I Heart Hellas

Spring break was fantastical! Greece is beautiful and I would very much like to be there instead of in Potsdam. I got to see and do lots of amazing things which I will rattle off just in case anyone is dying to know..

Day One - 22 March
Arrived in Athens. Went to Sounion to the Temple of Poseidon which was absolutely gorgeous and windy. Also, the site of the temple was inhabited by fancy chickens which we believe were actually partridges. After exploring the hotel - mainly the rooftop terrace with a view of the Acropolis - we had dinner. Took a night time walk to the Acropolis and then got some sorbet in the Plaka.

Day Two - 23 March
Visited the Corinth Canal on our way to Epidarus to see the Theater and ruins there. Mycenae with the awsomeness of the Lioness Gate, the "lair of the minotaur" which is actually a dried up spring at the bottom of a corbel vaulted staircase, and the Treasury of Atreus. I had my first taste of Mousakas for lunch. We arrived in Nafplion and walked around all the little shops and the boardwalk. After dinner we went out for some wine with Dr. Curry and then ended up back at the hotel and tried ouzo.

Day Three - 24 March
I fell at Tyrins and my camera was destroyed. I was sad. The roads in Greece are very twisty and full of hairpin turns that make people very carsick. We arrived at Olympia around the same time as the protest/riot. We missed it though. We did, however, visit the museum at Olympia and saw some pretty sweet sculpture from the Temple of Zeus and some other findings. After the museum we went into the ancient site and wandered around. Sarah and I got whistled at for posing too close to the ruins. It was worth is though. Later that afternoon it rained and there was a slight thunderstorm which is apparently quite rare in Greece. Backlava is delicious.

Day Four - 25 March
We went a little crazy on the bus today. Stopped in a seaside town for lunch after crossing the Rion-Antion Bridge [I don't remember the name of the town]. I went into the Ionian Sea! After lunch we went to a Greek Orthodox Nunnery up in the mountains. When we arrived in Delphi we went for a hike up a mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. I bought a camera. We went to "the spot" and had some drinks and played pool.

Day Five - 26 March
Woke up at 4am. Left the hotel at 5am. Hiked up the mountain from the day before to see the sunrise. It was cloudy and therefore a crappy sunrise. It was worth it though. Still beautiful even though the sky was "bluetan". The hike would later be known as the Dismal Delphi Deathmarch. After showering and having some breakfast we took off for the ancient site of Delphi where we saw the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, the Castilian Spring, and ancient Delphi with the Temple of Apollo. Delphi is overrun with kitties. At the Delphi museum I gave my speech on the Treasury of the Siphnians then wandered. After more bus riding we ended up in Athens where we had the best dinner yet. Traditional Greek food - 13 dishes for the main course [it was like a sampler platter] and some nasty ouzo.

Day Six - 27 March
Visited the National Museum in Athens. So much awesomeness there. Went to the Acropolis and was in awe. Saw the Temple of Zeus and the Pan-Athenaic Stadium. Had another fantastic dinner which included mousaka then met up with a friend who was studying in Wales. We walked around the Plaka and had some yummy sorbet.

Day Seven - 28 March
The Athenian Trail of Tears: left at 8:30 for a quick walk to two sites - Plato's Academy and Socrates Prison in the Agora. This ended up taking forever as we got lost and it began to rain. It was pretty sucky. Around one we were finally freed, said screw it to the Agora and the Stoa of Atalos and went for a nice warm meal. After a tiny bit of shopping we went back to the hotel where the events of the day made us a little crazy. Dinner tonight was at a Taverna where there was Greek music and dancing during dinner. It was a lot of fun.

When I got back into the states I stayed in New Jersey at my Uncle Kevin's house as I had an interview in NYC. I think the interview [at Christie's Education] went well and I am expecting to hear back from them in a couple of weeks.

Now I am bogged down with papers, presentations, and paintings to get done. Oh fun.

