Alone in Edinburgh

Hello,
So this is it...the week I have been dreading/looking forward to all summer...I am on my own.  It is pretty strange to be all by myself in a strange city but I am proud to say I am handling it rather well (in my humble opinion).  I have been exploring the shops around Edinburgh (and especially near campus) and reading and relaxing in our apartment.  I did some shopping today and bought a pair of grey skinny jeans (I know I was shocked to but I liked the way they looked) and a couple presentable sweaters (it has been cold here and I wanted some sweaters that looked a little more professional/grown up than the ones I have now).
I am working on a few picture heavy posts for next week (I have to edit all my photos and get them all ready to go online) and a HUGE post about all the shows I saw so those should be exciting (I hope).
Other than that it has been a rather boring couple of days alone (thought I have made friends with a lot of people who work in the shops here)
Tomorrow Paris! (for three hours, because of stupid visa laws)
Love ya!

London: Day 2

Hello,
Our second day in London was a little less crazy than our first; we started things off with a breakfast with my mom's Aunt Ruthie who gave me lots of contact information of friends and family should I need it.  After breakfast we went to Camden Market and bought some pretty Indian textiles and a few little statues and things to furnish my room with (pictures to follow, you see I forgot my card reader and thus have no way to get my pictures from the camera to the computer)  We also bought my sister a headwrap and a jaunty pinstripe fedora (which she has not taken off since we bought it).  At Camden Markets we also found a really cool ice cream shop that uses liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the ice cream to order, which was super cool (haha, get it? [I am so sorry but I couldn't resist]).
After our day at the market we went to dinner with mom's cousin Austin and his kids which was a lot of fun.  Georgia and Austin's kids got on famously (based partially on a shared love of hats and greek mythology) and I knew they were kindred spirits when the eldest told us that they were "all great bibliophiles".  We had a lovely time in London (but we like Edinburgh better) and are getting ready to go home on the train today (and maybe buy me a mobile [cell phone for my fellow yankees] from the store near the train station).
Tomorrow we are planning an Ikea trip to get a few more dorm essentials (and to compare and contrast with the Ikea at home).
Love ya!

London: Day 1

Hey!
So our first full day in London was very busy!  We went on a riverboat tour down the Thames which was fun (and the guide was very punny which was...interesting).   We then decided to check out the Tower of London since it was where our tour boat stopped (clearly a conspiracy of some sort).  The Tower was not that cool (Edinburgh castle is better, and I'm not just saying that because I live there).  The most interesting part about it is the fact that it isn't a tower!  It's more a sort of complex with lots of little castles and towers; it isn't even very tall, nothing was higher than two or three floors.
After the Tower (and a lunch of ben and jerry's, yum!) it started raining so we (logically) decided to walk the the Globe (which has no roof).  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but being a clever girl I had accidentally left my umbrella in the hotel room and my raincoat in Edinburgh so I got soaked.  We got to the Globe to late to see a tour but we were able to get tickets to the afternoon's performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor which was lots of fun (I am going to be writing up full reviews of all the shows I have seen when I have a little more time).
We finished off our day with a trip to the London Eye which was cool but not particularly exciting ( I spent most of the time taking photos of the wheel, trying to figure out how it works).  When we finally got back to the hotel room (12 hours after we left it in the morning) mom's cousin Austin called and we all trooped out for drinks.
Tomorrow we are breakfasting with Aunt Ruthie then going to Camden Market and then headed out for dinner with Austen and his family (his kids are all near Georgia's age so that should be fun).
Love ya!

Overheard In Edinburgh (and London)

(sorry its been a while...I have been very busy...I am working on a looong post about the last week)
Just a few things I have overheard in the last few days:

Overheard in Tesco-
Boy: "Oh look they have fruity tea cakes!"
Girl: "You're a fruity tea cake!"
Boy: "Your face is a fruity tea cake"
(A lengthy discussion of "your face" jokes followed as Hannah and I tried to keep straight faces)

Overheard on the street-
Boy dressed in 40s era clothes: "Its just that my liver is getting restless"


Overheard in a London restaurant-
Whiny woman (the highlights): "Noooo mum just let me talk to dad"; "But every time we break up you tell tales on me"; "People have been speaking about me haven't you...why haven't you stopped them speaking about me"
(This went on for a while, she seemed to think repetition was the best way to get her point across)

Love ya!

We Have Internet! (at this Starbucks)

Hello,
I'm back!!  (did you miss me?)
Sorry it took so long we have been busy getting over our jet lag and not getting lost that we have not had much time to find Starbucks to use the computer in (actually we keep finding them, but only when I don't have my computer with me).  But here we are sitting in a Starbucks near the University campus from which I can finally blog.
We have a lot to cover!  First we will start with finding the apartment:
So when Hannah and I arrived in Edinburgh all tired and dirty we still faced the challenge of finding the apartment people and what a challenge it was...We walked from the bus stop to the address we were given to find (dun dun dun) a cashmere store and a plaque telling us that all correspondence for the apartment people should go to the store.  Being greatly confused we asked the lady minding the store about apartments and she pointed us to an alley (or close in Scottish) next to the store just wide enough for one person to walk through:

We proceeded (with great difficulty due to our many bags) down this narrow (and very steep!) corridor and found the apartment office where they didn't laugh at any of my jokes but did confirm that we could return at three to claim our keys and go to the apartment.  So then we had to wait until three.

