Travelling and time wasting

As the title might suggest, I'm once again travelling and finding myself with an abundance of time to waste.  Feeling very thankful to multinational chains right now, as I sit here taking full advantage of Starbucks and its 2 hours of free wifi.  So I think the last time I posted I was still in Dundee and feeling rather excited about Christmas....

I have now left Dundee for good.  Caught a sleeper train to London with Jo last Wednesday night, which was a fun little adventure.  It was bittersweet leaving - while I still have a lot of fun travelling to look forward to, I really enjoyed my time in Dundee and met some lovely people.  Will definitely have to try and get back to visit sometime in the near future.  Also I realised I never actually climbed the law!   I guess I was on crutches when everyone else did it, so kinda forgot about it and had noone else wanting to do it to remind me.  But anyway, I definitely really enjoyed my exchange experience and am so blessed I got the opportunity to do it.  All thats left from exchange is to await my final marks, and hope I don't have to struggle with the German department too much to get credit when I get home....

So moving on, I have been visiting Dub and Dee for the past few days, at their place near London.  That has been nice - I think I definitely crashed a little bit, sleeping in really late two of the mornings I was there.  But it was great to see them again, and meet baby Jessica.  Even got to go on a tour of the British museum led by Dub, looking at the many artefacts on display there that corroborate events and people described in the Bible.  That was really interesting, and a little bit mind-blowing.  Its really amazing that stuff from that long ago has been dug up again and we're able to see it.  I was also weirdly/nerdily excited that I got to hold a real Roman denarius while I was there - made from real silver. It was only small, but much heavier than I expected.  Can't imagine carrying around a bag of them!   Also went with the whole family to Cambridge yesterday afternoon, which was nice.  Actually had some nice weather - 8 degrees and sunny!  Walked around a bit and looked at the beautiful old buildings and the river punters and the markets.  Didn't go into King's College, which apparently is the more famous one and has an amazing chapel, cos its like 10 quid just to go in.  But I did have quick look in Trinity College - which apparently Isaac Newton had a room at, and Prince Charles stayed at when he went to uni.  It also had a little statue of Henry VIII over the entrance, which the history nerd in me loved.  I also paid to go in and have a look at St John's College, which was lovely too - like all them really.  But it has a replica of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, which is very picturesque.

I have to say, its all the history that really makes Europe and the UK for me.  I mean I love the scenery and the sights too, but I think Australia is better for natural wonders, with our great beaches and stuff like the Barrier Reef.  But everywhere you go here just has so much history behind it - and a lot of it I have studied too, which makes it even more interesting I guess!

So anyway as I said before, I'm now sitting in a Starbucks wasting time while I wait for Grace to meet me.  We will probably just have a quiet day today, as I'm guessing Grace will be a bit jetlagged.  But there are Christmas markets to look forward to, and catching up with Jasmina when she gets to Germany too!  Looking forward to that, feels like forever since I last saw her.  I also need to sort out my luggage situation, as my suitcase has somehow managed to break - one of the wheels is no longer working, making it rather painful as I'm essentially dragging a 20kg bag behind me (that will be closer to 30 once I reclaim the stuff I left behind for the week in the UK :S).  But yeah, a week in Germany, then Christmas and New Year in the UK!  Can't wait!

And since this will probably be my last post before Christmas, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the biggest birthday in the world with family and friends!  And if I don't make it on again before New Years either, Happy New Year as well!  Look forward to seeing everyone in Australia again in the new year :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Firstly, when you read the title it should sound like the line in Michael Buble's version of this song :)
But yes, actually starting to get really excited for Christmas this year - and its only the start of December!  I think there's something about the fact that its winter so it feels more Christmassy... Which I know is a little ridiculous as I have never experienced a winter christmas in my life!  I blame the Christmas carols and retailers (snowmen, snowflakes, reindeer etc..).  The only downside is that I won't be with most of my family for Christmas, but Grace is coming over and we'll be staying at the lovely Jo's place for Christmas and then heading to Dub and Dee's place for Boxing Day so it promises to be fun nonetheless!

Quick summary of events since my last blog, before I go on to more Christmas stuff! From where I left off I have since made it through the terrible week of assessments, which I ended on a good note with a trip to St Andrews with the history society (picture below - see Facebook for more photos).

I finally made it to St Andrews, and it was as lovely as everyone has said :) We went to the castle and cathedral (both ruins) before going to a pub quiz with the St Andrews uni history society.  Have to say the best part of the castle was the old mine and countermine - where people outside the walls tried to tunnel in, and the people inside the walls built their own tunnel to meet up with the one from the outside.  It was a little creepy cos it was very small and obviously dark, but definitely the most adventurous part of the trip :P  Got lucky with the weather - although it was freezing the whole time, at least for the start of the trip there was a nice bit of sun. Enough for me to optimistically wear my sunnies for maybe an hour anyway!  Am planning on going back there for a bit more of a look around probably tomorrow with Jo - despite the fact that I should be studying, I have a whole week between exams which also happens to be my last week in Dundee, so I'm not inclined to waste the entire time studying!  Had my first exam yesterday, so it's one down one to go now.

But back to what I've done, the other exciting thing I've done, which incidentally ties in with my Christmas theme, was the Christmas dinner on Saturday night put on by Beth and Maria in their flat downstairs.  Although I had to leave kinda early to study for my exam, it was an awesome party.  I was so impressed with all the effort that went into it!  There were lots of decorations - a wall of paper snowflakes for starters, and Christmas stockings pinned to the notice board, a big snowman to take pictures with, a little Christmas tree with presents, a piece of mistletoe hanging in the corner, Christmas crackers and even reindeer poo in the hallway!  We also had a visit from Santa, who had all the presents everyone brought in a big sack, and everyone had to go sit on his knee to receive one :P

I also got to try two new delicious desserts that I will definitely have to remember in future.  Namely peppermint bark and oreo truffles.  Thank you Morgan for introducing me to those!  Also thanks to the party I am now the proud owner of a 46p santa hat from Tesco! Altogether it was a great party, with great company, great atmosphere, and great food.  Definitely put me in the right mood to be getting super excited about Christmas!

Which leads me to my future Christmas plans.  Firstly, and what will be the official beginning of my Christmas markets tour, is the last Stammtisch at the Edinburgh German Christmas market this Friday.  While it will be bittersweet, cos I have loved going to Stammtisch this semester and getting to know a great group of people and this will be the last time I get to hang out with them, it'll still be lots of fun :) I shall also finish my Scottish souvenir shopping while in Edinburgh - mainly the tartan kilted skirt I am still determined to get!

Next week I will bid a fond farewell to Dundee, ending with a Christmas dinner at Jenna's house which will be my first real 'traditional' Christmas dinner. Looking forward to that! Then I'll be off to get the sleeper train to London with Jo (which will be an adventure in itself - sleepover on a train! There will definitely be pictures!), where I'll stay with Dub and Dee until I fly to Germany on the 17th to meet Grace in Frankfurt.  Then we have a cute little apartment in Mainz for 4 nights and the Christmas market tour will really take place!  We have 3 full days in which I plan to attempt to go to the Christmas markets in Wiesbaden, Mainz, Ruedesheim, and Frankfurt.  Am also on a mission to find a cinema that will be showing The Hobbit in original version (i.e. English!).  And of course the highlight of the trip will be seeing Jasmina!! :) Can't wait to explore a Christmas market or two together.

All of this ending of course with Christmas in London - first at Jo's, then heading to Dub and Dee's for Boxing Day :) Can't wait! Basically, I am blessed to have a lot to look forward to this month, and it promises to be awesome!  Having so many other plans this month is also making me forget the sad fact that I'm leaving Dundee in a week's time - I don't know where the semester has gone?! But even though its been short it has been awesome, and I have met lots of lovely people while here.  But more on that later - I'm sure in my procrastination I will write another blog entry soon :)

Slipping...

Just realised exactly how long it has been since my last post!  I left off at Northern Ireland, which was now over a month ago!   But I'm afraid as the end of semester approaches and it has become super busy everything has been let slide a little - firstly this blog, but also things like grocery shopping, room cleaning and laundry...  So yes I am currently wearing the last of my clean clothes and have already had to resort to buying new underwear as I ran out, and I'm living one day at a time food-wise, mainly on Tesco sandwiches!  End of semester = good times! :P

So anyway, will have to just summarise things as I've missed so much and also am procrastinating right now from doing work on the 6 various assessments I have due this week :S  In a quick summary, what I have missed since my last (proper) post:  Republic of Ireland, Skyfall, Wales, Guy Fawkes Day, rugby matches in Edinburgh, Stammtisch, Katie's visit.  And now I should briefly expand on these things!  In no real order...

Skyfall: Ended up going to see it twice, here in Dundee with Jo and then again in Swansea with Meredith.  Lucky it was such a good movie!  I also put it down as experiencing yet another small part of British culture :)  In fact it made Jo very patriotic, and also very fervent in her desire to be a Bond girl  :P  Another interesting thing is that like Germany, sweet popcorn is a common thing here in the cinema.  But unlike Germany, they seem to also have butter/salted as an alternative option.