Last week I went to a few free museums in York. The National Railway Museum, the Castle Museum and the Yorkshire Museum. They were pretty cool and had a lot of neat things to see. Also, I didnt have to pay for them!

Sunday morning I left for Edinburgh, Scotland to see Stef again. I got into town around noon and around 2 or 3 I went with Stef and her flatmate Fiona to visit their friend who was leaving. We went to a pub called the Craigs for a bit before we headed down to another pub called Dropkick Murphys near the Grassmarket. After an interesting end to our fun in Dropkick Murphys we went into the Grassmarket to another pub before we went back to the flat.

Monday Stef and I wandered around Edinburgh. We went on a trail in the Princess Street gardens that rund near the castle and then we walked down Princess Street and looked in the shops. We ended up walking all the way down Leith Walk to the Ocean Terminal where the Royal Yacht Brittania is docked. We weren't quite planning on walking that far as we were in search of the Royal Bottanical Gardens. After a couple of rides on the city bus we finally made our way to the gardens.

Tuesday Stef and I were planning on taking a trip out to St. Andrews however, after we finally found the correct bus to take we discovered that it was a £10 trip so we decided to stay in Edinburgh. We took a £1 bus ride to Crammond to see if we could get to the island. On our way to the Forth we discovered the ruins of a Roman Fort. After making our way down to the water we found that the tide was out so we were able to walk out to the island. On our way there I got my shoe stuck in some muck. It was quite funny. Once we got to the island we wandered about and took a lot of pictures before the tide started to come in. Since the tide was coming in we had to start walking back to the mainland but not before wandering about on the sandy bit and touching the water. We took the bus back into Edinburgh and then went to a Chinese Buffet for dinner.

Wednesday was my last day in Edinburgh so we just wandered down to Princess Street and looked in some shops. To kill some time before my train we went into the National Gallery of Scotland. I was quite suprised at seeing some of the things in the collection there. It was great. Then I said goodbye to Stef and headed back on the train to York.

Today after getting some things taken care of before leaving it's a Pirates of the Carribbean marathon! Phil, Helen, Serena and I are going to watch the first two movies and get take away for dinner. When Kes gets back from school we're all going down to City Screen to see the new Pirates movie!

So, classes are done. I have a project due Monday and two finals next week then I am done. woo. I'm going to visit Stef in Scotland again on May 20 to the 23 then the summer ball is on the 25th and I am back in the states on the 28th!

I haven't been doing anything of much excitement since getting back from holiday. I did get my hair all chopped off, though. Its quite short now. Also, I've been having lots of barbeques with my friends since being back. We started off with a bbq with Serena's parents and this past weekend we had one on Saturday and one on Sunday as well. It's good fun. The weather has been nice, sunny and warm so everyone has been sitting out in the little quad in front of E and F block.

Classes are done tomorrow. I've got a class this afternoon, a paper due tomorrow and another class tomorrow then I am done. I have two finals which should be quite easy on May 15 and May 18. However, I have a huge portfolio thing due for my design class and I have a meeting for that on the 8th.

Saturday I am going to Alnwick to see the castle that was used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies! Apparently the Hogwarts Express is supposed to be there as well. I dont know if I will be able to see it though because recently it was vandalized and damages were at a cost of 100 thousand or some crazy amount like that.

I am very excited for the Summer Ball which is on May 25, the day before I leave for Ireland. I bought my dress yesterday! It's very pretty.. and pink.

York is beautiful in the spring! All of the trees are blooming and when the sun is out it is quite warm. I'm glad to be back with my friends here. On Sunday evening we went out for fish & chips and we wandered around the Minster, St. Mary's Abbey and the River. Monday I just kind of hung out and didnt do much of anything aside from getting some things I needed in town and unpacking. Serena's parents came to visit so we all met them on Monday night and we took them to the union for £ a pint night.

