first glimpse of scotland.

hadrian's wall, never heard of this before. 

i guess it is the wall that separated the roman's and the scott's. it goes on for miles! we stopped for a few.

view from above the city in edinburgh our first night in scotland. so beautiful!! i love that i can see the ocean from there. the air is so crisp and fresh. 

a small hike up to arthur's seat was planned on sunday afternoon. it was a hike and it's a good thing i wore my tightest pair of jeans! seriously. 

it was so so beautiful.

on monday, we took off north to inverness. driving of course. we stopped at the culloden battle field but i didn't take much too it... i had no idea what it even was! don't judge.

we stayed the night and drove west to fort williams. loch ness was on the way and we all hoped we could catch nessie out of the water. unfortunately, it didn't happen. still, an amazing body of water!

"nessie".

after loch ness, there was time to spare walking around the city because we couldn't check into our hostel. of course, we found a cafe with FREE wi-fi. yay! the hostel was seriously in the mountains. afterall, we were in the highlands area. the land where people go to hike the mountain. they are the serious ones with the hiking sticks and everything!

when i say camping, i literally meant that. thirteen girls in one room. no floor space. and bugs flying in the windows. a spider got a yummy taste of my skin. ew. 

kelsey's face speaks for itself.

we were on our way back to edinburgh for our last few nights in scotland and on the study! (can you believe that??) the area we drove through was amazing. everything is so beautiful, i feel like it's only things i've seen in movies! 

stirling castle and the braveheart monument were right in our path to edinburgh.

alas, arriving back in edinburgh, we were all pleased to find out that we have our OWN rooms. i repeat, our own rooms! it's been wonderful. 

spare time and a bit of a slower pace these last couple days has been the best thing. 

perfect.

lakey lakey.

one of my favorite places this whole trip, the lake district, more specifically, hawkshead. we were all so exhausted from our drive, lots of driving this past week and half! but we got settled in our hostel late and decided on a community dinner and it was just glorious! penne pasta with red sauce, salad, and garlic bread. let's just say, it was a warm meal and different from a store bought sandy (that would be sandwich)! 

our room in the hostel was spacious and quite cozy, at least i thought. we were in the lake district right near a lake, obviously. the air was crisp and cool. reminded me of fall time in utah. and man, i miss that! but soon enough, it will be here. and now that i think of it, i'm not quite sure how i feel about it!

the morning we left from that hostel, we went for a run at 630 am. it was SO beautiful! i loved it. 4 1/2 miles around the lake and so refreshing.

more bunk beds? check.

in the same area was beatrix potter's house. she is the author of the peter rabbit tales. her house was ancient and full of heirlooms from her herself. pretty neat. 

the house.

you wear kilts?

i know i have many posts to catch up on from last weeks travels through northern england. 

but for now, we are here in fort williams, scotland. 

we arrived in edinburgh on saturday night and stayed in a 5 star hostel! have you ever heard of that? i never had. 

it was much like a hotel but with four sets of bunk beds instead of just a couple beds. 

we went to church on sunday and hiked up to arthur's seat there in edinburgh. the view from the top was beautiful. right above the city and the shoreline isn't too far off either. 

i love scotland! the weather is quite pleasant. because we are close to the ocean, the air is a lot cooler and not so humid. it hasn't been to sunny since we have been here, but i pleased with what we have! it also feels like the land is more country like, in the country side. fall time in utah? mmm.

i can't believe this trip is coming to a close. i know i say that all the time, but i just can't believe it! so many memories and funny times. ha! 

our last three nights will be in a hostel in edinburgh. we have a couple of free days to explore the city and... possibly... go shopping? i won't buy anything, my suitcase is packed to the rim! eek! 

first view of scotland.

i am loving the scottish accent. and i've decided i need to give people the benefit of the doubt. the people here are a lot nicer than i expected and it is so refreshing! i have spotted a few men in kilts. is that not so weird? just wearing a knee length skirt with pleats and a plaid pattern?

church in bristol.

we had a great church meeting here in bristol this morning. the building was actually open and not at stake conference! we arrived 30 minutes early and the ward was thrilled to have us. 
it was so fun to sit in the meeting and have the teachers teach us with their cute accents. the relief society ladies were glad we were there and singing. 


peter (a different peter) gave the sunday school lesson on the Atonement. 
sacrament meeting was awesome. quite a few people went up to bear their testimonies and they made a note of the fact that "there were people here listening to their accents so they better be careful of what they say". the word must have gotten out that we are here in the UK to study english. 
isn't it so reassuring to know that church is always pretty much the same no matter where you go? (well maybe it will be different in africa, he he he can't wait to get there!).
i love family wards, but this one was one of the loudest i've ever sat in and there weren't even that many kids! there were two kids specifically that were doing everything possible to disturb the meeting. screaming, crying, banging, hitting, yelling, running, you name it, the kids did it. i was completely shocked. all of us sat there thinking "what in the world??" it must have been normal because the parents never once took the kids out. 


