I'm not going to die!

Finally hauled myself down to campus to go to the clinic. Registered with the GP there, waited for a loooong time, and finally saw the doctor. No infection, nothing serious, just a very nasty sore throat. He prescribed a throat spray which is supposed to alleviate some of the pain. It doesn't. So I'll be going to a pharmacy tomorrow to see about getting something that will whoop my throat's butt. So tonight is more sleep, more tea and more reading.

Oww

My throat hurts. A lot. So bad, in fact, that I may go to the doctor tomorrow if it isn't any better. I'm a little worried it might be strep or some other kind of infection. Nothing I've done helps at all. It's mostly on one side, and it's fairly sharp, spreading pain. There is, thankfully, a clinic directly down the street from me. That free-health-care-in-the-UK thing might come in handy tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Musings on Make-up and Men's Fashion

Feeling rather sick today, so no fun outdoorsy pictures. I've spent the majority of the afternoon tucked in bed with my heater on full blast, drinking tea and reading. So I thought I would again bore you with my thoughts on British fashion.

Makeup
Oh, the ladies do love their makeup. Heavy foundation is very common, which breaks my little heart. It looks so cakey and fake. Also, blush is very heavily applied, although I don't think that is entirely their fault. It's so cloudy here, everyone is very pale. Blush just tends to be too dark for skin tones like mine! I never wear it, I'm red enough as it is. Anyways... Another really common thing for the ladies is liquid eyeliner. All together, I think the whole aesthetic is supposed to be vintage inspired. Red lips, liquid eyeliner and lots of powder. I personally do NOT like this look at all. Then again, the extent of my makeup is concealer and mascara. High maintenance, I am not. Of course, these are sweeping generalizations. There is a ton of variation. Lots of girls wear lightly applied makeup, or none at all. I'm talking about the chic European girls who throw on black skinny jeans, a tshirt with some snarky saying and lip balm and are good to go. You know the girls I'm talking about.

Hair
Not much to say here, as it's pretty similar to the American scene. Lots and lots of variation. One thing I have noticed, though, is that almost everyone has some sort of bangs (or fringe, as they call it here). Which I wholeheartedly approve of. I think that everyone can pull off bangs, as long as they are the right shape and length.

The Menfolk
I'll be honest here. I love the way guys dress here. LOVE IT. The average guy is dressed in neat khakis or well-fitting jeans, a button-up, clean sneakers, a scarf and a tailored peacoat. Now tell me that's not snazzy. Some even go the extra mile and wear leather boots. I have definitely found my weakness. Well... I'll admit, in my little TT-fantasy land, all the boys would wear kilts and sing merry songs. But that's sadly not the case. I did get lucky yesterday, though. It was Robert Burns Day, which is essentially an explosion of Scottish pride all day. Haggis, whisky, bagpipes and more kilts than you can shake a stick at. Which made me a very happy girl indeed.

Also, I can't be bothered to re-read this post. So... if there is a bunch of nonsense in it... blame it on my sore throat and stuffed head. I'm not responsible. :)

Botanic Gardens

I didn't do anything of note today. Class, nap (during which I had a weird dream) and cleaning up. Yesterday, though, I took a long walk through Glasgow, taking pictures for my photography class. I walked through the Botanic Gardens, which are crazy lovely. It's so fun to be here because things are still green outside!As you can see, it was a completely gorgeous (and very un-Scottish feeling) day. Chilly though. And quite windy. But I'll take it. Much better than today, which has been rainy, cold and dreary. Inside the conservatory is this pretty scene:A fern garden and a statue of Eve. There are concentric rings inside the garden, which is really fun to walk through. Like being in a rainforest, except no scary bugs. Dotted all along the outer ring were very pretty marble sculptures. Usually I'm not one for sculptures, but I was feeling especially cultured yesterday, and I spent a long time looking at them. And then I went back to being 6 and 000hhh-ahhhhing over the pretty flowers. Ohhh... pretty. They had an entire greenhouse dedicated to the orchids. Which I could have spent several hours in. It smelled nice, it looked nice, and it was warm. But alas, it was getting dark (at 4 pm... so far that is the only part of Scotland I truly hate. It's so dark! Really makes you appreciate the sunny days.) so I had to get out of there. Before the gardens, I also stopped at Kelvingrove park, which is just down the street from me. I took even more pictures there. I'm so excited to see how they turn out! That's the thing about film cameras... you don't know how the pictures look until you develop them! They could be absolute works of art... or they could all be overexposed and look like dirt smears. I guess I'll find out on Friday and report back. Here is the fountain in Kelvingrove:Very pretty. I have no idea who made it, what it represents or why it's there. But it sure looks nifty, eh?

