Edinburgh cont'd.

Well we are back in Edinburgh once more. I did manage to get a top bunk this time, so I'm not freaking out about the mouse attacking. Small blessings.

We said farewell to Keith on Friday and in honor of Iris' birthday, he came out dancing with us. It was awesome. That guy has got some moves. I'm glad that Rick has joined us and I'm looking forward to his class, but we all wish that Keith could stay a little longer. Oh well, I will be in the Core 150 powerpoint on the Celtic influence.

Two days ago I got to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo with Ashley (well sort of). It was amazing. Think of the best marching band you have ever seen and multiply it by a thousand, oh and add bagpipes. I really enjoyed it and it brought me back to the old days of marching band at Anderson.

Yesterday I got to see a couple plays. Rick recommended this dance parody show, so we all bought tickets and went. It was....interesting to say the least. I don't think I have ever seen so much of a man's body before. It was a bit scarring, but also hilarious. Not what I was expecting, for sure. We had an awkward hour in between the dance show and our next play so we went to coffee (a vanilla steamer for me) at Elephant House. This was where most of the first Harry Potter book was written. It was pretty crowded, but my steamer was delicious and we just got to chill for a little bit. And then we went to see Titus of Andronicus. It was really really intense and depressing. Not exactly how I wanted to end my night, but eh, theater is an experience.

Today we had class for a little in the corridor of the hostel, and then headed out to see about tattoos. I've been thinking about getting the Gaelic for perseverance on my ankle for a while, but I didn't really know what all it entailed. I'm still considering it, but it definitely won't be happening til we get back to the states. It's a forever kind of decision, and I don't want to make it on the fly.

Then we journeyed to the Edinburgh book fair to potentially Sean Connery. Basically we saw him at close range and even sang Happy Birthday to him. It was really funny. He came out and kind of brushed people off (not in a rude way though) and was hurrying out. Then he saw the complimentary whiskey and stopped to grab like 4 bottles. Hee. So yes, we have now met James Bond. Afterwards we just kept repeating "We just met Sean Connery!"

It began to rain so we ran for the nearest H&M (Dani you would be proud). I got some much needed articles of clothing. We are all kind of readjusting the wardrobes as we figure out what is actually needed. It's funny because we are definitely the most unfashionable people here, but I'm guessing by the time I get back to the States, I will finally be a trendy person. Gasp.

Tonight we are going to see a play called 365 which is about the foster care system in Scotland. I'm kind of psyched about it. That's roughly the field I'm interested in and I'm intrigued to see what the system is like here in Scotland.

Well that is all on the blogging front for now. Tomorrow we have off and Wednesday we head for Glasgow, then Aberystwyth (Wales!) and Cardiff. I don't know what internet will be like in those cities but hopefully I can update again soon.

Love and miss you all (especially if you took the time to read all this)

Edinburgh pt. 2 and Culrain

Well I forget what I mentioned in the last update, but our hostel here in Edinburgh kind of stinks. It's ok though because it's the kind of suckiness that makes good stories. We have showers that go from freezing cold to boiling lava hot, we have a gushing fire alarm from the ceiling, a mouse crawling around and eating food and for breakfast we get two pieces of toast. Yeah. It was a bit rough. Did I mention that all 16 girls are in one room? Because we are. And that room has one very squeaky door. Haha. I laugh with crazy eyes.

So luckily we left a couple days ago to journey to Culrain which is a tiny town waaaay north in Scotland. It took about 6 hours by train to get there, but it was gorgeous. Mountains covered in heather with little streams, brooks and waterfalls peeking out. We got to stay in a beautiful castle that doubled as a youth hostel. And only 8 people in a room. And a library stocked full of fun books. Unfortunately, as this course is drawing to a close we had to study for our final! Weird right? We are all bummed to be losing Keith. There was a ping-pong tournament last night in Culrain and his faces were absolutely amazing and ridiculous.

Thankfully in Culrain I also got a chance to go running. I didn't really feel safe going in the big city so I've only been in York so far. I went running on trails back. I took the one labeled "Loch" and after a few wrong turns on bike trails, I stumbled upon this awe-inspiring view. I wish I could upload the picture right now but it was farmland with sheep and cows dotted on it, leading to a huge still lake. Mist was rising up on the mountains and the sun was just breaking through the clouds and of course everything was covered in the bright purple of heather. I don't feel as though I'm using the Lord's name in vain when I say, God it was amazing. I ran for 45 minutes and would've kept going, but I thought I would miss breakfast.