Guy Fawkes Day - So I'm guessing it's less of a deal in Scotland, judging by photos I've seen of Guy Fawkes Day celebrations elsewhere, and I would love to go to celebrations in England some day, but it was still nice here as well.  Got to trek through a large park and stand in the freezing cold and see a bonfire and some fireworks :) Reminded me a little of Skyfire, without the picnic and the lake and the warmer weather.  So actually not much like Skyfire :P But I guess they were the last fireworks I saw before then, so I automatically thought of it.  It also made me sad to realise that I won't be hanging with my cousins seeing the fireworks in Wollongong for New Years Eve this year.  Even though Hogmanay (Scottish name for NYE) in Edinburgh will definitely be awesome - would be even more awesome if they could be there with us!

Republic of Ireland - Ok so I talked at length about Northern Ireland in my last post, but will hve to be a bit shorter with the second half of that week I'm afraid.  Went to Dublin first, where I met Meredith.  Then the next day we wandered around Dublin a bit with a girl from Perth we met in the hostel, and also went to the Guinness Storehouse.  That was pretty cool, and Meredith was more than happy to benefit from the fact that I don't really like Guinness!  But we both got certificates for learning to pour the perfect pint of Guinness :) Then after planning a quiet dinner and a movie back at the hostel, we ended up going on a pub crawl in Dublin, as we were in the Temple Bar area.  That was fun, met some random people and went for a bit of a walk around.  The highlight of that though was definitely the last place we went to, which has this guy doing live music who was amazing!  Started to get a bit of a sore throat from cheering and singing along!  Then the next day we got a bus to Limerick, which turned out to be even more awesome than we thought.   Stayed at the Robin's Nest Guesthouse, which I most definitely recommend to anyone headed to Limerick!  Dave and Rosie were the people who owned the place and they were lovely hosts.  We went on a Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren - it was pretty amazing, just for all the beautiful scenery! Took a scenic drive through County Clare as well, and also got lovely views of Galway Bay.  Saw an ancient tomb in the Burren, and also just the weird landscape was interesting - I think the guide said people say its similar to what the surface of the moon would look like.  We also managed to run into a girl who from memory was from Wollongong, that we met on the pub crawl in Dublin while at the Cliffs.  Also, fun fact that I may have also put under the pics I put on Facebook, but the Cliffs of Moher were the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride! :)  Anyway, that night Dave and Rosie invited us for dinner, which was lovely - a home-cooked meal and some real Irish company!  Got to try my first Irish coffee, and we ended the night watching Downton Abbey.  Then the next day they gave us a lift into town, and ended up keeping our bags for us while we spontaneously went to the rugby match that was on.  That was awesome - the atmosphere of joining the crowds streaming down the street to the stadium, and then being there for a home win.  Munster, which was the home team, was playing Edinburgh.  Was slightly conflicted about who to go for, but had to go for Munster, as they were the home team and I was also inadvertently already wearing their colours!  So that was awesome, and afterwards Dave and Rosie came back in with our bags and gave us a lift to the bus back to Dublin - some of the nicest people I have met, and I can't recommend their guesthouse enough!  Got back to Dublin, and had close call with printing my boarding pass for Ryanair - something to be careful of in future, as I hadn't realised if you don't pre-print it they charge like 60 quid for them to print it for you!  But we got that done at an internet cafe, and then just headed to the airport and spent the night there - actually managed to get a bit of sleep, as they had some padded booths in the food court that were free :)  

Wales - This was my first prolonged experience of typical UK weather - rained at some point every day we were there.  But it was still nice :) Flew into Cardiff in the morning, so had most of the day to wander around there which was good.  Found a Wetherspoons right next to the bus/train stations that had very decent prices for food - we ended up going there several times while in Cardiff! - and that was our first stop of the day.  Then we went to Cardiff Bay, and from there started our own self-guided Torchwood/Doctor Who tour of Cardiff - which you can see from pictures I have put on Facebook.  The highlight of this was the shrine to Ianto Jones that people made where the entrance to Torchwood was - some people are far to obsessed with TV shows, but it was certainly interesting and a little amusing to see - and also the church from the episode where Rose's dad dies.  Then went for a walk down Cardiff's high street after dropping our bags off at the hostel.  It was pretty cool - they had lots of different flags along the street, and we also found a market where we got some curry, cheese and chips, and also some UK flags.  Best thing we found was definitely the dalek sitting outside a costume shop in a little arcade though!  There was a massive line around it though cos of Halloween, so we went back the next morning to be touristy/nerdy and take pictures!  Anyway, the next morning we met Barbara - who I met on the course in Freiburg and goes to uni in Wales - and we went to the Doctor Who Experience!  It was amazing - only slightly disappointing thing being it was very much orientated around the current Doctor, so there wasn't half as much tenth doctor as I could have liked!  But yeah, that was awesome.  Then afterwards we headed to Swansea, where we stayed with Barbara for most of the rest of our trip.  It was quite nice - there was a nice beach that we went for a walk on, as well as going for a wander around the town itself.  That's also where we went and saw Skyfall, and I was also a nerd and spent a few hours in the Swansea Uni library working on an essay I had forgotten about until just before we left!  Altogether it was nice and relaxing, and nice to catch up with Barbara again :) 

[Ok so this is not staying as brief as I would have liked, which is definitely not a good thing for the amount of work I'm getting done...! :S But oh well, it's nice reliving these memories anyway :) And we're on the home stretch now!]

Rugby matches - these were awesome!  Both were at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.  The first one was definitely the best - the All Blacks vs Scotland, with a sold out crowd.  Went with my flatmate Calum - who I also stayed with - his brother Rory, and my other flatmate Camilla and her boyfriend.  We also were with a bunch of friends - all exchange students - at first, but weren't sitting with them as they bought their tickets separately.  But yeah, both of them were great, I love the atmosphere.  As you may have gathered from my comments on the pictures I put up on Facebook!  Bagpipes, kilts, and some rugby thrown in - whats not to love?!  Actually that is definitely one thing I love about Scotland - how Scottish men will use any occasion as an excuse to wear their kilt.  That and the fact that in Edinburgh you will always find at least one busking bagpiper, and usually more than one.  But anyway, the rugby was definitely an awesome experience, from the meandering there past stalls with match day scarves and street percussionists and young boys playing bagpipes or fundraising for their rugby clubs in a crowd of people wearing jerseys and kilts, to the walking back afterwards in a crush of people who use their people power to just walk in front of the traffic.  Love it all.  We also went to an Australian bar the first weekend in Edinburgh, which was funny - I swear there were more French than Aussies in there cos they were showing the live broadcast of the Wallabies playing France.  Was pretty gutted that they didn't have twisties as was advertised on their website, but had a Bundy rum and coke with Beth, Meredith and Maria as an alternative taste of home :P 

So that was the last 2 weekends, and then this weekend I was in Edinburgh again with Jenna as our friend Katie, who we met in Freiburg and has been working there since, came to visit :)  That was fun, we did slightly more touristy stuff like going to the foot of the castle, going to a whisky bar and trying some of the whiskies, having a look in St Giles Cathedral, and just walking around Edinburgh a bit.  Then went to dinner with some of Jenna's friends before going back to her friend Rachel's place for the night.  All in all was a good day, and a good weekend back in Dundee - didn't do anything too major, just hung out and went out on Saturday night.  

Lastly I have to mention Stammtisch - which I may or may not have mentioned before I'm not sure.  Basically its just a bunch of German speakers and learners of German meeting up for a few drinks at the pub every so often - in theory to speak German, though gotta be honest thats more rare than it should be...  Its a great group of people and its been fun hanging out with them every few weeks this semester!  But I'm reminded of it because our last one for the year, and my last one ever :( will be in Edinburgh next weekend, cos they have a German Christmas market!  Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.  Can then compare it to the christmas markets we'll go to in Frankfurt soon!  

But anyways, given the length of this post it is definitely time for me to stop procrastinating and get back to work!  That's me all caught up for now, and there will probably be no further news for at least a week or so while I get past the next week or so of assessment hell, and then the two exams I have left.  But after that is when the real travels begin - definitely something to look forward to!  So until then ;)

Quick wee update...

Hey! I just realised I'm actually not sure who bothers to read this other than my parents and Jo, Paul and Emily.... but anyway, along whoever else does bother to regularly read this, just wanted to reassure you all that I haven't given up on my oh-so-inspiring blog writing just yet!  Will finish off Ireland and also talk a bit about Wales and the Doctor Who Experience just as soon as I have finished this pesky essay due on Wednesday.  Will also then have time to upload some photos to Facebook :) But in the meantime, its the library for me!

Catch up: the Emerald Isle and a bit of British culture.

Ok! Just realised it had been awhile since my last post, and since I'm going away again tonight I have a bit of catching up to do, so here goes.  Apologies if its a little long...  But since my last post I've spent a week in Ireland, and also had a week of relaxing time spent hanging out with friends and soaking in a little bit more of British 'culture' :)  Have also not spent enough time doing work - hard to remember sometimes that I am still at uni!

So anyway, starting with my reading week trip to Ireland.  They don't have mid-semester break as such over here, but some schools have what's called a reading week, where you just don't have any lecture or tutes for a week.  And since I didn't really have any work due around this week, I decided to just spend the whole week in Ireland.

Flew to Belfast first, on the Monday morning.  Got there early afternoon, and after dropping my stuff at the hostel wasn't sure what to do so went for a walk into the centre of the city.  Belfast isn't the prettiest city I've seen, but it has lots of interesting old buildings which make it not too bad.  The first impressive buildings that come to mind include the Crown Liquor Saloon, the City Hall, and St Anne's Cathedral.  But I also found it interesting the amount of old looking buildings that had been either abandoned or neglected and so had lots of little greenery growing all over them, in or near the city centre.

