Rome!

So... I'm finally getting around to sorting through all my pictures and such. First is Rome. Glasgow's gothic history, the Isle of Arran and France will follow. Thanks for being patient. :)

So Rome was amazing. I left on the 16th of March and came back on the 18th. It was a short trip, but really incredible. I arrived late on Friday evening, so not much as far as sightseeing was possible. I took a taxi from the airport to a courtyard close to the hotel. The taxi driver not only tried to give me a heart attack during the drive, but also tried to rip me off. I knew the laws about the 30 euro cap on taxi rides within the city limits, though, so that didn't go well for him. Then I headed off down a little street towards the hotel. I was tired, confused, didn't speak the language and getting frustrated. However, Chris was outside waiting for me. I started crying. :) We spent the evening enjoying a bottle of wine and some tasty snacks at a little cafe down the street from the hotel.

Adorable, and oh-so-Italian. We also went for a little walk where I took some photos.

This is the Castle St. Angelo, which is connected via an overground tunnel to the Vatican.

We returned to the hotel, chatted, caught up, etc etc. The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and headed out to meet with her coworkers also in Rome. We then headed with our awesome tour guide to the Vatican.

St. Peter's Basilica

The Vatican has a dress code. You can't get in showing your knees (as a sign of respect, I guess. Not that I think my knees would send the priests into a passionate frenzy. Gotta be safe, though. Ya never know).

The inner courtyard in front of the basilica. The statues all represent different saints.

Then... we got to go inside...

*cue jaws dropping*

This was super neat. At a certain moment, the light from the window fell perfectly on the cross. It was kind of intense, and I'm not even religious.

As a non-religious person, I will never feel like I can truly appreciate a place of worship, but I can still be stunned at how lovely it was. And I definitely could understand how the basilica can inspire awe. It sure as heck did in me.

Again, it was just spectacular. The architects and designers really did a number on the place. Everything was just perfectly placed to make sure it was as impressive as possible.

And it was a gorgeous day!

After the Vatican, Chris has work-y things to do, so I got to go have lunch with her coworkers, who were a riot. I laughed and laughed all through lunch. We went to a little restaurant by the Vatican that had amazing pasta and good wine. It was really nice. After lunch, we headed down to the Palatine Hills for the second tour of the day. (and no, I don't remember the names of any of the things I saw. Sorry. It was a miracle I was still standing by the end of everything)

Well, I remember the name of this one... obviously.

This is looking down from the top of the Palatine Hills into the Forum. The Forum was really intense. Huge and beautiful. It was apparently where political figures would have given big speeches to the public. And considering I had to read several of said speeches in my Classic Civ class... it was pretty awe-inspiring to be standing where they were given. Gah. I have goosebumps just thinking about it again.

And now that I've been to Paris, this looks a bit like the Arc de Triomphe. But I'm sure it was some sort of significant Roman thing... which now escapes me. Totally gorgeous, though. I, of course, took many, many more pictures. But lots were multiples of the same things, and some weren't all that exciting. I will have them back at home if you want to look at them!

So that was the two tours I did that day. It was a beautiful day, sunny and lovely. And I got to see some amazing sights. Rome in a day... tough but doable. Of course there are a ton more things to see in Rome, but I covered most of the big things I wanted to see. After the tours we went back to the hotel to freshen up (or pass out on top of a pile of clothes, in my case). Then it was dinner with all the U of M people at a really nice little restaurant. We got lots of wine, piles of good food and a few free drinks. A delightful end to my Rome trip. :) And then we walked outside and saw this:

I had forgotten that there was a Scotland vs Italy rugby match in Rome that day. I just can't get away from those kilt-lovin' fools. Not that I mind. The bagpiping spoke to my heart. Everyone thought it was so hilarious that a little Scotland love followed me to Rome. We tromped back to the hotel to get ready to leave the next day. Bright and freakin' early. And so we left Rome, headed back to the bonny land of lochs and kilts.

If I had enough time (and moolah) I would definitely get back there. I would have liked to see more of the actual city. Yes, the ancient ruins were gorgeous and full of character, but there is a lot more to Rome than just the ruins. It has a lot of history, not just classical-civilization-style. There is religious history, social evolution, architectural advancements and inventions galore. Perhaps sometime in the future...

