A Long Overdue Update!

Hello family, I know it's been a while but I've been up to a lot of things. Most of this has been homework (my color theory class requires painting every other night!) and classes. But I have been doing some fun things too...

- My room mate, Katie, and friends Misty and Lauren have dinners or go out to see the sites once or twice a week. We had a delicious Easter Dinner with salad, chicken, mashed potatoes, and tasty desserts! It's great to have a close group of friends to hang out with and spend time doing "homey" things.

- I took a brief weekend trip to visit the boyfriend Stan at his home in Maryland. It was a beautiful spring trip, full of warm weather, sunshine, and fun adventures. We had a bonfire, went hiking, biking along the Potomac, and looked for fossils along the Chesapeake bay. I couldn't have asked for anything more - except maybe a longer weekend! Here's a sunny picture of us at the top of the cliffs overlooking Harper's Ferry:


- My friend (and former GW room-mate) Sam Tamboline is in town for her spring break. We walked around the touristy sites and also attended a celebration of Shakespeare's birthday at the Globe Theater. They had a free "open house" with demonstrations, exhibits, and workshops onstage. The weather couldn't have been better, either: 65 and sunny! I think I'm getting a tan again...

- A lot of you may be wondering about the volcano that's been erupting in Iceland. Here in England the only problems we're experiencing are flight cancellations. I've seen no ash in the sky or on the ground, there's no haze in the air (even on sunny days), and the sunsets are only a little bit prettier - that I've seen. That being said, a lot of plans have been disrupted by the ash in the upper atmosphere. People are stranded in Germany, Greece, and Sweden and have been unable to get rides back in time for classes tomorrow. The tourist industry really suffered this weekend because tourists couldn't fly into the city. On the other hand, hotels are booked up because business people can't leave! Trains, buses, and ferries are all packed with people trying to find other ways of getting out of the country. People like me, who are lucky enough to have nowhere to go, are just sitting tight and hoping that things clear up soon!

That's about it. In terms of school it's coming down to the wire! Mid-terms are almost over and there's less than 5 weeks before I'm flying home for the summer. I'm ready to be home, though, with free laundry, American food (tex-mex!), and a soft bed.

Bath, Hiking, and Boat Races!

As promised, here is the new post detailing my exciting week - with pictures!

First, on Friday of last week we took a trip to the town of Bath, about 2 hours away from London by bus. The town is one of the oldest cities in England, and was one of the largest cities occupied by the Romans in the early 1st century (that's 50AD!) The town is famous for being the only natural hot spring in all of the UK. Water seeps through the limestone ground, heats up, and is forced to the surface through a gap in the bedrock only in the town of Bath. The Celts and Romans both used the hot spring for bathing and healing purposes, as well as a site for religious worship. Over time the hot springs and bathing pools were covered up with rubble and built over. It was only in the late 1800s that the ancient baths and temples were rediscovered! However, even without the presence of the hot spring, Bath remained popular with the elite for summer holidays, social galas, and was even England's fashion capitol in the Victorian era! Our visit to Bath consisted of a tour of the town - where we got to see upper end Georgian homes where people like Jane Austen lived - a visit to the British Fashion Museum, and then an audio tour of the ancient Roman bath complex. I was impressed by how advanced the Roman buildings were for 76AD. They used lead pipes to carry hot water from pool to pool, had a system for heating floors, and even had the world's first hot tubs and massage rooms! At the end of our tour we had high tea (tea, scones, and pastries) in the "Pump Room" above the baths. We then took the long bus ride back to London to complete the day.



On Saturday, we took another school trip to go hiking in the Surrey countryside. Just like our hike the first term, this was a trek up and down hills through southern England, seeing farms, forests, and small villages. My friend Misty and I even took a daring trip across stepping stones through a river early in the day. Plus the views from the top of hills were great, and I particularly enjoyed a sunny lunch sitting in a tree! At the end of the hike, just before returning to the train station, we stopped in the small town of Mickle for pints of Shandy (lager and sprite) with the locals. Mickle is also famous for having a small cathedral built in the early 1300s!



The rest of the week I spent getting through classes and homework. I also moved rooms because my new room-mates and I had very different lifestyles and sleeping schedules. I'm so much happier now living in the flat with my friend Katie!