In other breaking news, I had the first good shower of this trip in Culrain. It was a good temperature, it drained, and no one walked in. So A plus to this hostel.

Now we are back in Edinburgh and starting our second class. It should be fun with all the crazy Fringe stuff going on! We are excited to see the last of this hostel though. We have access to internet here so you will probably get another update soon.

Durham and Edinburgh (part 1)

After leaving York we took a train to Durham. The train over was packed because of all the people headed to the Fringe festival in Edinburgh. We ended up sitting on the floor and nearly being attacked by this huge angry German shepherd some lady brought on to the train. It was freaky!

It reminded me a lot of York. A lot smaller and way more chill than London. We hoofed up this huge hill with our backpacks (thank goodness I didn't bring a rolling bag!) and found ourselves looking at Durham Cathedral and the castle where we would be staying.

Currently the castle is used as student housing (aka it's someone's Arend). Initially we were just super excited about decent sized rooms that we only had to share with one person and nice showers and pretty views. Then night fell....Old castles make freaky noises at night!

We got to explore the cathedral a bit that afternoon. It's Keith's favorite and we all got why. It felt like it had just been carved out of the rock. Also, St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede are buried there and to top it off Harry Potter was filmed in the Cloisters there! That was pretty exciting. We stayed for Evensong which required that we kneel. As most of you know, since the whole knee thing...I don't kneel because of the pain. But I did and I didn't feel any pain at all. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I feel like maybe I was healed a little bit by St. Cuthbert so I went back and prayed for my mom as well. He's known as a healer, so you never know.

The next day we took a day trip to Hadrian's Wall. It was absolutely gorgeous. As soon as I can I will upload some pictures of it. We also got to see Robin Hood's tree from the Kevin Costner version and a heckuva lot of sheep poop. Unfortunately it rained most of the hike which meant I was looking at the ground and the slick grass and rocks more than the view. I did my best though! That evening we just hung out at the castle bar for a couple hours. I tried pear cider and it was amazing!

This morning we got on a train to Edinburgh and luckily got some seats this time. Which was lucky because of the beautiful coastal views we got to see. Upon arriving it turned out that the hostel had lost our reservations. So we are all 16 girls in one room with about a jillion bunk beds. It should be interesting.

We strolled around Edinburgh this afternoon. The Fringe festival is insane. I've had so many what the heck? moments that I can't even describe. It's just masses and masses of people all trying to get you to come see their performances. Some are in crazy costumes and some are just crazy. Ashley got barked at by a lady.

There's a pretty decent internet cafe here and we'll be in Edinburgh for the next 6 days I believe. It should be pretty awesome. Also, I promise I will send the postcards soon! It just turns out that I need another sticker for international travel.

All sorts of things..

Well I forget exactly where I left off. Since we left London the internet has been a little more challenging to procure. Let's see. York is gorgeous! Seriously it is one of the cutest cities I've ever been in. Unfortunately our hostel is over a mile away from town and the train station so we've gotten a lot of walking in. 

When we arrived we took a, you guessed it, walking tour of York. Highlights included the smallest window in York (hee!) and a really cool view of Yorkminster, the cathedral here. We also got to see where Keith was an intern here. We attended service there tonight and it was amazing. The worship was great (they even played Casting Pearls, Callie!) and the prayer was so down to earth and real. We prayed for international troubles and it really felt like the congregation was sincere in praying for everything. The sermon was almost like a history lesson, but better. It was on Christian martyrs, and really inspirational. I feel so renewed in my faith since being here.

We also took a day trip to Whitby Abbey. After some minor troubles when our bus broke down we finally made it there. It was gorgeous. We had to climb up 200 stairs and then we were there on the edge of the sea. We got yelled at for climbing on the Abbey, but the pictures were worth it. Plus it was neat to touch history. Whitby is where the Synod of Whitby was held in the 7th century that showed the split between Roman and Celtic traditions (like tonsure and the date of Easter). Also the ocean view was really pretty and the fish and chips were delicious.

Friday we went clubbing and learned that cute British boys do indeed exist here. Mostly we just had fun dancing and singing really obnoxiously to "Yeah" by Usher. We also learned that boys are sketchy and you shouldn't pay 5 pounds to enter a lame club. I've never really experienced that lifestyle before so it's interesting dipping my toe in. I know it's definitely not for me long term.

Saturday was a free day, but it rained all day long. I went off by myself and wandered around trying to find a cute cafe to read my book in. I finally found one, but there were no seats available. These cute old ladies invited me to join them and it was fun. The hot chocolate was good too. 