after church we made some lunch and tried to eat what we could from our peanut butter, brown (wheat) bread, ritz crackers and apples and oranges. great food, eh? 
a few of us took a stroll down the riverside down to the U.S.S. Great Britain (a ship, obviously). we had no idea how to get across the river so we photographed from the other side. 


it's been a chill sunday so far. it's nice to relax. all the walking and business is still stuck with me and i get tired so quickly!
we have a busy day tomorrow. leaving bristol (i will miss it) at 8 am, heading to stonehenge and jane austen's hometown while we travel to london. we are to arrive in london by 4 or half 4 tomorrow for our orientation and all the jazz. 


can't wait to get to london! i hope the 4th celebrations were fantastic for you. mine will be nothing fancy. think of me, would ya?

remember when i had chicken pox??

oh, and when the foot pedal brakes on my bike gave out while i was going down a hill? and t-ball pictures were the next day?

you can feel bad for me, it's okay! 

and remember how i've talked to my family maybe three times since i've been gone? sweet.

just one.

i've been thinking about this today, only one more night here in this gross hostel! 
then on to the land of the welsh and a couple nights in some hotels. 
can't wait. 


today was another day of lots of walking. we did take it a little easy though. tomorrow we need to check out of here at 630 am. that's a little too early for me! but we do what we have to do. 


off to riverdance tonight! i will come back to the US a professional clogger! 

me in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

dublina.

today was our first free day in dublin! the weather cooperated very well so i was pleased. i hate being rained on and wet and rainy. it was a little overcast but totally great.


our first stop was the writer's museum but it was a little more expensive than we had expected so we didn't go inside. i heard it was really cool though.


we headed down to henry street, one of the main shopping streets in dublin. and let me tell you, there were so many shops! most, i had never heard of but very cool. we went into this natural made makeup store. they were selling all natural soaps, bath fizz and lip balm. the soaps were amazing. you could tell them how much you wanted and they would cut it and wrap it up. almost like cheese in a deli. most of the shops were fairly cheap and so different than anything we have back home! i purchased a few "souvenirs" to help me remember dublin.


we passed by the bank of ireland that used to be the parliament building so it has no windows, very interesting. christ's church cathedral was beautiful! we went inside for 3 euro and it was worth it. i can't get over how amazing the buildings are - the detail especially. the WAX plus(+) museum was way cool! i had never been to a wax museum and they had all sorts of things, not just wax figures. most of the figures had to do with ireland's history of civil wars and all that. there were some celebrity figures as well. the library/history museum was also really cool. there are so many sites here it's hard to remember!


our group met at 4:45 at the fountain in the park near st. patrick's cathedral. we went inside for evensong and the service and had a thought after for a small fhe. it's so interesting to see the service that was held. so different than what i am used to. but people worship in different ways i guess!
it's kathryn's birthday so we all went to dinner at o'neil's pub. hilary and i split the roasted chicken which was fantastic. most of the food here is good but i am always hungry so it's hard to find food for cheap! i'm glad we purchased groceries!


we all attempted to go "pubbing", that was kathryn's birthday wish, but it was hard with a group of 12 and walking into a pub without attracting stares from those drunk off their guiness (most popular beer in ireland!!).


only 2 more nights in this hostel! none of us are loving it. it's just kind of gross to be honest. the rooms are quite small with 10 girls to a room. one shower room that we all have to share. i have no idea how often it gets clean. i am coping, but it's pretty nasty. i can't wait to leave. the first two nights in wales are set up with hotels and i am looking forward to that!!


a few of us girls have been talking about the fact that we lucked out with our professors. i wish you all could meet them! they both are relaxed and easy going about everything. they definitely trust us and it's fun for us to have freedom to do things without needing to be checked on every second. we all agree that having a buddy is crucial. i mean, think of the movie, taken. i love the thing, but it's pretty scary if you think of it! the girl just gets TAKEN out of her room! her dad is listening on the phone. my worst fear is getting kidnapped, by the way, but i am pretty cautious to say the least.


ireland is amazing. i can't wait to get to wales and most of all, london! we will be staying in flats there and can actually settle down. it will be wonderful. i will be an expert before you know it!


i apologize if these posts are so long to you all... it's just hard to not include everything! they're probably boring too but this is somewhat of my journal as well. i am loving loving loving europe. i hope to come back someday and you all should try and make the journey. it doesn't have to be with me of course, just sometime.


i'll try and post pictures when i can. hopefully wales will have better internet! this one just takes forever. 
cheers.

my momma.

last night when arriving at the hostel, each bunk bed was provided with 2 flat sheets and a pillowcase. each guest that stays here is given that to cover up the mattress and pillow, that way the hostel can save money. this hostel is trying to go green apparently, so the showers and sinks don't stay on, you have to keep pushing and pushing the knob for more water. it's a little obnoxious, but it's understandable i guess. 