Didn't a whole heap on Monday - the downside to travelling alone is that I don't really feel safe going anywhere alone at night.  So I bought my first ever burrito, which was actually pretty delicious, and headed back to the hostel.  Stayed at a place called Global Village, which I would definitely recommend to anyone going to Belfast.  It was fairly close to everything, clean and comfortable, the staff were really friendly and helpful, and it was nice and cheap.  It also happened to be filled with Australians when I was there - most from Melbourne but I shared a room with 3 girls from Sydney.  So everyone was quite friendly which was nice.

Did a day trip on Tuesday to Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  That was really good - a bit of a long day, but the beautiful scenery made up for it.  Saw the castle at Carrickfergus first.  That was just a 10 minute photo stop, but a nice view to start off the day.  Then drove through some beautiful countryside to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  Main feature I noticed was that most of the fences on farms had shrubby trees planted along them - whether they were low stone fences or newer wire-style fences.  The views of and around the bridge were beautiful, and made me wish I had a better camera that could do the views a bit more justice! Still got some rather nice pics though.  Unfortunately the bridge was closed for repairs so only got to see it not cross it.

After that headed along the coast to the little town of Doolin for a lunch break, then continued along the coast to the Giant's Causeway.  That really was amazing. Was too skint to pay the extra money to go into the brand new visitors centre, so I remain mystified by how the causeway was formed.  But I definitely recommend visiting both the bridge and the causeway if you're ever in Northern Ireland, especially if you can get there on a nice day.

Anyway, overall was lucky with the beautiful weather, and had a great day.  Didn't get back til late and so decided to grab some fish and chips for dinner.  Went to a fish and chip shop, and as I was deciding what to get - standing right next to the door - this young guy probably about my age walked into the shop, then starting yelling "Everybody get down! I'm robbing this joint, I've got a hamster (?) in my pocket!".  It was a little frightening really - though maybe I would have been slightly more worried if I'd understood what a 'hamster' was.  But I was definitely edging to the door.  However everyone in the shop just ignored him, and after yelling a few more times, the woman behind the counter called out next please, and he gave this really odd laugh and ran out of the shop.  It was really weird - I guess he must have been either drunk or stoned?  But anyway the rest of the night was pretty uneventful after that, just watched a movie with some Australian girls, and tried to figure out how to make the best of the time I had left in Belfast the next day.

Ended up getting a sightseeing bus on Wednesday morning.  Wanted to do a black taxi tour, where they take you around all the sites of political significance, but unfortunately it was too expensive to do on my own.  So the sightseeing bus was the second option, as it went through political areas just in less detail.  The bus route was really interesting - went through Titanic quarter, Stormont, Shankhill, Sandy Row, among other places.  Made me wish I had more time in Belfast though - cos I wanted the time to actually get off at all the stops and walk around for myself.  The weather also wasn't that great - a bit rainy - meaning we had to sit inside the bus and couldn't get many good pictures.  But I did have time for a walking tour of the Titanic quarter, which was really interesting.  It left from the brand new Titanic centre, and went through where it was designed and built.  It was a little mind blowing, seeing just how immense the ship was from the size of the places it was built.  In particular the dry dock.  The guide was great too.  Both on the bus and on the tour the guides told us about the inquiry in Belfast after the Titanic sank - apparently all they got from it was that Belfast only built her and she was fine when she left, it wasn't their fault she had an English captain, a Scottish navigator and hit a Canadian iceberg.

I found out a whole bunch of interesting stuff on my sightseeing tour, some of which I wrote down.  but unfortunately/lucky for you I don't really have to time or inclination to list them right now.  So moving on... I got the train to Dublin late afternoon after going back to the hostel to collect my stuff.  The train was fine - after some initial confusion where I got into a reserved carriage and took someone else's seat, I just spent the rest of the trip reading all the brochures I had collected in Belfast.  When I got to Dublin I dropped my stuff at the hostel, went for a walk to get some dinner, then chilled in the common room with some ciders until Meredith came.

And now I'm actually going to have to cut this short, as I have to leave shortly for Wales! So I'll have to come back to my time in the Republic of Ireland later..

But last week I will briefly talk about - the week in between Ireland and Wales :)  Didn't travel, but still had a great week.  Had my first experience of Nandos with Jo - despite walking past the Nandos in Canberra almost every day for at least a year, I had never been.  So that was tasty :) Along with that, I soaked up a little more British culture with Jo in the form of some films - watched the Inbetweeners movie on Wednesday night, Johnny English Reborn on Thursday night, and went and saw the new James Bond film Skyfall on Sunday.  Love it!  Also got to catch up briefly with Hannah, when she crashed at mine for the night on the way from Ireland to Elgin.  Luckily this reunion was not as eventful as the last one!

Also went to Jenna's 21st on Friday, with Jo as my lovely date :) Had a girly moment, and went shopping with Jo and bought a new dress, new shoes and even some makeup!  It was good, though there was a DJ who had a bit of a power complex, and also really did not seem to understand that DJs are there to play music, not constantly drown out the music with talking/announcements.  Though I'm beginning to think this is a Scottish DJ thing, because I saw another DJ thats supposed to be kinda famous at the Union, and he also talked far more than I think a DJ should!

Anyways, thats me done for now... Am taking my computer with me to Wales, as this time I actually have to do some work while I'm there :S So will possibly attempt to catch up the rest of Ireland soon.  But otherwise watch this space for some fun tales from Wales!

[And yes it is awesome that that rhymed, and it will probably be the title of my Wales blog :)]

zzOMBIE...

Ok so just reread that last paragraph of the last post and realised it really does not make much sense - I have to admit at this point I was actually falling asleep at the keyboard.  And this is exactly why I can no longer do all-nighters writing essays - imagine the marks I'd get for that!!  Edited one of the sentences, but decided to leave the other one there for your amusement...

So just to revise, I am indeed determined to get a tartan skirt, but I'm uncertain how that relates to being king... Basically it's because I figure I'm in Scotland, so when else is going to be a better time to get one?  I saw some in Edinburgh yesterday on my way to dinner, so I definitely have them in my sights.  Just gotta save up so I can actually afford to get to Edinburgh again (seriously!).

Also it was requested that I do go back to the last part a little more, cos I kept it pretty short last night.  No worries, this won't be a long addition as I don't have heaps more to say (on a quick side note though, I get laughed at whenever I say heaps, because everyone says loads not heaps over here) but just a few more quick comments...

Balmaha as I said was quite cute - a very small village surrounded by beautiful scenery and next to Loch Lomond of course.  As you can see in one of my photos, there were lots of boats there, and I did see people heading out in a canoe while I was standing there.  I also came across some campers when I when for a short exploratory walk near the loch.  Looked like a pretty nice spot, though I reckon it'd be pretty cold!!

Aberfoyle was also quite cute though a little bigger than Balmaha. Had a steak pie for lunch - probably my favourite dish so far over here.  I just love that they call it a pie when its not.  Actually will have to take a photo the next time I have one so you guys can see what I mean.  But yeah, didn't do much here cos we only stopped for lunch.

Duke's Pass was indeed very pretty, though it was hard to take many photos through the window of a bus.  Loch Katrine was also really beautiful, though it was definitely a bit chilly standing outside in the wind!  But worth it for the views I think.  This reminds me that I still definitely need to get a winter jacket - probably sooner rather than later - and also some good boots for walking.  Actually in all the writing I did yesterday, I forgot to say - I'M SO GLAD I CAN WALK NORMALLY AGAIN! :D Slopes are still not the best, as I can definitely still feel it pulling a bit, but I'm practically back to normal which is great.  Though I have to admit I was not too adventurous with climbing around on the yacht while it was moving, just because I didn't want to either step wrong and wreck it all over again, and also I had less faith in my ability to catch myself if I did trip, and didn't really fancy going for a dip in the water.

Not much else to say about Hamish, but hairy coo is definitely a thing - we passed another bus that had hairy coo tours written all over it. And Stirling Castle was pretty cool. I found that the inside felt a little fake - you can see in my photos how colourful it is, because it was all recently repainted and renovated.  Apparently they tried to replicate how it would have been, but you could still tell it was all new, which sort of took away from the authentic feeling.  But the castle is still very impressive, and from the outside I guess it's pretty much the same as it would have been when it was occupied (though maybe a little more weathered).  The views are definitely the most stunning feature of the castle - you just can't beat that location.  I also didn't figure out how the food was served when the kitchens seemed to be detached from the other buildings... obviously wasn't looking closely enough!  The old graveyard just down from the castle was quite picturesque too - as one of the girls I was with said, even the dead get a view!  Found the grave of a William Drummond, but I'm unsure why that name is familiar.  Figured he was someone important though, as his grave was set apart from most of the others.

The town of Stirling also seemed really cool as we were driving through - think I might have to go back there if I can find the time before I leave. Lots of cool old monuments and statues, and nice parks etc.  Anyway, that turned out slightly longer than expected, and now I need to get back to the real world and do some reading for my next tute!

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond...

While it's only been just over a week since my last post, contrary to the trend of the past few weeks I actually feel like I've had an action packed time between then and now!  This is probably also just left over from doing a day tour with so many things crammed into it today, but nonetheless I am very pleased to actually have exciting things to report in this blog!

So anyway, onto the actual things I've done!  First of all, I finally felt like a real uni student again last week, while going to the library with Jo for study sessions every day except Friday!  (On a side note, is it confusing for anyone else that I now have two friends called Jo who I could be writing about? Lol.)
Had a horrible class test for comparative politics this week, that I was actually semi-organised and studied early for.

