Luckiest Girl in the World

Sorry for the delays on all my posts!!! Under this post you will find the Scotland posts and this post will update you on my whereabouts since Sunday, May 19th! (Just 10 days ago, whew time flies!!!)

The Monday after my trip was a national holiday, so I used the time to lay in bed and recuperate from my travels.  Really, I was just lazy! Tuesday involved a whole lot of German Grammar and Wednesday involved a lot of class.  Wednesdays are my crazy days!   At 8 I have my German history class in German that covers two accounts of prisoners in the concentration camp of Oranienburg during 1933 and 1934. Then at 10 I have my Ethics in the Talmud class followed by German Grammar.   I really HATE German grammar.... I don't like it at all and no matter how much I study.... I just can't get it all!!!!!!!   Anyway... after class I tend to walk the gardens to Starbucks to do my homework.  I have been getting a lot of comments on my frequent visits to Starbucks... so let me explain.  Yes... there are a lot of unique cafes here, but none of them have wifi... In order to do my homework... I need wifi! Yes, I have internet at home, but my goal is to leave my room and get some walking in! The 1 hour walk helps deal with the amount of chocolate and bread that I am inhaling!  Thursday was a monumental day for me! My first test... in my German language class!!! yikes!! Turned out pretty well!! I got a 1,3 (1 being the highest and 6 the lowest) which was the highest grade!!! Who would have thought?!?! NOT ME! After my test I headed home! With my window open I suddenly heard a drum set.  I thought I was losing my mind, but noo.... someone had a drum set outside my window.  Soon he was joined by some guitars and a harmonica! I had a lovely little concert for a good 2 hours!

Side note:  I wanted to share something that took over my week last week... An amazing story and an amazing, Zach Sobiech.  He was an 18 year old boy from Minnesota, who died of cancer last week.  But as he said, "he didn't lose."  He spent his last months writing songs to leave hist words for his loved ones, and one of them, "Clouds," was recorded.  His story was spread all over the internet.  His message is inspiring and uplifting and I hope all of you will watch this short video made about his life.  As I watched his videos and read about his life, I found myself hoping to somehow live up to the legacy that this boy left behind.  I promised myself that I would try.  Try my best to make people smile and try my best to live life to the fullest.  As he said, "you don't have to find out you're dying to start living."  If you haven't watched his story click here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NjKgV65fpo) Last week, on the day of his funeral, his song "Clouds" hit number 1 on iTunes... We could all learn so much from this boy.

Friday was a busy and also eventful day! It started early at the main train station in Potsdam, where I met my Wednesday history class.  We all got on the S Bahn and rode for 1.5 hours to Oranienburg, the site of the concentration camp we are studying.  I didn't really know what to expect... but I didn't find what I expected.  At the site of the concentration camp, one only finds a wall that remains... the rest was destroyed in bombings.  After our walk there, we traced the escape route from one of the accounts we read.  This was incredible! We started close to where the men were taken to work.  There, our narrator, escaped by walking away and hiding all the way to town. There we traced his steps until he got a taxi that took him to an unknown (to us) train station.  After tracing his steps, we went to the museum found in Oranienburg, where we were able to read more about the camp and its victims.   I found again many letter resembling the ones I have... not in context but in look.  Overall, the trip was very helpful in helping us understand what our narrators explain in their books.  However, the most shocking and horrifying fact were already revealed to us in their stories.

Since Berlin was closer from the concentration camp than Potsdam, I decided to stay in Berlin and head to Prenzlauer Berg. I rode there with a new friend I made, Kristina.  We had talked on our first excursion too, and she is very sweet! A bit soft spoken, which makes understanding her a little hard, but incredibly nice. Once at my cafe, Rosalyn, I started working on my "sister trip" for this summer.  After a few minutes I got a text from Colby and a message from Ryan.  Ryan, a friend from home, is currently traveling with twins Kate and Beth around Europe.  They arrived in Berlin on Thursday and were here until Monday morning.   I met up with them Friday evening and got to enjoy their awesome studio that they rented in P.Berg.  Soooo nice!!!

 After talking we headed to our favorite Italian restaurant!  We had a blast catching up! It is so nice to have people from home here! I'd never met Beth, but she is so incredibly nice and we all had a blast!

 

After a late dinner I took the train home and made it in at around midnight.   However, I didn't go to bed, because I had to book our amazing "sister trip" with Maia.   We finalized the dates and locations and I headed to bed at around 3:30 am.

