A Series of Unfortunate Events: the Homeward Bound Edition

When we left Glasgow Monday morning, we were filled with excitement at the prospect of being home in around 16 hours. However, after making it through security and finding the gate for our flight, the day’s nightmares began. As we waited to start boarding, an announcement informed us that due to bad weather in Amsterdam, our flight would be delayed by nearly 3 hours, which was not good news for us. We had only 55 minutes to transfer flights in Amsterdam, so with the delays we would probably miss our flight to Chicago. And so that came to be.

We ended up leaving Glasgow a bit earlier than they had expected and arrived in Amsterdam around 1 pm. From there, we were told to go to the transfer desk to see about getting put on another flight to Chicago. This was the beginning of the worst part of the day. My estimate is that around 300 people were already in line by the time we got to the line. We ended up waiting in that line for almost three hours. The airport did give us some water and some candy to sustain us, but standing in that line still sucked. After nearly three hours, we had only made it halfway to the desk. It was then that we were informed that there would be no more flights to the U.S. Monday night.

We were then directed to proceed to the KLM hotel desk, where they would then be placing us in a hotel for the night. We were also told to call KLM to see about getting another flight. So we proceeded to pass through the passport check and found ourselves in another long line, which we would end up waiting in for over three hours. Unfortunately, my phone did not work in Europe, so I could not call for a new flight. I was freaking out because people around me were saying that some people flying to the U.S. couldn’t get flights until Wednesday!! So I called my amazing mother and asked her to call KLM to get us another flight. This wonderful person that is my mother was then able to get us on a flight for Wednesday into Chicago. With that taken care of, we waited patiently (ok not so patiently) in line to get our hotel.

While waiting, I checked my KLM account and found that they had somehow put me on a flight on Tuesday to Chicago with a connecting flight to Paris. However, they had not put Nettie on that flight. So I called my mother once again and had her get on the phone with KLM again. By that time we had reached the hotel desk and the lovely lady there also called the ticketing desk asking about my flight. With both people in contact with the airline, we were able to fix the error and get me back onto the Wednesday flight.

Our wonderful airline then put us up in the Sheraton hotel for the night. We were provided with a late dinner and breakfast, and an amazing room. Unfortunately, we had to go back to the desk in the morning to get put into another hotel for Tuesday night. Luckily, the line for that was really short, so we were soon put in a new hotel. We checked out of the Sheraton and hopped on the shuttle for our new hotel. This place was equally as nice and we were provided with lunch, dinner, and breakfast. It was all pretty amazing. What could have been an even worse situation turned out to not be that bad because our wonderful airline took care of everything at no charge to us. I am very impressed with KLM and will definitely use them again.

We probably could have gone into Amsterdam on Tuesday, but we decided to just stay in and relax. I was desperately needing a nap, so we just chilled in our hotel room for the day. It was then that we encountered another problem. I was supposed to start a wonderful job at the public library on Tuesday, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen. My family was also going to go to my cousin’s graduation in Indiana and we had planned on just going up to Milwaukee for the night then heading to Indianapolis a bit early. However, my work desperately needed me to be there this week because the summer reading programme started on Monday and they needed me to prepare for that. So, we searched for a way to get me back to Marshfield without my mom having to drive the almost five hours back north to get me home. We ended up getting me on a greyhound bus on Thursday morning from Milwaukee to Abbotsford, where my dad would be picking me up. I will then be going in to work at 4 on Thursday, but that’s ok. I am looking forward to getting back to work.

So, while these have been, and still will be, some pretty crazy days, they ended up not being too bad. We were completely taken care of by our airline. Currently we are sitting in the airport awaiting our flight home to Chicago in an hour. Soon I will put this nightmare behind me and get to see my friends and family. I look forward to seeing everybody. I will probably write a few more posts this week to tell y’all about some more travels and getting home, so stayed tuned dear readers! Cheers!

This Isn’t Goodbye, It’s See You Later

I know it’s cliche, but it’s amazing how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was last-minute packing for Glasgow and jet-setting off on a new adventure. Now that adventure has come to a close as I head back to good old Wisconsin tomorrow morning. It sure has been a fabulous time though. I have made some amazing life-long friends here and met some pretty awesome people from all over the world. Though I had a tough time with my classes here, every dime I spent (and I spent a lot on this adventure) was completely worth it. Scotland is a beautiful and breathtaking country. It has been an absolute privilege to see the amazing wonders that God has created in this wonderful country. I cannot wait to return here in two years (fingers crossed).

So, I think some thanks are in order for all the people who made this possible and for those who made it one of the best times of my life:

First, to my parents. Nothing I have done in this life would have been possible without your love and support. This adventure definitely would not have happened without your emotional and financial support. Thanks for helping us out when we didn’t budget out properly. We are forever grateful. You guys are stars.

Second, to all those people out there who supported this adventure and helped me out during it. From academic support to financial, I couldn’t have done it without a lot of help.

Third, to my amazing flatmates: Kayla Gardner, Josefa Errazuriz, and Shu-Yin (Susan) Chang. God definitely placed me in the right flat. I couldn’t have asked for better people to share my semester with. Thanks for all the amazing times. Y’all are the best. Here’s to more adventures again in the future.

Fourth, to my two best friends from home, Katrina Weber and Brianna Bodoh. Thanks for putting up with me basically bragging about all the cool stuff I got to do here and for keeping me up to date on everything back home. I love y’all. Sorry I missed out on stuff with you this semester. Can’t wait to be back with y’all in the fall!

Fifth, to all the wonderful people I met this semester, especially to my fellow German classmates. You made that difficult class much more fun. I wish I could have spent more time with you. Hopefully I will get to see some of you in the future. Have fun next year!

And last, but not least, to my sister. I’m so glad I got to go through this semester with you by my side. This adventure would have been much harder without you. I had a fabulous time spending this semester with you abroad. I love you to death. Thanks for being my fellow partner in crime and adventurer.

And so this is it everybody. By this time tomorrow I will be home, but I will be leaving a piece of me behind in this amazing city. Though I’m glad to be going home to my friends, family, and pets, I’m seriously going to miss this place. It’s been great Glasgow, but it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. But don’t worry, I’ll be back someday. So this isn’t goodbye, it’s see you later.

