Italy!

Just one picture because I'm having trouble using a pirated wireless connection. Italy was AMAZING! I promise more pictures soon. Best parts: wine, scenery, ART. Worst parts: grumpiness in the family. More soon!

The Weekend's Adventure!

Josh and I arrived in London and decided to wander the city for a while, both recalling that there are lots of trains running between London and Glasgow. So, we took the tube (subway) a few times, but walked A LOT. The tube now costs four pounds per ride (that's $8!). Around 1:00 we decided to grab some lunch and get our train. So we went to the train station and found that the tickets were going to be $120/person just to get to Glasgow! We went to an internet cafe and discovered that the cheap tickets had to be booked way in advance. I really wanted to go to Scotland, as you could tell from my post last week about the exciting blog posts to come, so I suggested we research renting a car. Turns out it was cheaper to rent a car than to take a train (with gas it probably ended up being a little more expensive), and we'd be able to get all the way to Oban that day. The train would have required finding a place to stay in Glasgow for the night. So we rented a car and drove 9 hours from London to Oban. We got there at 3 in the morning, and everything was closed except a gas station. So we used the bathroom at the gas station and slept in the car. The next morning we found a cute bed and breakfast with a view of the ocean from our room. Over the next few days we traveled all around Scotland, experiencing much more of the region than we would have been able to without a car. On Monday we drove back to London, flew to Bremmen, Germany, and took a bus from Bremmen back to Groningen. I'm VERY tired, but it was definitely worth it! Enjoy the pictures and posts, there are probably 5 new ones, so keep scrolling down!

For my sister, the former Krispy Kreme corporate employee, guess what is in the Stanstead (London) airport?




No trips on the agenda until the end of the month when we're going to Vienna. We may try to get over to Berlin for a day or two before the weather gets much colder. Oh, and I have homework...

London

This is a sculpture in the British Museum. The picture was taken in a courtyard at the museum that is covered with a canopy, kind of like the Louvre (but much better according to Josh).



Big Ben. Yeah. I didn't think I cared to see these British iconic monuments, but I turned into a tourist seeking out Big Ben like everyone else.



Westminster Abbey. I had no idea it was so beautiful, especially the open arches in the front. I've never seen anything like it!



Statue in Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus reminded me a lot of Times Square in New York. There are even those gigantic electric billboards.



Finally, a pair of British phone booths. They're red, so of course I was drawn to them. And like I said, I found myself taking pictures of every clearly "British" thing I could find.

Oban

Downtown Oban.



A church and youth hostel in Oban.



The Oban distillery. We gave it the old college try, but wow, Oban whiskey is unpleasant!



View of Oban from Isle of Kerrera.

Isle of Kerrera

Pictures from around the Isle of Kerrera.






Note: these sheep were very snobby and wouldn't let Josh pet them.

Argyll and the Isle of Seil

"Hairy coo" with her baby. We were perpetually intrigued with these strange cows.



Loch near Connell. There is so much water in Scotland. This is just your typical, run of the mill, breath-taking lake view!



I was proud of this picture. It's the same loch as the previous picture. Josh is making me into a photographer.



"The Bridge Across the Atlantic" We heard about this bridge and were curious about what such a bridge would look like. It's really small and in the middle of nowhere. Crossing onto the Isle of Seil.



Isle of Seil. There are sheep on that mountain. Well, there are sheep on every mountain. I was entertained because they will go anywhere, even on the steepest mountainside. I can't do that. I'm impressed.