Saturday was another fun filled day.   I am so incredibly lucky to have so many great friends!!! I met up with Ryan, Colby, Beth, and Kate on Saturday morning (noonish) in Potsdam.  The day was dreadful! Rainy, windy, and cold!!! What a day to WALK through Potsdam and the gardens! The first stop was to take them to get some lunch.  I had eaten a salad at home, but I knew they would be ready for lunch.  Colby and I took them to our favorite Backstube and they got some yummy looking paninis! After that Ryan and I headed to Kaisers to get us drinks and the girls and Colby made a stop at H&M to get tights.  Poor girls, it is waaaay colder than anyone would have expected it to be!!!!!  With their amazing attitudes we headed to the Palace Gardens and walked for over an hour in the rain.  They were such a pleasure to be around! Who would have thought anyone would be so happy to be walking around in the rain!  The girls had forgotten to bring "Steve" (what they call their Rick Steves books) to Potsdam, but I tried to give them some fun facts about what we were seeing!

Schloss Sanssouci

After our walk we took the train back to Berlin.  It was a huge day in Berlin! The big game!!! Dortmund vs. Bayern!!!! The train was packed with fans ready to watch the game from Berlin!! Once in Berlin, the rain and wind had increased tremendously, but again... our crowd stayed positive!!! We walked all the way to the Ritter Sport museum (chocolate museum), where our group bought the typical chocolate gifts to take home! 

Dilemmas... which kind to buy

Which kind shall it be???

After that we walked to the Topography of Terror museum that outlines the rise of the Nazis in Germany.   With my trip to the concentration camp on Friday, I was a little overwhelmed... but the information was crucial for my research.  So I sat with Colby and shared my wish... "Man I wish this was all in a book, so I could take it with me." "It is!" he said!!! So off I went and bought the English version of the entire exhibit! And another book on the persecution of Jews in Berlin too.  I am so happy to have found them, because they will help me with my class work and my thesis (hopefully!).  After the museum we took a train in the pouring rain to the American Diner, where we planned on watching the game.   Great planning apparently! But.... they asked for reservations! They let us eat, but made it clear that they wanted us out before the game... which started at 8:45... we arrived at 6:30... So doable, but not what we had planned.  After introducing Kate, Beth, and Ryan to the beer tower... we ate and headed back.

The train was soo empty.  Such a huge difference from earlier in the day, but everyone was at home now watching the game!  When I got home I skyped home and informed them of all the goals before they were aired there! Haha a minute difference makes a huge difference!  I went to sleep thrilled to have shared such a wonderful happy day with such wonderful people!

Sunday started early as well!  At 11 I had to be at Hannele's house.  I arrived there promptly at 11 and was met with the most comforting smile.  She is so wonderful, every time she calls me "mein Kind" (my child) I get goosebumps.  After sitting down (I felt so awkward not bringing her anything but she begged me not to...) she informed me of our options.  She first asked me if I had had breakfast, which I had.  She offered to prepare some breakfast for us, but then moved on to plan B.  She said she had initially planned for us to go to the Zoo, but since it was raining, she thought the museum of natural history would work.  Now... I just want y'all to know that this woman is 87.  She is unbelievable.  I tried to express my concern for her walking in the rain, but I think she was thinking I didn't want to go .... so I dropped it.  She then called in a reservation at her restaurant on the corner.  She referred to herself on the phone as "Oma 2."  Oma means grandmother in German, and apparently at this restaurant, the owners forgot her name one of the first times she called in a reservation... But they remembered her voice!  And since there was already an older lady that they called Oma, they called her Oma 2.  While we talked about my classes, she pulled out her books on German Jewish History in Berlin! She had a million!!!! We looked over them and I took notes on some that looked useful!  After that she stopped abruptly and said, " I'm going to get ready, but lets get something straight before we go, you are MY guest." How precious is she!?!?! I tried to ask to invite her to lunch, but she said when she comes to the US or Uruguay I can treat her... as she laughed and told me about how my Oma invited her to Uruguay in 2002.