The Highlands

What a great weekend. We started here in Glasgow on Saturday morning and headed to Dumbarton Castle.The weather was NASTY. It felt like a hurricane was moving in! The winds nearly knocked some of us over. I'll admit, I fell down twice. But this shows how most of Scotland looks. It's gray. It's covered in shrubbery. It's very green.This is on top of the castle apparently. I don't really understand it all... I was too busy getting blown around to figure out where the stupid thing was. But it was really lovely. After the castle, we went to Loch Lomond, which I couldn't be bothered to photograph. I mean... it was a lake. Everyone knows what a lake looks like. Then we headed up into the Highlands, where we stopped to take pictures of The Three Sisters.Beautiful mountains! Kind of weird, though. American mountains are very... gradual. It's hard to explain. These were very abrupt. Out of nowhere... a mountain! But very pretty. And there is snow! It made me feel at home. Finally we arrived in Oban, which is where we spent the night. It was a very pretty little town right on the coast.Of course, the weather was awful. But welcome to Scotland... These were taken from a tower up at the top of the hill in the town called McCaig's Tower. Also very pretty and fashioned to look like a Roman building.Hey look! I'm alive. So we spent the night in Oban at the hostel. It was very nice. Our leader told us to not expect that nice of a place for all hostels. But that one sure was lovely. The next day we headed out early and went to a very cool bridge. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the actual bridge, but I did take one of the Atlantic ocean from the top of it!After our stop there, we continued on to a better beach.Rainbow! There are a ton of rainbows here. Product of all the rainfall. They are pretty, but I'm worried I'm going to get desensitized to them because they are everywhere. I see one almost every day. Our last stop was a village called Inveraray. It might have been the cutest little village I've ever seen. Right on a huge loch.The blue one is actually a museum.This is the view across the bay. You can juuuust see the spire of the castle on the left side, tucked into the trees. Up close, it looks like a castle out of a fairy tale.Gorgeous. Inverary was our last stop on the trip. After that we hightailed it home. We were all wiped, and most of us slept on the last two hour leg of the journey. Once we got home, I couldn't be bothered to do anything but shower, eat and pass out. I slept for 12 hours last night. Much needed. Today I ran some errands and took a long walk through the Botanical Gardens and Kelvingrove Park, where I took some pictures for my photography class and a few with my own camera. But I can't be bothered to put them up now, so you'll see them tomorrow. :)

Back!

Back safe and sound from the Highlands. Can't be bothered to upload pictures right now. SO tired. It was a late night in Oban. :)

I'm boring!

I didn't do a thing today. Except go to classes. Started my photography class and I was given first swipe at the camera. Tomorrow I leave for the Highlands, and I'll be back Sunday. I'll make an effort to post here on Monday with all the pictures I will have. I will likely have very spotty cell service, and no internet access, so don't freak out. I'll post back here Monday! Have a good weekend.

Uh oh

I've gotten addicted to my new book. It's the second in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy. And it's just as good as the first one (which I ripped through in less than a week). It's amazing. Again, very intense, like the first, but well written and an excellent story line.

In other news, I'm going on an overnight trip this weekend to the Highlands! I'm incredibly excited. We are going to be taken on a few tours (to a castle, no less!) and allowed to explore a bit on our own. We will be staying in a hostel for the night. We'll leave here early Saturday morning and come back late on Sunday. *Happy dance*

Last night, I went to a wine and cheese party hosted by the Glasgow University Tennis Club. If you know me, you'll know that I don't play tennis. I have never played tennis. I don't understand tennis (except there is something in the scoring involving love. I always picture little hearts floating around whenever I watch tennis). But Sarah plays tennis, so I tagged along with her. Ended up being a great time, met a lot of interesting people and drank a little too much wine for a school night. Right in the middle, however, this happened:A fire alarm. So we all shuffled outside as the hosts yelled at us to leave our glasses inside. Within 10 minutes we were all back inside, so it really wasn't that bad. Certainly livened up the party, though. The cheese was pretty lively by itself. Nom nom.
Today was rather uneventful. Class, errands, buying weekend tickets. Although I did pass this truck, and I laughed.