Alright, so the next round-up will be of more of Glasgow (including the Necropolis and St. Mungo's Cathedral) from when my dad and stepmom were here, then the Isle of Arran and France. Because classes are now done and I don't have any more travels planned for a while, I will actually have time to get on here and post. I think my next trip will either be to Aberdeen or Stirling, which are both in Scotland. My next international trip will likely be Ireland when my mom comes to visit. I am super excited for that trip. I've heard lots of good things about Ireland. Similar but different to Scotland, as I'm told. We'll see! Love from Glasgow (finally, I know).

Sorry!

I feel like I've been so bad at keeping up with the blog lately. I just haven't been doing too many interesting things! I spent the majority of this weekend working on my essays and cleaning up around the flat. It's disgusting. I never really knew how foul boys can be. I understand that's a sweeping generalization... but goodness my roommate is disgusting. I'm talking empty containers of food everywhere, dirty dishes piled on the counter (and table, and in the sink, and even on the FLOOR), crumbs on everything. We are getting ants because of it! I hate going into the kitchen because I can just anticipate how nasty it's going to be. I might take a picture sometime just to show you how vile it is. Anyways... enough complaining.

I am going to Rome on Friday! I will be meeting my step-mother there on Friday evening and we will be returning to Glasgow on Sunday afternoon, where my father will be waiting for us. This is the first contact with family members I will have had in over two months. AND I CAN HARDLY WAIT. I'm not ready to go home yet, not by a long shot, but I do miss my family and friends every single day. I wish I could just transplant all of you over here. :)

Anyways. I need to continue working on my essays, but I will report back on Rome! Wish me luck on the taxi ride from the airport... I've heard it can give you a heart attack.

Love from Glasgow! (enjoy this picture as an apology for bad blogging)

So, I guess I live here...

I just looked around my room and realized it's changed a lot since I last posted pictures of it. I figured I would show you that it actually looks like someone lives here now. I got around to putting up my pictures, which is really nice for me. Makes me miss Minnesota, though. Also, I should be working on an essay... but we'll just ignore that fact right now...

Love from Glasgow!

Haircut Version 2.0

I got my hair cut again on Monday. Just a trim, and I kept the same general shape. It is less asymmetrical now, and the front bits are a little shorter. And the back is A LOT shorter. It's pretty much a true pixie now. I really like it like this.

I don't have any big plans for the week or weekend. Just hanging with the roommates and some friends. I have lots going on with school right now (two essays due in the next two weeks), so I've been busy. Once classes end, I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to post, as I plan on doing lots of traveling! The schedule for final exams will be posted on the 19th, and then I can plan my traveling for May. Wahoo!

Love from Glasgow. <3

Nessie Hunting

Prepare for a picture explosion! If you have slow internet, you might want to go get a coffee or paint your toenails or something. It's going to take a while. Nessie is a big deal, ya know. So anyways. I left Glasgow on Friday afternoon from here:Ah, Scotland. Yes, that is Gaelic underneath the English. It was actually a pretty decent day. And by that, I mean it wasn't raining. Which in Glasgow is considered a nice day. Now, because I'm a lame-o, I didn't take pictures during the train ride because I was sitting next to a really cranky lady. I didn't know you could reserve seats on the train, and I was apparently sitting in her seat. Instead of asking me nicely to move, she just sat down in a huff next to me and said "You know, you are in the wrong seat." Um... okay? I replied, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Would you like to switch with me?" She rolled her eyes and said "Uhg, no. I just thought you should know." Well excuse me, Ms. Cranky-pants. But really? If it was that upsetting, she could have just asked me to move. Goodness. Also, during the course of the train ride (about 3.5 hours) she drank two small bottles of wine...