Her restaurant was absolutely precious.... and EMPTY! I couldn't believe how nice it was!!! After a few minutes people starting piling in and the place was hopping in no time! Oooohhh!! I haven't mentioned asparagus yet!  They are everywhere!!!! Tis the season of asparagus in the German state of Brandenburg!!!! There are stands everywhere (including my street), but I hadn't had any until I went to eat with Hannele!  There I ordered some delicious fish with asparagus! And they were sooo tasty!!!!! Our conversations are so surreal... I don't really know much else  to talk about but her past, and I know sometimes she doesn't want to talk about it... but then sometimes I know she feels like I'm the only person left for her to discuss those stories with... it is unreal.  Somewhere during our conversation we started talking about her parent's stolperstein (the plaques placed for Jews persecuted by the Nazis) that they put in about 2 months ago.  I told her that Colby and I had looked for them, and she said she would be glad to go show them to me! As she explained, since her part of the street was bombed and restructured, the government had assigned a different place for their plaques. 

After lunch, we slowly walked to the SBahn and went to Alexander Platz.  From there, she guided me with her memory to the plaques.  I was in awe.... She was disgruntled by the dirt on them, so I tried to clean them up for her.

After reaching the stones, Hannele was a bit tired so we settled in for some coffee next door.   While sitting there, she noticed a girl dressed in a strapless dress with some wraps on the legs... (like as part of her outfit)... The girl was a bit bigger and really looked ridiculous considering the cold!  Hannele just couldn't process it! She was so funny! She said, "at first I thought she was part of a theater group, but all the others look so normal."  She is just so sweet... As I sat there with her I so wished my Oma could have been sitting with us.  Wouldn't that have been amazing!

Even though I thought we would be heading home after this, Hannele insisted that she had the strength to go find the stones for my grandmother's aunt and cousin. I had the address, but we weren't very close.  Hannele told me what bus we needed and we got on it! It took us through all of Berlin and Hannele was my tour guide!!! She was awesome! What was unbelievable was the fact that she hasn't done this in decades!!! She hadn't seen some of these streets in years!!!! She just kept saying, "WOAH, this didn't use to be here!!!!"  Unbelievably, she still led me to the next bus and told me where we needed to get off.  She got on and off the bus like a champ!!! After our last bus... it started pouring down rain, so she got her umbrella out of her purse... TO GIVE IT TO ME!!! Unbelievable! I told her to keep it and she said ok.  But we waited at the bus stop for the rain to let down a bit. Then we began our walk to Sybelstrasse 5.  It was a pretty long walk 10 or so blocks... we took 5 or 6 breaks to let her catch her breath, but she was amazing considering it was pouring down rain!


 I was so impressed! Once we reached the house, we cleaned up the stones and discussed how to go about finding who initiated the placement of these stones.  Why? Because someone has to pay for them to be put in... They are 120 euros a piece... which means that someone knew her... or maybe no.  Hannele said a lot of landowners with records tend to do it... I guess I will have to do some digging.

After finding the stones, we headed back to her house on the subway.  Once at her house, she had strawberries for me and we went back to the books.  She also brought out some old Berlin maps and showed me where exactly she had lived... she's right... the German government was WAY off when they placed the stones... but she says it doesn't matter... it's not like the stones fix anything. After an hour or so I headed out! I figured she would want to rest after her incredibly active day! I'm glad she got to see so much that she hadn't in years! I hope she enjoyed her day as much as I did, because I felt incredibly fortunate to have her!

From Hannele's I went to meet Colby, Ryan, Beth, and Kate and the Brandenburg Gate.  Colby and I waited there while the crew visited the Reichstag.Side note: Ducks are like pidgeons here! While we waited, we saw ducks walking around everywhere!! So funny!!!

While they did that, Colby and I stressed over finding the perfect place for their last dinner in Berlin! We wanted it to be extra special!!!!!! By the time they got back 1.5 hours later, we had settled on the Greek Restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg! Why?  Because they had treated us really well when we went, the service was incredibly polite and engaging (something unheard of here), plates were large enough to share, and drinks are cheap.  Alexandra met us there and we had a ball!!!! We were there for hours and the guys were super happy with the place! Overall 5 stars and we will be returning!

