things where I didn't want to know what it was. Well it actually tasted pretty good! Then I got home and looked up what exactly it is. It is also known as blood pudding, if that tells you anything. They make it by cooking blood (usually pig or cow blood) with a filler until it is thick enough to cool into a patty. So it doesn't exactly sound appetizing, but I knew if I just ate it without trying to figure out what it was, I would get a realistic taste of what it was like, and it was pretty good.
Anyways, this Cafe Crepe is so good. Great food, a lot of food, for real cheap. I can't wait to go back and try their sweet crepes. They have tons of fillings, and its basically just like a dessert. Mm, I can't wait to try it. Apparently it's a new place and they're kinda struggling for business. As I was sitting there eating, I thought about how they would definitely get more of my business and how I was going to tell everyone I knew to come try it. They'll have more business soon haha. To prove that, Mike and I woke up early this morning before class and went there for breakfast. Once again, very good. Just a great way to start the day, and a genuine taste of Scotland...

Sudden Change of Plans...

Well this past week was pretty uneventful. Nothing new really going on during the week, except that I actually had to sit down and do a bunch of hw (imagine that, me procrastinating. I know, it's hard to imagine...). But other than that, more of the same. This weekend however was a lot of fun. Keith's uncle works with a man who lives in Glasgow, and this man Rob invited Keith and I to lunch and a soccer game. He's a huge Rangers fan, so we ate lunch and went to the game. There are two big teams in Glasgow...Rangers and Celtics. They don't like each other...HUGE rivals. Well the Rangers weren't playing the Celtics, but Rob warned us that if we wore green to the game there was a legitimate chance of someone doing more than yelling at us. So that was interesting. These people definitely love their soccer, and I know why. The game was intense, the crowd was great, and overall I loved it! We had a great time and I'm so glad Rob invited us to come along.

Sunday was great as well. Mike, Keith, and I had planned on going to Oban for the day. Well we got to the bus station and kinda changed our plans. Nothing like a group of guys trying to plan a trip...we get a lot of sudden changes like this when things are left in our hands. But we decided to go to this little town of Inverary instead. On our way we saw the coolest thing. I actually woke up (we had to leave early, I slept on the bus for a bit), and looked out the window to see this huge rainbow. It was beautiful, but the collest part is that it was touching down right beside us! I never even knew you could see that! But we definitely found the end of a rainbow, and it was soo cool! And whoever says there's gold at the end of a rainbow is a liar! I looked hard but saw none (haha, j/k). Anyways, the town is situated on Loch Fyne, and surrounded by mountains. It was a tiny tiny tiny town, but really pretty. We climbed up to this old watchtower and could see for miles. The lake stretched for miles beneath us, and mountains all around. We just had to sit down and enjoy the views for a while before heading back down. Beautiful area, and we had a great time in the town. You can see the castle in the middle of the picture, and the town is up and to the left...very small.

Last night was a lot of fun as well. Keith and I had heard about the Christian Union which meets on Tuesday nights. We got times mixed up so this week was our first chance to go haha. Well it ends up that they were doing a pancake night. They posted flyers all around campus and people could text in a Christianity-related question, along with the filling for their pancake, and their address. Then we all went out and delivered the pancakes and talked with people. I was a little skeptical at first, because I don't really like the people who come door to door and try to force things on you. But it ended up that this was very well received. People had some interesting questions, and it was actually a lot of fun going around and just talking to people. Me and my partner were only 1-4...3 of our pancake people weren't there haha. But it was great to connect with a group of people like that...we all hung out for a while after our deliveries and discussions were done. Oh, and I finally found some frisbee players!!!

