So today is officially day numero uno of Easter break! Yesterday after my class we kicked it off with a little trip. We were going to go to Cruden Bay to see Slain's Castle but the buses were being silly so instead we went to Banchory which was STUNNING! It's just a little town by the sea, though really it's more of a suburb. It has amazing dunes, though. We found one that was massive. Cenza also showed Marissa, Holly and me how to dune jump which was loads of fun. Then we just went for a wee walk on the beach. You can actually get to Banchory from Aberdeen by walking along the sea. It takes a while and you have to know exactly where you're going because there are no signs or anything like that. I could see the apartment buildings that are right by Hillhead though when we were on the dunes. On the way back we found a little playground that actually had exercise equipment which was loads of fun.
The night really started, though, with the feast. It was epic. It was really just a massive clean out the fridge thing but it gave us all food toddlers and put us in right food comas. We had a massive thing of vegetable curry, chicken curry, rice, potatoes, brownies, and, to finish off the night, real pancakes. It was just a night of pure gluttony. I have also been corrupted to ice wine, courtesy of Holly. It is so delicious, I believe the term "nectar of the Gods" was used last night. Just amazing. It was a massive treat though and won't be happening again until we leave these shores, as Obi would say. We popped over to say happy birthday to our fellow canuck, Erica, then played darts at the Watering Hole. Pancakes actually happened after we came back from the Watering Hole which was a darn good thing because none of us could actually move after we ate them. We just kind of sat there and grinned and then waddled off to bed.
Today is going to be an essay day and then for earth hour we'll go out for a lovely walk, maybe on the beach, we'll see. If it's nasty weather we'll just sit in our flat and play cards or something like that. And tomorrow we embark to Glasgow and then Iona so I'll update as we go.
From Scotland with love,
Haley
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Long time, no post...
Hiya,
Sorry about the lack of posts. School got a wee bit busy so I got distracted. I've had some good marks back so far though so hopefully that trend can continue. I'm trying to polish off an essay right now because it's due when I get back from break and I don't want to have it hanging over my head (I'll talk a bit about break soon).
I guess the main things that have happened are Edinburgh, St. Patty's Day, numerous beach adventures, and our flatmates dance show.
We went with INTERSOC to Edinburgh. It was good because we only had to pay 13 pounds for transport and entrance into the castle. The castle was nice although it was very, very busy. I'm glad I went but I think that's enough. The atmosphere just wasn't as good as it was at Dunnottar or Crathes. After the castle we just sort of wandered the royal mile. This included popping into a kilt shop which was good fun. I found a whole bunch of Cunningham stuff so that was nice. Then we got to go to another cathedral which I was super excited for! It was called St. Gile's Cathedral and it was beautiful, as most are. I bought more postcards too. My board is slowly being eaten by them but it's good fun. It was a sort of short day but that's alright. It was just a nice introduction to Edinburgh for us. When we got back to Aberdeen Bryony was waiting for me because she was here for the week! Unfortunately it was an uneventful week since there was also a book review to be done.
St. Patty's Day was also good fun. I was so excited because I stopped homework at 3:00 and got right into cooking and baking. I made a massive pot of chili which was delicious. It ended up slow-cooking for about three hours so it was perfect. I also made chocolate cupcakes with butter icing. Because we're adorable, though, we made some of the icing green and had cupcakes with white and green icing, plus orange zest sprinkled on top. So we just got to eat delicious Irish flags! They were for everyone though and a lot of people ended up coming by so they were consumed pretty quickly. It was a short night though on account of two seminars on Friday. But it was fun. I was really, really excited to cook a giant dinner and make the cupcakes so I had a blast.
We've also been doing loads of beach days. I went with Bry and we went farther down than I'd been before so that was fun. Then Holly, Marissa and I had a nighttime beach adventure which was beautiful. Holly got the best pictures so those are the ones I'll post. Then on Sunday we did a picnic on the beach. During this time I even went barefoot along the beach and I stepped in the water! It was freezing so I ran out super quick but I could do it. It was glorious. On Monday I even just walked around in sandals because it was about 17 degrees. I am certainly not missing Canadian weather right now, I'll say that much!
On Sunday our flatmate Cenza, who we're going to stay with during our last week of break, had a dance show which was fantastic. She did Indian dance but they also had ballet and hip hop and belly-dancing and jazz and tap. It was a formal night too so we got all dressed up and whatnot. It was super fun and all the dancing was amazing.
I'll finish with an update about what's going on during Easter break. So during the first week we're popping out to Iona. Holly and I are going tom Glasgow on Sunday and then on Monday we'll do the following: morning train from Glasgow to Oban, ferry from Oban to Craignure on the Isle of Mull, bus from Craignure to Fionnaphort, ferry from Fionnaphort to Baile Mur on Iona. Tuesday, then, is going to be a full Iona day and then Wednesday will be a day of travel back to Aberdeen. Thursday will be laundry day and then Friday we zip down to Edinburgh to catch our flight to Malaga. We'll be in Malaga from the 1st to the 9th of April and then it's back to Edinburgh/Aberdeen. Sunday will be another laundry day and then we catch a bus to Belfast where we'll stay with our flatmate Cenza from Monday or Tuesday to Friday. The bus'll be fun too because we go down to Glasgow and then across on a ferry to Belfast. And it's a lot cheaper than flights and there are fewer restrictions. So that is the plan! When we get back it's Holly's birthday! She wants to go to Balmoral so we'll either do that the first weekend we're back or, if people aren't gonna be back that weekend, we'll hold off. We'll see what happens, anyways.