Yesterday was so much fun. We went to the museum gardens with Serena's parents for a barbecue. We bought steak, sausages, chicken and burgers which chef Kes cooked for us. While we were hanging out and eating the first bit of yummy food the security guard came by and told us to leave so we picked up the disposable grills and transported ourselves to the riverside. It was nice. We just hung out and ate lots of food. After dinner we took Serena's parents out again. We went to the Maltings, Judges Lodgings and to Lendal Cellars. It was a fun night and it was nice to have some American parents about.

Today we wandered into town and did a little shopping. I bought a nice shirt for only £3 at New Look and that was about it. We have been looking for dresses to wear to the summer ball at the end of May. Tomorrow Serena and I are going to get our hair cut. I am quite excited for that.

(Pictures are up on flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/kaitlinmarie) from Barcelona and Nice&Monaco - they are in the respective albums.)

Yeah, that is a very quick summary. I've got lots and lots of crazy stories.. and pictures.
(I'll post the pictures, hopefully, later this week when I'm back in York.)

Rome was amazing. On our next day I saw the Spanish Steps, the Piazza Poppolo, Hadrian's Mauseloum, the Mouth of Truth, the Capitoline Museum, and many other things. On Wednesday Helen and I went to the Vatican for the weekly Papal blessing. We didnt realize that you needed to get tickets in advance so we ended up sneaking in, right past the police and swiss guards, and sitting in the 15th row back. It was interesting getting to see the Pope and to hear him speak in about 8 different languages. After the gospel was read and the homily in the different languages he blessed the 200 thousand-ish people in St. Peters Square. After escaping through the massive crowd we went into the Vatican Museums. The hilites of the collection (for me) were the Laocoon and the Sistene Chapel. Helen and I met up with Serena around 4:30 for a delicious Italian dinner near the Trevi Fountain. Thursday we took a trip out to Pompeii for the day. We took a train to Naples and another out to Pompeii. I didnt realize how large Pompeii was. There is a lot to see there. It was fun exploring the Ancient Roman city even though it was very hot out and we were all burning up. We caught an early evening train back to Rome so we were able to catch our sleeper train to Switzerland.

After getting settled into our hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland we decided to take full advantage of our Eurail passes and we went on a boatride on the Lake of Thun. We rode out to Spiez where we walked around for 2 hours. When we got back into Interlaken we just hung out for the rest of the evening as we were very tired. We spent all day Saturday exploring the city and searching out our Swiss Army knives since it was too expensive to travel to the top of Jungfrau as we had planned. We took a little tour of the city with some historical background and just walked around Interlaken and Unterseen. On Sunday we took another boatride. We went out to St. Beautus Holen where we took a 30 minute hike up the mountain with the hopes of visiting the prehistoric caves. We didnt realize that they didnt accept credit cards for the admission so we were out of luck. We took a 2 hour hike back into Interlaken instead. It was beautiful walking the trail through the mountain along side the lake. The views were gorgeous. I would love to go back to Interlaken again.

We had another night train into Germany and we arrived in Berlin on Monday morning. There was a little mishap with the hostel we had arranged to stay at. Needles to say "David's Cozy Little Backpacker Hostel" was not cozy at all. We ended up finding another hostel called the Circus which is apparently one of the top 10 hostels in Europe. Tuesday we took an 8 hour walking tour of the city. It was absolutely incredible. I got to see all of the sights that I wanted and then saw some things that I would never have found on my own. On top of that we got detailed history about everything from the beginnings of Berlin to the stories of the grafitti on the buildings we passed. I got to see Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the book burning memorial, the site of Hitler's bunker, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall and so many other things that were important to Berlin such as the architecture, historical sites and the different courtyards of the city. That night we went out with some of the guys we met on the tour, Brian, Jeff and Taiwan and their roommate Dermot. We went out for Italian food and then to a couple of pubs to try out the German beer. The next day we decided on going to museums and having a relaxing wander through the city. First we went to a contemporary art gallery which was unfortuanately closed at the time. We ended up going to the Pergamon Museum where I saw the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gates (the Gates of Babylon). After eating lunch we thought it would be fun to take the S-bhan to Potsdam. So we did. We didnt know what to do once we got there so we got back on the S-bhan and back into Berlin. We still had our day pass to the Museum Island so we went to the museum containing the Egyptian, Greek and Roman collections so we could see the bust of Nefertitti. We ended up wandering through some of the courtyards with little boutiques in them and found a neat souvenir shop and we visited the Amplemann Shop. Thursday Serena and I went out to the Berlin Zoo for the afternoon. It was so much fun. There were so many animals and almost all of them had babies! After the Zoo we met Helen at Potsdammer Platz to go shopping. Around 10 that night we had a flight into London where we took a bus at midnight and then a taxi out to our hostel.