I also learned something new from last night. Over here they have pancakes and pancakes. One is actually a crepe though haha. I was confused as well. Oh, and they call French Toast "Eggy Bread." Makes sense, and it keeps you from acknowledging something good about the French haha. But anyways, the things we had last night were actually crepes...large flat pancakes. You can fill them with jelly, chocolate, lemon juice and sugar (strange combo, but ok), or syrup (among other things...thats just the options we had last night). Then you fold it in half, then fold in half again so it looks like a slice of pizza. Then you eat it like a pizza. We actually ran out of batter, so I didn't get a chance to try one, but I found this restaurant that has them and they look soooooo good. Just wanted to pass that along...their pancakes are different than ours, and they have some interesting fillings. The other pancakes they refer to are "Scottish Pancakes." They are very similar to our pancakes, but very small...definitely no bigger than the palm of your hand. So anyways, that's all for now. Hope ya'll are having as good of a day as I am! (The weather is beautiful right now, and I'm just in a great mood haha). Love ya'll!

P.S.- Aren't you glad I learned how to upload pictures? Makes these things a little more interesting haha. Unless it's like this first one and it's a picture of me. Then you gotta look at me and read my writing...I apologize for that haha

Dublin or bust!

Well as of this morning I have officially booked my flight to Dublin for St. Patricks Day! We have a nice big group of people going so we should have a lot of fun. I'm still amazed at the prices for some of these things. We went through RyanAir...my roundtrip ticket is 20 pounds ($30)!!! They added a nice fee for paying with my debit card which was almost as much as my ticket! But still, less than 30 pounds to fly roundtrip to Dublin is pretty insane. The only bad thing is that there are only 2 flights that day, one at 6:30am and the other at 10pm, so of course we had to book the 6:30am. And the airport is a little ways away, so we have to jump on a bus at 4:30, ride out to the airport, check in, find our flight, and jump on. That will take at least 4 coffees to get me there haha. But it will be a lot of fun. We're coming back the next day at 12:30, then sleeping for a loooooong time. I'm excited for this trip...and I can't wait to see what Dublin will be like on St. Pattys Day!
Well I've been here for a little while now, so I figured I'd give my thoughts so far. Things have definitely settled in and I feel like I've gotten a nice picture of Scotland. To be honest, the city has been a little bit of a letdown. If I could do it again I would try to find a place in Edinburgh or Stirling. Part of it is because I'm just not a big city person, but another thing is the lack of places to go and see around here. The city is great and there's plenty of stuff to do, but there's no castle like in other cities, no monuments, no rolling hills or highlands around us. It's just a huge city. And it's kinda dirty too. Being the big industrial city that Glasgow used to be, you can still see the remnants of coal use. The Royal Infirmary and one of the churches were stained black because of coal, and when they began to clean up the city they decided to leave those buildings as reminders of part of Glasgow's past. But in all the city isn't exactly what I thought it would be, although still fun. Now for the people. The people here are very friendly, but also very different. It is a completely different culture, and it's been fun to be immersed in it. But there are a few things which I know I will leave behind and be glad to leave behind. For one, cussing over here is simply part of their everyday language...I'm not used to that, at least not how it is over here. And specifically, the F word is used a lot. They just don't see it the same way we do, they don't view it as the big bad word that we see it. I think that's also me coming from the South. I'm just not used to these kinds of things, and it bothers me a little bit. But I also understand that it's just different for them. But that is one thing I'll be glad to leave behind. Another is smoking. It seems like everyone and their brother smokes. I've almost gotten used to cigarette smoke simply because it's everywhere. I think if you don't smoke you are very out of the ordinary. And don't worry mom, I never picked up cigarettes back home, and I won't here either haha. And of course the Scots love their drinking. It's different with that too over here, but in a good way. We have put such a negative label on drinking that so many people want to do it before they are legally allowed to. Here it is simply part of the culture, so no one sees it as the thing that they can't have. I personally think it's good that way. People want what they can't have, and with the label we have placed on drinking in America, I think it leads to abuse. Here it's culture, and always has been. So the city is a ton of fun, but overall a little bit of a letdown. The people are awesome, very friendly, very kind, but there are definitely some habits I won't be embracing and will be glad to leave behind.

Ya Know I Like My Chicken Fried...

