Archives 2015

And I didn’t even throw my watch out the window

It seems like I could have just arrived in Scotland for my first year of university just last month yet here I am and its been a full nine months of hard work, new experiences, and a lot of good times. The featured picture is taken in Barcelona from my trip to Spain and along with working for my pun I figured any picture I put up of some big cool looking monument, you could probably find a better picture of it on the internet, but this moment, seeing all the birds and the ephemeral joy this guy seemed to have feeding them – it was what I was looking for in my trip. I climbed cliffs, wandered through new cities, got back into speaking Spanish, and ate more food than I ever have in my life. My trip went from doing my first outdoor rock climbing in all kinds of weather (including one freak hail storm) on the Eastern coast of Spain near Reus, to exploring Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid discovering both the positives and the negatives to traveling alone and then off to Portugal for a few days with an old friend for catching up, wine, and good food. Although the trip was entirely exhausting and parts of it pushed me further out of my comfort zone than I might have liked, if I had the choice to go back and do it differently, I don’t think there is a thing I would change. Now the semester is coming to an end with the last exams, then London and the summer and there are a lot of mixed feelings about leaving this place but until the very moment my bags are packed and I am getting on the plane, I’m trying to live in blissful ignorance.

Okay but actually, on my walk back from successfully turning in an essay these ducks surrounded me it was really fun, stunning, and mildly terrifying.

On other news, this semester is flying by outrageously fast with spring break coming up then coming back with only four more weeks of classes then revision period and exams. But with spring break in less than a week, I am ecstatic about my plans for Spain with climbing with the Mountaineering society (in hopes that I don’t fall to far behind) then a week of exploring Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid on my own and meeting a friend in Portugal. With tours booked, wandering expected, and camera ready I am directing my little flying carpet on another adventure I cannot wait for.

It was a ball

This past weekend University Hall had its ball and if you hadn’t already guessed, it was Great Gatsby 20’s themed. We had the ball at Fernie Castle (the featured photo is the castle but the picture was from the Fernie Castle website) which, although we didn’t get this view of it at night, was lovely. Jazz band, Ceilidh dancing, and a DJ topped off with a brilliant intermission of fireworks filled our night of classy dresses and tuxedos. The only thing missing from our Gatsby party was Gatsby himself but I guess we can’t have everything!

And found the punniest shop there

Too many fun puns to choose from! Fun fact, the Scottish flower is a thistle, if you didn’t already know. There is also a stretch of street in old town in Edinburgh called the Royal Mile filled with great tourist attractions and shops along the mile walk.

Both puns were too fun not to include along with:

Why the long faces?

Anyway these glorious puns do in fact have a purpose which is to introduce my adventure into Edinburgh with good friends. On Saturday the 24th, two of my good friends and I coordinated the 2 hour bus ride into Edinburgh to spend the day exploring. The city and all its splendor was beautifully swarmed with tourists and selfie sticks. Other than the brisk cold most of the day, I loved every bit of it. I was reminded of San Francisco’s tourism in recognizing the locals from the tourists, moving fast with purpose instead of looking up and wandering. Consequently, I found it difficult to imagine walking by huge, monumental structures everyday and brushing it off as normal but I guess someone might say the same about California.

Along with walking from Holyrood palace (there’s a pun in there somewhere) to the Edinburgh castle, we had the joy of eating sushi and visiting the six floors of optical illusion at World of Illusion and Camera Obscura, shrinking, growing, loosing body parts and confusing others, and overall having a blast.

Although I wish I could say something more witty or thoughtful about the city, traveling with friends seems to have more “in the moment” enjoyments instead of ones that can be described in words.