anyway, me being me, i made my bed first thing. carefully placed the first sheet over the mattress and tucked it in. 
second sheet went on and i continued to make my bed like i would at home! fold over the top part about 4 inches. tucked in the bottom, then the sides and tried to make corners like the dear shar bear does. it wasn't quite as good, but pretty good i would say. 


soon enough, i was looking around and everyone was watching me! i was just making my bed! but as i looked at everyone else and their beds, the sheets were thrown on, not straight. 
isn't it interesting how every single person is different? different habits. some are more clean some are not. some are considerate. some are not. 


my momma taught me well. she is the queen of being clean and perfect. that being said, i am just like her. thanks shar!! 
it makes my travels a little more tedious but i am okay with it. 

sundee in dublin.

you'd think sunday would be a little less, but it was an adventure in and of itself! 

we had planned to leave to church at 10 am (this would be our last day with peter) and get to the meetinghouse for meetings at 11. not so.

we were all ready to go after eating at the sub par continental breakfast, on the bus, and driving to the church. at this time, it was 10 am, so 3 am at home, i was getting so tired. hilary and i laid down to sleep. jet lag is still a factor. love it. not!

come to find out, the church is locked and we assumed that it is stake conference, that's what we had heard. we sat for a while. peter was trying to google a different church to meet at, his internet was freezing on him.

a car pulled up and a lady walks out towards our bus. she had met with the missionaries two days before and they invited her to church, most likely forgetting that it was stake conference of some sort. her name is Amoke from Nigeria. she said she would go back to her house and get the missionaries contact info and see what's up. twenty minutes later, she came back with a sure fact that it was stake conference. 

we decided to head back to our hostel and figure something else out. brother anderson thought we could hold our own meeting. which we did!

we found the conference room, set up the chairs in an orderly manner. some girls we assigned to speak for 5 minutes and i was to lead the music. brother gardner called his bishop at home (530 am in springville, utah) to ask for permission to have the sacrament. it was granted and we proceeded with the meeting. 

it was an improv meeting as you can tell. but it was wonderful. 

the music came from lds.org and i looked at an ipad for the words. we weren't on key, we were a little too fast, but it was a great experience. 

i could tell we all felt the spirit so strong. 

i hope we can get to some meetinghouses while we are here, i would love to see what church is like in europe!

the more the betta.

yo ho, yo ho, an irish life for me!
we had a wonderful day today. wonderfully beautiful too. it was fantastic. 
an early wake up call again, breakfast at 7:45 and departing the luxurious hotel at 8:30. 
on our bus ride from killarney from dublin we had planned to stop at some castles on the way.
we had an appointment at Blarney Castle and 10 am. 
it was so beautiful! i can't believe that these castles were actually built in the 1400's, if not earlier. they are so elaborate and there were no cranes or anything used like we use today! unbelievable. 
the main attraction at this castle is to kiss the blarney stone. why it is so significant, i couldn't tell you. none of us really know. but we had to do it! the stone is in such an awkward and scary place. some people were a little weezy at its location. 
blarney castle is my favorite castle so far. 

me and hilary in the little cove at the front.

as awkward as this picture is, the stone was on the side of this little open area. it was so weird. 

p.s. i'm sure this creeper of a guy loves his job! he gets to tell people to lay down and literally hold on to their body while they go to kiss the stone. needless to say, it was very awkward.

this castle also had the coolest poisonous garden. it was full of plants that were poisonous and had their names and descriptions.

this green color is all natural. it's amazing! 

next stop was the Rock of Cashel Cathedral. another place from years and years ago. it is going through some renovations to keep up its status so there were some scaffolding things set up. the microclimate inside of it also adds a lot to the erosion inside. it gets wet and stays damp because of all the shade so there was green moss everywhere! outside the cathedral were quite a few ancient tombstones. 

this was my tombstone.

we only had about an hour at the cathedral before another 2 hours to drive to dublin. it's about 4 hours from dingle to dublin but it was nice to split it up!

we are staying in our first hostel, dublin youth hostel. look it up if you'd like. man, were we spoiled in the b&b in killarney. this is interesting and i will have to admit, i'm not the biggest fan. 

there are 10 girls to a room with bunk beds. two rooms for showers with two showers each i think. and some small bathrooms. there are quite a few rooms here on our all girls floor so i don't know how it's going to work in the morning with at least 40+ girls needing to get ready. but we will see wont we?

we are here for 4 nights and have three full days in dublin to do things. all of us are going together to see the riverdance on tuesday night. that will be so awesome! can't get more original than that!

there are museums to see. churches, streets to shop, and more places to visit. it will be a fun few days. we were instructed to stay in at least a set of two girls at all times, and i see why! we walked around still earlier in the evening and it was a little creepy. but that's what you get. (in a hostel area too).

some of the girls in our little little room.

bunks.

dublin youth hostel.

dublin streets have the coolest doors!

yummy thai in central dublin.

miss you all! i'll have fun for you!