But dinner was just the beginning of our adventure!  We got done with dinner at 10:20 pm.  My next train home... was at 11:40 pm from Alexander platz... Alexandra lives in the outskirts of Potsdam, but she takes the S Bahn home.  I could too, but then when I get to the main station in Potsdam... I have to wait for a bus or train to take me home (bus - 30 minutes, train 5 min plus 15 min walk).  The issue Sunday night was that there werent any connections for me to take from the main station.... Soooo I had to wait 20 minutes alone at the station in Alexanderplatz for my train.  Now picture this:

Sunday 10:40 pm --- Alexandra and I arrive at Alexander Platz
- We find a store open (HUGE DEAL since on Sunday everything is closed) and we buy chocolate
- We go stand outside the station for a bit
- Guy playing the trumpet is playing the theme song from Superman and Auld Lang Syne...
- Drunk guys walk by and sing along to Superman
- We go back inside
- We are standing by the platform for her train
- I look up and behind her is a terrifying looking man standing an inch from her, looking high, drunk, and crazy.
- I scream "Oh my Gosh!!!!"
- Alexandra turns around startled
- Homeless man walks away after we say no to his MUTE offer to sell us a newspaper
- everyone around us chuckles at my mini freak out
- Alexandra gets on the train
- I go to wait on the platform for my train
- I find out that it is 10 minutes late
- I wait 20 minutes alone in the dark
- trumpet man is heard in the distance and suddenly cracks on the high note of Superman theme song
- trumpet man struggles to get sound out of the trumptet
- trumpet man gives up on superman and returns to Auld Lang Syne...
- Old woman with a cart comes and sits by me
- Woman starts talking about how crazy the cold is and how she forgot to get groceries yesterday, so she had to come to Berlin to find an open place, which was torture. Now she won't be home until too late and won't get to cook anyways...
- I try to nod without speaking too much and revealing my poor German.
- across the train track a group of REALLY cute guys gets into a train (wait guys!!! where are y'all going?? can I go with you???)
- Train comes
- Woman wishes me a good night  and does NOT get on the train??

That was the strangest hour I endured in a while.  It was a mixture of panic, stress, laughter, and sleepiness!  I am so thankful I don't take the S Bahn thought!  That's the train Alexandra takes and it is full of scary strange people at night! Hahaha, she has stories to last a lifetime!  My lovely regional train is full of lovely quiet people that let me listen to my Nicholas Sparks Book on tape (in German) without disturbing me!

Monday morning was rough, due to my late date with the regional train! After a quiet day, I spent the whole afternoon studying.  Tuesday was also a quiet day of studying.  I opted for studying at Starbucks, but because of the weather I took a bus.  There I worked on irregular verbs, verbs with prepositions, and many more tedious things that I don't want to thing about anymore.  A woman approached me while I sat there and asked me for directions in English.  After a bit we switched to Spanish! It turns out they are a Venezuelan family living in Dallas! Too funny! She was super nice!  My other experience at the cafe involved three precious little boys that were having a blast with some planes.  They threw them all over the place and people were sooo annoyed! I was loving seeing them running around.... But then... one of the planes hit me.  I thought one of the moms was going to die of embarrassment but I laughed and told her it was completely fine.  I mean, they were too cute for words!!  At closing time, I was forced to go out in the pouring rain and get the bus!  After  a long night of studying I hit the hay!

Wednesday, also known as today, was rough.  Before class I made myself a spinach and cheese ommlette and made sure I was ready for my big day! Test 2! My first class was fine and my second one too.  During my two hour break I studied some more and memories prepositions and verbs.  Then came the test... HOW is it possible that after so many years of German I have gotten away with not knowing these things.  And most importantly why can't I learn them!!!! I spent sooo many hours on this material!! And then I took the test, and it was useless!!! We were tested on theory instead of applying what we knee... and then... came the verbs... ugh... I don't even want to think about it!! We only have 2 tests in this class and this one was awful!!!! I guess I can't do anything, but it is so frustrating seeing all the other students being so carefree (since they don't need grades)!!! The teachers don't even care about giving grades, because no one needs them!!! BUT I DO!!!! Yikes! Anyway.   I came home and got my things ready to go do laundry at the Waschbar... only to find out that I had lost my raincoat somewhere today... Since it was pouring outside, I decided to stay in!!!

It actually all turned out perfectly!! I got to make homemade gnocchi, while I skyped with my best friend of all times Amy. 

Rolling dough while chatting with Amy

The finished product!!!

It reminded me all over again of how incredibly lucky I am!  Who cares about this test?  Who cares about any test really?  I am sooo lucky to be surrounded by such incredible friends and family (near and far).  No matter the day, no matter the situation, and no matter the distance I am always lucky to have incredible people around me.  Thank you all for putting up with my craziness! I fell like the luckiest girl in the world! 