Today Lauren, Katie, Misty, and I went down to the Thames to watch the epic Oxford/Cambridge boat race. This is the "Superbowl" of collegiate rowing. The Oxford/Cambridge rivalry is legendary, and hundreds of thousands of people show up to watch the two crew teams battle it out. We positioned ourselves at the start of the race - with a great view of the boats as they first took off, and then moved to a big-screen to watch the finish. We actually got to witness a little upset. You see, Oxford has traditionally always won this race, and was favored to win today considering the water conditions. However, Cambridge won and even finished by a huge lead! People were excited and surprised by the upset. We were just happy to get to see history in the making! After the race we had dinner in Covent Garden before returning home. We're getting together for Easter dinner tomorrow - so I'll have more updates then!



In the meantime, enjoy the pictures above and talk to you all soon!

Note Before Next Post.

Hi Everyone, just a note before my next post: I'm not sure if you've noticed, but my Flickr photo albums can only show the 200 most recent photos. Any photos past 200 are archived, and unavailable for viewing. (Hence why you can no longer visit any albums before my spring break!)

This weekend I had the chance to visit Bath and go on another school hike around the countryside of Surrey. It was a busy, fun-filled weekend with lots of photos. Unfortunately, uploading these photos would mean my spring break photos would no longer be available. I want people to have a chance to look at the spring break pictures before they disappear!

So I'm giving you FOUR DAYS to look at the Spring Break photos before I upload the pics from Bath/Hiking. On Friday I will be posting last weekends adventures (with pictures) and some of the Scotland photos will no longer be available for viewing. Keep this in mind and check out the photos before its too late!

Of course, the blog posts will still be available for reading, it's just the pictures that will get archived. And if you want to see the pictures after they disappear, just let me know and I'll e-mail them to you. This is just a heads up before they start to be archived!

Spring Break in Scotland - Day 5

Day 5 - Hiking Ben Vrackie in Pitlochry: On my last day in Pitlochry, I decided to try my most challenging hike yet. The mountain peak of Ben Vrackie is 2,000ft over the valley floor, and hikers can take a well-laid but steep path up, over the moor, and all the way to the top of the mountain for great views in all directions.

Though I had hoped to have as clear, sunny, and beautiful weather as the day before, my last day turned out to be rainy and overcast. Low-hanging clouds covered the top of the mountain - even reaching to Clunie on the other side - making the thought of a hike seem rather daunting. However, I had been told the path was very clear and well marked, so I shouldn't have a problem due to rain or fog (except maybe when trying to enjoy the view at the end).

So I started my hike. The path started in the same direction as my first hike (Craigower) but turned to the left to climb up the shoulders of the mountain and up towards the summit. First I crossed some hilly moorland, which stretched over the smaller peak of Bealach, and then made it to the small Loch a'Choire - a beautiful mountain lake which was covered in a thin sheet of ice. This lake was very pristine and perfect, with the tall mountain of Ben Vrackie just on the other side. From Loch a'Choire I could see the stair-case like path up to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately the top of the mountain couldn't be seen because of the clouds!

Passing by the Loch, I began to ascent the mountain itself. There were occasionally patches of snow which I needed to trudge over in order to continue up the path. At one point the path was even covered by a stream, originating from the winter snowmelt. The hardest part was making it over the slick icy patches, and not falling through where the snow was soft and melting. There were often points where I would step, break through the top foot of snow and end up in a hidden stream which was eroding the underside of the snow bank. Naturally my shoes and legs got very wet! At one point I was crossing a medium-sized snow field to reach the path I could see on the other side. I paused for a moment and listened... there was a gurgling, gushing river sound - but I couldn't see the stream. Then I realized: The river was under my feet! There was a big snowmelt, likely with waterfalls and a good stream, just under the surface of the snow. I moved very quickly (but carefully) to try and get out of the "danger zone" and on to solid ground before any snow gave way and left me falling into the river below.

At about 1/2-2/3 up the mountain climb the entire path became covered with a snow field. I couldn't see where to go, but there were a few footsteps leading up and back through the snow. I began to continue, following these footprints, but realized that I was losing good vision ahead due to the dense clouds. While I may have had these few footprints, I didn't even know if they were going in the right direction! What made it worse was, at the point I decided to turn around, the frozen surface of ice had made it difficult to get a good foothold. It was just not my day to make it to the top of the mountain. I have to console myself with the idea that A) It just would not have been safe for me to go forward into the clouds/snow, and B) I probably wouldn't have had any kind of view, because the top of the mountain was in a cloud bank.