I'll have internet access in Spain and Ireland and my mini's coming with me so I can update while I'm there.
From Scotland with love,
Haley
Sorry about the lack of posts. School got a wee bit busy so I got distracted. I've had some good marks back so far though so hopefully that trend can continue. I'm trying to polish off an essay right now because it's due when I get back from break and I don't want to have it hanging over my head (I'll talk a bit about break soon).
I guess the main things that have happened are Edinburgh, St. Patty's Day, numerous beach adventures, and our flatmates dance show.
We went with INTERSOC to Edinburgh. It was good because we only had to pay 13 pounds for transport and entrance into the castle. The castle was nice although it was very, very busy. I'm glad I went but I think that's enough. The atmosphere just wasn't as good as it was at Dunnottar or Crathes. After the castle we just sort of wandered the royal mile. This included popping into a kilt shop which was good fun. I found a whole bunch of Cunningham stuff so that was nice. Then we got to go to another cathedral which I was super excited for! It was called St. Gile's Cathedral and it was beautiful, as most are. I bought more postcards too. My board is slowly being eaten by them but it's good fun. It was a sort of short day but that's alright. It was just a nice introduction to Edinburgh for us. When we got back to Aberdeen Bryony was waiting for me because she was here for the week! Unfortunately it was an uneventful week since there was also a book review to be done.
St. Patty's Day was also good fun. I was so excited because I stopped homework at 3:00 and got right into cooking and baking. I made a massive pot of chili which was delicious. It ended up slow-cooking for about three hours so it was perfect. I also made chocolate cupcakes with butter icing. Because we're adorable, though, we made some of the icing green and had cupcakes with white and green icing, plus orange zest sprinkled on top. So we just got to eat delicious Irish flags! They were for everyone though and a lot of people ended up coming by so they were consumed pretty quickly. It was a short night though on account of two seminars on Friday. But it was fun. I was really, really excited to cook a giant dinner and make the cupcakes so I had a blast.
We've also been doing loads of beach days. I went with Bry and we went farther down than I'd been before so that was fun. Then Holly, Marissa and I had a nighttime beach adventure which was beautiful. Holly got the best pictures so those are the ones I'll post. Then on Sunday we did a picnic on the beach. During this time I even went barefoot along the beach and I stepped in the water! It was freezing so I ran out super quick but I could do it. It was glorious. On Monday I even just walked around in sandals because it was about 17 degrees. I am certainly not missing Canadian weather right now, I'll say that much!
On Sunday our flatmate Cenza, who we're going to stay with during our last week of break, had a dance show which was fantastic. She did Indian dance but they also had ballet and hip hop and belly-dancing and jazz and tap. It was a formal night too so we got all dressed up and whatnot. It was super fun and all the dancing was amazing.
I'll finish with an update about what's going on during Easter break. So during the first week we're popping out to Iona. Holly and I are going tom Glasgow on Sunday and then on Monday we'll do the following: morning train from Glasgow to Oban, ferry from Oban to Craignure on the Isle of Mull, bus from Craignure to Fionnaphort, ferry from Fionnaphort to Baile Mur on Iona. Tuesday, then, is going to be a full Iona day and then Wednesday will be a day of travel back to Aberdeen. Thursday will be laundry day and then Friday we zip down to Edinburgh to catch our flight to Malaga. We'll be in Malaga from the 1st to the 9th of April and then it's back to Edinburgh/Aberdeen. Sunday will be another laundry day and then we catch a bus to Belfast where we'll stay with our flatmate Cenza from Monday or Tuesday to Friday. The bus'll be fun too because we go down to Glasgow and then across on a ferry to Belfast. And it's a lot cheaper than flights and there are fewer restrictions. So that is the plan! When we get back it's Holly's birthday! She wants to go to Balmoral so we'll either do that the first weekend we're back or, if people aren't gonna be back that weekend, we'll hold off. We'll see what happens, anyways.
I'll have internet access in Spain and Ireland and my mini's coming with me so I can update while I'm there.
From Scotland with love,
Haley
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| This is supposed to be me crawling from the water but it looks more like I'm attacking the city. Ah well. |
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| The Cat Whisperer at work in Aberdeen :) |
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| This is Holly and the lights of the city. |
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| Holly and me. |
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| Me again. |
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| Me. |
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| Moon on the Dee. |
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| Panoramic view. |
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| Barefoot and touching the water! |
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| Picnic lunch on the beach. |
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| Our wee building project. |
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| This was the only rock at Edinburgh castle that I could find that I was actually allowed to climb on. |
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| BRAVEHEART! |
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| This is good... |
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| But this is better. |
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| Welcome to Edinburgh. |
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| St. Giles |
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| Crocuses are just everywhere like this, it's so pretty! |
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| I couldn't decide on a favourite so I've posted all of them. |
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| Actually this may be my favourite (all were taken on the bus as we were crossing the bridge leaving Edinburgh) |
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