Today was absolutely beautiful! The weather was nice, and it was a lot warmer than it has been, which isn't really saying much for Scotland. But it means I could walk around without a scarf and a beanie, so that was exciting! I met some friends and we went to this pub where we watched the Celtics/Rangers soccer game. Both these teams are from Glasgow, so it's a pretty big rivalry here. I guess it's kinda like the Clemson/Carolina rivalry...they don't really like each other. So it was interesting to see the pub get pretty heated at times. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, so I guess that was ok for both teams. Apparently I'm supposed to be a Rangers fan because Keith got us tickets to go to a Rangers game next weekend, so that should be fun. Other than that I just had a nice relaxing day, caught up on some things I needed to do (which means I watched last weeks episode of 24 haha). Tonight we had dinner with some friends. A bunch of us got together and had fried chicken, peas, french fries, and veggies. I was a little worried because the girl who was making the fried chicken is actually from Arizona, but it turned out great! We had a great time all hanging out together. And I think we scared off her two French roommates...us bunch of loud rowdy Americans. But we really had a great time. Our conversations were all over the places, and we had a great time getting to know each other and seeing what each person thinks about different things. Everything from relationships to religion to family to sports to school...I think we covered most subjects haha. But we just had a great time together, and it was nice hanging out with friends and talking about things without having to explain the American view of things and without having to explain the American culture. Good food, good times. I think I'm actually going to start having to do schoolwork this week haha. I have a tutorial tomorrow which I need to read for and do some work, and I think I need to start my paper. Keith and I are hoping to confirm our tickets to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day (Happy Birthday that day Mom!). Hope everyone is doing great back at home! Love ya'll!

Been a while...

Well it's been quite a while since my last post. I'm kinda new to this whole blog thing and I'm not sure how often I'm supposed to post haha. But this week was just another week, classes and such. And I'm sure ya'll don't want to hear about my Portfolio Theory class or Treasury Management or Scottish Society, 1830-1914. So I won't bore you with the everyday details of things like that. But this week has gone pretty good...classes are interesting and I still have a desire to go, which I guess is a good thing. I had a friend who has already been here for a semester, and she said that last semester she went to a total of 3 lectures for all her classes combined, and passed all her classes. Don't worry, I'm not following that strategy...I don't want to take my chances. And I'd rather not have scholarships taken away just because I was tired and decided to sleep through more class than I attended.
Well Keith's 21st birthday was this week. Obviously it's not as big of a deal over here since the drinking age is 18, but we Americans still made a big deal of it. And plus it's a birthday, so of course we're gonna have fun. Me, Keith, and our friends Mike and Mark went to this Irish place for dinner. The 3 of us bought Keith dinner. Then some other friends of ours had made cupcakes, so we went to their flat and were hanging out with those girls for a little while. A bunch of other people joined us, then we all went to International Student Pub Night. We had a good time that night...a lot of fun. And of course Keith is proud that he was victorious and will actually remember his 21st birthday. He was proud of that, and I was too.
I decided that I am exhausted from being in a permanent "go" mode, so I stayed in town this weekend. I had a chance to go backpacking with the Mountaineering Club (apparently a ton of international students join that to get connected), but I was tired of spending money and not getting a lot of sleep, so I stayed here. I went to lunch with some friends and we watched the rugby game between England and Wales. There's the 6 Nations rugby tournament going on right now, and everyone's excited about that. Anyone who says that American football is too violent should watch a rugby game. Nothing more would ever be said about football haha. These guys are tough, and very physical. But I still love football.
Well I wanna wish a Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who is reading this! I know you probably won't be reading this on Valentine's Day, but still. It's kinda tough being away on Valentine's Day and not having anything to do. Especially when you actually have a girlfriend but can't be with her. But I guess it's just one day out of the year that people like to pump up. And like Lauren has always said, why do we need one special day out of the year to show those special people in our life how much we love them? Shouldn't that be a constant thing? So I guess it isn't really THAT big of a deal, people just hype it up to be. And it is something special, but I agree with Lauren that it shouldn't be the one day out of the year that people do special things together. Anyways, I'll try to keep things update on here, sorry I've gotten kinda lazy. And I know these posts have been getting long, so I'll try to keep them shorter haha. Hope everyone is doing well back at home! Love ya'll!