Yesterday we went to Portobello Row to wander the market and to Hyde Park to find the Peter Pan statue. Then we ended up at Buckingham Palace where we went inside to see the Queens Collection. Her collection of Italian Renaissance Art was on display. After that we wandered down to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We also walked along the Thames and saw the Eye before going to London Bridge to look at the Tower Bridge. Today we took Serena to Kings Cross and we visited Platform 9 3/4! After leaving Serena, Helen and I went to the British Museum where I got to see the Rosetta Stone, the Lamasus and the Parthenon Marbles!! I think my life is pretty complete after seeing the Parthenon Marbles! Tonight we might try to go on the Jack the Ripper Tour and then we're catching a 9:30 am bus to York as that was the cheapest way to get back.

Roma!

While in Nice I went to Monaco for a day. I saw the changing of the guards at the palace, some gardens, an aquarium, the port with huge yachts, the beach, a Japanese garden and the Champions walkway. It was beautiful in Monaco. I liked it much better than Nice. The next day in Nice I went up to an archaeological museum where Roman ruins were found and then I sat out on the beach for a while. On the last day in Nice I just wandered around more and sat on the beach until my 9pm sleeper train took me to Rome!

After arriving in Rome was the task of finding the campsite that I'm staying at. It is at the opposite end of the city from the Roma Termini train station where our train came in. Once Serena, Helen and I arrived at the campsite it was around 11 or 12. It is a nice area. We're staying at Plus Camping Roma. There are Bungalows, Tents, areas for RVs and your own tent if you want to pitch one. We're staying in tents which are on a platform and have two beds in each one. We got our own and its only about 13 euros a night. I really like it. After getting settled in and getting something to eat we took a 4pm shuttle into the Vatican City. We walked around there and saw where it was set up for Easter. I bought myself a rosary from the Vatican and I found a St. Bernadette charm (my confirmation saint).

Today we set out early and went to the Trevi Fountain. We went into the Pantheon, and walked around the area of the Roman Forum where we saw the statue of Marcus Aurelias and the ruins of the ancient forum. We also went to the Colosseum where we saw the Arc of Constantine and then we walked around inside the Colosseum and saw an exhibition about Roman art depicting Eros and then we walked around Paletine where the Circus Maximus and the Farnesi Gardens are. After that we saw the Imperial Fora and Trajans Column before we headed to San Carlo della Quattra Fontana and to Santa Maria Della Vittoria where the Ecstasy of St. Theresa is. It was one of the most amazing days ever. I still cant get over the fact that I went into the Colosseum today!

Nice is nice!

Barcelona was amazing and filled with the awesomeness of Gaudi. We went into La Pedrera, saw La Sagrida Familia and the Park Guel. We also discovered a big outdoor market and walked Las Ramblas. Last night we took a sleeper train into Nice. The train was not much to be desired but it got me here so I cant complain.

Nice is absolutely gorgeous. After we got settled into our hostel we wandered into town to a farmers market for lunch then sat and ate on the beach. We walked around the marina, went to a museum and walked around the area more. It is so beautiful here and I even have a bit of a sun burn!

Are we finally here?