And so I made my way back down to Loch a'Choire, and decided to take the optional side path around the Loch, over Bealach ridge, and back towards the city. However, this proved difficult due to yet more snow-melt streams, mud, and at one point I even lost the path because of a snow bank! Fortunately I could see the sign post at the top of Bealach, and so trudged through the heather until I got back onto the main path. I was a little worried, though, that I would have had to backtrack a long way to make it to where I had begun the hike.

So my last day was certainly my most adventurous. Fortunately I made it back safely and with many good, wild pictures of the "gateway to the Highlands". Also, lucky for me, my B&B hosts were very generous to let me come back to the room, shower, nap, and dry my clothes by the fire even after checkout! They let me stay until my night train (10:45pm) came into Pitlochry.

The last part of my Spring Break Adventure was taking a sleeper train back to London. Silly me, I didn't book a sleeper berth, and therefore had to content myself with two extra-wide seats to curl up on. If I bent my knees and curled up a bit I could fit in my row of chairs just fine... It wasn't the most comfortable night's rest (we arrived in London at 7:45am), but it certainly beat just one chair, or no sleeping room at all! Maybe next time I will consider booking a berth, rather than a seat.

The following pictures conclude my epic adventure in Scotland. I hope you enjoyed!

Spring Break in Scotland - Day 4

Day 4 (Wednesday) - More Hiking around Pitlochry On day 4 I took one, longer hike rather than two short ones. Since walking is so popular in the highlands - and around Britain in general! - there were many options I could have hiked during my trip to Pitlochry. I chose the Clunie Walk, which went in the opposite direction of Craigower, on the other side of the valley in which Pitlochry sits.

The walk started out normal enough, the path wound steeply through forests which looked a lot like the Oregon cascades. Birds were singing in the trees and the sun started to come out, which was very nice as the forecast predicted rain. And even though the day was warm (about 45-50 degrees), there was still snow on much of the path and old logging road which the walk followed.

When I reached the top of the Carra Beag hillside I expected to reach a viewpoint, just like the day before. However, what I found was far more breathtaking and awe-inspiring. I had finally reached the Scottish Highlands. I had wound farther around the mountainside than I expected, and found myself facing a wide open plateau covered in ankle-high purple heather. There were a few small foothills once in a while, with tall highland peaks wherever one looked. Because the clouds had cleared up I had a perfect view of Ben Vrackie, the nearest snow-capped peak to Pitlochry. I even had a spectacular view down onto Pitlochry far below! I took a small side-path to the top of a rocky outcropping and had lunch, watching the river, clouds, and mountains on all sides.

Suffice it to say the path, winding through the heather and over the hills, was fantastic. I had never been in such a foreign environment - but it was all SO BEAUTIFUL! The pictures hardly do it justice. Eventually the Clunie path left the plateau and wound back down, through the woods, and into the city. I returned in time to take a nap at the B&B before dinner, and yet again curl up by the fire with a borrowed book for the evening.

I think this walk had to have been my favorite. The sunshine, new scenery, and great views all made it the perfect easy hike. See the pictures below!



Side Note: Classes start back up again tomorrow. I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though, which means I have a lot of free time to do homework and explore the city!

I also received my grades from last term and was happy to see As for all three classes. I'm especially proud to receive an A from a professor who outright stated "I don't give As"! Since the grading system in Britain is different - a B is the equivalent to an American A - I didn't expect to do as well as I did. Pity this whole semester doesn't factor into my GW GPA!

Spring Break in Scotland - Day 3

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Hiking in Pitlochry On Tuesday I woke up to enjoy my first Scottish Breakfast at the B&B. The food was DELICIOUS! Probably one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. The only way it couldn't compare to Ireland is that famous Irish Brown Bread - but otherwise... That breakfast is probably one of the things I miss most about Scotland. There were yogurts, fruit, cereal, juices, AND a platter breakfast of various things like roasted tomatoes, haggis, "tattie scone" -a potato pancake, eggs sunny-side up, toast, sausage, and black pudding. Dad and I had black pudding in Ireland, but it was in no way nearly as good as the black pudding at Carra Beag. I actually LIKED it! Of course, not all of these foods were served together, but you got to have your pick from all of them. As you can tell, the breakfasts were so filling that I never really got hungry for lunch, which meant that all I had to take hiking with me was some veggies (in a little snack bag I bought) and crackers - just in case. I had energy for the whole day!