Skiing in the Clouds...

So I think I have figured out a few things about Scotland and it's people. First of all, these people are crazy drivers. I would be scared to death to drive on these roads. They are narrow, people come flying by, they pass whenever they feel like it, and they drive very close to the center line. In the few times that I have ridden on the buses, I have been absolutely terrified when we pass other buses or 18 wheelers. I'm surprised side mirrors haven't crashed yet because we have had some very very close calls. I would be scared if I was driving a small car (like my Civic) and another small car was coming in the other lane. That would be too close for me...I can't imagine what it's like driving a huge charter bus. The second thing has to do with drinking over here. At our orientation meeting at the beginning of the semester the international student director warned us that Scottish people have a drinking problem. He said it as a joke and as a warning to watch ourselves in pubs. I think what he meant is that he has a drinking problem, or that he is one of the biggest contributors to Scotland's drinking problem haha. But I think I have figured out why Scottish people drink so much, and why pubs are such a huge part of the culture. First of all, drinking is an entirely different culture here than in the US. And here's my theory about why people drink. In the US, especially in the South, people go to bars/honkytonks/whatever you want to call them, to "drink their problems away." Here people drink to drink the cold away. That has to be it, I'm sure of it. It's so dang cold here, especially at night, so people drink to keep the cold out. It's my theory, and while it's kinda a joke, I think there may be some truth to it haha. Oh, and don't worry Mom, I haven't developed a drinking problem haha.
Well Keith and I went skiing today. We hopped on a bus at 7:00 this morning (which means I got up way too early), and headed up to Fort William. People have asked me why I chose to study in Scotland. Drive through the Highlands of Scotland and you'll see exactly why I chose to come here. The hills and lakes and valleys and snowcapped mountains...it is absolutely incredible and quite possibly the most beautiful landscape I have ever witnessed. Well we had some complications on the way up because we couldn't understand our bus driver and we thought we missed our ski resort, but we ended up making it to a place. We got our tickets and our rentals and we started making our way up the gondola to the where the slopes start. The views from this mountain were incredible. We could see for miles, and all we could see were huge mountains covered in snow. Absolutely beautiful.
Skiing was interesting. I guess I've gotten too used to snowboarding, so getting back into skiing was rough. I'm not comfortable enough yet snowboarding, and I wanted to enjoy my time rather than fall down the mountain, so I decided to ski instead. It took a while to get back into it, and I don't think I ever fully got back to where I used to be. So the first couple runs were a little rough, but it started getting better. Then Keith had this idea that we should go all the way to the top of the mountain and follow this one trail he saw that was supposedly still open. So we went all the way to the top. It was so windy up there, snow and ice were blowing everywhere and stinging our faces, and to top it all off we were so high up that we were in the middle of a cloud and couldn't see a thing. So we had no idea what was down in front of us, and we couldn't see exactly where this trail led. Some snowboarders passed us and took off down this one area, so we decided to try to follow them. Bad idea. We immediately sank into about a foot of pure powder. These places don't make fake snow, they rely totally on what falls naturally. So we immediately knew this was a bad decision, but it was too late to turn back. We soon found ourselves in the middle of huge patches of rocks. Like big rocks. And we constantly found new rocks that had been covered up but we hit them with our skis anyways. And we still couldn't see a thing. So we're in the middle of nowhere, on a trail that isn't supposed to be open, with little to no visibility, and both of us are struggling trying to get back into skiing. Not a good combination. I felt utterly hopeless and desperate...I was getting very frustrated. But we eventually wound our way through all the rocks and finally found the regular slope. It was frustrating and a little scary at the time, but looking back on it we laughed...a lot. We had a great day, an exhausting and very cold day, but a great one. Keith and I had a great time trying to learn how to ski again, winding our way through rocks and trails we weren't supposed to be on, and enjoying the beautiful scenery around us. I love having Tuesdays off school...