New things

Walking to class today, I passed a dumpster. Now, this was no ordinary dumpster. Inside it was... a bookcase. A lovely wooden bookcase painted bright blue. The perfect size. Good condition. No spider infestations or indications of it being used for cult rituals. So... I took it. Yep. I reached into the dumpster, pulled out this lovely bookcase and walked off with it. Mind you, it's almost as tall as me. And much wider. So I looked a fool walking down the street with this thing tucked under my arm. But... it was so worth it. Look:
Perfection. The perfect size, the perfect color and the perfect price (free!). So my method of attaining it was a little shady... so what? I figure if someone put it in a dumpster, I kind of have the okay to take it, right? Anyways. I'm quite pleased with my "purchase" for the day.

And here is the sweater I bought on Monday. It's 100% British wool (which is apparently superior to American wool. Don't know how that could be, unless the sheep bleat with a British accent. In that case, yes, British sheep would be far superior), and I'm completely convinced that there are little heaters hidden inside it. I've never been so warm. I haven't taken it off since yesterday. Mmm... wool.And of course, it makes me look like an angry librarian. But that's alright, because I'm a WARM angry librarian.

LOL

For anyone who doesn't know, that means Laughing Out Loud, and I spent a lot of time doing just that today. This morning, I was boppin' along, walking to class, listening to the magical ear candy that is Slim Harpo and I look up to see... this:Remember Lord Kelvin (aka Lord SparkleMcFancyPants)? Apparently this is what he normally looks like. The big storm Glasgow had the day before I arrived knocked his lovely party hat off, but thankfully, it was restored to its rightful place last night. I had to stop and lean against the fence because I was laughing so hard. Maybe it was a lack of sleep. Maybe dead guys in party hats just really tickle my funny bone. I don't know, but I laughed for 7 minutes straight. I timed it. I would finally collect myself, clear my throat and move to carry on. And then I would glance back at McPompousPants over here, and lose it all over again. I ended up having to sprint down the block so I couldn't see his stupid hat anymore before I could stop. Fiiiiinally, I made it to class and was alright. But I made sure to avoid walking by him again later.

Between my two classes, I walked up the road to the yarn store I visited yesterday. Today it was open (hooray!) and I got a kit to make socks. The lady there was delightful and helped me pick out the yarn and pattern. With the kit came a cute little project bag:
Overall, very pleased with my discovery of the shop, and I'm sure I'll be going there again.

Nothing much else of note happened today! I did hear a funny term. Here, a bachelorette party is called a hen party. LOL!

Exploring

Did a lot of exploring today. Got lost a few times, but that's kind of the name of the game, eh? I also got my hair cut. :) So anyways. My exploring. I had a mission. I wanted to visit a yarn shop, get groceries, visit a salon for a consultation and go to Boots. I only accomplished one of those things. I walked all the way from my apartment to the yarn shop (about 2 miles one way) to find out it is closed on Mondays. Uhg. So I walked back, and scouted for salons on the way. Ran into three. All three were closed on Mondays. Apparently Monday is America's Sunday. So anyways, I finally found a little hole-in-the-wall place that advertised hair cuts, and I was so desperate by that point that I ran inside. Ended up being a great choice. The lady talked me out of cutting my hair, but agreed that bangs would quell my urge to do anything stupid with my hair. So I got bangs! And it cost only 2.50 pounds! The lady was really great, too. I'll go there again. Here they are!After that, I went to Superdrug, which is essentially like Boots. Got a hairdryer, some hair products, a brush and cotton pads. Then I got full of myself. "Oh, I found all this other stuff. Why not explore some more? I'm sure there are other cool stores around!" Yeah... I got lost. I found this crazy little building in an alley (sounds safe, right?!) full of antiques and furniture. It was a nice building, but full of a bunch of stuff. I was perplexed.Bizarre, right? Full of little shops like this:
It was very weird. Considering this is where I had to walk to get to it:
Creepsville. Speaking of creepsville! I found this sign above a bricked-over doorway on my way home. It was on the back side of a very old looking building. No idea what the building used to be, but it's right across the street from the very old Western Infirmity, which is still practicing now.Um, I don't know about you, but a creepy little door labeled Girls and Infants in the back of a creepy old building gives me the willies. What was this door used for?! Was it just segregation, or something more sinister? I think Glasgow seems kind of creepy to me in some respects because it's so old. American cities are babies compared to the cities here, and it throws you off. I wouldn't see something like this back home. (Thank goodness) So anyways, I enjoyed my day off! Classes again tomorrow.

Looooser

I have done exactly nothing but sit in my room and read all day (finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. SO good). So I thought I would give a run down of just a very small sample of Scottish/British words that confuse me. These are used regularly in everyday conversations.