Earlier this week I realized I had to go shopping so I found good deals on a couple of shirts. I think for the most part I packed correctly, but definitely more than 4 shirts was needed. The clothesline has been very effective and useful here, especially since the dryer does not appear to work.

Tonight we went out to a pub called the Yorkshire Terrier after church. It was a blast! I really like cider so I had most of a pint of that. And then we all sang along to the music. Giselle even got up and sung with the live music guy. Everyone there probably thought we were drunk, but really it was just fun being silly together.

I'm excited to head to Durham tomorrow, but I will miss York. It's a beautiful city that I would love to visit again. We just scratched the surface, and there is so much more to see. However, we do get to stay in a castle and see Hadrian's wall. If you are taking Core 150 next year be sure you look for me in one of Keith's lectures.

Love all of you and miss you a ton.

Send me emails! I'm sending postcards ASAP.

Wesley House, St. Pauls, and Les Miserables!

Today was particularly awesome. I discovered that I could order just scrambled eggs for breakfast, which is far more appetizing. We headed to the Wesley house and chapel (home of John and Charles Wesley). It was really neat and helped me understand William Wilberforce (the guy I researched) a little better. Unfortunately I got my paper back and I only did ok on it. It's not the end of the world, but that's one of the papers I put more effort into so I'm a little nervous. After the tours we went to the Dunhill Dissenter's cemetery. It was really interesting. I saw William Blake's grave (he wrote Tyger, Tyger for my fellow middle school choir friends). I also got to see the grave of Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame.

After a quick lunch in the Financial District (hello cute English boys in suits) we hiked to St.Paul's Cathedral. We climbed a grand total of 557 steps to reach the top and an amazing view of London. It was sweaty and a little scary, but totally worth it. About halfway up there was a Whispering Gallery where you could literally put your ear on the wall on one side and hear people talking across the gallery. It was freaky!

Then we were free for the afternoon. Claire, Ashley, and I decided we wanted to see a musical so after much searching we got 15 pound restricted view tickets to Les Miserables!! However, the people next to us didn't show up, so we actually had pretty sweet seats. It was amazing. I really liked the music, though I was definitely rooting for Epamine (probably butchered but I didn't want to pay 7 pounds for a program) over Cosette. And now I've seen Les Mis in London. (Mom and Dad---I saw the theater where we saw Mamma Mia too!) Then we took the Tube back to St. Athan's. We got asked for directions by some guys on the way back which was a good sign.

Tomorrow we are headed to Westminster Abbey and the British Library. I think I am going to try to spend the afternoon in the British Museum. Tomorrow I might try and see if I can upload a couple pictures to Facebook. I've already taken over 100! I miss yall, but it is pretty awesome here. Except for the showers. They are communal in our hotel and they make Arend look like a 5 star hotel.

English breakfasts and exploration

On a side note, English breakfasts are going to take some getting used to.


Today we went on a walking tour in the rain of London. We saw the Eye, Trafalgar Square, quite a few bridges, and Parliament. I also got to see the park by Buckingham Palace that Dad and I ran in last time we were here. I think we are also getting more used to the tube. Some time before we head to York a bunch of us are going to go to King's Cross station and take pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4, because we can. There is so much we want to do and we leave in the next couple days. I think we are going out to a pub again tonight. I found out that the "beer" I really liked, is in fact, cider. So that makes more sense. I had a tuna fish and sweet corn sandwich for dinner tonight from a grocery store. Surprisingly awesome. Made me miss home though. Well I'm not sure how often I will be updating once we get to York, so treasure these moments :)!

Travel & London

So today we reached London after about 24 hours of me being up! I currently am surviving on about 3 hours of sleep from the plane. Luckily they had Ironman as one of the movie options. We arrived and promptly got on the Tube. It was nice and comfortable for awhile, but then it got packed. We were worried we wouldn't be able to get off the Tube! However things were fine and we walked to hour hotel, St. Athan's in London near Hyde Park. After wandering around all 4 stories for about 20 minutes we finally found our rooms. They were in no way shape or form in numerical order. And we have communal bathrooms. Oh well it's nice to have place to unpack and stay for a little. Then we went exploring and found a pub. I had a pint of Foster's and it was delicious. I also got to have a shot called "Duck Farts" It was pretty good! The whole pub thing was really chill and fun. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of London down by the Thames it should be good and then we are headed to church somewhere around here. All is well. We are safe and happy and excited for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get to update again soon!!