We spent a lot of the wait in a coffee shop staring at each other and trying to marshall our thoughts into coherent sentences (and not really succeeding)

So I wrote an awesome post about our apartment...

...but the internet at Starbucks is too slow right now (and our apartment is sadly internetless) for me to upload the pictures that go with it so it will have to wait until we have a more reliable internet connection.

Sorry :(

Love ya

Shenanigans In Airports

Hello,

            So we have arrived in Edinburgh (but not without incident), yay!  We were driven to the airport by Hannah’s dad and her sister Sophie.  When we got there we checked my bags (which were not overweight!) and went to security and this was when things got interesting…I just got new socks and I hadn’t worn them on slippery floors before and I wiped out in front of the x-ray machine thing (I almost took the bag scanner with me but thankfully I was able to catch myself) and all the security people judged me.

            Once we were on the plane things seemed to be looking up but I couldn’t sleep (perchance I was a little excited…) so when we landed in Paris I was seriously out of it.

            We arrived in Paris and were given confusing directions and had to take a bus from one part of the airport to the other.  I was very tired at this point and a little slap happy and I think all the people on the trolley (who weren’t on our flight) were rather glad to get off and get away from my jokes (my pride will not allow me to repeat them here but if you want to know, ask Hannah, she didn’t have the luxury of being able to leave early).  Eventually this got us to the correct part of the terminal with 20 minutes to spare when we were forced to go through security again.

            This was bad, first I failed the metal detector and had to get frisked then the guard decided that my backpack was somehow suspect and took everything out.  Even after emptying the bag they didn’t seem to find what they were looking for so they gave it up as a bad job (at least that is what I think, my French is a little rusty).  I was finally given back my stuff but I didn’t have time to put it all back in the pack because they were calling the last call for our flight and we had to race to the gate with my stuff falling out everywhere to make them plane but when we got there all we found was another sort of trolley bus that took us to little strip of tarmac where our plane would leave from (needless to say I embarrassed myself again here, I don’t do very well when sleep deprived, but thankfully most of the other passengers were Scots and therefore kindly ignored the antics of the crazy American girl).

Love ya!

Leaving Tomorrow!!

Hello,
We have been without internet for the last week which has prevented me from posting and made it much harder for me to waste time while I wait for it to be tomorrow.  One of the many things that I have learned about myself in the last year is that I am not very good at waiting for things to happen, I like to plan and do but not to wait...it makes me all antsy and agnsty.  Unfortunately sometimes waiting is necessary so I am working on it but it is not at all fun.
Well thanks for being there y'all (I'm trying to be as american as possible before I leave),
and as always, love ya!

PS Stay tuned for an airport and luggage post tomorrow!

Meet Hannah

This is Hannah

Hannah is super cute (as you can see in this picture!)

Hannah is coming with me to Scotland and we are going to have a wonderful week of fun and (to hazard a guess) we will be getting lost frequently.

I just wanted to introduce you since she will be featured prominently on this blog (you know cause of the whole traveling together thing).

When I took this picture Hannah asked me "Why are you taking a picture of me, we're just in New Haven" and I said, "Yes but you're cute!" and she laughed at me and made this face:

(sorry about the blurriness, I was laughing and the lighting was dim)

I think that proves my point, no?

Love ya!

PS  We're leaving in one week...eek!

I think I have found the solution to my packing problem!

I need this:

As seen in Camden Market in London.

If only I had one of these then all my problems would be solved!

t-12 days

Hello August, I didn't see you coming!

No really I didn't.  Now you might wonder how I managed to miss the fact that July was almost over and I didn't, I just forgot that August came after July.

You see for the last several months all anyone has asked me is, "So when are you leaving?"  In May I answered "Oh in a few months".  In June I answered "In a couple months".  And in July I answered "Next month" and began to worry slightly about packing all my jackets and converse sneakers (I collect jackets and Chuck Taylors...its a sickness, I know, and a very expensive sickness at that.  Once I get my degree I shall diagnose my illness and cure myself but for now I am going to buy a new coat).  The issue is that now it is August and all the sudden "Leaving next month" has turned into "Leaving in two weeks".  


You would think I would have noticed the fact that I was in fact leaving in two weeks two days ago and I am now leaving in less than two weeks (gulp...) but somehow the fact that August hadn't arrived yet made the short time I had seem longer (I know it isn't rational but I'm studying psychology so I know that no one is truly rational...this fact is both strangely comforting and very terrifying*).

The point of this rambling dialogue with myself is that I am leaving in 12 days and I am rather scared...and that I need to pack...

*This reaction is also not rational but you already know that, because I told you all about the nonexistence of rationality.  I'm helpful like that.

Love ya,
Yankee

Hello Internet

Hi,
I am moving to Scotland and I thought it would be nice to have a place where I could post my pictures and stuff for my lovely family and friends back home.  I don't know how this experiment will go but hopefully it will be interesting (even if my little sister is my only reader).
Here we go!
Love ya,
Yankee