American > Scottish
Detour > Diversion
Know > Ken
Bar > Pub
Child > Bairn
Major (at school) > Course
Course (at school) > Module
Small > Wee

Other things that continue to throw me off:
-Door handle are on the other side of the door.
-The outlets are weird (duh).
-Driving on the "wrong" side.
-Putting "u" in words where it doesn't belong.
-Saying "No bother" where Americans would say "Don't worry about it".
-Blowing your nose in public is apparently rude... whoops.
-Complete strangers will talk to you like you are old friends.
-The weather (I swear Mother Nature here is bipolar and menopausal).

Other things I have learned:
-DO NOT ever mention football while in a pub. EVER.
-Also, NEVER pick sides between the two Glasgow football teams. Unless you want a black eye.
-Don't ever confuse Scottish with English. Calling them British is acceptable, though.
-Don't talk about politics. Unless you want a black eye.
-All museums here are free!
-Invest in good walking shoes.
-Don't assume you know where someone is from based on their accent. You'll sound like a fool.
-The heating in British buildings is crap. Layer.
-Girls wear really uncomfortable-looking shoes. Practicality is apparently not important here.
-Don't point out the fact you are American. They know. Really.
-Minnesota is apparently only known for snow, lakes and MOA.
-No one uses umbrellas. Ever. It's too windy.
-Don't ask people about their family unless you have three hours and a bottle of whisky close by.

Lazy, sleepy day

I had a really nice lay-around-and-read-and-drink-tea kind of day. Which was pretty delightful. Last night we had quite a party at the apartment, thanks to our Austrian roommate, Jakob. He invited a few people over... who invited a few more... until the whole apartment was full. And then we got busted by security. Whoops. But it ended pretty early (everyone was kicked out by 11!), so I got to clean up a little and straighten the place out before it was too late. My other roommate, Bradley, and I stayed up for about three more hours, chatting and drinking wine. It ended up being a very nice chill evening. Today I didn't even roll out of bed until after 12. Sarah and I went to meet a few other international students at the campus bar down Sauchiehall Street. There was apparently a soccer game going on, but it wasn't being televised. We asked the bartender why that was, and she told us because the rivalry in Glasgow between the two teams is so great, they don't air the games of either team. Too many fights break out. Um... okay. So that plan was scrapped, and we ended up at the art gallery down the street from our flat.It's stunning at night. After the gallery, we went out for dinner at Mother India's, which had incredible curry. It was easily the best food I've had in a while. Combine that with a large glass of wine and I was sittin' pretty. I would definitely go there again. It was pretty damn reasonable as far as prices go, too. So anyways. Nothing much of note today. Sorry for the dry tone, I'm fighting off sleep as I type. I'll leave you with this funny sign outside the local barber shop.I mean, what is an oap?

TGIF

Not that I had a particularly trying week, but nonetheless, I'm glad it's Friday. I only had one class today (Classic Civ), so I took the chance to meander over to the bookstore and pick up my required texts. Sadly, out of the two books I needed for Scottish Culture, they only had one. But it should be getting here next week. Classic Civ offered a bundle of the required books. Which is good. Because it was certainly a bundle.After class, I decided to make a little detour through the park that is on my way back home. I keep seeing these little black and white birds everywhere, and I have NO idea what they are. Ideas?Pretty cute, but they are LOUD. After I took this, one squawked so loudly I yelped and nearly dropped my camera. I wisely retaliated by throwing a stick at it, because I am 12. It sauntered off like I wasn't loudly berating it and carried on its merry way. Anyways. After the bird fiasco, I found a couple nifty statues. This one here is Lord Kelvin. Yeah, *that* Kelvin. The one who discovered absolute zero and named the corresponding temperature scale after himself. He's a pretty nifty guy.The spire of the University is behind him. About 100 feet to the left is the River Kelvin, from which he took his Lord name. Apparently when you are made a lord, you can choose whatever name you fancy. I wonder if there is any regulation on that, or if you can be Lord SparkleMcFancyPants. Probably wouldn't go over well in polite company. Next I found a statue of MrDoctorSir (not sure which) Lister, who invented the first antibacterial substance. He worked at the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow when he made it. And that's pretty bomb, if you ask me. (And yes, Listerine was named after him)Finally, I made it out of the park. And here, I am going to be judgmental of British people. They park like idiots! Honestly, I think it's hilarious. 80% of their parking jobs would be illegal in America. For example:This is perfectly legal! To me, it looks like an epic face-off is about to begin. "Steady... steady lads! Hold....... FIGHT!!" *cue snarling engines and screeching brakes* I don't know about you, but my money would be on the silver one. He might be smaller, but I bet he fights dirty. And finally, for your amusement... a typical Scottish parking job.Essentially, if it fits, it's a good parking spot. This car is literally on top of a brick circle around a tree. I guess I want to know what would entail an illegal parking job. Diagonal across the street? Sideways? In someones living room? I'm sure glad Americans don't drive here. We would probably run crying home and end up curled up in the corner of the kitchen, weeping and rocking back and forth. "So ruthless. They were... so ruthless. No... parking spots. Anywhere... oh, god, none anywhere."