Hola from Barcelona!

After a long 30 hours of "travel" Serena, Helen and I are finally in Barcelona. We took a train on Saturday morning from York to the London Stanstead Airport where we had a 3:30 flight to Zarzoga, Spain. We thought we coud just catch a train into Barcelona when we arrived in Zarzoga but, sadly, we were wrong. After finally figuring out how to get to the train station there were no trains until 10am today. We ended up walking around Zarzoga for 3 hours looking for a hotel. When we finally found a hotel and were settled for the night around 10:30 I was exhausted. Today was not as bad. We caught our 10:10 train to Barcelona and then took the metro to the staion that is about 7 minutes from the hostel. The only problem is that the 7 minute walk up hill sucks with a heavy pack on.

After we got settled into the hostel around 2pm we decided to wander into Barcelona. We got something to eat since we hadn't had anything yet. After that we were just walking down the street and we saw the Gaudi Appartments, La Pedrera. We walked down Las Ramblas and ended up near a statur of Christopher Columbus who is pointing to America. He is actually pointing in the wrong direction though. It started raining while we were walking along the marina so we started off towards a metro station.

I am exhausted, ready for a shower and a little snack, then bed!

Tomorrow is going to be amazing!!!

Backpacking Europe 31 March to 22 April 2007

31 March to 4 April: Barcelona, Spain
4 April to 7 April: Nice, France - day trip to Monaco
7 April to 13 April: Rome, Italy - day trip to Pompeii/Herculaneum
13 April to 16 April: Interlaken, Switzerland - day trip up Jungfrau
16 April to 19 April: Berlin, Germany
19 April to 22 April: London, England - day trip to Stonehenge

I'll try to update while I am gone if I get a chance to go to an internet cafe.

Not too much has been going on lately. I have a feeling that things are going to be a little slow until break starts. (MARCH 31!!) I got my eurail pass in the mail today. That was very exciting. It comes with an awesome map and a timetable booklet.

Tuesday was a fun day. After lunch I went into town with Phil, Martin, Kes, Serena and Helen to buy water guns. Instead of just testing them out when we got back we ended up having a full blown water fight that started in E Block and ended up outside. It was hardcore.. we were running around everywhere and attempting sneak attacks. After dinner and a slightly depressing movie we ended up playing manhunt around campus for about 2 hours. That was fun as well. We discovered a new area of campus hidden out behind the union and spent a good hour looking for Martin who was hidden deep inside a bush. It was a good day.

Yesterday was Jay and Paul's birthday. Their theme was made up superheroes. I was "Big Apple" and my cape had an awesome pipe cleaner apple on it. It is always fun walking down the street in fancy dress because of all the reactions that people give us. The capes made it quite awesome though.

celebrations

The past few days have been quite interesting to say the least.

Friday was Red Nose Day - a British thing to raise money for charity.

St. Patty's Day was so much fun! I walked into town with Phil and Martin and we wandered the campus of an old college where there was music playing and a craft fair. We found a pub that was serving Irish stew so we went in and had a pint of Guinness (my first one) and some Irish stew for only £3. The stew was delicious and I could do without the Guinness. Kes joined us at the pub too and between the 4 of us we had enough Guinness (4 pints) to get a free Guinness shirt which Kes stole. The barmaid came up and gave me one of the Guinness hats that looks like a pint. It's well good. So I got to wear an awesome Guinness hat all day. We went to the student union pub to watch the 6 Nations Rugby matches and ended up staying in there all night long.

On Sunday Kes, Phil and I walked the city walls so I have now successfuly walked all 2 miles of the Medieval walls! I was in tourist mode and took lots of pictures and read all of the info/historical stuff. It was nice until the freak hail storm we got caught in. Since we were freezing by the time we made it back into the city centre we stopped in HaHa! Cafe for some hot chocolate. Then we walked back to campus and just hung out for the night because it was too cold to do anything but watch a movie.

