Days 40-49: Scotland is Freaking Cold

Monday-Wednesday:
So, finally got over the drama of the weekend. Well, not entirely, but I got over it enough when I realized what was done was, well, done. I couldn't do much to help it out and I just needed to go on and move forward past the nasty fact that some awful person took it upon themselves to steal my money. I got some of it back from a lovely Pepperdine scholarship, which was helpful, and I honestly realized how amazing my friends were through the whole process, which was worth far more than the scholarship. Monday was fantastic, as I got back into my classes and some sort of routine to keep my mind occupied. The week passed as normal, with classes up until Wednesday, where I did my equestrian earlier than normal due to my upcoming trip to Scotland! Woohoo! Riding was fun, as Carrie and I were able to go away from the group and do our own trail ride, which was so lovely and absolutely reminiscent of riding in the Back Bay years ago. Ah, it's time like that that make me want to go back and trail ride all through that area again. Oh well. Maybe this summer.... Anyhow, I finished Wednesday up with some Breaking Bad (and other ridiculously hilarious shenanigans) with Craig and finally passed out at some ungodly hour. But, a good beginning to the week, and it was only preceding an even better end of the week and weekend!

Thursday:

St. Andrew's golf course and bridge

Thursday began with the awesomeness of sleeping in just a bit and then finally receiving my package (which I had to pay an ugly amount of money for. Stupid British post) with my Ugg boots! Perfect timing! So, I made sure everything was packed up, grabbed a small snack, and began my journey to King's Cross Station (so Harry Potter- I love it). I made my train in time, grabbed a Cornish pastry for the 5 hour 40 minute ride, and rather enjoyed spending some time to myself. The scenery was beautiful and the train ride itself wasn't half bad. I finally made it to Leuchars station in Scotland without any problems, found my bus into St. Andrews station, and met my Emily! Ah, my first adventure on my own, completed without any problems. Honestly, it kind of made me feel proud of myself in such a success. So, Emily and I battled the cold air of Scotland, bought some take-away asian food and some Champagne and orange juice, and made it back to her dorm room for a fun night of reconnecting and girliness. Honestly... I couldn't have asked for anything else.

Friday:

playing in the ocean...

Friday began with an epic amount of sleeping in (after I spent the night slightly cold because Emily decided to steal the covers... but I still love her of course, haha). After such, we got dressed, meandered downstairs to share the most... interesting... lunch of some sort of sandwich in which the people just put a bunch of random stuff on the bread, and then began our explorations of St. Andrews. Emily acted as an amazing tour guide as we first found the golf course and looked at the St. Andrews bridge. Naturally, I had to get a picture on the golf course, and after that, we dashed across and towards the ocean/sea. I don't remember what it was.... Fail. Anyhow, the water. We ran along a kind of jetty, and then on the sand, and then I decided to touch the water. Yeah, the water wasn't too happy with that, and while I was trying to touch it a small wave took it upon itself to engulf my feet. So not cool, wave.

This was followed by a quick stop into one of the pubs for some delicious strawberry/lime cider (seriously- it was AMAZING), and the we continued our touring around the area. We checked out the castle, took some pictures, and then moved on to the cathedral. Apparently I have a relative buried there. I had no idea about that, but that's kind of cool. So, Emily, if you're reading this... go find a tombstone that as "McKie" on it. Just saying... You should take a picture. Anyhow, the rain picked up after this point, so the umbrellas came out and we began ducking into touristy shops and found some fun little items for ourselves and friends before we made it back to the room and ate leftover fried rice and played cards. We then packed a few things and met up with Kalie's friends downstairs in preparation for one of the girl's birthday celebrations. We grabbed dinner together before hitting up the bus and moving into Edinburgh! Had to go there, of course. I mean, I am a tourist.

The Green Bowl!

So, we played around at the girl's (Laura's) sister's flat, had a little bit of wine and snacks and some birthday cake before we decided to head out to the club Espionage, which turned out to have about 5 levels of awesomeness. We found a table on the lowest level after doing my first coat check (I felt so special... I don't know why...) and discovered this awesome style of drink called a "bowl." We got a "Green Bowl". I honestly couldn't describe what was in it, only that it was absolutely delicious and I wish i could reincarnate it. Seriously, though... It was delicious. Heaven in a fishbowl. So, we enjoyed a very social evening of chatting, pictures, dancing, and absolute birthday silliness, before we wandered around and finally got a taxi back to the flat. Regardless of the late (or early, I guess) hour, we chatted a bit more, tried to watch an episode of Fraiser, and finally crashed out. And, guess what? My blankets were stolen again. I totally am awesome at picking bed-buddies. Gotta love it.