Ouch

So, it's been another one of *those* days. Last night, I cut open my leg while shaving, which led to me leaving little pink footprints all over the bathroom before I realized what happened. So that was fun to clean up. My roommate Bradley saw me coming out of the bathroom with blood running down my leg... I very quickly explained that I had cut myself, instead of any other less savory options. So anyways, today my knee hurt and my heels still have sores on them. But this, I can handle. Went to Forensic Medicine like usual, came back to the flat and made lunch. Since I switched into the level 1 Classics class, I had plenty of time before class at 3pm. Briefly checked where the building was before I left, then hurried on like the intelligent student I am. Once I got back to campus, I realized I had NO idea where the building was. I only had 15 minutes until class started, and in case you are wondering, the campus is comparable in size to the U of M. So... I panicked. I ran into a building (which happened to be a student union), noted that it was NOT where I needed to be and quickly turned around to walk out. Where I fell straight on my butt, twisting my ankle in the process. I sat on the ground, stunned. Then promptly burst into tears. I sat on the dirty cobblestone of the street for at least 5 minutes, crying. I think it just hit me that I was so very, very far away from home and I missed my family and my own bed and peanut butter and normal cars and I wasn't going to see any of that for 5 months. So. I cried. And sneezed. And cried a little more. And then... I was fine. Just like that. I picked myself up, brushed off my butt and carried on. I think I just needed to get it out of my system. I feel totally fine now. It's very odd. I went to Classics (got there in plenty of time, too, once I asked a friendly police officer where the building was) and made a friend, no less! I looked like this:"A friend? For me?" No matter how old I get, I think I will always make that face when I meet someone new. Because of all my bouncing around in classes this week, I haven't had the opportunity to meet anyone yet. So I'm understandably excited. Anyways. It's been a weird day. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a chance to visit the library and bookstore, and get a head start on some of the readings for my classes. Also, I need to buy tape and a sharpie. Don't let me forget!

Ew.

So, this morning started off as one of *those* mornings. Woke up exhausted due to my roommates insatiable sexual appetite leading to a lovely chorus of sounds which I could hear very clearly through the wall. Awesome. Finally got to sleep around 2am. After I woke up, I was given the privilege of getting ready to the same wonderful music. Double awesome. Then as I was walking to class, I stepped on a used condom. So basically, this morning sucked.
This afternoon was significantly less sex-noise filled. Which translates to better all the way around. I switched my Classic Civilization 2 class for the level 1 version of the class, which is much more preferable, considering I know absolutely nothing about classic civilizations. And that was really the only issue I had with my classes, so now that it's sorted, I can just relax and take the classes and stop fretting about jumping through registration hoops. I also started my Scottish Culture class, which is going to be very cool. It only meets once ever two weeks, so that's a total of only 6 meetings! The classes here seem very sporadic in that way, and the schedules are kind of weird. Back home, we usually had either Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes or Tuesday/Thursday classes. Here, classes are usually Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday or they meet once a week for a longer block. I've been hard pressed to find a class that meets on Mondays (which is totally Wunderbar, because I have Monday totally free! Long weekend, woop woop!). It's just a different system. I'm sure I'll get used to it before too long. I don't have any plans for tonight yet. Catching up on sleep after last night, probably. Uhg.
P.S. Grandma, thank you for the bag of Band-aids and antibiotic ointment you sent with me! Not only have you saved my heels from being completely eaten by blisters, I also used the medical tape to put up the map of Great Britain you gave me! Very useful, all the way around. :)

First day of classes...