But anyway the (first) main event was going on the Dundee University Sailing Club's annual Booze Cruise!  This involved taking a bus across to Oben, which is on the west coast, then sailing from there up the Sound of Mull to the little town of Tobermory and back again the next day.  It was definitely a weekend of experiences - most importantly my first experience of real sailing.  But I think the best way to describe it is in chronological order, so I'll go back to the start!

Around midday on Friday I got a bus with about 13 other people (the larger group was split into minibuses and cars for the trip) to Oben.  Our bus went a bit earlier than everyone else's, so we could do a tour of the whisky distillery at Oben before it closed.  That was pretty interesting, I learnt that whisky only has 3 ingredients - barley, yeast and water - and that it takes a hell of a long time to fully finish a batch!  Also had a tasting of some whisky - both from a cask they had opened early (12 years instead of the usual 14) and from a fully matured bottle.  Actually preferred the younger one which was a lot more alcoholic, but possibly this was because I drank it all in one long sip, instead of trying to take lots of little sips.  I definitely find the taste too strong to take lots of little sips...  Anyway, after that we went and got fish and chips for dinner then headed down to the docks (marina?) to unload our stuff from the bus to the yachts that would be our accommodation for the weekend.  I've decided to try and be fancy and put some pics and stuff in this entry, but if you've been on Facebook you will have already seen them anyway :) So there were 5 yachts with 10 people on each (I think they were 40 something foot?).  And my yacht for the weekend was called the Oceanlord.

Inside they really were just like a caravan - fully decked out with beds aka berths, kitchen aka galley, sitting area aka saloon, etc etc. A caravan, but for water.  So yeah, eventually everyone made it to the docks and onto their boats, and then the trip really began with general partying on the boats.

The next day was a bit of a slow start, as I think many people were recovering.  But we eventually got out (my boat was a close second to being first out!) and then the sailing experience began.  We motored out, and then put up the sails and turned the motor off.  It really was quite cool - tacking in particular is definitely an experience.  To go faster you sail on an angle, that at times was alarming sharp!  Everything loose was sliding around in the cabin, but of course the boat is very well designed, so that even when you're on an angle like that, you can still boil the kettle for some tea.  So yeah, sailing up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory took most of the day (a good 6 hours at least I think), but the scenery was beautiful and it was quite peaceful.  Have to admit I had a wee snooze at one point inside the cabin, as a week of poor sleep caught up to me.

Once we got to Tobermory, we had about an hour to use the bathrooms/go to the supermarket or whatever before we all met for dinner at one of the local pubs.  Then we had dinner and drinks, including a 'boat race' which was basically a small team representing each boat, in a tag team to finish their drinks first.  I have to note, there was one guy who wore his kilt - something which I find awesomely in keeping with stereotypes!  Someone told me that Scottish boys will use any excuse to get their kilts out, and so far I have found this to be fairly true.  I love it!  Definitely means there's no forgetting where you are! :P But anyway, eventually the party was then moved both to the other local pub called The Mish Nish (love the name!) which even has a 'disco', and also back to the boats.  All round another good night had by all - though I have to admit I crashed early, cos I was so tired I wasn't functioning very well...  But I learnt an awesome tip for having a gin and tonic - don't just put in a slice of lime, but add a slice of cucumber as well.  It tasted great.  Jo (Australian) you should definitely try it the next time you make a gin and tonic, and then let me know what you think :)

Anyway, managed to make a relatively early start the next morning, which was good.  My boat was actually the first out that morning.  But it didn't leave before I went for a walk and found a bakery from which I got a coffee and a lamington - yes a LAMINGTON!  No idea what an Australian cake was doing in a tiny bakery in an isolated little island town, but it was delicious so I won't even question it.  Also managed to get a few really nice shots of the waterfront of the town (which was basically the whole town).  I reckon it has to be one of the most colourful towns in Scotland, it was so cute.

Thats not the best shot - see my Facebook for a better one - but you get the idea :) So anyway, as there was next to no wind, we motored the whole way back.  Which was actually really great, cos it meant that everyone could relax a bit, and we travelled in a kind of convoy all the way back.  We hoisted one of the guys on my boat up the mast in a harness, and then sent him up his brekkie (a beer and a bacon roll) in a bucket, so he could enjoy it while hanging up there on the mast.  A few other people on the boat tried it too, and then soon all the boats had someone up the mast.  We also watched some guys on one of the other boats wake boarding behind it. I wouldn't have thought they could go fast enough to make it possible, but I realised that because the rope they hold is attached to the top of the mast, its much easier to get up because they are literally pulled up.  But yeah, that looked pretty awesome.  Another boat had their own guitar player, so they were just chilling on the deck listening to him play and sing/having singalongs.  Basically it was just a really chilled ride, ending with all the boats rafting up together and everyone climbing onto the boats to hang out, get pictures and what not.  Some crazy guys even went swimming - despite the fact that I was sitting there in like 4 layers and not super warm!
Altogether it was a really good weekend, and I'm glad I got to go along despite not being a member of the sailing club.

The other main event of this past week was today, as I went on a day tour of Loch Lomond, the Trossachs and Stirling Castle.  This was the day tour I did, and while action packed it was really enjoyable.  Definitely glad I'm finally getting to see a bit of Scotland too!  So anyway, as the tour left from Edinburgh at 9:15am, I had to get up around 6am to first get the train to Edinburgh.  That was not easy believe me, and my mood wasn't improved when the return ticket cost a ridiculous amount of money, and then when I got to Edinburgh and had to pee I couldn't because it cost 30p and I didn't have a 10p coin!  That and they also had absolutely no bins around!  But definitely cheered up on the walk between the station and the tour meeting point.  Edinburgh is a beautiful city.  Not even because its that 'nice' specifically.  But everything is so old, and consistently old unlike York with its weird mix of architectures.  You get the feeling Edinburgh has just always been there, and has weathered the time with dignity and just the right amount of change.  And yes, thats the end of me waxing poetical, because yes it does sound a little odd.  But basically what I'm trying to say is that while it is not beautiful in a strictly aesthetic way like Strasbourg for example, it has a character that makes it beautiful in its own way.

So anyway, eventually found the tour, and we all boarded the bus and headed for our first stop which was Balmaha, a village on the shores of Loch Lomond.  That was cute, and we had a bit of time to go off ourselves and look at the loch and surrounding area.  Then we went to the nearby village of Aberfoyle for lunch, where I met and had lunch with 2 American girls from the bus.  They were both really nice, and it was nice to have someone to hang out with - the sole travelling thing can be a little lonely.  After Aberfoyle we headed to Loch Katrine for the cruise, going over Duke's Pass on the way - the prettiest road in Scotland in our tour guides opinion.

The cruise was nice - saw some really beautiful scenery, which you can see some of in my photos on Facebook.  Then we headed to Stirling Castle, via a quick visit to Hamish the Highland Cow, aka Hamis the Hairy Coo.  He is apparently so famous a bull that he has his own Facebook page Hamish the Highland Cow.  Our bus driver also took great joy in telling us several times that they are also known as 'hairy coos'.  He also took great joy in playing us some old Scottish folk songs.  As the title of this post might suggest, I definitely got them stuck in my head, especially the Loch Lomond song

But yeah, Stirling Castle was also great - quite interesting, especially compared to the few castles I have.  Definitely a bit different - especially size-wise - than other castles I have seen so far.  But awesome all the same.  I'm thinking Edinburgh Castle must be a similar size though - will have to go there soon and see for myself!

Could talk a lot more particularly about Stirling, but I'm pretty tired now!  So might need to come back next time.  New obsession is getting a tartan skirt cos I'm in Scotland so any of the point I'm totally king.  But now I desperately need some sleep so I shall bid you all adieu and til next time! :)

Freedom!

So since not that much time has passed since my last post, not a whole lot has happened since then either. This is more of a procrastination post than anything else, so I'll keep it short!  But the most exciting news since then, is that I am no longer on crutches OR in the moon boot!  I am left only with a tubey sock thing, which is great :) Shoes still feeling a little tight on the left foot (i.e. the damaged one), but its manageable.  

So yeah, I have (still limited, but definitely less so!) freedom now, which is great!!  Have been very much enjoying it, even if I'm still walking at the pace of a senior citizen... And since I am now free of the crutches, I finally got to get my takeaway coffee that I mentioned craving in my last post :)  But yeah, the last few days have been great, just because of that.

Probably also in a good mood because I only remembered yesterday that I had a test today, but then it turned out to be the easiest test I've ever done.  That and I'm feeling super organised for my test next week, cos I've already started studying with Jo (not Canberra Jo, but London Jo!) for it. I'm such a good student... :P  Jo and I have also discovered we make an awesome trivia team - got the wooden spoon prize the other night, yeah! Though it was actually pretty cool.  We're now all set with colouring books, crayons, and texta stamps!

My new post-crutches mission is to find the Chinese supermarket and the 24 hour bakery - both are apparently quite close, I'm just yet to see them.  On a desperate hunt for real rice crackers, and also pretty keen to find the stuff for Vietnamese rolls :) Also just realised today that our week long break known as Reading Week is the week after next - so I should get busy organising something fun to do for it!  

Life on crutches

As you could guess, I haven't been out doing a whole bunch of exciting things like I'd like to lately, compliments of the ankle.  So probably this post won't be very exciting, mostly just a reflection of how much more difficult things are when you only have one fully functional leg!

