Christmas Time!!!!!!

To my lovely loyalists at Jon the Scot:

I know I let you down with not posting enough and essentially leaving out pictures from the majority of my semester and my wonderful travels. But I am a perfectionist and can't half-ass entries, so a ton got left out--most of it, in fact. You will all have to meet up with me upon my return to the states, and I can tell you everything and show you pictures if I have my laptop nearby. This has to be brief because I am about to head to Glasgow for a flight to Berlin tomorrow, but here are some things that happened this semester that I neglected to post:

* Daytrip to St. Andrews. Although I lost (and later recovered) my camera on this trip, it was worth it. The ruins of the cathedral, the coastline, the castle, the historically rich campus, sigh. I'll let this picture do the talking:

* Daytrip to Castle Campbell. By far this is the most impressive castle I have visited in Scotland in terms of aesthetic appeal and location. This was a shot from the top:

* Weekend in London sponsored by the UIUC Study Abroad Office. We saw a lot of great stuff, but overall, London doesn't tickle my fancy like Scotland does. It's impressive but not in the way I'm interested in being impressed when I'm in Britain. I want medieval ruins and scenic walks and towns that have a distinct personality; London is too much like NYC in that it's wonderful in its hugeness, but by extension, it just can't have the same kind of local flavor as a smaller city such as Glasgow. Maybe I'm rambling and I'd actually love London if I stayed there longer; I just got an impression that it's an international center more than anything. Cool in its own way. I got to meet some cool UIUC kids studying abroad as well, I saw the typical tourist hotspots, I got to see Samantha from Sex in the City perform in a play, and I spent a lot of time with Brett, who was there from Nottingham. This was important to me because we had a lot to talk about, and it felt like we were best friends again, which is more than I would have hoped for after our separation. We basically cleared the air and had an awesome time talking about what we're doing now and how we feel about our new relationships. Very therapeutic. Photos:

At some hall in London with a lot of art and sweet mirrors for pretentious pics like this one:

Jon admiring Big Ben:

Prime Meridian line in Greenwich. I'm standing in both hemispheres.

* Weekend in Edinburgh with Ali, Mike, and Adam (and Yvonne for the first part). We spent a depressing amount of money on an Italian buffet (but you can be damn sure I ate until I almost fainted), went out on the town for some drinks and a wonderful game of "Never Have I Ever." The following day, we checked out the international market and ice skating rink, ate some CHEAP Scottish breakfast while watching hippies play music and give away food for "Buy Nothing Day," and I watched Mike and Adam drink (thrifty time!) at a pub while some Scottish guy--of course--wanted to fight me because my bored, wandering eye looked in his general direction for half a second. People disgust me way too often, and Scottish people are no exception. Then Mike, Adam, and I met up with Mike's flatmate Cameron (also the greatest Scottish guy I have met here) for a rugby match between Scotland and Australia at the Edinburgh stadium. Mike and I had a good time trying to yell over to Cameron to figure out how the hell rugby works. It just seems like a big free-for-all sometimes, but it was awesome to be a part of that atmosphere. Scotland lost. Whatever. Mike has some pics from the game:

Stadium shot:

Rugby in action:

Aren't we wild and crazy fans? From left to right: Cameron, Adam and me. Close-ups make me angry, but I'm smiling anyway.

* Extended weekend in Ireland with Yvonne! We saw a ton of cool stuff and stayed with Yv's friend Amy, who is studying for the year at Trinity College in Dublin. In Dublin we went out to some pubs (including one that I think was owned by a communist), toured the Guinness factory with Yvonne's friend Nhu (who is at Oxford this year studying philosophy), walked by Dublin Castle (but it's only a pseudo-castle so we didn't pay to go inside), toured the National Gallery as part of Amy's art class trip, had unbelievable crepes and coffee at a hip cafe, checked out St. Patrick's Cathedral, and watched a brilliant traditional Irish dance performance. Oh, I also got an Irish coffee, but alcohol in Dublin is unreasonably priced. Still, it was good, but a little heavy on the whiskey. I had a wonderful time with Yvonne and her friends, as I always do. Outside of Dublin, Yv and I took a daytrip to Howth, which is a cool seaside town that has cliffs we hiked to near Howth Castle. We also did a trip to Cork, where we took a bus to Blarney Castle and kissed the stone! Ohhhh, I'm so sad that I'm not doing any of these experiences justice by running through them so quickly. Maybe I will go back and document them (lol, don't believe me).

* Fall break trip! Yv, Lindsay, Stephen (president of the Wildwatchers group here and a politically astute Canadian), and I joined Marta and Ali in Paris for a few days. I have to say, Paris exceeded my expectations in a major way. Napoleon's tomb and the Louvre (Mona Lisa what what) were two of my personal favorites out of all the sights. Then it was on to Venice, and then Florence, and finally Rome via the Eurail. All were great places, of course, but Venice gets about 6000 times more appealing at night. It's so romantic there that I kind of just wanted to propose to anyone who would accept. Rome was great considering all of the amazing things you can see there, but as a city itself, meh. However, it has so many amazing things to see on a sight-by-sight level, so it's a great destination for tourists. We had more gelato than was necessary, but that's how it works in Italy, and I was overwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel. I also was a kid in a candy store when we walked through the Roman ruins. Wowwwwwww. Other great Roman sights we saw: the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain (amazing atmosphere), the Spanish steps, other parts of the Vatican Museum outside of the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon (lame), and St. Peter's Basilica. They have a few preserved popes encased in the basilica, which I find kind of creepy. Strike me down, I guess. (Please don't, Opus Dei). Our hostel in Rome was in a sketchy part of town, but anything to save a euro, right? We actually slept in the owner's extra bedroom because they fucked up our reservations. I slept between Yv and Lindsay in a double bed and basically ended up in an "S" position that made my back feel extra special. More to say on this week-long trip, but suffice it to say that we saw a ton of amazing things.

* Now to my final and favorite trip with members the Scotland gang: GREECE! Mike, Adam, and I took a nine-day trip to Greece, and it was the best vacation I have ever taken in my entire life. I have decided that Greece is nothing short of the best country on the planet. The ancient ruins and countryside are awe-inspiring, the weather is great even in the winter, the people are friendly and often beautiful, the food is delicious and cheap (1 euro for vegetarian pitas!!!) , and the oranges and tomatoes are for some reason better here than anywhere else. Not a huge fan of Greek coffee, but that didn't stop me from drinking it most days. There were too many stray dogs and smokers in Athens, but overall the city is first-rate and probably my favorite in Europe since they cleaned it up for the Olympics in 2004. I could dig living there for a few months, I've decided. I promise to come back to this blog for a separate entry on it, because it deserves one, but here is a taste of Athens' best: the Acropolis!

Good note to end on, I'd say. I am off to Berlin for Christmas and New Year's Eve, where Brian will join me. Then onward to southern Spain and Madrid and finally a few days in Scotland before I come back to the states to see all of you!!! I miss you all, and have a wonderful Christmas!