I woke up quite early Monday morning to go into town and buy my white shirt for the nights festivities and took a little walk around. Martin's friend from Kendal, Mason, who I met last weekend, came to York for the day. Martin, Mason, Scary Tom, Kes and I walked into town and over to Clifford's Tower. I went up the tower with Martin and Mason. When we were about half way up the spiral staircase it was crazy snowing again and very windy. Martin decided that it would be in his best interest not to spare his life on the tower so he went down the stairs and I braved the freezing cold and snowyness with Mason and then we ran like heck for the stairs to get down. Our little tourist excursion ended up being very comical. After dinner Kes and Phil brought me a cake and people sang to me. Then everyone got dressed up in their white t-shirts to go out for my birthday. My birthday theme was grafitti, so everyone wore white and had markers to write messages on everyones shirt. Lucy, Nick and Jess gave me a crown that twinkled and played happy birthday! After going to the student union pub everyone went to Nexus to dance. It was lots of fun. The dj gave me a bottle of champagne for my birthday and the girls found a badge that said happy 30th birthday that I had to wear with my 21st birthday badge from Kes. It was quite a late night as I didnt get back into my room until 3:30 am but it was definately an American 21st in England. :)

12 days until European Adventure time!!

I officially feel like a student now. I've successfully completed and handed in two of the four essays I have to do for this entire semester. The papers were way too easy. 2000 words on how the Roman Empire was successful (ie. the army) and then 2000 words on the New Left and the counter culture in the 1960s. It was a task handing them in though. You cant turn them into the tutors, they go to the Faculty of Arts and a coversheet/form has to be filled out and then you get a reciept saying you handed it in. Its kind of strange.

I had a visitor yesterday!! Kara, a friend from Potsdam/Wegmans, came to York! She was in the UK visiting some other people and came to York to see me too! It was fun. I didn't get to hang out with her a lot as I had class yesterday and I was a little busy today. We went out to the Evil Eye last night though to celebrate my birthday a little and because it was Kara's favorite pub in York. She bought me an amazing drink called Heaven which was basically like a mudslide. Also, I discovered that there is a cider called Katy - which is basically named after me!! So we just hung out at Evil Eye with Martin, Phil, Helen, Serena and Kes for a while. On the way home, after yummy paninis, we kind of ding-dong ditched the Minster. It was funny.

Tomorrow is the best holiday ever!! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Lake District

This weekend my friend Martin took Jay, Shep and I to his house in Kendal. It was a great weekend.

To begin, we missed our train. When we finally got on the next train it was basically a tin can on wheels.. or as Martin liked to refer to it "a rickshaw." It was a 2 1/2 hour train ride and since there had been a train accident a few weeks before the line was shut down in Lancaster so we had to take a 45 minute bus ride into Oxenholme. After dinner we went into Kendal and met up with Martin's brother and his friend Mason at a pub/club called Sphere and then went to Dickie Doodles. It was fun hanging out and on the way home we stopped at the park.

On Saturday Martin's dad took us on a car tour of the Lake District. We went to Windermere and walked around while being attacked by rather large swans. It was a nice day but it was very overcast and foggy so we didn't get the best views. However, the swans and mock swan attacks made up for it. Next we went to Grasmere where we walked along the river and then walked around William Wordsworth's daffodil garden. We also got some of the famous (and delicious) Grasmere gingerbread. We drove around more and came to another lake and walked along a trail there. The sun finally started to come out as we were driving past hundreds of sheep on our way to a bridge. Apparently the bridge we went to is the most photographed bridge in the Lake District. It was beautiful. After taking a few pictures and admiring the view we drove up to the highest pub in the Lake District. It was very windy and cold up there and it was so foggy that we couldn't see a thing. Needless to say we got hot chocolate instead of a pint. The pub concluded our little car tour of the Lakes and we headed home and hung out and watched tv while Liam, Martin's brother made us dinner. Mason and Sophie, friends of Martin and Liam joined us for dinner. It was very good. Liam made us Lasagna. After dinner we all got changed and ready for a night out in Kendal.