Fun fact:  Tomorrow evening I am getting on a night train to Budapest! It was a last minute trip to join Ryan, Kate, and Beth!! I have to come back to do homework, but I will get to spend all of Friday with them and then take the train back Friday night! Crazy, but super fun!!!!! 

Scotland Part III: “Here Right Now…”

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Though I really wanted to sleep in on Saturday, it was a very exciting day!!! Chase was arriving from Leeds, England and we were going to see Ghost” the Musical that night!!   It was foggy and rainy, but as the Ghost lyrics say, I was “here right now” so I might as well enjoy it!  I headed to our meeting point, Starbucks, and settled in to wait.  I listened in on a couple (clearly Uruguayan or Argentinian) as they discussed their plans for the day, and before I knew it Chase had arrived!   I was ecstatic so see him! The last time I had seen him was on our trip with Courtney and Adam to New York!!! We had a blast then and I knew we would have a blast in Edinburgh!!  I anticipated a lot of laughing, but I got a lot more than expected!

After a good hour of exchanging study abroad stories and travel advise, we headed to the Elephant Cafe for lunch.  This cafe is where the author of Harry Potter wrote her books!!! It was a super cute place and we enjoyed the shelter from the rain.

After lunch, we headed to the Meadows to find a place for tea and desert! Don't judge!!!!! When it is pouring down rain, one can only find shelter where food is involved.  This time we picked Deacon Brodies, named after William Brodie, one of the inspirations for Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.







We had a blast laughing over cake and scones! This time the conversation surrounded our adventures in New York....

Oh yeah!!! That time I woke up thinking it was raining... Then assumed someone was in the shower.  Then after seeing everyone in bed, assumed someone left the shower on...  and finally getting up discovered that our pipes had burst in the hotel... Yeah that time we risked staying at a hotel with previously reported murders in order to extend our stay a couple of nights... We laughed at the memory of me running down the stairs in my pajamas to find the nonchalant staff who was not surprised to hear that our room was flooding with boiling water... That time Chase had to wear rain boots to salvage my stuff from  our flooding room in this crazy hotel! I can't really tell y'all if people were staring at us laughing, because we were soooo into our stories that I didn't ever bother looking around!   Here is two clips from that day: 

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After tea, I took Chase to the National Museum of Scotland, since I hadn’t really spend enough time there on Friday.  We really enjoyed goofing off with the interactive games and had more fun than most of the kids there.   

 Then… we headed to the 7^th floor balcony to witness the terrace in the rain/fog! As expected it was foggy and rainy!!!

On the way own, the elevator was packed and the line for it was super long.... so we decided to take the stairs... but it was on the outside of the building... So halfway down, we started to doubt if the exit was a regular exit or just a fire escape!!! Yikes!  No worries! Captain Hook or some Johnny Depp looking character came to the rescue with his long hair, limp, and crazy accent! One second later he had led us and his girlfriend back in the building.  With the rain and the fog, one could have thought we were in a movie... Pirates of the Caribbean gone wrong. Since it was still pouring down rain, we walked to Starbucks to dry off before heading back to the apartment to change for Ghost!! Once we were done with our tea, it had stopped raining!  We decided to walk home and enjoyed many laughs, while Chase imagined me retracing this walk in the dark the night before... Oh man! 

After quickly changing, we headed out for dinner and Ghost!  Well... EVERY restaurant near Ghost was booked/packed/or had a 1 hour wait... Soooo.... we went out into the pouring (this time brutal rain with strong winds) down rain that quickly soaked my dress and proved that my raincoat was NOT water proof.  After many failed attempts, we settled in at another Starbucks!  Side note: there was a girl we crossed earlier in Edinburgh, who had dreadlocks and was not wearing any shoes and was walking around the city barefoot.... She was at starbucks and had her feet up on a chair!!! Poor Chase caught sight of them and could barely keep eating!!! 

 A panini and shortbread later, we were ready for Ghost!!!!! A little background for those that don't know.... Ghost: the Musical was on Broadway last summer when I was interning in the city.  To say I fell in love with the show wouldn't cover it!  I fell in love with the music, the message, the emotions, and the main guy.  I met one of the other guys in the show one day and he took Adam and I backstage and then went to dinner with us at Joe Allens, the spot where all the actors hang out after their shows.  He was super sweet and we all met up with him again last Christmas when we were in NYC!   Anyway, long story short... I love the show, I hate that it closed because of dumb reviews, and I wish everyone I knew could see it. 