Saturday: 

Hippo at Edinburgh Castle

Once again, we slept in and enjoyed some amount of sleep. However, considering that we passed out around 4 am, it was more of a nap than anything. We got ready slowly, Laura's sister made us breakfast, and then half the group headed back to St. Andrews for school work. Laura, Emily, and I stayed in Edinburgh to do the tourist thing and wait for Emily's friend, Jo. So, we hopped on a bus and did a mini tour around the area, during which I reconnected with the boys from London (who were also in Edinburgh) and we planned a meeting at the castle since we were both conveniently in that area. Emily, Laura and I walked from a bus station through a bit of Edinburgh to get a taste of the city before moving the the Royal Mile road that lead up to the Edinburgh Castle.

The view from the castle... it was a gorgeous day!

We looked around the castle for a bit, which had an amazing view of the surrounding area, fooled around in the gift shop like the mature people that we are, and finally met up with the boys when they arrived. We walked the Royal Mile for a bit with them, ran into another group of Pepperdine London students, and then Laura, Emily, and I split from everyone to continue our own touring. It finally got to the point where we were all slightly hungry and it was way too cold to keep wandering around. Seriously, though... it was COLD. It this is any sort of preview to London winter... well... yeah. I don't even want to think about it. Ew. Gross. Way to cold, especially with the wind. Anyhow, after failing at finding a place to eat in the first 3 places we dropped in, we finally found a pub and got a very American snack of nachos and garlic bread with some Magners cider. Yum. It was quite delicious. After this, we decided to brave the cold again, found a bus, and met up with Jo, before returning to Laura's sister's flat to retrieve our stuff. Then we found another bus to St. Andrews, dealt with the 1.5 hour trip back, and basically froze as we ran to a food place in St. Andrews for dinner for our very starving selves.

Driving through Edinburgh

The food... delicious. Totally worth the wait. I got a gyro (very reminiscent of Greece) and some fries, because my eyes were way larger than my stomach, and then shivered my way back to Emily's room. And then? Well, then I proceeded to gorge myself on the food and then feel absolutely sick to my stomach from the massive food baby I created. Seriously... way too much delicious food... but... it was so delicious! Look at my trying to rationalize me gluttony even now. Wow. I don't know whether to be proud of disgusted with myself. Anyhow, my two new guys friends that Emily introduced me to (Andrew and Max) joined Jo, Emily, and me and we spent the night being silly and chatting and doing Andrews hair. Totally normal, I know. We crashed out at yet another ungodly hour and, once again, my covers were stolen. I can only laugh at this point.

Sunday:

My new friends :)

This day began as all of the others did- sleeping in just a bit since our sleeping hours were so absolutely warped. Then Jo, Emily and I moved downstairs once we were all ready and I was packed (amazingly, I was the first ready). We got another lunch, which wasn't half as strange as the one Emily and I shared on Friday, then walked back into the small (yet absolutely quaint and lovely) town of St. Andrews, figured out my bus schedule, bought some food for my trip, and then bought hair dye for the girls. I had to leave at this point, and so I hopped on my bus, made it to my train, and proceeded to read and listen to music for the 6 hour journey home. Again, it was quite nice having time to myself and watching the scenery and gorgeous sunset (it was seriously tropical), and yet I definitely got antsy towards the end. I was ecstatic to get back to King's Cross, buy another pastry (because I was starving yet again), and then walk back to my London home.

Honestly... I love my London home. It's brilliant.

Rainy St. Andrews

So, I made it home, safe and sound, unpacked, reacquainted myself with my room and bed, finally got in an absolutely beautiful shower, skyped my family, and then crawled into bed after finding out that my computer was no longer frozen. Honestly, it was a fantastic discovery. But seriously... it froze right before I left. Definitely not something I wanted to deal with that day. So, all in all? It was a fantastic trip. I couldn't have asked for anything more out of it. Seeing my friend, meeting new friend,s going to another country without having to stay in a nasty hostel.... it was an absolutely brilliant experience. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders from all the drama of the past weekend, and that's all I could ask for.

Monday-Wednesday:
The week begins again! Therefore, I decided to include it in this post because not much happened at all. Classes resumed, I received actual work from my teachers, worked out my schedule for next semester, had very enlightening conversations, booked my trip to Switzerland, and finally went out again with my group on Wednesday night. How's that for efficiency? Time to plan Halloween weekend!