A Final Journey in Scotland: Cycling Around Cumbrae

Well folks, this is it. Our last trip to somewhere in Scotland and it sure was a great way to end a fabulous semester of some great Scottish adventures. On May 14th we embarked on our final tour with Student Tours Scotland. Gary sure knew how to make the semester go out with a bang. It was time to go on a bike ride around an island.

The day began like all the others, except that the tour started an hour later, so we got to sleep a bit longer! Yay! At 9:45 we were off to the Isle of Cumbrae. From Glasgow it is only about an hour long journey. We travelled to Largs, which is a nice coastal town. From there we took a 10 minute ferry ride to Cumbrae. Once we arrived on the island our bus dropped us off near the bike shop. We then proceeded to pick up bikes from the shop, strapped on some helmets, and were off! 

The Isle of Cumbrae is only about 11 miles around, so it is relatively easy to bike around. It is also mostly flat, so the ride is not difficult. It is also really biker friendly, so cars have to yield to cyclists. We biked a mile or two out of the town, then stopped by one of the sightseeing points. From this point of the island you can sit on some beautiful rocks and admire the view of the Isles of Arran and Bute, both of which I have been to. The weather was absolutely spectacular. The sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was also warm enough that I didn’t have to wear my sweatshirt. Overall a beautiful day to sit, relax, eat lunch, and admire Scotland’s beauty.

After eating lunch we continued on our bike ride. There were many lookout points to stop at. I will just put some pictures here to show these stops, though the pictures do not do this amazing island justice. It was absolutely stunning.

Once we finished our cycle around Cumbrae we had time to do a bit of exploring in the town. We ended up walking to see the Cathedral of the Isles, which is one of the smallest cathedrals in Europe. It is situated on some pretty beautiful grounds and the inside of the church itself was simple, yet beautiful. The wooded path leading up to the church were simply stunning. I imagine that many people like to take their wedding pictures there.

After the cathedral we walked back towards the bus. On our way back we got some ice cream, then boarded the bus to travel back to the ferry terminal. While we waited for the ferry, we saw an absolutely adorable dog sitting in the basket of a bike passing by. It looked like a little teddy bear and was seriously the cutest thing. The front of the bus (especially me) was freaking out. After the ferry ride we stopped for a half hour in Largs. It is a rather nice little town and I hope to explore it further in the future.

Once we left Largs it was straight back to Glasgow. The journey should have only taken a little over an hour, but we got stuck in a huge traffic jam, so it ended up taking over 2 hours to get back into Glasgow. Luckily this gave us plenty of time for another fun game of bus bingo (I didn’t win 😦 ).

Overall, this trip was a fabulous way to end our semester of travels with Gary. I am seriously going to miss him. He is my favorite person in Scotland. I really hope to see him again when I come back to Scotland in two years after my semester in France. He is honestly the best, and funniest, person to show you around Scotland.

And so dear readers, we reach the end of my travels in Scotland. The next week was filled with finishing up my finals, which were pretty killer. On the bright side, after finals we had another fabulous trip coming up, this time to Ireland! So stay tuned for that adventure my few readers! Cheers!

The Day of Killer Hiking: A Saga

When Gary said that this tour on May 7 was going to be awesome, I jumped at the opportunity to go. A nice hike on the Isle of Arran? Yes please! However, I seriously underestimated this hike. Sure, Gary said that not everyone would make it up to the top and that’s ok, but I thought that this fairly avid hiker (me) could handle it. Haha, I laugh at my own stupidity. I was in for a killer walk.

The morning began as usual, but our travel plans were a bit different for today. We were headed to the Isle of Arran, so, naturally, we would have to take a ferry. This time though, the bus was not coming with us. It dropped us off at the terminal and it was up to us to get on the ferry. Once we got on board we settled in for a long ride. It would take over an hour to reach the island, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I especially enjoyed this ride because there were tons of dogs on board. I got the pet some black labs for around 5 minutes and it seriously made me the happiest person on the planet. (I am extremely pet deprived here, so being able to pet a dog was heaven on earth. I see SO MANY dogs here in Glasgow but I can’t pet them. Instead, I take out my excitement of seeing so many cute puppies on my sister’s arm in the form of slaps and punches while squealing “Puppy! Puppy! He’s so cuuuutttteee!! Wook at him!” Sorry Nettie! No, wait, I’m not. Muahahahaha! 😉 )

Shortly after my dog petting session we landed on Arran and were off to hike. There were several large hills on the island and none of us, aside from Gary of course, were sure which one we would be climbing. We hoped it wasn’t the big, tall looking mountain in the distance. We only had a bit over 5 hours on the island, so we were pretty sure that we weren’t going to have time to climb that one. We were mistaken. It soon became evident that this mountain was our hiking destination as we walked along the shore towards it. The walk there was mostly nice, since we got to walk through a path surrounded by these beautiful yellow flower trees/bushes that smell like heaven. However, we also had to walk on the sand for a bit, which quickly sapped much of my strength. Walking through deep sand is extremely tiresome.

Following the trek in the sand we took a nice wooded path to the start of the trail up the mountain, called the Goat Fell. It is the highest point on the Isle of Arran at 874 metres tall and we were about to climb it. Gary told us to take our time climbing and reminded us that not all of us would make it to the top. Stupid me thought that this wasn’t going to be so bad. I sure was wrong.

Nettie and I started out at the head of the pack alongside Gary at a very brisk pace, but we soon found out that we were not cut out for that fast of a pace. We soon dropped to the back of the pack, then soon found ourselves left behind. I was a bit ashamed. I hike a lot with my family and I have been walking a TON all over hilly Glasgow, but I sure was not prepared. I was seriously dying. I had to take so many breaks. Yes, I’m a bit fat, but I’m not in THAT bad out of shape. This climb was fairly steep. It sure was not my family’s usual Sunday hike of Levis Mound in WI. I felt like a pathetic dying person.

Luckily, about of a third way up, we found some other people chilling and eating lunch, so we decided to join them. They were also pretty much dying, so we didn’t feel quite so alone. However, after we finished eating, all but one of them soon left us in the dirt. On the bright side, I made a new friend who was struggling just as much as me. We ended up having a great time together.

Now, even though this hike was pretty killer, it was also seriously amazing. I have never climbed a mountain before, and the view as we climbed was incredible. It would have been even more amazing if it wasn’t so cloudy, but it was still pretty awesome. On a sunny day, I bet you can see the coast of mainland Scotland across the water.