Not so happy with the main guy....

I had very very high expectations for the show....    Coming out of it, I had to remind myself that it was just a touring production!  The story and the music are still unreal! However, the pitch, the acting and the emotion were nothing to rave about… I’m glad I saw it, even though some of the vocals were painful to listen to.   Man, did I miss Caysie Levy and Richard Fleeshman! And not to mention the Tony nominated Da'Vine Joy Randolph!!!  I would love to watch them again!!!

However, I will say that the message of living in the moment and spending every moment like its your last is still very much understood with the touring show!  The only two regrets from the show were 1. a couple of dumb girls that started laughing during a scene change and couldn't stop.  They laughed the whole way through my favorite, saddest, most touching song in the show.  The whole theater couldn't believe it... They were escorted out. (I think).   2. The main girl was too old. 

After the show Chase and I headed to an Italian restaurant across the street.  He was hungry and I don't turn down olives.  So we ordered some appetizers and a glass of wine... However, they brought us a bottle! Y'all I mean.... I think I'm better understood in Germany than in Scotland!!! 

Anyway, we drank it and ate and then headed out!  Of course.... that is easier said than done!! On the way out the door I joke about our bus being the one that was passing... but I was right.  We chased it, but there was no point!!! After consulting the board, we realized that it was also the last bus.... Soooo we had to walk.  Half way home we hopped on a bus that took us a bit closer and then walked the rest of the way home.   We arrived at 12:30 and since we didn't want to wake up Keith and his wife, who I legitimately never saw, we snuck around quietly.

On Sunday morning we woke up at 8 and hurried to get ready.  In the midst of the process I heard Keith chanting in his study with some lit candles (maybe in Japanese, I couldn't tell)... no he's not Japanese, but his wife is.... After leaving the key, we took the bus and headed out to Princess Street.  There we headed to the train station where we bought breakfast.  Once again I realized my inability to understand some Scottish accents.  After ordering a bagel with cream cheese, the woman said something to me.   Now... I am beyond used to this happening in German, but when I say yes or no... they usually respond and assume I understood.  In this case... I said yes and she said.. "miss, I asked what kind of bagel you want." GREAT!!! Love looking like an idiot! Hahahahah!!! After a quick breakfast standing outside in the wet and foggy Edinburgh, I took the Express bus to the airport.  Chase headed to Starbucks to study... his train didn't leave until later that night.  At the airport I only got 1 of my boarding passes, which made me a bit nervous considering the 25 minute wait I had in Cologne...I didn't think I would have enough time, but my flight in Cologne was delayed!!! So I made it in time and resolved all of my issues in German!!! I felt pretty proud!!!

The weekend in Scotland was the perfect way to recharge!   It is easy to forget what you're doing when you are submerged with life everyday, but a quick trip, a night at the theater, and a lot of laughs with a great friend quickly reminded me!  I'm so glad Chase got to join in and I am now more in love with Edinburgh than I was to begin with!!  Also.... I came back feeling better about how much my German has improved (from the first time I was at an airport).

Scotland Part II: A Sunny Disposition

On Friday morning, I went downstairs to get breakfast and I found Keith and Rebecca, a lady from California that was staying in Edinburgh for a day.  She had arrived on a sleeper train from London.  After a lovely breakfast, I headed out to catch the bus to Portobello, a beach in Edinburgh.   I had heard about this beach on a Rick Steves Podcast and Keith had also informed me that he was born there.  With his recommendation, I was ready to go!   I arrived at the beach at around 9:30.  It turned out to be the perfect spot full only of locals and their dogs.  It was like an amazing oasis from the tourists!  The weather was perfect, with just a few scattered clouds on a blue sky... something incredibly rare around that part of the world!

After a lovely walk around the coast, I took a bus to town.  I will say this.... buses here are VErY slow and stop at EVERY corner!  It is almost faster to walk!  As far as efficiency rating on its transportation system... Berlin has Edinburgh beat!  There was a lady on my bus sitting quietly... after 30 minutes I thought I heard her hit herself... I thought I must have imagined it, but then it happened again! She kept slapping herself and hitting the bag next to her.  Then the cursing began and soon... the hole second story of the bus was terrified.   While the situation was escalating, we reached my final destination, Princess Street, and I got off.  The views were incredible! Blue skies make the grass greener and the flowers even more beautiful!  On Princess Street, there is a huge garden/park (whatever you choose to call it).


