Aye, Scotland!

I come to you a tired traveler, after a long weekend book-ended by two busy weeks. After I last updated, on Wednesday, our group went out to dinner for my roommate, Sarah's, 21st birthday. We went to a small French bistro in Covent Garden, which was lovely, then got to experience one of London's most famous and interesting clubs. Called the Absolut Ice Bar, it's exactly what you'd think - a bar made entirely out of ice. You can only go in for 40 minutes, and they make you wear these thick poncho things with gloves attached and a hood! I thought it was silly at first, but once I got in I understood completely - it's freezing! The bar, seats, tables, walls, even the glasses are all made of ice, and the drinks they give you glow in the dark! It was quite an experience, even if I was freezing the whole time. After our time ran out and we were all sufficiently frostbitten, we went to a nearby bar and danced the night away.

The next day Sarah and I got on a night train headed to Edinburgh, Scotland, where we arrived early Friday morning. The air was crisp and damp as we stepped off the bus, and we hurried to our hostel, called Castle Rock, where we left our luggage for the day. The hostel is actually built inside an old castle-like building, so there are tons of rooms and each one has an interesting theme. Ours was "Scottish Isles" and my island was called "Raasay," Sarah's was "Skye." That day we walked around the city for a while, grabbed some dinner at a nice little pub called The New Bell, then went on a city pub crawl, sponsored by a free tour group. We got to visit several of Edinburgh's great pubs and bars, ending up in a hip club where we danced the night away, yet again.

Saturday, we woke up a little too early and got on another bus to take a full day tour of the Highlands, the northern countryside of Scotland where the traditional clans once lived. Think Braveheart. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and had some great stories, which kept us entertained for the 12 hour tour. We stopped in a bunch of places for photos, and ended up in Loch Ness for two hours at lunch time. Sarah and I walked out to the loch (which just means lake) and took a ton of pictures. It reminded me a lot of Lake Placid from when I backpacked there a few years back. Absolutely beautiful. I dared to touch the dark, mysterious water, but sadly we didn't catch a glimpse of Nessie, the famous monster of the loch. Back on the bus, we saw more beautiful countryside, and ended up back in Edinburgh in time to go back to our hostel and pass out from sheer exhaustion.

Sunday was a calmer day, spent taking a free four hour walking tour of the city. We got to see all of Edinburgh's highlights, like the Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile (high street), and my personal favorite part: HARRY POTTER SIGHTS!! The tour guide asked the group, "does anyone here care about Harry Potter by chance?" at which I just about exploded and screamed "I do, I do!!" jumping up and down, while the rest of the group stared. I had heard about all of the Harry Potter sights in Edinburgh, as the city was where JK wrote the books and got most of her inspiration, and I was so ready to see them all, having been a Harry Potter fan since the very beginning. I was practically crying as the guide showed us the cafe where she sat to write the books, since she was too poor to afford heating in her house. I took a moment to look at her seat, at her table, at her window, and picture her sitting there, writing about the characters I loved so much. Next, we were taken to the graveyard where many of the names of characters came from - and I got to see the grave of Tom Riddle. For those of you who know anything about Harry Potter, you'll understand how exciting this was. We even got to see the two castles that inspired Hogwarts! So exciting!! Ok, enough Harry Potter. The rest of the tour was great as well, especially all the parts that bashed England, because it was just funny how much the Scots seemingly hate England, even though I know deep down they really love them. They're like two quarreling siblings.

Our time in Scotland ended with a great meal and a run to the bus station. The ride back to London was long and uncomfortable, but I bought a cozy fleece Burberry print blanket to keep me warm for the trip, so that helped a bit. We got back to the city very early, went back to bed, and I made it to class in the afternoon. I spent the whole evening writing a paper on the English Monarchy, Buckingham Palace, the River Thames, and Greenwich. It turned out well, and I turned it in this morning in class. Today's tour was of the East End of London, which was less epic than others but just as interesting. We saw the international area, and Brick Lane, a currently Bangali neighborhood where we got some good curry. It used to be dominantly Jewish, and a good bagel shop still remains, so we stocked up. My favorite part of the day was seeing Dennis Sever's House. An American, Sever's was obsessed with British history, so he came to London and restored a house to Victorian style, and now you can our it. It's incredible. He got everything right down to the tiniest detail. It even sounds and SMELLS like an old Victorian home. Everything is real - from the bed frames to the boiled egg on a plate. I was told there was a cat running around the house, which I looked hard for, but couldn't find, much to my dismay. My cat-withdrawal continues.

A great weekend and start to a great week. Tomorrow is our last day of class for this week, as we leave early Thursday morning for... drumroll... PARIS!!! The weekend will be jam-packed, since our program has planned most of it for us and is footing a lot of the bill (yay!). Activities so far include a Seine river cruise, tour of the Musee D'Orsay, Louvre (of course), Eiffel Tower, possible trips to Versailles and Giverny (I LOVE Monet), and a walking tour of the Marais, a shopping and good historical area. And, of course, LOTS of croissants, crepes, and other delicious French food! Should be fantastique! I know pretty much zero French, so hopefully my skills will improve by the time I come home on Sunday. And then, Mom comes to visit on Monday! Should be an absolutely amazing week or so, I'm so excited!! Wish me luck in Paris, au revoire!

Love!

Photos: Loch Ness, Glencoe in the Highlands, Sarah and me with Hermish the wooly cow, cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, Sarah and me with Tom Riddle's grave, cold at the Ice Bar!