We ended up not making it to the top because we didn’t have enough time. We needed to take a lot of little breaks, which entailed me finding a rock, saying “You see that boulder? That’s a niiicce boulder.” (I channelled my inner Donkey), and promptly sitting on it for a few minutes. If we had another few hours, we probably could have made it all the way to the top, but alas, we lacked the time. When I visit Scotland again I am planning on making it all the way to the top.

After making it about 3/4 the way up the Goat Fell, we headed back down the mountain, which was much, much easier than climbing up it. On the way back we got to see some more Highland cows, which was awesome. We also stopped and got some hydration at a café, then took a nice stroll along the beach, which I loved. Putting the fishy water smell aside, I love standing on a beach watching the waves crash on the shore. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to linger much longer, as we had to get back into the town to catch the ferry. If we missed it, we would have to find our own way back to Glasgow, which would not be fun at all.

However, after rushing to get into the town and make a quick souvenir stop, we found out that the ferry was delayed by about an hour. We ended up having to wait out in the rain for a while, which was a bit of a bummer. Once we got on board though, the ferry ride back was fairly pleasant. Then, back on the bus, it was time for the best part of the day: bus bingo. Though we didn’t win, it was an enjoyable game as usual.

Overall, while this trip was very exhausting, it was still pretty amazing. One thing I love about Gary’s tours is that he takes you to places that most touring companies won’t and you get to do things that you wouldn’t be able to do with other companies. This tour was definitely one of my favorites and I really hope to repeat it in the future.

Stay tuned for probably my favorite, and last, tour with Gary on the Isle of Cumbrae. Stay tuned dear few readers! Cheers!

Off to Hogwarts: A Journey to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, Oh, and a Visit to a Caribbean Beach

Ok, I didn’t actually go to the Caribbean, but I did go to a white sand beach on April 24. I also got to see the bridge that the Hogwarts Express crosses on its way to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. Combined with a visit to Platform 9 3/4 in London, my inner Potterhead was jumping with joy. My inner history buff also got to enjoy a visit to a really cool historical site. I present to you a wonderful trip through Scotland.

The day started off like all the other trips. Bright and early to rise and arrive at the bus, early to depart Glasgow. Routine to us by our eighth trip with Student Tours Scotland, although we were especially tired today due to a late night concert Saturday night. Unfortunately, the route to our destination involved driving through my least favorite spot of roads, the winding roads past Loch Lomond and into the beginning of the Highlands. I don’t know what it is about this drive, but it never fails to make me carsick, an occurrence which rarely happens for this veteran of long road trips.

We made two quick stops at some rest areas, then continued towards our first destination, the Princes Cairn. On the way there Gary told another of his awesome history/mythology stories, but I completely missed it. I unintentionally conked out during the story, so I didn’t get to hear this story. I have to make Nettie retell it for me, though it probably won’t be quite as good. Soon after I woke up from my much needed, but ill timed nap, we arrived at the Princes Cairn, which is a small monument commemorating the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in Scotland to start the last Jacobite Rebellion. The history of this rebellion is quite fascinating, so I encourage you to look up some stuff about it. It marked the beginning of a very sad time for Scotland. Anyways, the Princes Cairn is situated right on Loch nam Uamh (also know to Gary as Loch Nom Nom) and the view is absolutely gorgeous. Plus the sun was out, so it was even better.

We next headed to the Silver Sands of Morar, which is a white sand beach on the west coast of Scotland. It offers views of several islands, but the beach itself is stunning. The walk down to it was beautiful, but nothing compared to that lovely white sand. The weather was absolutely perfect; warm and sunny with hardly any clouds. Once we gathered on the beach I immediately took off my shoes and socks and sank my toes into that soft, warm sand. It was absolutely heavenly. I have never been to a white sand beach before and it seriously felt like I was in the Caribbean. We had almost an hour on the beach, which Nettie and I spent wading into the freezing water, taking photos of us doing crazy things, and just generally enjoying the amazing weather and the sand between our toes. It was honestly one of my favorite experiences here. So lovely.

Unfortunately, it was soon time to leave the beach. 😦 After attempting to get as much sand off my feet (it didn’t come off so well), I put my shoes back on and headed back to the bus. My sadness at leaving the beach was soon overshadowed with excitement because we were heading to see the HARRY POTTER BRIDGE! I was so jazzed. We drove past the Princes Cairn on our way and soon arrived at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. It was time for some sightseeing, but first, a toilet and postcard shopping stop was in order.

Our first sightseeing stop was to see the view from the hillside. We walked up a lovely (aka killer) path to the view point, but the walk was worth it to see the amazing views of the Glenfinnan Viaduct, Loch Sheil, and the surrounding countryside. I could have sat up there the whole time, but we were on a time crunch, so it was time to go see some other spots.

We next walked up to the viaduct. A trail leads right up to it, so you can actually go and touch it, which of course I did. The viaduct is pretty cool. It looks like something straight out of Roman times. It made me really want to go and watch the Harry Potter movies though. Now I can say that I have actually been there! So cool!

Following the viaduct, we only had a bit more time, so we decided to just go see the Glenfinnan Monument on the shores of Loch Sheil. The monument commemorates the spot where Prince Charles raised his standard and began the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. Unfortunately, it is currently under restoration, so you can’t see much of it. You can, however, admire the view of Loch Sheil, which is one of Gary’s favorite views in Scotland. It is definitely one of mine. The pictures do not do justice to this beautiful spot. The sun was shining down on the loch, giving me a dazzling view of another of Scotland’s beautiful waters. We just stood and admired the amazing view. I also went to dip my hand in, which is a ritual of mine whenever we visit a loch.

Soon after that it was time to load back on the bus and head back to Glasgow. It was again time for some intense bus bingo, which we did not win. 😦 Once we got to Glasgow, we decided to go out for dinner with one of our friends at a lovely cheap restaurant downtown. Nettie ordered the Highland burger, which comes with haggis on it. Surprisingly, I like haggis; it tastes absolutely delicious. I just have to not think about what it is comprised of. We ended up staying at the restaurant chatting for almost two hours, bringing a lovely end to a fantastic day.

More adventures are headed your way dear few readers, so stay tuned. Cheers!

