Blogs from Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 460

we're getting the last bit of laundry dried and all geared up for st. patty's day. i'm really hoping that one of my shirts with green on it dries in time because i am a wee bit frightened that if i don't have green, the whole city of dublin will be pinching me all day. most people look at us like we are nuts when we say we're spending st.patty's in dublin, ireland but i suppose it isn't the first time people have given us strange looks. we'll be staying in a hotel, the first and only time on this trip, since all of the hostels were completely booked. today, saturday, and the first part of sunday we'll be in dublin exploring the luck of the irish ( i will of course be wearing my notre ... read more

Well, It's definately been a long time coming and for many hope had already been lost and they had resigned themselves to a season without snow and absolutely no chance of hitting the terrain in scotland on board/skis. Last week however a cold front decided to bless the Highlands and a good bit of the rest of scotland with snow and plenty of it. Taking advantage of the fact that I am indeed a student and can choose my own days off I headed out to Glencoe with a couple of mates. First ever experience of boarding on snow in Scotland and I was definately not dissappointed. The weather was quite dodgy but that added to the excitement. As did the rocks that we consistently had to dodge due to a slight lack of cover. The ... read more

In Scotland very briefly in order to visit the two veterinary schools that have accepted me (in Eduinburgh and Glasgow) and to visit my Granny, who lives in England, but met me in Heathrow and flew up with me. Scotland is fantastic! We're staying in Edinburgh, had a good long walk around the city. I had some haggis and whisky and some good bitter! I love British food and beer, I think it is the best! Great seeing the vet school, got a pretty thorough tour of both. Very interesting to see how similar they are to the vet hospitals I've seen in the states! I suppose there's no reason they'd be different, but it felt just like being at home. ... read more

Back in Fort William now after hitchhiking the measly 40 miles from Oban. It's the tail-end of my first 'highland experience', but that didn't mean there wasn't room for one more day of action-packed adventure! Even though there are extreme blizzard warnings, heavy snowfall and ice plaguing nearly all of Scotland and most of Great Britain at the moment, the only place the weather seemed to have forgotten today was Fort Willy! Even cars driving into town this morning (from probably not that far away) were carting about a foot of snow on their roofs, but here the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. So Rich, (the subdued- but insane- Canadian guy who manages the hostel here) and I decided to spend the day conquering the final highland frontier! Ben Nevis: ... read more

Frankly, having a short visit to the most fascinating cities in the world (I suppose) is always a rewarding experience... My 3-hours stay at the city centre of Edinburgh was really an achievement being an urban planner. Edinburgh is one of the old cities in the world and a very good example of the early and modern urban planning! Prior to my visit, stories about the city were just purely accounts of authors from books and magazines... and my own imagination! Being there alone was really a wonderful feeling of fulfillment - experiencing what these authors said about this Scottish city... amazing, magnificent, awesome, beautiful and fantastic - those words described my feelings - admiration at first sight! Wow!...Through my digital camera, I was able to explore the places, enjoy the city scenery - the ... read more