But yeah, been spending a fair bit of time at home lately.  Have tried to make a bit of an effort to go out and do things, though not sure how much I've actually done since I last wrote a post.  But, small achievements right?  I've been down to other flats in the same block - mostly to steal food :) Beth and Camilla made some delicious Australian desserts last night - which reminded me I really need to learn how to make lamingtons! And with the help of Ian and Beth, who also live here at Belmont, I finally did my washing last night!

Which it turns out I was very glad of today, because if I'd put it off I would have had no long pants to wear, and with the strong, rainy wind I had to walk to class in I think I could have about frozen right there on the pavement.  I think I got my first taste of what winter weather will be like here in Dundee.  Looked up the forecast to see how strong the wind was, and in kilometres it was almost 50!  Which when you're in it and on crutches, really does feel quite strong.  Definitely have a few things I need to do to prepare for winter here:
- Get a winter coat.  Which doesn't sound so hard, but I have a feeling the shopping centre will be a bit of an ordeal for me when I finally get there.  Combine that with the fact that I'm really indecisive...
- Also on the topic of clothes, get a good pair of shoes!  Another thing I need, but will probably have to wait on until the swelling in my foot is completely gone so I can properly try them on.
- Most importantly I think -  get over the Australian in me that just wants to hide inside whenever its rainy and overcast.  Something its fairly easy to get away with in Canberra, but probably not so much in Dundee.
Also if I'm going to be on crutches for much longer I'm going to have to invest in some more tights and/or long pants on this epic shopping trip of mine, so I can go a bit longer between washes!

Anyway... Sunday was probably my busiest day of the week, and also the most enjoyable :)  Went to church in the morning - via taxi...  Considering how early it was I wasn't quite up to 'walking' twice the distance of my furthest walk thus far!  It was kinda awkward navigating a crowded building on crutches, but after church the minister invited me over for lunch with some other students.  That was awesome, cos I got to both meet a few more new people, and also have an amazing proper English roast dinner.  Probably my favourite feature of that dinner being that there were 3 kinds of potatoes, and also I got to try Yorkshire pudding which it turned out was delicious :)  But my biggest accomplishment (aka the furthest I have walked!) over the weekend was going to the trivia night organised for exchange students on Sunday night.  I went with a girl called Jo, who lives in the same block of flats as me and is lovely :)  Despite completely failing at the trivia part - our American trivia knowledge in particular sucked! - it was a good night, followed by a nice dinner, and then a trip to Tesco for some Ben and Jerry's for dessert.  I think I've finally gotten a little quicker on my crutches, after all that practice!  We also got a taste for trivia, so are planning to go next Sunday night to trivia at the Union.

Matriculation for the sports clubs is this week as well - a little conflicted about that, cos of the whole not being sure when I'll be able to run again thing.  It's too expensive to sign up and then not play at all, especially cos I'm not sure if all the clubs do one semester rates.  So will have to think about it - have til Friday to decide.  Probably if I'm going to sign up at all, I need to pick just one.  Decisions decisions! Lol.

Anyway, I shall end on the subject that is apparently most common in my blogs - food!  I am on a search for a pub that serves stew, and hopefully good stew.  As it gets colder I'm starting to really want it!  I'm also booked in for a visit to Broughty Ferry to apparently have delicious Scottish steak pie.  But at the moment, the need to go grocery shopping is looming in the near future, I'm just not quite sure how I'm going to do it.  Even if I take a taxi, I wouldn't be able to carry it back up to my room.  So that's an obstacle I'll have to figure out.  But today I was really craving a coffee, after seeing a bunch of people in class with coffees.  Unfortunately Belmont Flats isn't Unilodge, so there aren't cafes right at the bottom of the stairs where I could get one.  But since I have no class tomorrow, I've decided to have a library day to get some work done, and I'm pretty sure theres a cafe next door where I'll be able to get one :)

But now I need to go get some inspiration for a short story in German.  And also some sleep.  Here's hoping the next time I write a post, I'll be able to walk, even if it's retardedly!

Fun catch-up, with an unfortunate ending.

So, feels like not long ago that I wrote my last post, but a lot has happened since then!  Had an awesome catch up with Hannah on Monday - it's been far too long since we last saw each other!  Just hung out in the arvo, then made the fateful decision to go to the trampoline club for Monday night training...

In my last post I think I talked a lot about all the sports I was trying out/wanted to try out, and had grand plans to join a bunch of clubs.  I did shinty and fencing last week, and also tried out trampolining last Saturday.  It was really fun, and being 9am on a Saturday there weren't many people there either, so plenty of bounce time for all of us :) So I decided to go back on Monday, and since Hannah used to be part of the club she came too.  However, maybe the session on Saturday made me too confident, or maybe I'm just retarded, but for whatever reason on Monday night I tried to do a backdrop (which I had done on Saturday) and ended up lying on the floor for the next hour and a half with icepacks on my ankle while it swelled to the size of a small golf ball on one side.  Then got a taxi to the hospital, where they gave me a cast for the night and told me to come back the next day.

Turns out its just a bad sprain, so they gave me a 'moon boot' which in the doctors words will help me be able to "gimpily walk" hopefully very soon, and for now crutches to aid the walking process.  Have been keeping the weight off it whenever I go outside, partially to avoid looking extra retarded, and also just to give it a break, but trying to work on walking around my room without the crutches.  Have sort of achieved this with the boot on, but not really with the boot off yet - goal for the next few days I guess!

But anyway, as unexciting as the event itself was, it has resulted in a number of different things since.  Firstly would be my first ever hospital visit! (for myself anyway).  Of course it had to be in a different country!  But luckily for me, Australia and the UK have some kind of NHS-Medicare agreement, so I didn't have to worry about sorting out fees and travel insurance etc.  And also luckily, Hannah was there to accompany me to the hospital, and sit and wait with me, and make me rocky road when we got home at 1am.  Though compared to my limited experience of  emergency rooms in Australia, I went through really quickly here!

Thinking of Hannah and lucky in the same sentence though, we actually decided it must have a been an unlucky reunion this time, because even after we got home from the hospital the bad luck didn't stop.  Firstly, we had managed to leave my keys in the gym when we left, which of course presented a problem getting into the building.  Then on top of that, while I usually leave my room door and also my kitchen cupboard unlocked, Hannah had run back home while I was lying on the floor at the gym to get stuff, and had locked both the door and also the cupboard on the way out!  So we had to call security and get them to let me into my room, and then improvise with the stuff I'd left drying on the sink to make the rocky road!

Have to interrupt that train of thought for a second though and say that despite being a little unlucky, Hannah was amazingly prepared for someone who claimed to have never accompanied someone to hospital before!  She put in warm socks - something I was very thankful for after hopping across the wet ground on one foot in just a sock!  She also put in a pair of pyjama pants, which saved me from having to change to the weird hospital ones when they went to put the cast on me.  All round lifesaver at the time really!

Another thing I have found with injuring myself is it really shows you how nice some people can be.  First of all the people from the gym and also the trampoline club who helped me - none of them knew me, but they were nice enough to sit there and distract me, not laugh at the tears that managed to work their way out, and also practically carry me to the taxi!  One of the guys has even been nice enough to help me since - carrying my stuff home from a class, and sending me a message to see how the hospital went.  As well as them, its just the small things like friends offering to walk somewhere with me despite how painfully slow I make it, and also complete strangers asking if I need any help or just holding the door open for me.  If you're ever losing your faith in humanity, injure yourself and it will probably be restored!

Another thing it has affected has been class attendance - as with every semester, I had very good intentions about going to every lecture at the start of the semester, but I have to admit my attendance this week has been somewhat sporadic.  This is partially laziness, and partially the fact that the painkillers they gave me at the hospital apparently make me feel sick.  Missed my first tutorial for one of my courses this week cos I took painkillers before I went to the class right before it, and then sat there feeling like throwing up the entire time.  Also had to leave choir on Tuesday night early for the same reason :S  I guess I'll be able to catch those up though.

Probably what I'm most bummed about is that after deciding on the sports I wanted to join, now I can't do any of them, at least for a few weeks.  And same goes with the gym, which I only just joined!  Am hopeful I might still be able to have a bit of time to do them after my ankles better though.

Anyway, enough about my ankle.  I have still managed to do one or two fun things this week.  Went to choir on Tuesday - which was good before I started feeling sick.  Am enjoying singing again, even though I'm so rusty that the high notes feel very high now!  Also trying to decide whether or not to take part in the upcoming 24 production of the Mikado - sounds stressful, but also definitely an interesting experience.  Then had dinner with friends downstairs, and then met a bunch of my roommate's friends when they came over for a drink.  And last night I managed to drag myself to the first monthly Stammtisch - basically an opportunity for Germans and learners of German to get together at a pub and speak in German/English.  That was fun, and a chance to meet some more new people, as well as hanging out with people I already knew :)  Tonight I plan to go try out the gospel choir, and then after I think I'm meeting up with some friends for a 'Scottish night', which should be good :)

Goals for the immediate future include - going to Broughty Ferry to visit Jenna and sample some apparently delicious Scottish steak pie, visiting St Andrews, and of course visiting Edinburgh!  The further immediate future is also to get back to being able to do some sports/exercise...  Wales and Ireland are still hanging around in the future too, and hopefully by then I'll be able to walk.  But for now I definitely need to spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on German homework and tutorial readings - fun times I know!