I Went to Loch Ness and Didn’t See Nessie: A Story

Well folks, I did it! I went to Loch Ness and have lived to tell the tale! The Loch Ness Monster didn’t get me! This story would be so much more epic if I actually saw Nessie, but I didn’t. 😦 She decided to take a trip to London and is probably still traveling around England. (For those of you who don’t know, there was a sighting of some strange thing in the Thames that some think might have been Nessie). Anyway, this trip definitely ranks high among our adventures. It was a fantastic day made even better by the fact that our flatmate Kayla was along for the ride with her parents. They were visiting this past week and decided to go on a tour to Loch Ness.

The day started off fairly well, aside from a little mishap in the morning because we forgot that the subway doesn’t open until later and had to catch a taxi. Within the next two hours however, the trip began to get interesting. First, many people on the bus were seized by the lovely carsickness that comes with the beautiful yet nauseating drive through the winding roads of the Highlands. Nettie and I were among them. I did not feel good at all, but my sickness was nothing compared to a poor Asian student on the bus. She got so sick that she threw up and was feeling so unwell that she caused us to leave our rest stop later than planned. Gary moved her up to the front, where she promptly spent the next 45 minutes moaning and throwing up once more. She was feeling so bad that we had to make a stop in Fort William to drop her and her friend off at the train station so they could go back to Glasgow. I felt bad for her because of the money she would have had to pay to take a train back, on top of the price of the tour she decided to leave. Poor girl.

Following that small detour, we continued towards Loch Ness and made a few stops at some other lochs, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy (which translates to Lake Lake haha). Though the weather was very overcast, cold, and a bit rainy, they were still gorgeous views. Following those stops, we drove past Loch Ness and made a stop at Invermorriston, which was a much needed stop because I had to use the restroom like none other. I seriously was dying. Thankfully there was a toilet at this stop, so I soon felt much better, along with the vast number of other people who were also dying for a restroom.

After the toilet, it was time to do some exploring. Along with Kayla and her parents, we walked through some woods down to the River Morriston. The path provided some wonderful views of a waterfall and there was also a stone hut that looked over the waterfall. We then walked over to the bridge over the river, which also gave some amazing views of some rock formations and the water. One thing I love about Scotland is that the water here is so clear. A lot of the rivers feed from the Highlands, so they aren’t muddy at all. Sometimes they are this beautiful blue green color or just the clearest water you will ever see. I love it.

After exploring the nature of Invermorriston, we hopped back on the bus and heading back into Fort Augustus, which sits right on Loch Ness. Our first stop there was to go to the farm of a family friend of Gary. He gets us exclusive access to get up close and personal with some Highland cows, a few horses, and a dog! It was heaven on earth. The property sits right on the loch and gives you some stunning views. First, however, we were occupied with finding some Highland cows and petting them. On our way to the cows, we stopped and petted the two ponies and one horse on the farm. They were so amazing! We were all in heaven. After the horses, we looked for the cows. We didn’t have to look far and soon came across three of them in a field. And oh my goodness, they are just the cutest things to walk this planet. We were seriously in heaven now. Two of them were pretty friendly and allowed us to get up close to them and take some pictures. One of them, however, was a bit of a grump, so we steered clear of him.

Following these amazing cows, we went and did some exploring of the farm. On our way to the shores of Loch Ness, we came across the farm’s dog, a super cute and lovable golden lab. I think that her name was Pearly. I have been seriously animal deprived here, so this day was seriously a slice of heaven. After our time with the dog, we went and looked over Loch Ness. The weather was still pretty overcast, but the loch was nevertheless very beautiful. I wish we could have had longer there, but we soon had to head into town to do some exploring before we had to leave Fort Augustus.

Once we got into the town, we went to explore the shores of Loch Ness again. There was a small piece of land that juts out into the loch which provided some more great views of the loch. I also went down by the water and put my hand into the water. Nessie didn’t come say hi, so all I got out of that was a freezing hand. After that we went and looked at the locks on the Caledonian Canal, which is a huge canal that connects Inverness in the north to the west coast near Fort William. We got to see the locks in action, which was pretty cool. After that we stopped at a gas station to grab some snacks, then loaded back on the bus to head back to Glasgow. I wish we could have had more time at Loch Ness, which would have been even more amazing if the weather had been nice. Oh well, it was still an amazing trip. Nettie even won a postcard from bus bingo! Poor Kayla did not win the cute stuffed animal Highland cow she wanted so badly.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip with our flatmate and her parents, who are lovely people. I hope that I will get to see them when I hopefully go visit Vancouver this summer. I can’t wait! So, dear reader, I hope you have enjoyed this story of my trip to Loch Ness. More is headed your way, so until then, cheers!

 

March: A Month of Adventures, Week 1, Part 1

This post is the start of my tellings of the many trips and events of March. Here begins the first week of March:

Even though it had only been two weeks since our trip to Edinburgh, by this weekend we were itching to get out and do some more exploring in Scotland. It is amazing how fast time is flying by. At this point, we only had three weeks of classes left before spring break (crazy right?)! Our spring holiday is also almost a month long and will be filled with more adventures both in and out of Scotland. These past two weeks were filled with classes and planning for future trips. Wednesday I had to face an awful German test, which literally had me on the verge of tears because I knew I had done so bad. And that day was made worse by the fact that I tripped and fell going up some concrete stairs in front of about twenty people. Talk about having a bad day. Luckily the day was later made better by the purchase of an absolutely divine caramel cheesecake. Made me feel instantly better. And by the next week, I found out that I had done better on the test than my previous one, which was a pleasant surprise.

After this rough week of classes, Nettie and I were ready to take a whole weekend of travels. We decided to take two trips with Student Tours Scotland. The first was to Oban and Inveraray, and the second to Glencoe and Loch Lomond. I will write this in two parts. So without further ado, our trip.

Oban and Inveraray

As with our past trip with Student Tours Scotland, our day started off with an early morning departure to the meeting point by Glasgow Caledonian University. After getting everyone checked in, we were off! Our journey started by heading north out of Glasgow. We passed Loch Lomond and soon were in the Highlands. This was our first time really in the Highlands and they were amazing. For someone who is not from a mountainous area, they seemed like mountains to me. Most of them are covered in snow and looked absolutely gorgeous in the early morning sun.