In the middle one finds the Scottish National Gallery, where one can find Rodin's Kiss, many works by Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and many Scottish artists.  It was beautifully laid out and the lobby even had WIFI!!!!!! Oh Berlin, you have a ways to go!! Downstairs one finds the Scottish section of the museum. I also found a group of 3rd graders (or 4th or so) that were thrilled to be visiting the museum on a field trip.  Side note: the uniforms here are adorable!!! While browsing through the Scottish art, the Scottish pride that is seen throughout Edinburgh became even more obvious.

After my visit, I headed across the street to H&M, where I bought some shoes to wear to Ghost the Musical on Saturday night.  After a quick purchase, I headed to a deli and bought a chorirzo and pear panini! Instead of sitting down at the restaurant, I opted for having a quiet picnic and a nap on the lawn (Princes Garden).   It was gorgeous and soo warm!! I laid on the grass listening to the Diary of Anne Frank for over and hour! 

 Refreshed, I headed to Starbucks for some iced coffee and a regrouping/planning session.  There, I concluded that I would head to the National Museum of Scotland.  I dreaded being inside (due to the amazing weather), so I planned to make the trip short and sweet!  Again, the Scottish pride was clear.  The building is HUGE and is designed to maximize the space throughout its 6 stories so that thousands of Scottish artifacts can be displayed.  It is incredibly impressive! I took a quick look around and then headed to the 7th floor terrace to look around.  The view was amazing, but I knew that I could do better once Chase joined me!  Once Chase arrived, we were planning on climbing Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh's highest volcanic mountain!

View from the terrace!

 From the museum, I headed to the Meadows Park, which was full of people laying around, playing soccer, grilling out, and enjoying the sun.

The Meadows

Walking past the crowds, a guy caught my attention.  He was walking in front of me with a huge head of curls... kicking a soccer ball... next thing I know, he passes the ball to a 5 or 6 year old kid who was walking by.  The kids eyes lit up! He got so excited and kicked the ball back to the 20(ish) year old guy, who continued on his walk as if nothing had happened.  But man... that little boy was so excited!!! After walking pass the lawns, the playgrounds, the tennis courts, and the cricket fields I realized that i was very close to Pollack Halls.  What are these halls?  Well they are the University dorms for the University of Edinburgh that hosted our theater group in 2009. I was so excited and I knew I had to stop by!! After 30 minutes of walking, I faced some amazing memories.... Snapping as many pictures as possible, I walked by our old practice rooms, our grassy knoll, our dorms, the cafeteria, and the steps that heard many of our secrets throughout our days in Edinburgh... My first stop was our little shop that provided us with sandwiches and snacks in 2009. I was determined to find a sandwich like the amazing goat cheese sandwich that Norma shared with me on top on Arthur's seat in 2009, but instead... I had to settle for a Brie and grape sandwich.  Sitting on the steps of campus, I got a bright idea!

The Grassy Knoll

The View of Arthur's Seat from Pollack Halls

Thanks to eduroam, an internet agreement between European Universities that provides all students enrolled in a European University with access to internet on campuses, I was able to Skype Maia!!! I was so happy to get to tour her around the campus a bit and reminisce on the wonderful experience that we had... After a few minutes Maia asked excitedly, "have you gone up yet?  To Arthur's Seat?"  Um... No... I was tempted to go that morning, but with my fear of heights I had decided it was smart to wait on chase!  She laughed and insisted that I couldn't NOT do it!  After talking to Maia, I checked my facebook and saw a message from Chase.... "Hope you brought your rain gear, 90% chance of rain tomorrow!" Bad news.... the weather for Saturday... (the day we had to climb Arthur's seat) was RAIN.  He wasn't surprised, because he has been living in the UK this whole semester... but the sun had spoiled me!!!! What now??? Maia would kill me if I didn't climb!!! But how could I do it alone!?!?! And it was already 6 pm!!!!  I had just eaten a sandwich... what???? Could I make it up before it got dark?

Clearly hiking the wrong path!

I had to try... so I hurriedly walked to the mountain and started climbing/hiking up.   Quickly I started getting out of breath.  Gosh.... I knew that would happen.  The last time I had climbed it... I legitimately had to be bribed into no quitting after the first 20 minutes. I HATE HEIGHTS!!! Out of breath and frustrated, I quickly realized I had chosen the wrong path... but hey! the view was awesome!! OK... so maybe it only circled the mountain and then went back down... I was tired... it was still really high... I HATE HEIGHTS!!!!!