After that wonderful breakfast I took my first hike: Craigower. "Craig" means rock in Scottish, so anything with Craig means "on a rock" or "by a rock" or "rocky", etc. Craigower was a very nice, slightly hilly walk up to a lookout point over the Garry river. The path was nice and even all the way to the top, and walked through trees, forests, and some small glens. The first part even went through the Pitlochry Golf Course! I took pictures of the great golf course views for Keith. Overall, the terrain reminded me very much of Washington State. There were tall pine trees and more hilly mountains (like the northern Cascades, or San Juan Islands) with a little bit of left over snow from the winter.

Since Craigower was a short day hike, I managed to make it back to Pitlochry in time to take another short walk before dark. This time I walked around Loch Faskally. Again, very much like the pacific northwest, Pitlochry derives their power from a hydroelectric dam on the river Garry. Loch Faskally was formed when the dam was installed into the river. And, just like Washington and Oregon, Pitlochry's dam incorporates a fish ladder for migrating salmon! Pitlochry was one of the very first cities in Scotland to have a fish ladder, and it is one of their prize "sites". I thought this was funny, considering I come from a land where fish ladders are also very important! Just another coincidence which made me think that Pitlochry felt a lot like home...

When I had finished walking around Loch Faskally, admiring the lake, woods, and local buildings, I went home and ate dinner (chicken and ham "pie" with roasted leeks and "tattie mash" - YUM!) and then curled up by the fire to read a book from the B&B.

One thing I should mention about Pitlochry is that it happens to lie in the path of the Royal Air Force training route. This means that 4-6 times per day, jet fighters (between one and three) come screaming through the valley, rounding the hills and tracing the path of the river. When I was walking the hills, they were so close I could see the pilots! I think I was only 500ft away from the jets at one point. Naturally, this was VERY loud, and kind of an annoyance when you weren't awed by how fast and agile these planes were... but fortunately they went by infrequently, were gone in a matter of seconds, and never flew at night! My B&B hostess said that they probably flew more on the nice days because they had such a great view of the beautiful highlands. I think she's right: jet fighter is probably one of the best ways to see Scotland! I'm jealous of all the beautiful scenery they saw from the planes.

That's it for Day 2, check out the pictures by clicking below:

Spring Break in Scotland - Day 2

Day 2 (Monday) - Arthur's Seat and Train to Pitlochry - on Day 2 of my break I woke up, checked out of the hostel, and went to go hike on Edinburgh's dormant volcano: Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is located in the larger Hollyrood Park, which belongs to the Queen. It's essentially a large expanse of rugged hills, grass, and lakes right in the middle of Edinburgh. There are a number of paths (hundreds, maybe?) which loop around and cross the park, making it a hikers paradise. Most of these paths are well worn by tourists climbing up to the summit of the volcano for the absolute best view of Edinburgh, as well as the surrounding Scottish countryside.

I took a number of different paths to try and cover as much of the park as I could until 4pm, when I had to catch a train to Pitlochry. One of the paths I picked had a recent rock slide, so in order to go on I had to do a bit of climbing boulders, which was fun. The rest of the time I wandered from area to area in the park, taking LOTS of pictures of the scenery. The park is very rugged and hilly, but most everything is covered with soft peat moss and grass.

Though the clouds were heavy, there wasn't any rain (fortunately). The only problem of the day was very strong winds. I would guess that it was constantly 30mph, with gusts up to 80mph. I was almost knocked off of my feet a couple of times! This was especially scary at the very top of the mountain, where a stumble could have meant falling back down the rock face. I clung to a tall rock when taking pictures, just to make sure I didn't fall over! For the last part of the hike I chose a path that went right along the edge of some steep cliffs (the same ones I had walked next to at the beginning of the day). My heart was in my throat, peering over the edge. I was just glad that the winds were blowing AWAY from the edge, not towards it!

After the hike, when I was tired and hungry, I went back to the city to sit in a Starbucks, read my book, and wait for the train to Pitlochry. The train itself was pretty quick, only 1.5 hours or so. Since Pitlochry is a relatively small town of 3,000 it was easy to find my B&B just off of the main road. The B&B is owned by two Austrialian expats (a few of many that I met on my trip. I think I met more Aussies than Scotsmen!) who now live in Pitlochry while their daughter has started her first year of University in Aberdeen. The B&B - called "Carra Beag", after a nearby peak - is very cute. I had a single room upstairs with an ensuite bathroom. Downstairs there was a small library with a fireplace and comfy couches. I enjoyed reading books and relaxing by the fire when I was done with my hiking!

That's it for the second day. Click below to see pictures of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.