Day Trips, Yo.

So, I promised at the tail-end of my last post that I would tell you all about my day trip to Oban.  Well, because I took forever to get to this, you now get a two-for-one deal!  First, I'll tell you the boring things about my schoolwork.  Namely that I have three big assignments (each of the three counting for 50% of my grade in each class) that are due back to back.  One last week, one this week and one the week after that.  I've been slaving away on these papers and reports like a madwoman and am almost finished, so now that there is officially light at the end of the tunnel again, I can take a minute to update all of you. ;)

 

On my trip to Oban, I was accompanied by two foundational members of the Adventuring Club, Alyssa and Marianthi!  The trip was organized through school and we wanted to sign up in order to go through the highlands again.  The major draw of Oban is that it's all the way on the other side of the country, laying on the west coast of Scotland.  We boarded the bus early (which is a pain in the ass on a Saturday, but we can't resist a good day trip so we put up with it) and then started the 2 hour journey out west.  The scenery was beautiful and I noted a few places that I'd like to visit in future trips, especially one great-looking castle on a lake and Loch Lubnaig which is a truly stunning lake which twists in between two towering mountains!  When we got to Oban, we didn't have very much time to explore, so we took some pictures on the coastline, had lunch, pet a few dogs (our favorite hobby) and then walked around the town.  We also stopped at two small towns during the trip - one on the way there and one on the way back - and got to explore some pretty nice locations there, as well.  Overall, a very scenic and successful trip.  And that cow....what?! lol

However, it doesn't really hold a candle to the magnificence that was yesterday's day trip!  Yours truly, Marianthi, Alyssa and new addition to the Adventuring Club Pierrick went to the Lake District in England.  Now, the Lake District (located in the northwest corner of England) is actually the largest national park in England.  It was home to Beatrix Potter, who wrote the Peter Rabbit stories, and revolves mostly around the town and lake of Windermere.  It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Edinburgh to Windermere - so just imagine how early I was up - and we were able to spend 5 hours just exploring the area!  We decided to go on a lake cruise which lasted for 90 minutes and let us thoroughly enjoy the lake and surrounding landscape. There's a mountain peak in the distance and the weather was gorgeous yesterday, so we had sunny, cloud-filled skies and rippling, sparkling water. (At least until we were hit by a random rain/sleet burst for about 15 minutes during which time it was miserable outside)  After we got off our cruise, we walked the town, assaulting unprepared strangers with dogs, eating delicious toffee ice cream, walking up the steep hills, and around the rocky lake coast. In other words, we had an absolute blast! Enjoy the pics and there are more on my Facebook, of course.

Castle This, Hiking That

People, people, people...sometimes I am just too cool to even understand myself!  What brings on this new bought of narcissism you may ask?  Well, I have recently booked flights for my spring break in April.  As many of you will know, people doing my program had the opportunity to spend the second trimester of study at a business school in Nice, France.  When I was signing up for the program, I was afraid moving to Nice would be too much for me (plus, I don't speak French), so I opted out.  Luckily for me, however, some of the great friends I made during first trimester DID end up going to Nice.  So, visiting them at some point over this trimester was always on the agenda.  Now, however, it is official.  My dear friend Tessa will be meeting me in Nice and one of the friends I'm staying with in France will be joining me to start off what has become a whirlwind adventure through Europe! On the agenda?  Almost a week in the sunny south of France, followed by another 5 days in Rome (with hopefully a train trip to Tuscany if we can swing it).  From there, we fly to Vienna and will be taking trains to Salzburg, then Munich.  Before you ask, let me answer the question I'm sure is on everyone's mind: Yes, I will be taking the Sound of Music tour!  In other words, this spring is going to rock some pretty serious socks and you can rest assured that I'll be telling you all about it in eloquent, over-sharing detail.

                                                

As for recent jaunts in Scotland, I've been up to my old tricks.  Last week, I grabbed Alyssa (my flatmate) and Marianthi (program friend) to go for a hike in the Pentlands.  The Pentlands are a national park right on the outskirts of Edinburgh that have woodlands, moors, hills, reservoirs, etc.  And we experienced all most all of those on our walk!  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as glorious as we would've hoped, but, we try not to complain when surrounded by the beautiful and wild Scottish landscape, lest it hear and try to kill us!  Along the way, we also ran into the cutest dog in the whole world, which we most definitely tried to nab and the owner was terrified of us and the allure we obviously held for the puppy.

Just yesterday almost my whole flat came for an awesome outing to Craigmillar Castle!  Now, what I liked about this place is that there wasn't a lot of fuss about it.  Unlike the Edinburgh Castle in the middle of the city, there aren't guided tours or a ton of people.  Instead, it's more remote and less regulated.  So we paid 5 pounds to get in and our group just walked around this labyrinth of an old castle.  The place had been magnificently preserved and we were able to walk up old spiral staircases, hang around in massive fireplaces, survey the land from our turrets, and call our servants to have the horses saddled and waiting in the exterior courtyard! (Okay, maybe not that last one, but it was easy to get carried away there.)

 

Also, teaser trailer for next week: I've booked a day trip to Oban for February 7th.  Oban is on the western coast of Scotland and I'll be traveling through the highlands again to get there, so prepare for some truly stunning photos, weather permitting!