Stirling

So the original idea for this weekend was for me and Keith (and whoever else wanted to join) to head up to some mountain and go skiing. We had a friend from Clemson who went last week and she really liked it. Except she was freezing. Well that was going to cost a lot, so the idea fell through and we met up with two new guys, Mark and Ben, and along with Mike we set off for Stirling. We got there and set off for the Stirling Castle. I think I like this castle better than Edinburgh and I think I like Stirling better than Edinburgh overall. It was pretty sweet, and the views were once again amazing. Stirling is kinda seen as the Gateway to the Highlands. The castle was great. There was this one building, the Great Hall, which kinda stuck out from all the others. It seemed like a new building, it wasn't built from stone or anything like the rest of the castle. But apparently this is how it actually looked when King James built it. He had it sprinkled with limestone water, then basically painted in a limestone wash. The color of the building is known as King's Gold. I thought that was pretty cool. And the ceiling and frame of the building is made up of a very elaborate design of wooden beams. There are absolutely no nails holding them together. There is a single wooden peg holding each beam together at the joint...nothing else. It's amazing to think that so long ago people were able to think of architectural designs like this, and that they have held up for this long! The rest of the castle was really cool too.
Next we ate lunch where we met up with a friend of Keith whom he met on the plane ride over here. She is from Montana and was actually just in Stirling for the weekend visiting some friends. I swear Keith has a friend in every city in Scotland. But it was nice meeting up with her because she showed us the quickest way to the William Wallace monument where we went next, and showed us how to get up this mountain we had decided to hike. The Wallace monument was very cool. It's up on top of this hill, and at the bottom of the pathway, near like the visitor's center area, there used to be this statue of William Wallace, but it was actually a statue of Mel Gibson from Braveheart. Apparently Scottish people do NOT like that movie or Mel Gibson. From what I understand, the reason is because it was filmed in Ireland and not in Scotland. Frankly I agree with the Scots...if a story takes place in Scotland, film it in Scotland. I guess they kinda see that as a negative shot against their country. The statue was removed because people were so upset that they actually defaced the statue. Someone broke Mel's nose off, and a lot of other things were done, so they finally just removed it. When we got up the hill, it was actually too late for us to go inside because they were getting ready to close. I hope to go back someday and go up inside, I want to see his sword and everything.
Next we set off to go climb yet another mountain. This was is called Dumyat (pronounced Doo-mie-at). Ben at first didn't really want to hike it because he had worked out the day before and his legs were reallly sore. I was in the same position, because I had worked out on Thursday and my legs were still very sore and stiff. But I had decided to go anyways, and Ben did too. On our way to the mountain we cut across this set of practice fields. We all got so excited because there was a team out there practicing...they were all wearing pads and helmets and doing a fumble drill! We couldn't believe it...they were playing American football! We wanted to grab some pads and join in, but I doubt that was going to happen. So we continued and just went to the mountain. We were running out of sunlight, so we actually ran most of the mountain. Ben and Mark fell a little behind and decided the view from one hilltop was good enough...and it definitely was. The views were amazing all around. Mike and Keith took off, and I tried to keep up but I kept slipping on ice (there was snow and ice all around us), and I was getting tired and the soreness was taking its toll, so I fell a little behind. But I eventually caught up with them at the top and was able to snap a few pictures right as the sun was going down. We didn't stay long at the top. There is a tradition that when you hike Dumyat you have to carry up a rock from the base of the mountain. At the top is a huge pile and you toss your rock into the pile. I had found a rock shaped like South Carolina, so I had to carry that one up. I climbed up this pile of rocks and placed South Carolina on the very top. We got some good pictures up there, but it was way too cold to stay. Our pictures didn't turn out extremely good because our hand were shaking and at times too frozen to move. The wind was terrible. And of course, we had barely made the hike in an hour to beat the sunset, so getting down was completely in the dark. We found Mark and Ben again and began the descent. We each fell multiple times, slipping on ice. Mike and I both fell into little streams. I stepped on some ice, which wasn't actually very thick, and it crumbled beneath me as my foot got soaked, so that wasn't too much fun. Mike did the same thing a minute later. But we eventually made it down, frozen, starving, and exhausted.
We caught a bus into the city where we met up with Devin (Keith's friend) and the friends she was staying with. The 8 of us went out to dinner. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, they were hilarious. We realized that we didn't have much time to eat, but that time went faster than we thought. The last bus back to Glasgow left at 9:15. We got our food and had to eat fast. Yes, for those questioning me, I can eat fast when I need to. I was actually the 2nd one done, and I had a huge calzone. We got our bill, left our money with the girls, then sprinted to the bus station. Buses definitely leave early, and so we had less than 10 minutes to get there. Dinner almost came back up for all of us, but we made it. It was an amazing day, and we got some great pictures. Mine didn't turn out too great, but that's because of my camera. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to deal with this camera, for I hope to go buy another one soon.
Things are definitely going very well for me. I have settled in, and we're planning all kinds of exciting trips coming up. Keith wants to go to Stonehendge for his birthday this Wednesday. So I think we're going to fly into London or Bristol, since we both have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, and head to Stonehendge. I think we're going down on Tuesday, and maybe flying back on Wednesday, but I'm not sure yet exactly what the plans are. I hope everyone is doing well back at home. I miss you all and I'm thinking about you all the time! I can't wait to see ya'll again soon!

