Ireland

This past weekend, 5 friends and I ventured over west to the beautiful island and countries of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Took a couple buses, the railway, and a ferry. Started in Belfast, NI and toured there for a couple days. Saw some great sights--check out my facebook photos! :) It was my first time staying in a hostel, and I have to say...they are quite nice! Cheap prices and friendly atmosphere. From there, we took a bus to Dublin, Ireland. Free walking tour of the city, and then a full day tour of the Wicklow Mountains, the east coast of Ireland, and then Glendalough and Sally's Gap. Again, feel free to check facebook for the photos! Made it back safe and sound after a lovely 6 day weekend traveling, being a tourist. Oooh another thing...Northern Ireland's currency is on the pound, and then when we got to Ireland, we found out they were on the Euro..so fun to experience a currency change. That's all for now. Check back in a couple weeks for my next post! xxx :)

I Made It!

Well Amy and I flew out from Minneapolis on Wednesday, had an 8hr flight, and made it to Amsterdam on Thursday, we lost a few hours because of the time change (Scotland is 6 hours later than Minneapolis). Had a couple hour layover until the flight to Edinburgh and then boarded onto our next plane.

Scotland was absolutely breath taking! The green rolling hills, just like the ones you see in movies! The friendly people, the sheep and cattle in the fields, the cars driving on the left side of the road...and the right side of the car, it is all so wonderful! No jet lag either, so I'm very thankful for that. We took a taxi to the Dalkeith House, in Dalkeith, Scotland, and wow is it a mansion! I still can't believe we are living in it.

Over 300 years old, and it's still holding up pretty well. It's about 3-4 stories high, with many many rooms, but is now going some construction on the front of the building. After settling in, we did orientation for the first day and next (today), took some tours, got settled in, had some meals (lots of pasta, hope to not gain much while I'm here!), made some friends, and went out to The Blacksmith's Forge, a cute pub in town, to celebrate my friend Emily's 21st birthday! All in all, great start to a great adventure.

Tomorrow our group of 53 students (and about 10 staff/families) will be heading into the larger city of Edinburgh to tour some ancient and famous castles and spend the afternoon enjoying ourselves and soaking up some of many great opportunities! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! :)

Flight

Hello to all my followers! I thought I would update you that my bags are packed and I'm almost ready to head out the door :) My flight takes off tomorrow evening at 7 for Amsterdam, then there's a layover and I'm off to my new home- Scotland!! I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers while I'm in the air/port traveling, and just for my trip in general. There's a few others I am going to be traveling with, but it's still a long while to reach our destination. Also, I have skype, so if you would ever want to chat on there look me up "chellz747". Talk to you soon!

Anticipation

Hi friends! I just wanted to let you all know that I now have a blog to keep you updated with my journey abroad to Scotland over this upcoming semester. Feel free to post any comments. I take off January 27th, so now I'm just gathering my things together and setting a few details straight. Missing you already!