View from the hike up the wrong path...

When the path got back to the bottom it was already 7:00.  But where this path ended... another one began.... and I knew that even though it wasn't the one we took in 2009, it was one that would take me to the very top!!! But I was soo tired... but Maia would kill me... so up I went! People were still climbing.... there was still light!!!! One fourth of the way up things got ugly.  Everyone climbing sounded like sick, overweight cows, gasping for air while drowning in a pool.  My legs hurt, my panic (remember my fear of heights) set in, but I couldn't stop!!! No!!! Last time I had Jordan to keep me going, but this time I had Maia's words ("you have to!!!!").  I kept going and when I was trying to climb (no longer hike) the last, steepest, and highest part, I hear a lovely Scottish lady yelling after me,  "miss, didn't you have a scarf?"  Crap!!! Why yes, I did have a scarf... but I guess somewhere between fearing for my life, trying not to fall, pulling myself up, and struggling to get enough air... I must have lost it.   "It's fine!" I yelled trying to hide the fact that I was out of breath, "I will get it on the walk down!"  "If it's still there," I thought to myself... I was sooo aware that it probably wouldn't be there, but if I went down.... I would never make it to the top.

About the location where the lady called after me

So I kept going and sacrifices my scarf!!! A few minutes later I made it to the top!!! The view was amazing and my plan was to wait up there for the sun set.  I started quickly to snap as many "selfies" (pictures of me taken by me!) as possible, because I knew no one would believe me that I made it up! These are just some of the last ones!

Clearly just had a bit to go...the color of my face says it all!

Made it!!!!!!

The amazing view from the top!

More amazing views from the top!

But once up there.... I couldn't get down fast enough.. you see.... when you are at the top... there's nothing to block the wind... and for one afraid of heights... it feels like you are about to be blown off.  No matter how ridiculous that sounds when you compare me to the tiny little teenage couple that was in front of me... No one was flying away!  I also needed to make sure I could climb the steepest, hardest part with some light, because I was down on 4 legs trying to make it down!! Once I got past this little stretch, I knew I could make it all the way down even without much light!  So I found a nice cliff  and settled in to wait for the sun to set! Oh! I almost forgot! On the way down, I found my scarf nicely placed between some rocks!! I love Scotts! At around this point I made this video to record the monumental moment and the view... it's incredibly embarrassing but I wanted to share it all with you!

The excitement was too much!!!

Me and my cliff!

From my cliff, I enjoyed the amazingness and pondered.  The last time I climbed this... I was with an incredible group of people that changed my life forever.  Our group headed up the mountain with Jack jumping from rock to rock without a care in the world... I was panicked enough for both of us I think... Now... just 4 years later I sat on this cliff thinking about Jack... about how we lost him too soon... and appreciating all of the memories we all have of him... Arthur's seat is a magical place.... a peaceful place.




As the sun went down, I continued to take a million pictures that would later serve as proof of my incredible day. 

Sun set!

I wanted to capture how wonderful it felt sitting on that rock... but at around 8:45, my phone suddenly died. WHAT??? The sun was still setting!! It still had 18%!!!! I had my map, my bus plan, my compass, my everything on that phone!!! I didn't even know what time it was without it!!!! Ugh!!! I couldn't wait for the sun to set now!!! I had to find my way home before it got dark!!!I hurried down the mountain and headed in the direction I felt was right.... At 9:30 I arrived back to Pollack Halls! I couldn't believe I made it!!! Oh wait... where would I go from there!?!?!   I got on a random bus, prayed a lot, and hoped it would take me to the Royal mile, where I had gotten off tha bus that morning.  And it did!!! But then.... I remembered that I had taken the bus from the beach that morning!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! Disconcerted again I was ready to sit down on the street and pout.  I had left home 12 hours ago!!! And taking out my time in the park and the bus rides, I had been walking/hiking/climbing for 10 hours!!!!  I finally found the way home and after a 40 minute walk (and some runs through terrifying dark parts) I made it home at 10:20 pm.  My legs wanted to kill me, but I was thrilled and exhausted!!!!

Fun fact---- when I came down the mountain I was only a 15 minute walk away from home... not 2 hours plus!!! Not forgetting my map again!!!