Scotland

This past weekend I went to Scotland with school. We went to Edinburgh, the Isle of Skye, and Loch Ness, plus many places in between. It was amazing and so beautiful.

on my birthday

We climbed down to a waterfall. This was the view

My shoes got a little muddy.

This is the place that ruined my shoes. It is also supposedly magical. If you climb to the top, wash your hands, take a drink, then take another drink but don't swallow and climb back down, then touch a special rock and swallow while you make a wish it will come true.

This river is also magical. If you stick your face in for 7 seconds you will be blessed with eternal youth and beauty. Skye really is the magical Isle.

This is a little summer house that Queen Victoria apparently used to visit on occasion.

Hey look! I found Nessie!

This was our tour bus. truth.

Passage grave. There were 3 of these that lined up with Orions belt.

Crazy cantilever rail bridge outside Edinburgh. It's 101 years old and 98 people died while building it.

Loch Ness

They say this loch looks like Scotland. I can't remember the name but it was on the way to Skye.

It's just beautiful up there. My camera cannot do it justice.

Hamish the Highland cow. How does he see?

The view from the William Wallace monument. The guy who Mel Gibson made Braveheart about which was very freely adapted. Seriously, look up the real story.

This castle was in Maid of Honor. I've never seen that movie but it was still incredible.

So our tour guide pretty much drove us everywhere and whenever he would see something pretty or worthwhile he would pull over and we would all pile out of the bus and take pictures. Scotland is an amazing country with a long history. They were an independent country until 1749 when the Jacobites lost the Battle of Culloden and they became a member of the United Kingdom. There is much talk about regaining their independence and apparently there is going to be a vote in 2014. We'll see what happens. It's going to be in the news a lot in the future I expect.
Another great part of this weekend was my 21st birthday. We were in Loch Ness for the night and everybody in the bar sang to me. It was a fantastic way to spend my birthday and quite out of the norm for an American 21st. But I'm honestly not too sad about missing that tradition.

I'm so sad I only have a month left in London. If I could stay here forever I would.

My internet is still incredibly shotty but will hopefully be more reliable soon and I'll be able to update this with more ease.
Until then,
See ya later!

Sorry about the lack of posts. My internet has just started working again. So here's an update with pictures from the last two weeks.

I found the underpass from A Clockwork Orange. It was a little sketchy and in this odd roundabout south of the Thames. There was supposed to be a marker that showed which underpass it was but i'm assuming someone stole it. Because that's what I would do to get a piece of Clockwork Orange memorabilia.

I'm a droog

On the way back we stopped by Stamford Bridge to hit up the Chelsea megastore. I was in heaven. I bought a new jersey and some gifts for fellow Chelsea fans back home.

The Bridge aka my home

Then it was back to classes for the week. We went to the Globe Theatre for British Life and Culture. It was very interesting and after our tour we had an acting workshop with one of the actors there. Let's just say I won't be changing careers anytime soon.

On Friday we had a day-trip to Bath and Stonehenge. I'd been to both before so in Bath I skipped out on seeing the Roman Baths and met up with my moms friend Peter for lunch in a pub. It was delicious and very British. We then left for Stonehenge. It was windy as you can see from my hair.

Allie, Becky, and me and Stonehenge.

Last Saturday was possibly the best day of my life. I finally got to see my Blues play live at Stamford Bridge. Krista came with as she is a fellow football fan. We wore our blue and sang along with the fans. The game was against Bolton Wanderers. Chelsea won 3-0 thanks to beautiful goals from David Luiz (my big hair bud), Didier Drogba (my birthday bud), and Frank Lampard (who is just amazing). After Lampard scored the stands erupted in their song for him. It goes "super, super Frank. super, super Frank. super, super Frank. super Frankie Lampard." It was spectacular. If I had enough money I would be at all their games.

The Shed end before the game.
The banners read "super Frankie Lampard" and
"JT Captain, Leader, Legend"

The teams heading out to start the match.

Me and Krista at the game

This weekend is spring break. Instead of going to another country we decided to just stick around London and explore more. We made a list of all the things we want to do and have been checking them off. Last night was Indian food in the East End. So delicious and a bit sketchy. Today I went to Camden. I love it there. I would probably want to live there if I ever get to move here permanently. Tonight we are going to get dinner at Tate Modern as the dining room offers spectacular views of London and the Thames.

I'll keep you all updated on the rest of the break. Next weekend is my birthday and also the trip to Scotland. I get to turn 21 at Loch Ness. I think i'm ok with that.