Long time no write! Venice was so cool. My favourite thing was that there were no cars... only water buses, gondolas and personal boats. I went out to Piazza San Marco. Then I took a waterbus to Murano to see them making glass. It was so cool! I bought a ring from a store that was making the glass in the back! I went to Burano afterwards and saw the cute bright cottages and the many many lace stores. When I got back to San Marco I went on the number 1 bus that takes you on a cool tour of [View Full Entry]

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Bologna was beautiful...but major culture shock from Edinuburgh to Italy! I met someone who goes to school in Ferrera and was visiting friends in Bologna. We went for dinner, and since he knew italian it made things a lot easier. When you order a pizza here ... you get a whole medium thin crust pizza. I went back to the hostel and slept, woke up and then made my way to the centre again to see the sights. I went on the hop on and hop off bus around the city which was interesting. I then hung out at the Piazza [View Full Entry]

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I know I'm supposed to be forward looking on the trip - but I really miss Edinburgh! I met so many great people and did so many cool things! Oh well...onwards and upwards! I'm in Bologna right now, and I actually have seen quite a bit of the central area. There is a really interesting market right now in one of the squares. One booth had only things in purple! I would have shopped a bit, but I had my backpack on. Italy is very different. First of all - I'm not freezing (like last night) -- its absolutely beautiful! There [View Full Entry]

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I think its a really really good thing that I booked all my flights and stuff. I would have stayed in Edinburgh forever! Its awesome here. Today I went to St. Giles Cathedral, looked around, heard choir practice and then sat in on the noon hour service. After that I went to Mary King's Close which was really really creepy. Its an underground street in the middle of Edinburgh! You hear ghost stories and much much more! I was freaked out. (I screamed at one point...). After that I got some lunch and just hung out around the hostel reading my [View Full Entry]

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I started the day off with a three hour walking tour of all of Edinburgh. I heard some great stories like the one about Greyfriar's Bobby a dog who, after his master (the keeper of the graveyard) died, guarded his master's grave until he died. I also heard about the Stone of Destiny and many many other neat things. I met some really nice girls on the tour (one from Saskatchewan and one from New Zealand) so we decided to go hike up Arthur's Seat. There are two ways to high up: one harder side and one easier. Upon coming to [View Full Entry]

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Today started off well as I looked around the city of Inverness to see somethings that I hadn't been able to see while I was away on day trips. I saw Inverness Castle, the Victorian Market, and the River Ness. It was a relaxing day. I hoped on the bus and headed to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is beautiful and my hostel not only has an amazing view of the castle, but also is in an old mansion of sorts. It has the nicest 'chill out room' but also seems to be quite the party hostel. Tomorrow I'm going to explore Edinburgh and [View Full Entry]

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Today I woke up earlier than normal to go on a day trip to see some Scottish wildlife and the highlands all the way up to john o'groats! I got the idea from someone who was going on the trip in my hostel. We met at nine fifteen and headed out. There was ten of us on the tour plus the guide. We were in a mini coach so we got to get right up to nature. We went on a few mini hikes, saw deer, seabirds, seals and the super funny highland cattle with their bangs all windblown in front [View Full Entry]

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I went to Loch Ness/Urquhart Castle today. Nessie must have heard that I was coming because he/she hid for the entire time! I haven't seen many tourists in Scotland yet as it was the bank holiday so I think many people in Scotland were in Scotland on a mini vacation. ( btw while tourism is down here acording to the news paper - the amount of people from the uk going on intra-country holidays has increased). But at loch ness there were so many tourists from elsewhere. Urquhart castle is really cool and when the wind blew across the hills it [View Full Entry]

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Last night was very fun as I went out with Kate (my roommate from Australia) and her friends from Glasgow. I had a great time at a bar called Moskito (even in Scotland I can't get away from Moskitos!). One of Kate's friends works as a primary school teacher in Glasgow and her boyfriend works as a chef. I had some delicious cider and some chips with sauce and pizza. I really like fashion in England and Scotland, especially for night life. Everyone is wearing some kind of cute bright dress or long shirt and leggings (again very bright) with HUGE [View Full Entry]

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Hello all! I got into Glasgow last night at 12:00 midnight! There is a bank holiday in the UK so everyone is travelling. There was at least 3 slow areas on the highways and one complete traffic jam right around Lancaster. I loved the bus ride! I ate a lot of sandwiches, I woke up my bunk mates when I came in...the end. [View Full Entry]

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