It's only 4pm and I'm exhausted. Yaaawwwnnnn. I had my first two classes today. At 11am I had Forensic Medicine, which seems like it's going to be awesome. I'm quite excited for it. During the introduction today, the professor showed a list of the people we are expected to get lectures from, including internationally recognized pathologists, police surgeons and toxicology experts. Basically a dream come true for me. And the professor (he's actually the course coordinator, now that I think about it) was easy to understand, which was a relief. I'm perpetually terrified that I'm going to walk into class and have a prof from a little village in the Highlands and then I'm going to fail because I can't understand them. Perhaps that's irrational. Well... not too irrational. My second class was Classical Civilizations, and the prof was English. His speech was fine. I can understand the words. But the slang?! I had no idea what he was laughing about half the time. And then I felt like an idiot because he would crack a joke and the rest of the class would giggle along with him, and I'm sitting in the middle thinking "What is this crackpot on about now? Was that supposed to be funny?". British humor is SO lost on me yet. I'm worried about this happening. And ya know, eagles are fairly nifty, but I don't exactly want to be see as *that* American girl.
ANYWAYS! Here's a picture of the main building on campus. Oooohhh, pretty.
And for the lulz, here is the tea I bought a few days ago. If you can't see what it says, it specifies that it is made exclusively for Scottish water. Now, I dunno about you... but I want to know what the hell makes Scottish water so different that it needs special tea! I'm only slightly concerned that I may return to the states sprouting fins or a kilt or a red beard.

Downtown!

Classes technically started today, but I don't have any Monday classes, which is all kinds of fantastic. So instead, I walked to the City Centre (which is the equivalent of a downtown area, I think) and did a little shopping. I hardly recognized any stores. They had an H&M and a Zara, but that was about it that I recognized. I went into the Agent Provocateur shop on Ingram street. Gulp. I was infatuated. Unfortunately (or maybe it was fortunate...), the cheapest bra and knicker set came to a total of 155 pounds. Ouch. Drool-worthy things, though. Then I went to TopShop, which is kind of the equivalent of Forever 21 in the States. Although I have to say, TopShop is far classier. Didn't get much of anything. I just had a lot of fun walking around and checking out all the shopping options. And of course, people watching. It was about a 5 mile walk total, so my paws are crying now. On my way home, I stumbled across this wonderful little pub. I'll be going there before too long.

Fashion!

I didn't do much of anything today except buying some much needed food and a few things from Boots (which is essentially the British version of CVS or Walgreens). So instead, I would like to bore you with my musings on British fashion. It's rather similar to American fashion in a lot of ways. For example, leggings and tights are extremely popular. Jeans, on women my age, are actually a pretty rare occurrence. To go with said leggings or tights, the girls wear boots. Everyone wears boots, all the time. The most common kind is calf-height leather boots in brown or black. They are never suede (a terrible idea in all this rain) and Uggs are non-existent (yippee!). Knee high socks are then worn with these boots, and scrunched down over the tops of the boots. Sometimes the socks are layered. This is the most common look:Via Zigoti

Also, really crazy patterned leggings are popular, like these. Most tights and leggings are solid colors, usually black or dark purple, but these weird patterned ones are all over the place. I don't find them very cute... but whatever floats your boat, right? As far as tops, I can't really speak to that, because they are always hidden under jackets! But the jackets are almost always heavy peacoats with large buttons. Not all of them are black, I've seen a lot of purple, green and even a few red coats, too.Via persimmon
Michelle Williams looking quite British, all the way around.

I'll be able to see the types of tops and dresses that are worn soon, once I start classes. I don't have any class on Mondays, and only one on Friday mornings, which is going to be excellent for traveling on the weekends. Woop!

Edinburgh

Went on a tour of the capital city today! It's about 45 miles away from Glasgow, and it took us about an hour by bus to get there. The country we drove through looked surprisingly like Minnesota to me. Lots of rolling hills, little creeks, patches of forest. And sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. Baaaa. Edinburgh is a really pretty city. Very old and architecturally lovely. The two above pictures are just random pictures of the city. Nothing in particular. Here is a picture of where we went to lunch.And here is what I got while there.
After lunch, we walked up The Royal Mile (a long road), which ends at the Edinburgh Castle.
I also stopped by St. Giles Cathedral, which was stunning.Finally, we stopped by the Elephant's House coffee shop, which is where J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter. I got a coffee there, just to say I did. :)Very fun and interesting day. We had a tour guide with us for most of the day, and she spouted off a lot of cool facts about the city (which of course, I can no longer remember). I hope to get back over there again at some point. There are a few places I would like to see again, and a lot of other places I didn't get to see this time. I would also like to go into the castle at some point. And there is a huge hill (an inactive volcano, to be exact!) I would like to climb up. Apparently it offers great views of the city. Tonight is going to be a very low-key night. I think I walked close to 10 miles today. Ouchie.