Quick Thought

One quick thought. I will update things later today. I'm sitting here at my apartment eating lunch getting ready to head to my last class today. I had class this morning. Our professor kicked a kid out of class, it was really funny. He was sleeping and unprepared apparently. But anyways, as I was walking back I had a thought. There has been a lot of construction in this city. I started thinking about why people would want to live here. It's mostly a joke in my mind, but I have a good point. I think it's interesting to see the differences in people and their preferences. It's sunny today, a beautiful day. There are not many days like that here. It was a beautiful day last Wednesday, but it quickly changed to overcast and rainy. Earlier this week it was sunny when I first woke up. By the time I left for class it was snowing. As I walked through the sun I got little tastes of warmth. I started thinking about summer and how that is my favorite time of the year. There is nothing better than warm sunlight beating down all over you. Yes at times it can be too much. Like when you're going somewhere nice or have to go to work and you don't want to get all hot and sweaty. But it's my favorite time of the year. I don't know if I could live in a place where it never gets that hot. I think I would hate it. I love the warmth too much. So it is a joke, but part of me could never live in a place like this. I couldn't voluntarily subject myself to such cold all year long. Strange how different people have different preferences...

Great Weekend!

Well my first official weekend in Scotland was pretty good. If this is a reflection of how the rest of this trip is going to be, I'm gonna be back on a plane before I know it. And that will be good for many reasons. If time flies, then obviously I had fun. Time flies when you're having fun, it's as simple as that. School didn't seem to be too much of a burden if time has flown by...that one is yet to be seen haha. And the other good thing is that I'll be going home to see the people I miss and love so dearly Anyways, I woke up this morning to head to class and it was snowing outside! I thought it was snowing a little on Friday but it was just an occasional flake. Today it's snowing a lot! This is like a blizzard for a Southern boy like me! It's really cold outside, but it's still kinda pretty. Well this weekend was a lot of fun! Me, Keith, and Mike went to Edinbourgh on Saturday. We got up and got breakfast at this little place. They tried the haggis, I still haven't worked up the courage for that yet. We got to Edinbourgh and it was so cool! The city is so old and the buildings all reflect this. We walked around for a little bit looking at different things, then we made our way up to the Edingbourgh Castle. This was my favorite part. There are so many cool things inside the castle, and the views of the city are amazing! The castle is up on this cliff in the middle of the city, and you can see all around you from the castle walls. My favorite part was seeing the Crown Jewels. They have this whole exhibition thing where you walk from room to room and it explains the progressive history of the Crown Jewels. It takes you from the history a long time ago, to the creation and presentation of the Crown Jewels to the king of Scotland from the Pope. It walks you through all the different kings and queens and their roles. Apparently there were many times that they were almost destroyed, but somehow the people managed to save them. Finally at the end you walk into this room after seeing the entire history of these 3 items...a sword, sceptor, and crown, and there they are. They are absolutely beautiful and magnificent. For me it was amazing to stand there in front of these and think about how hundreds of years ago the Pope had these items made, carried them to Scotland, and presented them to a king. They were then passed down through generations of kings for hundreds of years, and now they are sitting right in front of me! That was just really cool to think about. So after the castle we went up to Arthur's Seat. We saw the mountain in the distance and tried to work our way over