This morning, we got up around 6:30 to get an early start on the day. Of course, we had a traditional French breakfast - hot pastries from a local bakery, fruit salad from Paul’s parents’ garden, tea for me and Marianna, and hot chocolate for Paul. Then, Marianna and I got ready to brave the motorway again. But first, she and Paul had to kiss goodbye. They did it least three times! Marianna would get to the door, then remember something she had to bring, or some last bit of advice for Paul, and then they’d have to say goodbye all [View Full Entry]

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For the last three days of my Reading Week, I went to visit my cousin Marianna, wholives in Toulouse, in southwest France. Nine years ago, when she was a junior studying abroad like me, she studied in Montpelier and fell in love. Ever since then, she’s worked on and off in France, and she and her husband have lived in Toulouse for the past two years. He’s an atmospheric physicist (he studies weather patterns) and she makes websites and does other communications work for the French space agency. Her husband’s name is Paul, and he’s from Corse (Corsica), like Napoleon [View Full Entry]

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So, here in Alba, we don’t get a Thanksgiving break, of course, but we do get an entire week’s worth of Reading Days. Mine got off to a running start with a visit from Katelyn “Kinky” Finley, whose reading week was just finishing. She arrived on Thursday evening. On Friday, I got up at 5:00 to cram for my chemistry test, and Katelyn got up too - for a slightly more fun reason; she walked to the gorgeous East Sands to see the sun rise. She then took the bus to Edinburgh for the day. But when she came back that [View Full Entry]

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I didn't go to any Halloween parties this year, because Halloween fell right before my massive biology paper and organic test. I was surprised to find that Halloween is just as big a deal over here as it is in the US - everyone kept putting on costumes and going to parties for a full week leading up to Halloween. However, there is one difference between the UK and the US: over here, people just make simple costumes using clothes they already own. At home, I get the idea that a lot of people rent really elaborate, expensive costumes. That could [View Full Entry]

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Today’s rather odd title refers to the local name for Inverness, a town in north-central Scotland. It’s actually Ally’s hometown, although his parents are from the Isle of Skye, where everyone speaks “the Gaelic.” Anyway, the convoluted etymology behind this bizarre nickname proceeds thusly: Inverness means “town at the point.” It is located at the "point" of Loch Ness, the second longest loch in Scotland and home of the famous monster. At its north end, Ness comes to a point where it flows out into the River Ness. The River Ness twists and turns [View Full Entry]

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God’s Country is a Scottish name for all of the Highlands, but our destination today particularly deserves this designation. The island of Iona is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, and it also has a thriving religious community. It’s one of those wonderful unspoiled places that you read about in fairy tales and wish still existed. From Oban’s harbour, we took a ferry to the Island of Mull. Ally drove the bus onto the ferry, although we all got off and sat on the top deck. Sometimes you can see seals, minke whales, and even dolphins in this part [View Full Entry]

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Last night, while talking to my mother, I said, “Our first Scottish tour guide was named Doug. The next one was named Dave. Our third one will probably be named Alec or Alan.” I was just joking, but today I almost burst out laughing when our Rabbie’s Trail Burners guide introduced himself as Ally. Too bad there’s no Number 4 - he would have been named Jamie, Gordon, or Angus. Rabbie’s is the service taking us on a four-day tour of the Highlands and Islands, starting today. This name is not to be confused with Rabbis or Rabies, but is [View Full Entry]

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Today was our first completely free day in the past two weeks. We decided to get ready at around the same time (10:00), simply to leave as much time as possible for goofing off. In the morning, we climbed Arthur’s Seat, the scone-shaped mountain just on the city limits. It took an hour just to walk to the foot of the mountain. Then, we climbed a short flight of stairs to the main path. It was fairly steep, but the hard work began to pay off almost instantly, as we were able to command stunning views of the city within the [View Full Entry]

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I woke up after a delightful sleep (for once, the room wasn’t too hot) to a lovely shower in a full-sized bathtub. Then, it was downstairs for our third free meal of the entire trip. The hostess laid on a nice, varied cold breakfast, including toast, various jams, six kinds of cereal, four kinds of fruit, tea, and coffee. I just had toast, mainly because I wanted something to put my Nutella on. At 10:00, our Edinburgh guide arrived. Just as he was starting his talk, a loud, piercing buzzer shrilled and all the doors slammed shut! No, it was not [View Full Entry]

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If I ever finish the previous blog entries, you will discover that we spent September 3-10 in London, and the 11th in Durham. Today, we took a train across the border from Durham to Edinburgh. It was only two hours, and since Scotland and England are both part of Great Britain, we did not need to show our passports or anything. (Great Britain consists of Scotland and England, while the United Kingdom is made up of “Great Britain” plus Northern Ireland. Regular Ireland is just an outcast.) The similarities and differences between London and Edinburgh are very interesting. On t [View Full Entry]

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