One thing I did not like about the Highlands was the roads. Driving through the Highlands on twisting roads in a coach bus is not fun. I am not normally someone who gets carsick, but those roads did it for me.  Thankfully, we soon took a rest break at the, wait for it….Rest and Be Thankful spot (hahaha those puns were intended but probably aren’t actually that funny to anyone else but me). Anyways, I was feeling real thankful for a short break outside of the car and this stop couldn’t have been more perfect. The Rest and Be Thankful spot sits at the top of an absolutely stunning valley nestled in the Highlands. Words cannot describe how beautiful it looked with blue skies and the shining sun. Simply breathtaking. It was the perfect place to stop.

a super sunny view of the Rest and Be Thankful stop

After that we hopped back on the bus and continued towards Inveraray. On the way we passed by a private castle that you can only see from the outside. We only got a small glimpse of it, but the loch it was situated on made up for it. Loch Awe was gorgeous. It is situated right in the Highlands and is the longest loch in Scotland. Now, for those of you who don’t know, a loch is a lake, but don’t ever call it a lake in Scotland. It’s a loch and if you call it anything else, a little part of our ginger tour guide’s soul dies and since he is a ginger, he doesn’t have much to go on anyways. I am going to have issues calling a lake a lake when I get home. I think loch sounds so much cooler.

Anyways, soon after seeing that castle we arrived in Inveraray, which is one of my favorite places in Scotland. It sits right on Loch Awe and is just the quaintest, most beautiful little town I have seen. The views of the loch and the Highlands are simply stunning. It also has a castle. What could be better? And this castle is pretty legit. It looks like something out of Disney and sits in one of the most stunning landscapes imaginable. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can visit it because it is privately owned, but you can admire it from a bridge that crosses the mouth of the river that flows into Loch Awe and runs alongside the castle. I seriously felt like I was in a Disney movie. It was very picturesque.

Sadly, we weren’t able to spend much time in Inveraray. Before we knew it, we had to say goodbye to this beautiful little town and continue our journey to the next stop. And would you know, on our way to the next location what did we see? A castle of course!! As we passed another loch we stopped the bus on the side of the road, jumped off, and took a quick picture of the castle. Granny tourism as Gary calls it. Then back on the bus and on to St. Conan’s Kirk.

St. Conan’s Kirk is a lovely old church that sits right on Loch Awe. It is surrounded by a lot of beautiful vegetation and the view of the loch from the church is absolutely stunning. The church itself is beautiful. It isn’t huge, but is still a fairly elaborate stone church. Overall, it was a lovely stop and a chance for us to get out and stretch our legs.

After that, it was on to Oban, which is a town situated on the western coast of Scotland. From the moment we arrived, I loved Oban. The town sits on the side of several hills and faces a gorgeous bay. The way we took into the town descended from the top of the town down to the bay and gave us a lovely view of Oban. Our first stop in Oban was to go on a walk along the bay. It was quite a lovely view and we also got to see an old castle from the distance. Gary also told us some mythology about the area, which is my favorite part of his trips. We also saw a ginormous ferry coming into Oban from Mull, one of the bigger islands of the Hebrides.

After that we were given free time to grab some lunch and explore Oban. We decided to go to a fish and chip place and ended up eating our lunch with two German guys we had been talking to. After our lunch we went to a delicious chocolate place/cafe and got some hot chocolate. According to Gary, it is the best hot chocolate in Scotland, but I thought that it was just ok.

We then met back up with the group and walked up to McCaig’s Tower, which is a memorial in Oban that looks like the Colosseum. Though it provided a beautiful view of Oban and the bay, the hike up there was not fun. The memorial sits up on top of a steep hill and we hard to march up it. I thought I was going to die. However, it was a nice view, so the grueling hike ended up being worth it.

Unfortunately, soon after our hike it was time to head back to Glasgow. However, we did make another stop to see a lovely waterfall by an old stone mill. Though it was only a quick stop, it was nice to get off the bus and hike in the woods a bit to see more of Scotland’s amazing nature and scenery. Back on the bus, we proceeded to play a game of bus bingo. For those of you who might have missed my last description of the game, I will describe it again. Bus bingo is just a normal game of bingo, except you have to cross off every number on your sheet (about 15 numbers I think). This game is taken very seriously by everyone on the bus. We are all in it to win the Highland Cow stuffed animal or the lesser prizes of little Nessies and postcards. Neither Nettie or I won on our last tour, but this time luck was on my side. I was the first winner, so I won the Highland Cow!! I shouldn’t be this excited about a little stuffed animal, but Highland Cows are just so darn cute and the stuffed animal is equally adorable.

And so concludes our adventure to Oban and Inveraray. It is a trip that I would highly, highly recommend for anyone traveling to Scotland. The locations are absolutely gorgeous and well worth your time.  I really hope to see them again someday.

More posts are coming your way dear few readers, so until then, Cheers!

A Lovely Journey to Aberdeen

Our visit to Aberdeen stands among the top places I have visited in Europe and ranks high among my Scotland adventures. I had the privilege to see one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It was phenomenal. Whatever I have to say about it or whatever pictures I post, you can not fully appreciate the beauty of what I visited yesterday.

This adventure was yet another tour with Student Tours Scotland. Gary is my favorite person here in Scotland and his tours are cheap and well worth the money. I get to learn so much more about the history and mythology of Scotland on his tours. Plus, he is absolutely hilarious, so I never fail to have fun on his tours. Anyways, this tour was to Aberdeen and Dunottar Castle. The trip was quite a haul, as Aberdeen is located in the northeast of Scotland. We drove around 2 and a half hours to Dunottar Castle with a short toilet stop on the way. It was this stop that would soon become one of my favorite places in Scotland.

Dunottar Castle is one of the most important castles in Scottish history. I would recommend looking up some of the information about its rich history, especially its role in saving the Scottish Crown Jewels. It is situated right on the ocean and is one of the most scenic and breathtaking views in Scotland. The castle sits right on the cliffs bordering the coast and even if the castle wasn’t there, the view would be amazing. Unfortunately, because it sits right on the cliffs, it is a bit difficult to get to. You have to walk down a hill, then walk back up some stone steps to the castle. Those steps are not fun to walk up when they are wet and you are only wearing wellies (rain boots). This is one of the reasons I severely regret not taking my hiking boots with me to Scotland.

However, once you make that climb, you are in for some amazing sights. The castle is a partial ruin, so a lot of it still stands, but is not in perfect condition. You are able to walk through most of it though. This place would have been huge in its day. There were so many different rooms for all sorts of things, like bedrooms, a large kitchen, some dining rooms, and even a small church. The views from the castle were simply stunning. Honestly, I can’t describe how beautiful this castle and scenery is. It is something you have to visit yourself to truly appreciate its beauty.

