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!

Walk Walk Fashion Baby

Hello rabid readers!

I have officially settled back in here in Edinburgh.  Classes started last week and I am getting pumped up for a new trimester of learning.  I'm taking Strategic Brand Management, Global Marketing and International Festival and Event Management this year and so far they are all excellent!  Now that I know what my assessments will be for this spring I'm trying to get an early start on them.  Also, I got my results from last trimester back and you all will be happy to know that my formula for balancing nose-to-the-grindstone time and adventuring time has payed off.  Though the grading system is different here, I've managed to get top marks on everything (still waiting on the results of my last exam, but I feel confident enough to brag about things in advance - signed, Hopefully Not Jinxing Myself).  Thus, with good grades and a good attitude, I'm ready for this new trimester and hoping to repeat the performance.  However, there is one terrifying blight on this upcoming trimester and it takes the form of my dissertation!  Let's say it all together - "We're so scarreeedddd!"  Don't worry, I don't have to write it right now, but I DO have to prepare by putting together a 4,000 word (12 inches of parchment for my Harry Potter fans?) research proposal, so if any of you have tips, now is the time to share them!

 

Now, on to the adventuring!  Another great thing about this trimester is my schedule - I have class all day on Monday and Thursday, but don't have anything on Tuesday or Wednesday and only have one hour of class on Fridays.  So far, this has meant more walking adventures than usual in the past couple weeks as I can now go gallivanting on those mid-week days, too!  Last week, I walked around the neighborhood and stumbled upon an old cemetery for veterans which was stunningly beautiful and only a little bit creepy.  On Wednesday of last week, I went to check out Inverleith Park which has a delightful pond and an inordinate amount of adorable dogs!  Then Marianthi (a fellow program member) and I walked up to what we assumed was a castle but turned out to be a college (which can sometimes mean high school here)!  We definitely tried to sneak in, but the security was pretty tight and we didn't want to get arrested.

 

 

This week, Marianthi and I went to the little village of Duddingston to explore.  Now, I had heard there was a cool garden to check out and an old kirk, which I'm very fond of, but I had no idea there was also a pseudo-mountain and a loch!  Needless to stay, the scenery struck me dumb (or dumber, I suppose. lol)  So we walked halfway up the mountain to get a better view of the loch, but were also just enjoying some amazing weather here!  The sun was shining, the lake was frozen, the mountain was green - it was all just lining up beautifully.  Plus, as soon as we arrived I saw this store:

So...enough said.  As a bonus, we stopped into the Sheep's Heid for lunch and discovered that it is actually the oldest existing public house in the whole of Scotland.  And we got more fancy hot cocoa.  I'm going to start a fireside chat called Fancy Hot Chocolates with a Hot Chocolate (aka yours truly).

One Long Hiatus Later...

Sorry for the lengthy silence, ravenous fans!  Between writing reports, studying for final exams, packing and then being at home for Christmas I haven't had time to write.  But, I'm back now.  Back in Edinburgh and back to writing on everything you need to know about my life here!

Let's play a bit of catch-up first, though.  So, between all the studying (wink wink), I was able to do a FEW fun things, too.  All work and no play makes Liz a dull girl.  First on the list way back in November was Thanksgiving dinner. Some of my flatmates had never had a proper Thanksgiving feast, so my American flatmate Alyssa and I cooked up some traditional fare with help from her parents and old family recipes from my family.  We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry glaze, rolls, homemade mac and cheese, mixed veggies, and sweet potatoes!

In early December we went for a stroll through the Christmas Market which is hard to miss as it is in the Princes Street Garden, right below the castle and across from all of the shopping.  There were rides, delicious food from all over, hot alcoholic drinks and holiday bobs and bits like ornaments, nutcrackers and wooden ties.  I don't know why there were wooden ties, but there were. It was weird.

 
 

After my big exam on the 12th, my program pals threw a major party and invited what felt like half of Edinburgh!  We went to a place that was, fittingly, called the Kasbar - and of course we rocked it.  That was a great way to spend my last evening in Edinburgh before getting on the plane the next day and flying home.  (Or at least that's what I thought at the time - I ended up having a nightmare flight scenario and got stranded in London after a day of delays and cancellations, but, I digress, I did end up making it home safe and sound).

While most the people who read this will have seen me over the holidays, I'll just say that I was welcomed back to Chicago with open arms from both friends and family and I couldn't be more appreciative of the lasting friendships I've made and maintained in that city.  I hung out for a week and half in Chicago, enjoying Christmas Cocktails Parties, Book Club sleepovers and two notable nights on the town - one near six corners and one at Cesars for killer margaritas - and, most importantly, catching up with all my dearest kitties!

 

 

At home, I hung out with the family for another week and got to play with the niece and nephew (not to mention teaching them the fine art of dance-offs), talk books with my sister-in-law, do crosswords with my dad and watch  movies with my mom!  It was a relaxing time and it felt so nice to be home.  Leaving there and saying goodbye to my dear dog Hades again was the worst!

 



I returned to Edinburgh for New Years Eve - or Hogmanay as they call it here - and partook of the amazing street party they threw.  There were fireworks every hour leading up to midnight, culminating in an amazing display with the castle as the backdrop!  There was also a cool stage that I spent my time at called Hot Tub Time Machine where a deejay spun tunes from every year starting in 1954 and heading up to 2014!

I've mostly been laying low since New Years and have just been preparing for school to start up again, but I did go on a fun day trip today to the Royal Botanic Gardens!  More photos will be on Facebook, but here are a few, as well.  Lovely long walk and I couldn't believe how gorgeous it looked during winter! Plus, best of all, it was free!