Getting into the swing of things

So, since I've been so slack with the blog writing lately - especially compared to when I first created it - decided I should try and get back into it a bit.  Well, that and also I can't sleep.  The bad sleeping habits have started again already!  It's something about being back at uni...  This is going to be fun tomorrow when I have to get up for a 9am lecture!

But anyway, onto more interesting things.  This week has been pretty good so far.  Fairly light on class - don't have any class at all on Wednesday at the moment, which is kinda weird but nice.  Here's hoping I don't get put in a tutorial on that day....  Actually that's one weird thing about classes here - you don't sign up for the tutorial you want, you just get assigned one, and then have to petition to get it changed if you really need it to be.  So strange, and also a little inconvenient.  But I guess they don't have crazy rushes on My Dundee (their version of Wattle) of people signing up once tutorial sign up goes online.   Still trying to figure out that system actually - I swear I never had this much trouble with Wattle?!

So probably the most exciting bits of this week have been trying out some of the clubs and such here at Dundee.  Like I think I was saying in my last post, I decided to try some different things.  Tuesday night I went to the university choir.  It wasn't too bad, although a little intense for my first time back in a choir since late high school.  Am also planning on trying out the gospel choir tomorrow night, and then might end up choosing which one I like better.  But it was still fun, and met another cool Scottish person, which is a bonus!  Scottish people are now finally overtaking exchange students as the majority of the people I've met now.  They were also plugging this 24 hour musical production at the choir rehearsal which sounds kinda interesting - basically everyone meets up and learns the songs and parts etc overnight, and then perform the finished product the next day.  Definitely sounds like an experience anyway, so will have to see what happens!  Only downside is that you have to pay to participate, so basically pay to be sleep deprived??  But I guess it'd be worth it, cos it'd probably be a lot of fun.

Anyway, then yesterday arvo (Wednesday) I tried out shinty.  Not sure if I explained this in my last post or not, so I'll just explain it again.  Basically the best summary I can give for it is it's just like hockey but the sticks are shaped differently and there's practically no rules.  Apparently its very traditional, some kind of Highlands game.  I have to say I was a bit doubtful when I first turned up, after everyone telling me how brutal it is and the guys that met us to take us to the fields talking about having seen someone's bone before in a match....  But it was actually a lot of fun.  And since so few girls play it and most of them are new and so not very good, it doesn't really get that brutal.  Although two guys did get hit fairly hard in the balls just in that one practice - which as a girl I found kind of amusing.  Met some cool people there too, and have decided I definitely need to get this whole Scottish rolling of the r down, if I don't want to sound like a bogan when I say some of these Scottish names!

Also went to a flat party with Jenna last night, and met her sister and a bunch of her mates.  That was fun, although the flat we were in was absolutely roasting!!  Definitely confirmed to me that this winter I'm going to have to be even more of a pro at layering than in Canberra, if I want to survive.  It's the same overheating situation, but with more of a contrast between inside and outside I guess.  But yeah the weather has definitely started to take a chilly turn.  Thinking its time to buy a jacket and some good shoes soon.  Possibly next week - there's this event called Student Lock-in at the shopping centre nearby on Wednesday.  Basically you can get in if you're a student, and theres food and such, and extra discounts at a lot of stores in the centre.  Non-shopper though I am, it still sounds kind of fun, so will probably go along.

Then tonight, I had a go at fencing.  It was a bit of a last minute decision - hadn't put my name down at the Sports Fayre, but then met a girl at shinty yesterday who also does fencing, so found out from her a bit about it and decided to go along.  Have to say I'm really glad I did, cos it turned out to be really fun, albeit very sweaty and therefore stinky when everyone's sharing the same stuff every week.  Am definitely going to have to work on fitness though, for both shinty and fencing - knew I was unfit again, after having done no proper physical exercise since June, but the past two days have made me realise just how much.  My butt and thighs were already screaming at me tonight.  Something else that will make getting up tomorrow morning painful :S

Still also want to try out the trampoline club - just cos it sounds so novel!  The give it a go session was unfortunately at the same time as shinty though, so haven't made it there yet.  Will have to see about it next week... Have decided against the others I was looking at I think.  Namely badminton, archery and netball.  Netball and badminton I could do at ANU, and anyway netball would only be fun to play with friends I think.  And archery is apparently at the same time as fencing, and so is now out as well.

Anyways, should probably go try to sleep again.  Looking forward to a visit from Hannah this weekend, which should be awesome! :) Been too long since I last saw her!  But yeah, thats all for now, so night/morning... :)

One week in.

Ok, didn't have room in my last blog for Dundee, but now that I've been here a week I guess it's time to tell you a bit about it!  So I arrived last Sunday, just in time for Freshers Week.  As I said, Mum and Dad drove me here, so Sunday afternoon was just spent driving to the shops buying all the essentials.  That's one thing that has been weird during Freshers Week - in some ways I feel like a first year again, setting up my new room, and not knowing anyone or where anything is.  But hanging around with 17 and 18 year olds I definitely feel older than them, and all the speeches about moving out of home for the first time and such definitely don't apply!

Another thing I had forgotten could be so hard is meeting new people! Probably didn't help that I was pretty tired after Freiburg, but it felt like slow going at the start! I have now met a whole bunch of cool people though, including my first friends here in Dundee Patrick and Nora, who I met on the way to the official welcoming event.  That was great, cos they are both not first years either, so we were able to all feel out of place together! Also have really nice roommates, which is always a good thing - was surprised to learn that the other exchange student from ANU was in the same flat as me, and what's more, from the Central West as well!  Random, but cool :) Met another girl from Australia too, but so far that's been the only ones.  And also a bunch of cool people from assorted countries who all hang out in a flat just downstairs.  I think most of them are also exchange students. I have to say, I definitely understand even more now why exchange students tend to band together while on exchange - when you're surrounded by first years who are just new to uni, it's nice to hang out with other people who are closer to your age and also new to the area but not to uni.

So yeah, Freshers Week was pretty good - didn't do stuff constantly, but had a few good nights out and think I have maybe started to find my way at least in the area around campus.  Mostly from one very long walk while lost, but hey thats what getting lost is for right?  Notable events include the grub crawl on Wednesday which was run by the Christian Union.  That was quite fun, and a really good meal.  Although awkward in a funny way, as they had more people than expected and the different meals were hosted in people's flats, so we ended up sitting in bedrooms eating.  It was cool to hang out though, meet some new people and get to know other people better.  Also memorable was the almost 3 hours that I spent sitting in a corridor with 7 or so other exchange students, too early in the morning, waiting to matriculate.  That and not reading the paperwork they gave me at matriculation until the next day, and so finding out 5 minutes before it started that I needed to be somewhere to register for German!

Did the Freshers Fayre and Sports Fayre as well of course - a lot like Market Day at ANU, except split into two and on different days.  Also the Freshers Fayre was inside, which combined with crowds made it not only as squishy as Market Day but also a lot stuffier.  That was interesting though.  Had a laugh at the fact that campaigns for and against Scottish independence were at adjacent tables.  There were lots of interesting clubs, but now is the hard part of figuring out what I can actually fit in!  Looking at doing a different kind of sport - trying to decide between trampolining, badminton, archery and shinty.  The last one is some kind of Scottish sport that seems kind of like hockey but is apparently a lot more brutal.  So yeah, kinda on the fence about that one, but they have a give it a go session this weekend, so might go along to that and then see.  Also really want to join a choir, although apparently they have a few so not really sure which one?!  I did find iceskating too, but less sure about that one, cos I think its more social skating than actually learning and I definitely need the learning part!

Man this blog is taking a long time, cos I keep getting distracted :S  Watching Djokovic and Murray in the final of the US Open - thanks to my flatmate Calum for giving me the link!  Pretty good game, although I have a feeling its going to go on for awhile.  Lucky I don't have class til 10 tomorrow!  

Oh yes, so, started classes today.  Starting to feel less like a holiday and more like uni again.  Was definitely feeling from Freiburg right up til today like I was just on holidays.  But more than class, I think having to deal with university offices has changed that.  Went to two different German classes today and finally sorted out which class I should be in which is nice.  Think it'll be harder than ANU, cos the course I'm doing is all about writing and speaking, with hardly any grammar.  Will definitely have to hit up Nora and Patrick for some German speaking practice!  Should be good though :)  And since the German course is so small here in 3rd and 4th year, they are both in the same class just with different assessment, which is nice cos it means that Jenna is in my class!  It's been really great to see her again, and to have come to Dundee knowing I would at least have one friend :P Actually met up with her on my first night here and met some of her friends, which was really nice, and definitely a better alternative to sitting at home alone in my room! 

And since people have commented on it (namely Paul and Emily!), have to make a comment about the food in Dundee so far.  Haven't been out for dinner a whole lot yet - only for burgers and thats about it.  But I bought some Scottish cheddar, which was pretty delicious, and also in a block! Something I weirdly really missed in Germany.  They also have coloured cheddar, which I have bought to try but haven't actually opened yet...  Food here is not quite as cheap as Germany, but still pretty good.  Though I think it definitely has less fresh food, I suppose cos a lot of it wouldn't grow here so it all has to be imported.  Also, if anyone reading this has seen Doctor Who, I have tried a jammie dodger! :) Still haven't done fish fingers and custard, but thats something I could easily do in Australia I guess.  Other good food I've had so far includes; drumsticks, which no are not an ice-cream, but a raspberry-vanilla flavoured lollipop, irn bru (said iron brew) which is a delicious fizzy drink with a flavour I can't exactly describe but is really good, and also Belvitas which are a 'breakfast biscuit' - not really sure what that means, but they taste good so doesn't really matter!  I am yet to have a pub meal, and also go to a chippy.  But I will definitely do that soon!  Also while I'm on the topic of food, the schwarze johannesbeeren (black johannesberry?) jam I brought from Germany is pretty delicious - enough that I'm actually eating jam on toast again, something I haven't done since primary school I think.  Really need to buy some tea actually, and also want to get a teapot.