SO! I arrived in Inverness around 6:30pm. Because it's such a small town, I just walked to the hostel, which was about a 10 minute walk. I checked in, and was pretty surprised at how quiet it was. I was one of three people checked into the whole hostel. One was my roommate, an elderly woman from Aberdeen traveling for a fiddle and accordion concert. Awesome, right?! I never caught her name, but she was very nice. She told me about a few other hostels I should check out. One is in a castle! Here is one side of the room (it had 6 beds total):
And this is what I picked up from Morrisons (a supermarket) while exploring the town:
While on my Morrisons trip, I walked around town a little bit. It's a really cute, pretty town. It's on River Ness, which eventually empties into Loch Ness. I was standing on a bridge here:
This bridge, to be exact:
After my excursion, I went back to the hostel, drank bad wine, ate cookies and read trashy magazines. Then I got up bright and early for a day of Nessie hunting. I went to the Inverness Bus Station to catch a bus to Drumnadrochit, which is a tiny village on the Loch.

The town is about 14 miles from Inverness, right down the Loch. So it was a really nice bus ride. This is on the smaller end of the loch. Yeah, it's huge. 27 miles long in total. And up to 900 feet deep at the deepest point (YIKES).

Whoops, this is out of order. This is Inverness, right on the river. Pretty, yes?

So here is the infamous Loch Ness! Gorgeous. It actually really reminded me of Northern Minnesota. This area that I was overlooking is the deepest part of the loch. So... if Nessie was going to be anywhere, she was going to be here. :)

This is the village of Drumnadrochit. It was hardly even a village. More like a tiny congregation of sheep farms. And a gas station. Sure was pretty though.
You know you are in the highlands when the Gaelic comes before the English on signs.
And here is Urquhart Castle. It's a very, very old castle (well, mostly ruins now) on the edge of the Loch. It was totally magnificent and really fun to be able to walk around on the ruins.

This was part of a living chamber. Um... looks cozy... NOT. I hope they had carpets.

Looking down the loch. This is what the occupants of the castle would have woken up to every day. Yeah, I was totally jealous.

Although I wouldn't have been jealous of their windows. I could have laid down comfortably (well... somewhat comfortably) between the inner wall and the outer wall. It must have been 6 feet thick.

This is inside the visitor's center for the castle. The sentiment still rings true today.

And this I took just to prove what a lovely day it was. I could see the moon!! It's that wee little speck in the middle of the branches. It turned out to be a lovely day for an outing. It was SUPER windy, though.
Here is a little video clip I took when I was on the castle grounds. Sorry for the bad sound, it was SO windy! My hat almost gets knocked off at one point. :)

So that was my adventure to Loch Ness! I went back to the hostel after all my wandering about and just took it easy for the rest of the night. I was tired. I was now one of two people in the hostel, as my roommate had moved on. Which meant I had the whole room to myself! They had totally wonderful showers, so I just showered, ate cookies and drank tea. It was a nice relaxing night.

The next day I headed for home. Got lunch at a diner in town (it was an American diner, I almost had to eat there) then hopped on the train and got into Glasgow in the late afternoon. And here I am! It was a great weekend. Because I don't have classes on Mondays, I got to take today easy. Got my hair cut again (it's the same shape, just a lot shorter) and cleaned up a bit. I left my room a bit of a mess on Friday. Tomorrow I have classes again, and I'm kind of looking forward to getting busy with school again. I have two essays to work on, so plenty to keep me out of trouble.

Love from Nessie! (and me)

Happy

I am doing much, much better. Thank you to everyone who sent me a message. I really appreciate it. I think Mother Nature got the memo that I wasn't feeling great and decided to make all the flowers in Glasgow bloom in the past week. :) This is on campus:

I walk past this little field of white flowers on my way home every day.

It's a nice contrast to all the brown and green of Glasgow.

And there you can see SUNSHINE! This is the park that holds that silly statue of Lord Kelvin.

Yesterday I went shopping in the City Center, where it was actually sunny and lovely. This is looking down the main drag where all the shops are. There are two mall-like structures at each end of this strip. A great place for the shoppers!

Again looking down a street in the City Center. It definitely doesn't look like an American "downtown". But I like it. It isn't overwhelming. Cities here are a lot more spread out.

In other news, I am going to Inverness this weekend. Last night, while under the influence of several glasses of mulled wine, I decided I wanted to see Loch Ness. So I booked train tickets and two nights in a hostel in Inverness, which is at the very northern tip of the Loch. I'm incredibly excited for this little adventure. I think it's just what I need right now. Expect pictures of Nessie!

(PS I have NO idea why the font in the post kept changing. I didn't do it!)