there. We kinda had to trek through these woods to get there, but we made it. Then Keith had this brilliant idea. We could follow this walking path and then follow the trail up the mountain, or we could just go straight up the mountain. So he takes off, him and his hiking boots. Mike and I are standing there in our slick tennis shoes looking at each other like, well I guess we don't really have a choice. So we started up. Most of the time I was literally on all 4 against the mountainside. I didn't want to lose balance and fall, and I needed my arms as well as my legs to get up the side. It was like a grassy side, not rocky or anything, and there were little footholes, but they were all muddy and some were slippery. I wanted to kill Keith about halfway up. But we made it and even though it sucked in the end it was all worth it. The view here was even better than the castle. But we were just on the trail, so we had to keep walking to get to the actual peak. Turns out that we were on the wrong mountain, so the trail actually led us back down a ways then we jumped on a new trail up to Arthur's Seat. So we did a lot of hiking, a lot of climbing, a lot of pain, and a lot of tiredness. But once we got up there we realized how worth it the whole thing was. The views were incredible! I don't kow if I have ever seen anything this amazing. It was great just to sit up there for a little while and rejoice in the creation of my God. If you can, check out some of the pictures on Facebook. If you can't, let me know and I'll try to post a few online here so you can see. We didn't stay for a very long time because it was very cold that day, and the wind up on the mountain was brutal. We got too cold, so we had to start making our way down. We walked around the city for a little while longer, stopping at a pub for drinks and to rest our tired legs. Then we continued back into the city and started looking for something to eat. We walked around for quite a while until finally around 9:00 we found this little Italian place. Everywhere we had checked was either packed full with no open tables, or it was more expensive than what we were looking for. But we settled on this Italian place. Dinner was good, the wine was good, and we had a great time. We met some friends Keith had met on the plane ride over to Scotland and we spent some time with them before heading home. It was an amazing day, and I was completely exhausted.

Sunday was just a nice relaxing day. I don't have a church to go to yet, so I watched NewSpring online. It wasn't quite the same, and so I'm still looking for a good place to go. I'll find one this week though. I was able to get some little things done like putting pictures up, catching up on a few things, organizing. Then some friends came over and we watched the Superbowl. We get 5 channels through BBC on our little tv in the living room area of my apartment. Apparently one station was airing the Superbowl, so we didn't have to go out anywhere to find it. Of course we were the loud Americans watching the game no one else in the world understands haha. We tried to explain it to my Nigerian roommate but he eventually gave up. We all talked to him for quite a while and learned a lot from him...he's very cool. I feel like a lonely Steelers fan. Everyone picked the Cinderella story team to cheer for, so no one is a Steelers fan. Dad grew up in Pittsburgh so I feel like I have a connection to the city. So after the Panthers, I've kinda been a secondary Steelers fan. We won! It was a great game, a lot better than in years past. But the weird thing was, we didn't have any commercials. That makes sense since American advertisers are paying NBC to show their ads, not BBC. But they would cut to this British announcer and 2 American football analysts and they would talk about the game when we would normally have timeouts. I was somewhat disappointed with that haha. But it was still fun...I'm one of those people who watches the Superbowl for the football, not just the commercials. But it was a great night, and a great finish to a great weekend. I can't wait to see what this week has in store, as well as all these future weekends!