Anyway, since that paragraph is embarrassingly I think the longest so far, I'm going to move on.  Talked about fresher's week, class, just generally getting settled...  Probably not a whole lot more to say for the moment.  Had a lovely Skype date with Paul and Emily, Samm and Jack the other day - was nice to see some familiar faces again!  Also loving Whatsapp - though I am trying to stop and think about what time it would be in Australia if I send a message!  Still kind of in the process of getting settled, in the stage where I have most things but am still discovering random things I sort of need, and kind of know where places are but still rely on getting directions/using google maps.  Hopefully this time next week I'll be walking around Dundee city like a pro, and will have myself set up with some tea!  Now that I've mentioned it I'm really craving it!  And on that note I'll love you and leave you :)

A series of places, ending in Dundee!

 Ok!  First blog in awhile I know, but due to retardedness on my part I haven't had my computer for about a week, which was very sad :( So I'm going to go back over everything I can remember between then and now.  Feel very free to stop reading now, as this promises to be fairly long, and is just as much a memory exercise for me as anything else.  

So anyway, back to Freiburg.  Last weekend was not as great as I had hoped.  Was planning on going to Switzerland or at least a short trip nearby, but ended up being quite sick the whole weekend.  All I managed to achieve was a short shopping trip both days, as a means of getting out of the house.  Managed a little bit more on my last two days though.  

Had an international picnic at Seepark on Monday, where everyone was supposed to bring food from their country.  That was pretty cool, although there were so many people that when it got dark it was impossible to find anyone who wasn't already right there!  We also did a Stadtspiel on Monday in the second half of class, in which we had to go to a certain place in the city and find the answers to a sheet of questions.  That was good cos during it I finally saw the inside of the Munster - even though it was a little awkward cos we accidentally walked in on the midday mass!  But had a good team too :)  Also went to the Schauinsland on Monday arvo - apparently the longest cable car system thing in Germany, or something like that.  It was ok, there was really good views, but it was a little anticlimactic, and also kinda strange sitting for so long in a small car with strangers...

Tuesday was the last day of the course, so instead of class in the morning my class had a picnic breakfast on the Schlossberg - another place I hadn't managed to get to before then.  That was really nice, and had beautiful views of Freiburg.  The downside being that I managed to spill a large amount of chocolate milk on my white shirt.  Luckily I had taken a travel stain remover pen with me in my bag, which did an amazing job getting rid of most of it, cos we went straight from the picnic to the official ending ceremony.  The ceremony was interesting - there were the obligatory speeches by the course coordinators, and the final performance by the Sommerchor (course choir).  The choir was awesome, especially cos they had Jenny (a girl from my class) play the trumpet.  The weirdest part was when they opened up the mic to the room, with interesting results... the first girl got up and sang an opera song, then a guy got up and sang some song everyone was supposed to know, and got the room to stand up and hold hands and sing. Then another girl got up and sang a song in Hungarian or something.  I think it would have kept going but they cut it off there.  Then that arvo was just spent packing and cleaning and getting ready to leave the next day.  

Had brekkie with Rebecca Wednesday morning then took the bus to the airport to get the plane to London.  The flight was pretty good, and definitely a lot quicker than the one to Germany!  London looked like a model town as we flew over it, and was nice and sunny - but once we actually landed at Heathrow it was the grey rainy London welcome I had expected.  Took the tube to the city, which I have to say I enjoyed.  I now totally understand why its called the tube, cos that was precisely the shape of the train.  All the stations were interesting too, though I reckon it must have been pretty stuffy and crowded in WWII when people took shelter down there.  Didn't like the tube so much after getting to the middle of the city though - changing trains was rather difficult with my all my bags!  But I eventually made it in and found my parents and our family friends, Dub and Dee.  It was nice to see them again, and be so enthusiastically welcomed by their very cute kids Jack and Alice.  Went briefly to the British Museum with them, and Dub gave us a quick tour which was really interesting.  Then we headed back to Elsenham, a very cute little village just near Cambridge, for the night.  

Next day we headed to York.  Have to say I wasn't initially impressed with the English countryside, but as we drove further north it became more what I pictured.  Saw my first castle on the way to York, which was Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire.  It was pretty cool - half was ruins of the original castle, and then the Little Castle which was built later and still intact, though unfurnished.  We also took a detour from the motorway to find a country pub for lunch, and ended up in a deceptively pub-looking fancy restaurant for lunch.  Not cheap, but it was definitely delicious.  Dad and I had our first taste of panna cotta - which he is now in love with.  That day was definitely a day for good food, cos we had delicious Indian food for dinner once we reached York.

Cos we didn't get to York til later, we didn't get to explore til the next day.  But driving in we could see that York is a pretty cool city.  The first thing I noticed was the random mix of architecture, ranging from back in the Roman times right through to modern architecture, and all built practically on top of each other.  There's a Roman wall that still has a large part standing through the middle of the city and you can walk along the top of it.  We did a free tour of the city with this cute old lady who had been voluntarily leading tours for 24 years.  That was pretty cool, we saw all the best parts of the middle of the city, including the Shambles which was the butchers street in medieval times and still had original buildings with the hooks for hanging their meat on the street, and also the smallest medieval window in York.  We also climbed the tower of the York Minster, which was 275 steps of spiralling staircase!  The top was weird though - felt like being in a cage because it was completely enclosed, I guess to stop people from throwing themselves off the roof.  I was also pretty excited to see my first squirrels!  They were so cute!!  Little grey things scurrying around under the trees.  So much better than ratty possums!  We also saw the end of a street performance while having lunch which was quite funny.  He called himself the Man with Big Balls.  I found this link of Youtube, I think the show is similar to the one we saw. 

Enjoyed some more of the English countryside that afternoon on the way to the next place we stayed, just near Newcastle.  I have to say what I LOVE about the English and Scottish countryside is all the stone - bridges, fences, walls... Stone just looks so picturesque, and especially when it's covered by growing green stuff.  Stayed at the Bay Horse Inn, which was a very cute little pub/B&B in a tiny little village, and in which I had a delicious dinner of pork casseroled with apple and cider.  I have definitely been loving the food here in the UK - most definitely my kinda food!  

Next day we headed for Edinburgh - or at least, somewhere slightly south of Edinburgh.  Went first to Belsay - an big country estate with an old castle and also a still old but slightly newer country manor.  That was beautiful.  Definitely worth getting lost on the way to finding it. The newer manor was interesting, left completely unfurnished at the request of the family so that visitors would focus on the architecture.  Apparently it was meticulously designed by the guy who had it built, with a very obviously Greek style.  They also had heaps of gardens, including a huge one that went through big ravines where stone had been quarried to build the manor.  The other two great things at Belsay I found in the gift shop - a cool recycled wool throw for 12 quid, that obviously I bought!  I also saw an amazing looking bottle of gin, made of vodka made of organically grown apples.  Managed to resist buying it, but definitely wrote down the name for future reference!  The other exciting thing I saw on the trip was what the Enid Blyton loving part of me would fondly like to believe was heather.  Though I am resolved to actually touch heather at some point lol.

Also on the way we stopped in the town of Jedburgh, just over the Scottish border, where I had my first taste of haggis (from dad's plate, but it still counts!).  It was surprisingly good - as long as you don't think about what you're eating.  It pretty much just tasted like mince but with a weird texture.  Actually also on the topic of food I had my first taste of black pudding with my B&B breakfast.  A very strange food - not bad, but a really weird texture and very herby.  Too herby for me, but other than that not too bad.  But back to Jedburgh, we also toured the house that Mary Queen of Scots stayed in when she was briefly there.  It was made into a museum about her life, which was kind of interesting.  Then we went on to the B&B we were booked into for the night, which it turned out was a farm practically in the middle of nowhere.  It was kind of cute, and the people were really nice, but we had to drive 8 miles to the town of Biggar (yes, we made many bad puns!) for dinner at 'the Elph', aka the Elphinstone Hotel.  Where again, since I'm so food orientated, I have to mention the amazing steak and ale 'pie' I had for dinner, which was basically a plate of delicious meaty goodness with two pieces of pastry on top.  So good...

Then the next day we headed to Dundee.  But since I've already written so much for now, might leave that til tomorrow.  On a quick side note, I just have to say for at least the first 4 days of my time in the UK it was consistently both sunny and rainy at different points during the day.  So awesomely stereotypical!  But the weather here in Dundee hasn't been too bad so far - only slightly rainy once or twice, and a surprising amount of sunshine.  Even though the sunshine in Scotland definitely has no bite compared to Australian sunshine, or even in the sunshine in Freiburg!

Anyway, thats me for now, but more about Dundee tomorrow/soon! :)

A short addition to yesterday

So yesterday's post was a little on the down side.  Sadly today it is actually raining - also depressing after all the beautiful sunshine we have had!  Also I have a really sore throat but am unsure what soothers (or something like that) are called here.  So will have to figure that out soon.