Saturday night the seven of us went out to Bar 99, Spoons, Sphere and Passions Night club. It was so much fun. We played "gentlemen's rules" and danced to cheesy music all night. On the way home we went to the park again and we all went for a go on the zipline. Everyone but Shep fell off. We also went on the swings, slide and the roundabout before we left. Our walk home, including the time in the park took about two hours because Martin lives outside the town center of Kendal. The walk was a lot of fun though. We talked about a lot of things and talked in different accents the whole time. We finally got in and to sleep around 4am. Everyone was too tired to do much of anything on Sunday. Liam made us some random things for lunch and then they taught me how to play cricket. I stink at it, but apparently I was ok at bowling. We played tag on the way home and watched some rugby before it was time to leave. We were exhausted on the journey back and were near lifeless when we finally got into York around 8/8:30pm. We stopped for some take away and dragged ourselves back to campus.

I cant wait to go back to the Lake District.. hopefully sometime soon!

Scotland!

After the awesome hike up the Crags (the cliffs) and Arthur's Seat, Stef and I kind of just hung out in her flat until later in the evening when we were invited to her friend's flat for a crepe party. The crepes were so yummy and very authentic because Stef's friends that were making the crepes were French. So we hung out there with a bunch of other people eating crepes, drinking wine, telling stories, and singing songs until we were all exhausted.

On Saturday Stef took me on a tour of Edinburgh. We walked around part of the University of Edinburgh, went to Cowgate, George IV Bridge, a statue of Greyfriars Bobby, and the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. We walked down and around the Royal Mile and down to the Grassmarket where people used to be hanged, then, for TT, we sat on a bench along a wall that looked up to Edinburgh Castle which was sitting on top of the rocky hill. Then we went down to Princess Street and the Princess Street Gardens. It was very cold and it started to rain as we walked up Colton Hill so we hurried along and walked over to the Elephant House, where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and had coffee. It is no wonder she was inspired to write in that cafe with its amazing view of Edinburgh Castle and its location on George IV Bridge, one of the most haunted places in Edinburgh. There is also a view of the cemetery where Greyfriars Bobby and his owner are buried. After the busy day we wandered back to the flat and had lunch around 4pm so we never left for dinner until around 9pm. We found a great Mexican restaurant off of the Royal Mile and had delicious food and sangrias. We left the restaurant around 11pm and decided that it was about time to head to bed.. after the 30 minute walk back to the flat.

Today while Stef was at class I wandered over to the Royal Mile and walked all the way to the top where the entrance of Edinburgh Castle is. I went into the castle and walked around all of the museums and exhibitions in there. I saw the crown jewels of Scotland and the 1pm firing of the gun that happens everyday since a long time ago. (I don't remember when) There was a lot of cool information about the Scottish Royal Army and war stuff and all the Scottish war paraphernalia. I spent a good while wandering around and then went on my way down the Royal Mile again. While I was walking down the hill I heard a REAL Scottish Bagpiper! It was pretty cool. I stayed and listened to a couple songs then went on my way back to the flat. My train left at 6pm from Edinburgh, so I had a couple of hours to hang out with Stef and then I left for York. I got in here around 8:45pm. It was definately an awesome weekend and I would love to go back to Edinburgh again!

(Due to the broken camera misfortune I'm not sure how any of the digital pictures I took will turn out. If they are any good I will post them on flickr. I also borrowed a friend's 35mm camera so once I get the prints and possibly photo cd's I will try to get them posted to flickr as well.)

The Flying Scottsman

I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland! Today is such a beautiful day. The ride up was very nice and the view of the coast was great. Stef picked me up from the train station at 10:30ish and we walked across the city to her flat. We ventured over to Holyrood Park which is part of the Queen's gardens, hiked up Arthur's Seat, a volcanic mountain, and some other cliffis (I forgot the name). It was amazing. At the top of Arthur's Seat it was so windy I nearly got blown off. Also, from the top, there was a great view of the marina and a rainbow that had appeared after the sprinkling of rain.

