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Preface

Before I post about my three week travel adventure, I thought that I would slowly post all the photos and update the travel map. So, for now, see the link to Flickr and Travel Map for updates. :)

All Hail St. Patty!!

Again, it has been many weeks since the actually passing of this event but I thought I should post about it anyway because...it rocked. So, Nicholette came to visit me from Budapest on her Spring Break and at the end of her stay we took a quick trip to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. Needless to say, it was insane! I have never seen so much craziness. It was amazing. Granted that we only spent eight hours in Dublin, but it was worth it. And I stood in complete awe as Nic downed two pints the size of her head. But, that's St. Patty's Day for ya! :)

Cali Comes to Scotland and Isle of Arran

Well, many moons ago Cass, Joell, Gabe, Claire and Justin came to Edinburgh for a visit. It was mighty good times, but perhaps too much to recount in detail. The long and short of it is that after a few days roaming around the city Cass abandonded us to head homeward and the rest of us went off to the west coast of Scotland. We spent a week on the Isle of Arran doing our best to see every inch of the island. It was pretty frickin fantastic! Even the pouring rain that broke up the sunny days led to a fun adventure. Gabe, Justin, Claire and I managed to get soaked all the way through on a rough ride to the Fairy Dell, but even the mud that caked my butt and hands didn't stop me from having a great time. The only downside was being tricked into thinking I could see the Academy Awards by the bullies at BBC One and then missing the most glorious moment in Awards history for all Scorsese fans. But, thanks to the beauty that is You Tube, I managed to steal back some of that glory.

AHHHH SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

It was the most exciting moment of my life...I stepped outside of my flat on Wednesday to be greeted by a freshly laid blanket of little white crystalized miracles. And just in time for my flatmate Lottie's 18th birthday! I was so excited that I had to call the States to share the glory of it all with my family...an expensive whim, but so worth it. Sadly, it has already melted away...but the joy still remains in my heart :)

And if you want to see more picks... click the flickr photo display to the right.

Freezing in Milan

Yes, that's right...it was even colder than Edinburgh. How it managed this, I will never know! Global warming will be the death of us all!! So, rinse, reuse, recycle! Hehe.


Well, my friends, Courtney was a great hostess and we spent a very full four days together in Milan and even scurried down to Florence for the day. It was loverly, despite the chill.

Mostly, I ventured around the city center while she was at work during the day and then we met up for a series of delicious meals ;) Not to point any fingers, but someone (::cough:: Mom ::cough::) had me run on a wild goose chase for two days looking for buttons. But, alas, it seems that the actual material stores in the world's fashion capital are no longer part of the city. The famous couture street, Via Montenapoleone, is now just a series of international mega-designers like Chanel, Dolce and Gabana, Bvlgari, Armani, Versace, and Dior. It sort of made me sad. I could just as easily see the same thing in any other major Western city: San Fran, LA, New York, London, Paris. It just didn't seem very special or unique. I guess it doesn't help that places like Walnut Creek, Las Vegas, and The Grove pretty much directly copied it's distinct architectural style so that it's now become a cookie cutter design for all high-end retail areas.

BUT, I did manage to stumble upon two really cool museums tucked away on two adjoining side streets- The City of Milan Museum and Museo Bagatti Valsecchi. In the latter I was pretty much the only patron and, being super nice attendants, I pretty much got the deluxe VIP tour. The docent, who spoke a little English, took me from room to room and even wished me a "Good sojourn!" which I thought quite impressive. And the man at the front desk refused to let me pay for a post-card I wanted to buy, insisting I take it as a gift! (...probably because my wet mop of hair and raggedy travel clothes led him to believe me a charity case.) So, all-in-all, I considered the ventures to be incredibly successful. :)


And for our one day in Florence we took the train through the lovely Tuscan countryside and enjoyed much warmer weather. We saw the magnificent Moorish style Duomo and hunted down the original David, which was absolutely stunning. Also, of course, we ate. I had a chocolate Affogatto (espresso with gelato) and yummy pudding like hot coco. Delicioso! I wish we had more time to explore the city, but even in our limited time it was well worth the trip :)

Barcelona - La Mejor Ciudad del Mundo

Mis anfitriones, Tia Toni y Tio Tony, se sentando en un banco mosaico de Gaudi a Parc Guell .

A few weeks ago I jetted over to Spain to see my lovely family in Barcelona. It was the best weekend I have had yet! My family were simply the BEST hosts in the world. They took me all over the city, treated me to everything (except for one nectarine which I managed to sneakily purchase), and are simply fabulous beautiful people through and through. All this and I hadn't even had contact with them for eight years!!! Well, I know that won't happen again. (Plus, it gave me such confidence to be able to speak Spanish with them - although Catalan kept cropping up and throwing me off entirely. I actually started to dream in Spanish when I was there. And I had trouble switching back to English when I returned... que curioso, no?)

