Last Few Adventures :(

The last few days were packed with last-minute adventures, such as:

An adventure to the top of the Wallace Monument:

In the Cafe :) Scones and cream!

A visit to Parliament:

Debating Chamber

Exploring Edinburgh Castle:

The National Museum of Scotland:

The Writer's Museum:

The Edinburgh Christmas Markets:

The Elephant House (Where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter):

There was tons of writing in the bathroom
(the women's on at least)

Mostly....I wish there had been a bit more time :(

Loch Ness

So, I am sitting here wishing I had tea and biscuits. Well, biscuits at least. I have tea. And then I remember, Oh right! That blog I told people I would catch up on over break/when I got back to school/soon-ish. So, here are some pictures from going up to Loch Ness, which I would say is by far the most touristy thing I did while abroad.

The tour left from Glasgow, which meant catching an early morning train, and getting up even earlier to walk to the train station because buses weren't running yet.

The first place we stopped was Loch Lomond and Drovers Inn:

Then we stopped in Glencoe and about five million other pretty places.

Then we reached Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, which was just.... One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Basically, I would give up living in a city to live somewhere like this. Which for those of you who know me, know that there is very little that could make me live in a non-city place!

After which we drove all the way back down to Glasgow, where there was a Christmas Market outside the train station :) Although, I would say I prefer Edinburgh's Christmas Market.

Then I took a train back to Stirling, doing my best not to fall asleep from the long day. 

Anyway, I will post some more catch-ups in the next few days (hopefully) as I procrastinate doing real schoolwork. 

Guy Fawkes Night

NOTE: This is two months late. Erm. Oops!

Alright. So I knew that on November 5th there are those people who like get together and watch V for Vendetta "Remember remember the fifth of November" and all that.

It never occurred to me that in some places, November 5th is an actual holiday. Guy Fawkes Night.

I will be honest. Before last week, I had only heard his name in passing, and knew that he was vaguely associated the the masks. So when everyone here started getting excited for Guy Fawkes Night, I thought I'd better do some Wikipedia research about who this guy (heheh) was.

For those of you who live under the same rock as me, basically he was this Catholic guy (heheheheh) who way back in the day tried to assassinate King James I of England (VI of Scotland) and blow up Parliament, but failed.

And now everyone has a bonfire and fireworks on November 5th.

Let me put some things out there. Mainly, I have never been to a bonfire. They are a little touchy about fires in California (especially by the end of August when it hasn't rained in FOREVER), so it's not a very common thing. So really, I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I knew that a bonfire is basically just a giant fire, but I didn't have a very clear image of it going into this.

Another thing is that usually I watch fireworks from far away. Whether it's New Years or Fourth of July or KFOG Kaboom or the Golden Gate Bridge's anniversary, if you go to the top of a hill in the city you can get a good view and not have to fight for parking/room on a bus/oxygen.

The bonfire and fireworks were about a ten minute walk from campus, which was nice and convenient. Least to say that although it was only ten minutes, it was SO COLD. As it was Scotland. And November.

The bonfire was before the fireworks, and there was a band playing on the other side of the field. The bonfire was.... Wow. So cool! Though in more eloquent words.

Note any pictures in this post were not taken by me. I forgot
to put the chip back in my camera. :(

The best part was the fireworks. As implied above, I had never seem them so close! I could feel the vibrations of the explosions!

Seeing them behind the bonfire made them
look like water

There were also various food trucks, including someone who had a whole coffee making set up in the back of their van. Yum! I got a cookie from one, but it was quite hard and crunchy :(

Overall, it was a lot of good fun!