After about an hour of exploring the castle we started to head back towards the bus. Those stone steps I mentioned earlier? Well, they are ten times worse trying to go down. Luckily, I did not biff it in front of everybody. Unfortunately, some other girl fell into the mud as we were heading down the hill to the beach. Poor girl. She had to walk all the way back up to the castle to wash herself off in the restroom. I was lucky enough to make it down to the beach without wiping out, but just barely. Nettie decided to not even try and instead went to see the view from the cliffs next to the castle. For me though, the treacherous trip down to the beach was well worth it. Though it was a bit windy, the view was amazing. I even found myself some shells on the beach to take home.

After my sojourn to the beach, I headed back up the muddy hill. And man, I thought those stairs were bad on the way down. Walking up them was not fun. I had to take a break with some old people on a bench halfway up. Pathetic, huh? In my defense, my calves were burning and still sore from a hard workout at the gym on Thursday. I only stopped for a few minutes before walking the rest of the way up. I had a few minutes to spare before I had to be back at the bus, so I decided to walk a little ways towards the cliffs. That was where I found the most amazing view at Dunottar Castle. A little river had carved a gap between the cliffs and through that gap you could see the castle. It was breathtaking. I loved it.

Unfortunately, time passed too quickly and it was time to go to the bus. I wished I could have stayed there forever, it was so beautiful. I will definitely have to come back again. It would be well worth it. We then departed Dunottar Castle after waiting for a few people who were running late. It was time for Aberdeen. The drive there was only about a half hour, so before we knew it we were there.

Our first stop in Aberdeen was to see part of the older section of the city. Our bus dropped us off by the University of Aberdeen and Gary showed us around some of the older buildings. Unfortunately, we kinda crashed a wedding by looking around the church and generally just being a large tour group marring the landscape around the church. Oops. We only were there for a bit of time, so I’m sure we didn’t interrupt much. After that we went to look at this nice old historic bridge. As we admired the bridge, one girl discovered that a seal was staring at us from the water! It was so cute! It just floated there staring at us for five minutes before swimming off. Our tour guide said he felt bad for the little guy, because he was really far up river so he was probably lost. Poor fella. Hopefully he found his way back to the ocean alright. (You can see his head in the middle of this photo)

After that we were allowed some free time in Aberdeen. We were dropped off in the city centre and given around 2 hours to explore. Our first stop was to get some food, which we got from a nice pub. Following our lunch, we admired the outside of an old church and a graveyard. It was cool because all of the gravestones were covered in vibrant green plant growth. We next moved onto Marischal College, which is a really cool looking building. Now, there is something I should tell you about Aberdeen. Nearly all of the buildings are made of gray granite. Gary wants to call his tour to Aberdeen “Fifty Shades of Gray”, because nearly all the buildings in the city are varying shades of gray. Though it seemed just a bit drab because of the cloudy and rainy weather, I can imagine that it is beautiful on a sunny day.

Unfortunately, our time soon ran out in Aberdeen. After grabbing some coffee and using the toilet, it was time to board the bus and head back to Glasgow. We had nearly a three hour bus ride ahead of us, but we were well occupied by Gary and bus bingo. Though I didn’t win this time, it was a hilarious game due to Gary’s stories and jokes. Overall, it was a lovely trip that I hope to make again in the future. Both Dunottar Castle and Aberdeen are gorgeous places that I would recommend everyone visit.

I am actually impressed with myself for getting this post done within a week of the trip! Now to continue working on past posts. They are coming your way dear readers, so until then, Cheers!

A Week of Adventures

A belated post from the week of February 14-20.

This week of adventures was both a week of stress and relaxation. Though it was “reading week” for most of my classes, which means that I get classes off for the week, I was super bogged down with homework. I had a 2,000 word essay due Thursday, and yet another 1,700 word essay due the Monday following reading week. The reading week was supposed to provide me a chance to catch up on reading, but that didn’t happen. It was mostly spent working on the first essay. I wasn’t even able to start writing the second until Sunday. My brain is on overload. Luckily I had some amazing activities to attend that gave me a bit of a break from the writing.

The first event was a Brett Eldredge concert here in Glasgow. I am not a huge country music fan, but my best friend and my sister love him, so I decided to go along to the concert with Nettie and my flatmate Kayla, along with two other friends of ours. We decided to gather up at our flat for some drinks and pizza before the concert. We ordered Dominos, which happily they have here in Scotland, and oh my goodness it was so delicious. Instead of walking/taking the underground to the city centre, we decided to get an Uber ride. That was my first Uber ride, and I can say that I am really liking the idea. It was so much cheaper than taking a taxi. However, we did have to wait for 45 minutes in the freezing cold and rain, but it ended up being worth it.

Now, even though I don’t normally like modern country music, I absolutely loved Brett Eldredge. He is one of the most talented singers I have listened to and he has an amazing stage presence. The concert was tons of fun. And, he actually jumped down from the stage to take pictures and give autographs. My group of friends got a picture with him and my sister got his autograph. It was amazing. He is one of the most genuine, nice, and funny singers out there. After the concert we went across the street to a delicious ice cream parlor. Unfortunately, it was about to close, so after we got our ice cream we went outside and were promptly greeted by killer wind and rain. We ended up taking shelter in a nearby Subway while we waited for our Uber ride to pick us up. Overall, a wonderful night.

The next few days were just spent working on my two essays, until Friday. That was the day we left for Edinburgh. I was super excited because I had heard that Edinburgh was amazing, so I was so ready to see it for myself. Departing from Glasgow around ten o’clock, we took a bus over to Edinburgh. They are not very far apart, so it only took a little over an hour to reach Edinburgh. Upon our arrival we ventured to the mall next to the station to use the restroom, since you had to pay 30 pence to use the one at the station! At the mall we went to one of the very touristy stores I usually try to avoid, but on this occasion we had time to kill. I also really wanted to buy a Scottish flag, which I was able to find in the store for fairly cheap.