It was a whirlwind of a weekend but perfect in every way. I arrived at the airport to a beautiful peach dusk and the refreshing embrace of warm rich air. Unsure if my memory would stand up to the test, I apprehensively stepped into the arrivals gate but family can not be concealed. Right on cue we caught each others glances and the two faces that beamed back at me were my mom's cousin Toni and her husband Tony (aka "The Toni(y)s"). All insecurities about visiting with distant relatives evaporated with their smiles and long tight hugs - family is family, no matter how distant. It had been a while since I had felt that sense of belonging and when you have it, you never want to let it go.

La cena: (clockwise from far left: Nuria, Tony, Toni, Gervasio, Me)

At one point, over lunch at a schnazzy Italian restaurant, my cousins Monica, Laura, Olga and I tried to figure out exactly what the family tree looks like that connects us. Basically, it's huge. What it gets down to is our great grandmothers on our mother's sides were sisters, so we share the same great great grandparents, the Ortegas. But, hey, cousins are cousins, right?! Somos primos y este es el ultimo facto.

Well, if you are interested (which I guess if your not you probably stopped reading by now), the events of the trip consisted of: eating delicious homecooked food (Tortilla Espanola...mmm), singing to the wonders of George Michael and A-Ha on PlayStation SingStar, and visting all of the city's sites in one jam packed day - Gaudi Park, La Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas, La Bocaria y El Hospital de San Pablo. (And on that note, just so everyone knows, when it's my time to go to the big party in the sky I want to be at San Pablo. This is my wish. And I also want to be cremated on a large floral pier to a string quartet playing "Dust in the Wind" and then my ashes divided into six parts and spread across various inconvenient locations. Remember that.)

El hospital de San Pablo, Barcelona.

No Joke - We Actually Made It

Proof! Sophie inside at the altar.

Sophie and I, after four months preparation, finally made our long sojourn to Roslyn Chappel. That's rights bizzels - we owned that twenty-five minute bus ride! And, we accidently got in for free. I tried to make up for that by purchasing eleven pounds sterling of merchandise. I think cheating a church out of an entrance fee is pretty much asking for damnation.

It was spectacular, though, every inch was engraved stone. And I loved the Latin quote, "FORTE EST VINU. FORTIOR EST REX. FORTIORES SUNT MULIERES: SUP OM VINCIT VERITAS." (1 Esdras 3:10-12) Translated as, "Strong is wine. The King is stronger. Women are stronger still: but truth conquers all."

I Love London

(Kensington Gardens squirrel. They are just so damn cute.)
Although this is a bit of a late entry, I thought I would share some pictures of my visit to London with Sarah in December. We had such a great time, despite not getting to go iceskating :( I still hold out hope that the day will come when the ice and I will be reunited. ::sigh:: And some day I SHALL actually take a tour of the Cutty Sarke! It will happen, they can not be "cleaning the shop" forever!! Just you wait Henry Higgins - just you wait.

This is me. Me making a pirate face . Squinty eyes, saying "arrrg!" The similarities are uncanny, I know.

Sarah with her tea on our early morning jaunt through Kensington Gardens.

Back for 2007!

The holidays have come and gone and I am back in Edinburgh for 2007. Unlike last semester, I refuse to let myself waste away in my flat. This time I am going to go all out and make the best of every moment. Why shouldn't I? That's what life is for. So, here's what I have so far. I am going on out to Roslin this weekend, then heading out to Milan in two weeks, then Joell, Gabe and Cass will be visiting, and then rough plans to go to Budapest, Ireland, Vienna, Barcelona, Switzerland, Greece, Rome, Germany, the Highlands, and the Lake Country.

As for this past weekend:

I arrived in Edinburgh after yet another excruciating 20 hour traveling process and then hopped on the train to Kilwinning to stay with my flatmate, Kirstin. There, we went to Glasgow (Scotland's largest and most metropolitan city) and saw It's a Boy/Girl Thing in the world's tallest movie theater, the Glasgow Cineworld. It was a pretty amazing sight...6 floors of screens. The movie was pretty fantastic as well...something I recommended my dadand Erica should see. Which means that it is right up there with Teen Witch and the Disney afterschool specials. It also starred the guy from Air Bud, classy...I know.

The next day we went to Kilmarnock and conquered the wonderful world of bowling, pool and go karts. I think the best part, though, was when we went to The Sport's Bar at the Kilmarnock football stadium and Kirstin and Ian let me use the jukebox. BIG MISTAKE. I selected only the best from the 80's pop charts, like "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips and "Careless Whispers" by George Michael. By the time George came on the bartender had his head lying on the counter and Kirstin said, "I think that guy wants to kill himself." But I like to think that I just gave him a something to talk about when he finally got off his shift. Someday he'll thank me.