Since my last post I traveled to Scotland for a weekend and it was absolutely beautiful! I went with the same program I went to Paris with called Somewhere New which is specifically for students studying around London. I knew I would like my tour guide from the start because when we met him outside the train in Edinburgh he had brought his dog with him. His dog’s name was Bonnie and if you know me at all you know how much I love dogs so needless to say I was thrilled to play with her. She was so well behaved and got way too excited every time she saw our tour guide. Our tour guide was a Scottish man who is at least, I don’t know, probably mid-fifties, early sixties. He had the rudest sense of humor of anyone I’ve ever met but he was hilarious and I really enjoyed getting to know him.
The first night we stayed at a hostel in Edinburgh which was the first time I’ve stayed in a hostel. It was really nice and even though I went on this trip knowing no one, I made friends with a group of girls who actually go to my school here in London. I love them to pieces and am very thankful to have met them and gotten to have roomed with them. During our evening of free time in Edinburgh we went to a pub and had delicious food for dinner (plus they gave us a student discount so my whole meal was only 5 pounds!) We also went on a walking ghost tour which I was expecting to be more scary than it actually was. The only time I got scared was when the ghost tour guide jumped out and said “boo!”
The next day we began our drive through the Highlands and stopped at many different locations to take pictures. We stopped at this restaurant/cafe in the middle of nowhere to eat. Our tour guide recommended us to try cullen skink which is a traditional Scottish soup made with potatoes and fish. It smelled delicious as we walked into the restaurant so of course I had to try it. It was so delicious! I would go back to Scotland just to have another bowl of that yummy soup! After I had finished eating I went and looked around the gift shop near the cafe when I saw two young girls freaking out to their parents. I asked them what was going on and they told me that Shaliene Woodley was in the restaurant part of the cafe and that they had just met her. I went to find my friends to let them know but by the time we got back into the area where she was, she was gone. Some of the girls on our tour said they saw her walk right past our tour bus and into her own bus so I know that the little girls weren’t lying to me.
We ended up staying at a hostel near Loch Ness which was also in the middle of nowhere then we made our way through the rest of the Highlands then back to Edinburgh the next day. Everything about Scotland was so gorgeous and I would definitely recommend everyone to go visit there at least once. I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy Scotland nearly as much as I did. I would love to go back for a few days before I come home in December but my schedule is very full until then.
On the Friday before Halloween my school threw a Halloween dance that I never made it to even though I bought my ticket. I was hanging out with my friends before hand and by the time I made it to the dance the security guard told me that they had run out of wristbands so he couldn’t let me in. I honestly didn’t really want to go anyway so I wasn’t too mad but I still want my money back. Regardless of not being able to get into the dance I still had a really fun night with my friends and getting to know some new friends which is all I wanted to do anyway. On Halloween night me and two of my friends from Iowa went to this club in Kingston to meet up with some of our friends that don’t go to school with us. It was fun too but while we were waiting in line some people dressed as scary zombies kept creeping me out. I don’t like scary things so I seriously considered leaving before we even made it inside.
In less than two days from now I am leaving for Rome and I’m very excited!