Following that we went to find the Scott Monument, where we were going to meet our host for the place we had booked with Airbnb. Luckily the monument was easy to find because it is absolutely huge. If you go to the top you can see over all of Edinburgh, though we didn’t do that ourselves because it cost £4. When we arrived at the monument we still had time to kill so we decided to get something to eat at a food kiosk nearby. We ordered some cheesy chips (cheese fries), which I thought would just be the usual fries with some liquid cheese on top. However, cheese chips here at chips with actually shredded cheese on top. It is so much better. Soon after we finished eating our chips we waited by the monument to meet our host. She arrived in just a little while and we got the key to our place.

After that we decided to go drop off our bags at the place. The flat we booked was located fairly close to the center of town. We just had to walk across a giant stretch of grass known as the Meadows. The flat itself was pretty nice. We just had the fold out couch in the living room, but it was still lovely. After dropping of our stuff there we headed back into the main part of Edinburgh to explore.

Our first stop was to see Greyfriars Bobby, which is a statue of a famous dog in Edinburgh. The story of Greyfriars Bobby is that when his owner died he stayed at the grave for something like fifteen years or more. He was a testament of true loyal. Tons of people go to see his statue and rub his nose (which we did). You can also go into Greyfriars Kirkyard (which was a church with a graveyard) nearby to see his grave. People still lay flowers, sticks, and more there. We also looked around the rest of the kirkyard, which was very beautiful. While in there a stranger approached us and asked us if we were Harry Potter fans. I said yes and he asked if we new where to find Tom Riddle’s grave, which I had no idea about. Apparently J.K. Rowling got the name for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from a grave in this kirkyard that she visited often while writing Harry Potter. That got me super excited. We were ready to scour the kirkyard looking for this grave until we found a tour group gathered around a grave, which we figured was probably for Tom Riddle. Luckily it was, so we didn’t have to search the rest of the kirkyard. I trekked through the mud to the grave marker, took a picture, and then proceeded to walk back up the sloped ground a different way than I had gone down. Big mistake. As many of you know, it rains in Scotland. A lot. And what does rain make? Mud. And who decided to walk up this slippery and muddy slope? Me. That was an adventure. It seemed like for two steps I took, I slipped back one. Let’s just say that is took forever to make it up the hill and my shoes were caked in mud by the time i was on flat ground.

The weather was rather chilly, so Nettie and I decided to make another tourist/coffee stop after the kirkyard: the Elephant House. For the Harry Potter fans out there, this was where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series. So far Edinburgh was a fangirl’s dream come true. In the shop I got a delicious hot chocolate and Nettie got some coffee. It was wonderful being in the birthplace of Harry Potter. Nettie didn’t care too much about it, but I was geeking out.

After our coffee break we decided to go see the anglican cathedral in Edinburgh, St. Giles’ This place was the first church I have been in that required you to buy a photo pass, which was the only way you could take pictures of the interior of the church. That was very strange. We decided to just admire the church without taking pictures because we didn’t want to pay £2 each. The interior was very beautiful. They had some lovely side chapels, beautiful stained glass windows, and an absolutely gorgeous organ. Overall a lovely church.

Following St. Giles’ we decided to take a gander at some of the shops nearby. Our first stop was a whiskey shop. For those of you who don’t know, Scotland is renowned for its whiskey. We wanted to see what the average price of whiskey was to get an idea for some potential gifts to take home. However, the whiskey was expensive. I hope that all whiskey isn’t that expensive and that it was just the shop we were in. I really want to try a bit of Scottish whiskey while I am here, so hopefully I can find somewhere that isn’t too expensive. After the whiskey shop we looked at a few other shops, then decided to head somewhere from dinner.

The place on the top of our list for food was Mum’s, which our host had recommended to us. It is just a small feel good food restaurant. Upon walking in we were greeted rather enthusiastically by our waitress, who told us to seat ourselves. Once we sat down and started browsing the menu I was hit by a revelation. It was Friday and it was Lent, which for this Catholic here meant no meat. For most people this probably isn’t that hard. They can turn to things like salads, vegetarian options, or fish. But this girl hates vegetables and seafood. So with no tuna salad options (tuna is the only fish I will eat) or any viable meatless options, after a lifetime of meat free Fridays in Lent, I ordered a chicken pie. I felt kinda bad, but figured it would be okay to not follow the tradition this one time. But man, that chicken pie was sure worth it. Just thinking back on it is making me salivate. This chicken pie was heaven on earth. Absolutely delicious. If any of you get the chance to go to Edinburgh, GO TO MUMS. You will not regret it. It was pretty cheap and absolutely amazing.

After our delicious dinner we headed to the venue of the Walk the Moon concert. Luckily it wasn’t located too far away, so the walk didn’t kill us. Plus, the venue was located close to our place, which was an added bonus. We arrived there about an hour early and had to wait in the cold until the doors opened at 7:30. Once we got into the venue we had to wait another hour before the concert. However, our hour of outside waiting paid off because we got to be right at the front!!! So amazing. We weren’t in the center, but we were in the front row right by the right side of the stage. It was the perfect spot. The venue itself was pretty cool. I think it used to be some sort of church or synagogue. It had an open floor space before the stage and then wooden benches surrounding the room. There was also a second level that also wrapped around the room. It wasn’t a huge venue, which was really nice.

After enduring an hour of standing about doing nothing the opening band came on. Having written this post a couple of weeks after the concert I cannot remember the name of the band. They were from the US (Nashville I think) and were pretty good. A bit loud, but nice energy and sound. Once they finished up we waited a half an hour until Walk the Moon came on. Here was the moment I had been waiting for and they did not disapoint. Walk the Moon was absolutely fantastic. They have a wonderful stage present and sound great live. The concert was tons of fun and I really hope to go to another when I get home. I had already been to one of their concerts, but it was at a music festival in Milwaukee that was filled with tons of people. This time I got to be right up front and it made their concert even more fantastic. Following the concert we met up with our flatmate Kayla at a pub for some drinks for a couple hours then headed back to our place for the night.

The following morning we woke up around 8:30, got ready, packed up, and left our place. We met Kayla at a restaurant called Spoon for breakfast. It was a nice little restaurant near the University of Edinburgh. It had a very lovely ambiance, but it was a bit pricey. I got delicious waffles with bacon, blueberries, and syrup. For the price, I thought I would be getting a good size waffle, but they were the size of those frozen toaster waffles you can get at the store and were really thin and crunchy like them too. At least the bacon and blueberries were fantastic. For the price I paid though I was a bit unimpressed. Oh well.