But on a side note to yesterday, I realised I did do some interesting things I didn't mention.  Namely, I went to a 'food court' called Markt Halle for lunch.  It was really cool; kinda like a food court, but more like the ones at say the Bus Depot Markets in Canberra or the Victoria Markets in Melbourne - more like permanent stalls as opposed to actual shops.  Had foods from all different nationalities, but I ended up getting Chinese lol.

Also went to a bar last night that is in a building that used to be a morgue.  It was all cement and underground.  Basically creepy but cool, and full of spirits.  (See what I did there... :P).  Had a drink that was Malibu, cherry and orange - strange but good.  Also met some guys from America and France - awkwardly went up to them to ask where they were from, cos we could hear they were speaking English, which of course made us curious!  But music was too loud to hear their accents.  Convinced Jenna to ask them as it was her last night here so she would definitely never see them again :P  They were nice though - all living in Freiburg, and knew each other from being in the same rugby union team.  Then had an early night, taking the tram and walking in the rain. 

And today I bought some delicious looking jams from the markets to take with me to London.  Though I didn't actually get mirabella jam, which I'll have to do before I leave.  But got schwarze Johannesbeeren, pfirsch (peach) and aprikose, which I could easily get at home but it looked so delicious I couldn't help myself!  Got it at the Munsterplatz markets, immediately following our short city tour we did in the second half of class this morning.  That was also kinda good - the teacher had little palm cards she'd prepared with info she had researched, and maps of Freiburg in the 12-1300s, it was really cute.  It was kind of raining on us, but it was much better than sitting bored in the classroom!

Anyway, finishing off my last hours in the language lab, then planning to find some soothers and go home.  Might meet some friends for dinner, but otherwise no big plans for this evening - its definitely a snuggle in bed with a movie kinda evening I think!

Drawing closer to the end

Well, its been a quiet past few days.  Haven't done anything as exciting as what I talked about in my last post, mostly just class and wandering around Freiburg.  The weather has begun to change around a lot - as the course is coming to an end so is the nice weather it would seem.  Its still sunny a lot of the time, but have had a few cloudy days and also periods of uncomfortable humidity too. 

Today has been a not so good day.  Had a test AND a speech today in class - two things which I (and most other students) hate.  So had a late night preparing for them both.  But worst of all, my friend Jenna is having to leave early and head back home tomorrow, due to family troubles :(  This of course put a dampener on an already not so great day.  So will be going out for dinner tonight to farewell her. 

Other than this, am re-thinking the trip to Switzerland this weekend, as it is forecast to be cloudy and stormy all weekend.  Would still love to see Lucerne, but might just have to go another time when the scenery is more likely to be visible.  May still go to Basel on Saturday - as a city it will have more indoor things to do, and I could also meet up with Jo's friend Catia who I met in Australia.  Not sure yet though.  Alternatively will have to check out other things to do that I haven't yet done in and around Freiburg. 

Must also apologise to everyone I have promised a postcard to - they have been written for around 2 weeks now, but as yet I have been unsuccessful in actually finding a post office.  Something which I will attempt again tomorrow, but otherwise will just have to post them at the airport on the way to London.  Also if anyone feels so inclined, I am more than happy to send you my Dundee address (once I verify it anyway!) so you can send me mail ;)

Since this post is a little more gloomy than my previous ones, I might cut it a bit shorter than usual.  Despite what it seems like from this post, I am still enjoying myself and will endeavour to do as much as possible in the few days I have left in Freiburg - 5 to be exact.  Though pre warning to my parents, with the amount of sleep I have been running on, I'm almost sure to crash once reaching London.  All part of a good holiday though!

Strasbourg, Baden Baden, and somewhere in the middle of nowhere

Ok, well again I have a few days to catch up, as I've slacked off again.  Apparently my last post was Wednesday!  So here goes...

Thursday and Friday weren't particularly memorable, just classes, and I think hanging out at the Seepark Friday night.  But Saturday we went to Baden Baden, which was cool.  It was relatively small and fairly touristy, but cute.  We went for a wander around when we first got there, walking up and down hills (much to my dismay) and just generally having a look.  Sadly you had to pay to see the ruins of the original Roman baths that were there, so didn't bother doing that, but like with most small German towns around here, there was lots of old, picturesque buildings.

Probably the best part of Baden Baden though was the spa.  We went in the early afternoon when it was quite warm, so were quite looking forward to getting in some water.  It was a really big place, with 2 outdoor and 3 indoor pools, saunas (one nude and one not) and an area with tanning lights.  Of course, being a spa the pools were varying temperatures.  But despite the warmth of the day even the hot pools were still good.

Then on the way home, we had to change trains in Offenburg, so decided to stop for an hour and have a look around.  Weren't there for long, but it seemed quite nice.  After the hour went back to get the 6pm train, only to find out it was cancelled and we'd have to wait another half hour.  So we sat down on the stairs and watched all the drunk fans from a nearby football match and the police obviously here to control them as we waited.  Finally the train came, so we crammed on with heaps of other people on their way home from the match.  Then halfway through the trip, the train stopped in the middle of nowhere, and after sitting confusedly on the still train for about 15 mins, we were all told to get off as there had been an accident further along the line and they didn't know how long until the train would be able to run again so it was heading back to Offenburg.  Apparently a common form of suicide around here is people throwing themselves in front of trains as they speed through the countryside.

So there we were, standing in the middle of nowhere with about 200 other people, with no idea what was happening or how long we'd be waiting.  It was interesting to see the different reactions - of course the still drunk football fans on the whole seemed to be pretty relaxed about it.  Barbara, who is English, started making very sarcastic statements, Jenna started getting really annoyed, and Rebecca just sat down on the side of the road in acceptance.  I found it a little inconvenient but also rather amusing - especially after the second train came and even more people were added.  I bet that tiny train station had never had so many people at it before!  I don't think everyone could have stood on the platform at the same time.  Also the little shop at the station would have done great business, as it was still so hot that half the people from the train were crowding it for cold drinks and ice-cream.  Of course the other amusing reaction was the group of Asian tourists, who decided to get a group photo in front of the second train as it sat there on the tracks.

So anyway, a few people started to trickle off, as they called friends or a taxi to come and pick them up.  Then thankfully a bus came - sadly we didn't make it on that one, as there were way too many people in front of us.  That was when Jenna became most amusing, plotting out the best plan to make it onto the next bus that came.  A friendly German guy also told us that there was a train coming the other way that would take us to the German-French border, and from there we could get a train back to Freiburg, but luckily another bus came before that train did, so we made it onto that one and were transported to the town of Emmendingen, where we were able to take a train that was especially diverted to Freiburg for us.  Altogether quite an adventure though!

Also the adventure didn't even end for Jenna when we got home - hadn't realised that a large chunk of the tram tracks had been closed for the weekend for track work, so her tram was no longer running.  Luckily an old German couple took pity on her and let her share their taxi back to the street where she lived.  Altogether though it rather undid the relaxing 2 hours we'd spent at the spa earlier that day!

So after our eventful Saturday, we took Sunday pretty easy - had a sleep in, then headed to the pool for the majority of the afternoon.  It was definitely a day for the pool - I think around 38 degrees, and blazing!  And here I thought I'd moved away from stinking hot summers, at least briefly.  Surprisingly not sunburnt though, which is a definite plus!

Then today, Rebecca and I had official permission to skip class, as we went on an excursion to Strasbourg for our Deutschland und Europa seminar.  It was pretty cool, I wish we'd had more time to spend in Strasbourg!  Though I have to say, before I go anywhere in France again, I HAVE to brush up on at least a few basic phrases in French.  I unsuccessfully tried to buy fruit at a supermarket - apparently you have to weigh it and print the labels yourself, which for some reason I couldn't do, so I ended up sneaking out without buying it.  I also got a little lost at one point, when I was wandering about on my own in the free time, and was worrying about how I would ask someone for directions.  Thankfully managed to find my own way back in the end though!

Anyway, we started the day with a tour of the old part of Strasbourg, which was really cool.  We had a (very attractive!) French guy as our guide, who admitted at the start that his German wasn't that great.  It was really good - I think grammatically he made a few mistakes, but his vocab was still really good.  And it was great for me cos I was able to understand everything he said, as he spoke a lot more clearly and slowly than native speakers do.  But the tour was really great - he is studying architecture at uni, so he was able to tell us all about the variety of architecture and history for the places we saw.  I now know the difference between Gothic and Roman cathedrals.  And the parts we saw were so old!  From around the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

After the tour we then had a short break for lunch and some wandering of our own.  Rebecca was pretty keen to shop, so we both headed off on our own - me to find some lunch, as by then I was pretty hungry!  Wasted a bit of time being lost, which was made even worse by the fact that it was so hot - again in the high 30s.  But got there in the end, and even had a brief look in a few shops.

Then after the break we went for a tour of the European Parliament, which was really cool.  Of course it was empty as you can't tour the building while they're in session.  But we got to walk through, and see the fifty million flags everywhere, and the rooms where they hold debates, with the headsets at each desk and rooms for interpreters lining the walls.  Also saw the big room where they all sit when parliament is in session - had seen it on tv, but it was even bigger and more impressive in person!  Also had a view of the European Council and European Court of Justice buildings across the water from one part of Parliament.  Altogether pretty cool :)  Especially the glass statue of the football/soccer ball in the entrance - the Europeans sure love their soccer!

So now got to go and do my homework to make up for missing class today.  Only 4 days left!  Hard to believe its almost over, when it feels like it only just started!  Have only got 7 days left in Freiburg :(  But then off to the main adventure of Dundee! :)