I'm off now to enjoy Edinburgh. I'll be here until Monday. Tomorrow we may venture out to Glasgow which is apparently only a 30 minute bus ride away.

"I just hiked up a volcanic mountain and saw a rainbow.. in Scotland!"

Nothing too exciting has happened lately.

The Viking Festival last week was awesome. There were Vikings walking all around town so I got to meet some and take pictures with them. I visited Jorvik Viking Centre and saw some of the artifacts that were discovered from an archaeological excavation that took place here, in York. There was a Viking Comedy Walk that I went on with some friends and we laughed so hard that some of us literally fell to the groud. Saturday there was a Viking battle near Clifford's Tower re-creating the battle of Eric Bloodaxe, Vking King of York and the Saxons. It was fun to watch the Vikings growling and hitting eachother and then finally pretending to die. At the end of the battle they pretended to attack the audience and I was nearly speared by an angry Viking. The rest of the week was filled with classes and hanging out with British friends. Sadly, my camera broke on me and I had to get a new one. Rather, my parents got me a new one and it is currently on it's way to England.

After the fun of the Festival this past week has been rather slow. I'm really enjoying my art class as I have learned many screen printing techniques. I have successfully made 3 color screen prints, discharge screen prints and devoure screen prints. I need to go into the studio next week and make more of each kind so I have a nice stack to hand in. My other classes are interesting too but not as fun as I dont get to play with dyes and bleaches all day. I didnt go out at all last week as I was feeling a little ill so instead every night turned into a movie night. Friday I did go out with a bunch of friends to celebrate someone's birthday. Other than that the past week has been very low key.

I am hoping this week goes by fast and that my camera arrives by Friday as I am going to visit a friend in Scotland Saturday through Monday. I am very excited to be going!

Viking Festival this week in York! I love Vikings.

English Mud

Friday night was a blast. It was 70s night and everyone dressed up and we went out to a cheesy 70s-ish dance club called Flares. We looked absolutely crazy and had so much fun. After the dancing fun we all watched Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Saturday wasn't anything very exciting. I just hung out and watched some rugby in the Union and went grocery shopping. Later at night everyone went to the Union and hung out at the pub.

I went on a day trip on Sunday to Helmsley Castle and Riveaulx Abbey. The coach took us to the Abbey first. We had about 2 hours to explore the grounds so I took full advantage and went everywhere I could. It was fun walking around the ruins and finding random passages or staircases to take. After taking lots of pictures and climbing all over the ruins of the Abbey we went into a little cafe and had lunch. The group was given the option of taking the coach to Helmsley or hiking up the ridge and through some of the countryside to Helmsley. I chose the hike. It was beautiful out but very muddy. Needless to say I fell in the mud while attempting to take a picture of the gorgeus view after we reached the top of the hill we had just hiked up. I was very embarassed but by the end of the hike I thought it was funny. We walked along the ridge, came to a path near a field and walked along that, passed through some gates and went down a large, rocky staircase, then up another. After that we came to another field and walked along that and we could see Helmsley over a pasture with horses in it. I stopped on the way to pet the horses then continued along down the path to a parking lot where the coach was. Helmsley Castle was fun to explore as well. There were again many staircases and passages to take and I wandered around the grounds for an hour or so before heading into the town of Helmsley with Helen and Serena. It was a very long but fun day.

When we got back to York around 4:30 Helen and I went into town to get dinner. We had Italian at a little restaurant on Monkgate. A group of us hung out and played ImagineIff while some others went out to the pubs. When everyone came back we played Twister.

It was a fun weekend but I am exhausted. I slept in today and I feel like taking a nap. This week is going to be busy with classes and it's the York Viking Festival so I plan on taking full advantage of the events at the festival.