I realize that I have been severely neglecting my duties but for the last three weeks I have been an essay writing machine and this weekend has been the first chance that I have had to take a breath. I have three weeks left of class which does not seem possible. This first semester has flown by!! Unfortunately for those of you who were looking forward to seeing my beautiful, smiling face ( :) ) over Christmas break you will be sadly disappointed. I have decided that the cost:benefit ratio is simply too high :( I would however be happy to skype or video chat with any or all who just can't seem to live without me :).
As a reward for completing my essays Paul and I went up north to Oban this past weekend with Paul's friend Euan and his girlfriend Cathy. We drove up Friday after I turned in my essay and Paul took the scenic route through Killin (yep that is the name of the town) so that I could get the full Scottish experience. From the start of our journey I took on the role of "annoying picture taker" and ended up taking around 60 pictures plus a few videos to commemorate the trip. Oban is a pretty small town on the west coast of Scotland between Glasgow and the Isle of Skye. It is about a 2-2 1/2 hour car ride from Falkirk (Paul's home town) but it seems a lot longer due to the crazy, curvy roads. On Saturday the four of us took a ferry over to the Isle of Mull and did a driving tour around the whole island. It was an extremely beautiful day (surprising for fall in Scotland) and there was tons of amazing scenery (AND SHEEP!!!) to look at. The ride was very very very very long though. It would have been nice to cut the driving time in half and have spent more time wandering around the "big" city. That took up most of our day on Saturday and we ended up having a quiet night at our hotel as we were all pretty tired. Sunday was spent driving home the even more scenic route (and making a pit stop at a whiskey shop in Inverary). Paul and I then drove back to Falkirk, going past Loch Lomond which was completely covered in very heavy fog. All in all it was a great weekend and a much needed break after the stressful past three weeks. Now I am back at uni and about to start working on my final essays that are due at the beginning of December (a student's work is never finished).
The weather is starting to turn a bit chillier now though it is still very sunny! The kitchen in our flat is being re-done this week which is very exciting because our appliances are not exactly top of the line. :S
I hope that everything is going well back in the States and that everyone in Minnesota is staying warm!! Love you!
 |
| the trusty driver :) probably slightly annoyed that i kept taking his picture |
 |
| photo stop on our way up to oban |
 |
| isle of mull |