After breakfast we decided to look around the University of Edinburgh and see the competition. For those of you who don’t know there is a huge rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Citizens of the cities hate each other (but not in an absolute, all consuming type of hatred, just general dislike I guess). So naturally being students at the University of Glasgow, we had to go look at the University of Edinburgh. I can say one thing: most of it is not nearly as pretty as Glasgow Uni (at least the old parts of the Uni). Their student union however was very beautiful. The inside was decorated in some lovely woodwork and they had a baby grand piano in their lunch room/lounge.

We decided not to take up much more time at the university so we didn’t look at much of the rest of the university and instead went to the Elephant House again with Kayla. She is also a Harry Potter fan, so she appreciated the place as much as I did. This time I decided to get a treat there and ordered a piece of lavender cake, which was a bit of daring on my part. Most of you know that I am a pretty picky eater, but in general I do like most desserts. However, I wasn’t too sure about lavender cake. I just associate lavender with lotion and the like, so to have a lavender flavored cake seemed a bit weird. The barista did recommend it, so I went out on a limb and tried it. That cake changed my life. Seriously one of the most delicious desserts I have ever had. It was nice and moist (which is what a cake should be like) and the flavor was fabulous. It tasted just like the smell of lavender, which is a bit of a weird sensation. I am glad it was good though because there are some things that smell good but taste awful (take for example vanilla extract: smells like heaven but if you taste it before you put it into food it tastes disgusting. And yes, I was once stupid enough to taste vanilla extract.) Anyways, this cake was a little slice of heaven. I would definitely recommend it. One new thing I discovered about the Elephant House is that the bathrooms are completely graffitied with Harry Potter stuff. It seems like people just take sharpies in there and write on the walls. It was pretty nifty. Maybe next time I go I will leave my mark.

After our delicious pit stop we moved on to the National Museum of Scotland. One thing I love about the UK is that their government owned museums are free to the public, so we didn’t have to pay anything to go in. We only had a bit of time before we planned on catching a free walking tour of Edinburgh, but we still went in for a look. One of the first things we visited was the museum’s beautiful atrium. It is a large open space that looks up to the other levels. The glass roof lets in a lot of light and makes everything so bright and beautiful. It was in itself a treasure. Nettie and I wanted to find some items that we had talked about in our Celtic Civilisation course so we ventured to the ancient Scottish history section. Luckily we found the items we were looking for with relative ease, so we had plenty of time to admire them before we had to leave. I am hoping that I can spend more time there on my next visit to Edinburgh.

Our next stop was to find the meeting point of the free walking tour. We couldn’t exactly locate where the group was meeting, which was fine because we decided to not go on the tour due to some crappy weather. Instead, we went into an old church that had been converted into a marketplace. Nettie and I found ourselves some lovely scarves there for a decent price, which proved to be a good decision since the weather outside continued to be very windy and rainy. We still decided to venture outside, but only long enough to walk to the National Galleries, where we found some lovely but mostly ugly and ridiculously overpriced artwork at an exhibition.

We decided to brave the weather once again, but upon leaving the art gallery we found the weather to be much improved. It had stopped raining and wasn’t quite so windy anymore. We then proceeded to venture up to Edinburgh Castle, but by way of the walking paths up the hill (my decision because I wanted an adventure). That soon became a decision I severely regretted. I thought it would just be a nice little hike up a hill, but no. It was much steeper than it appeared from bellow. By the time we reached the top I was huffing and puffing more than the big bad wolf himself.

However, the view from the hill was beautiful. The sun was shining on beautiful Edinburgh and it was breathtaking. The castle itself was also an amazing sight to see. We decided to walk through the main gates and see how much of the castle we could see without paying, because castles here are expensive to see and we didn’t feel like paying. We were able to see the main courtyard that led up to the inner gates, but couldn’t see much else. We did, however, find some clean looking telephone boxes to get the stereotypical tourist picture in. Following that we took some pictures in front of the castle and then explored the area around the castle.

Soon after that it was time to meet Nettie’s friends who are also studying in Scotland. They are participating in a program located just outside of Edinburgh and were able to catch a bus into the city to meet us for dinner. We decided on a restaurant called the Boozy Cow, which turned out to be an excellent decision because they have an amazing dish called the mac and cheese waffle. That delicious food changed my life. It was basically mac and cheese formed into a square paddy and fried, then covered in cheese sauce. It was a heart attack waiting to happen, but man, it was delicious. Culinary heaven.

Unfortunately, after our meal it was time to head to the bus station to return to Glasgow. I really enjoyed Edinburgh and really hope to visit it again (which now that I am finally publishing this post, I am heading there on Monday to meet up with a friend). It is a beautiful city with so much more for me to discover, and it is so close to Glasgow, so I can easily visit.

Phew. Finally got that post done! This visit was almost two months ago and I have many more adventures to tell you all about. More is headed your way soon, so until then, Cheers!

 

Heading Out of Scotland

Hello all!! I’m back after several weeks of not writing! I’m so sorry! I’ve been busy traveling about Scotland and finishing up classes, so I haven’t had much time to be writing. I have a few posts started, but I have yet to finish them. They should be heading your way within the next few weeks. I know you all will be eagerly waiting for them. 😉

So anyway, my primary excuse for not writing has been because of classes. Here at the University of Glasgow, they only have eleven weeks of classes. This week we finally finished up! FREEDOM!!!!! Well, freedom until the end of April. We get almost a month of break before we come back for the final period, which lasts for a month. My first exam is April 21, then I don’t have one until May 6, and then not until May 17, 19, and 20. Wooho!! Plenty of time for traveling and studying!

Speaking of traveling, Nettie and I are off to London tomorrow!!! I can’t wait. It has been almost two years since I was there with my choir and I am so excited to go back with less people. Unfortunately, our flight leaves at 6:50, so we have to be leaving our place at 5:15. And with the recent attacks in Brussels, I am sure that security is going to be heightened. I pray that nothing happens in London while we are there. After London we will be heading over to Cardiff, which will be our first time in Wales. And we are going to go to the Doctor Who Experience!!!!! I’m so excited!!! My fangirl dreams are about to come true.

So, for all of you anxiously waiting for my posts, you will have to wait a bit longer. I solemnly swear that I will catch up on the posts after our trip to London and Cardiff. We won’t be going anywhere until April 11, so I will have some time to sit down and write. I have many adventures I can’t wait to share!! Until then, Cheers!!!