And so it begins... : Cambridge Week 1 / Scotland trip!

Hey guys! So, I just finished week 1 at Cambridge. It was good. :) I'm still getting used to where things are in the city as well as the different currency (pounds). The weather here has been nice -- sunny and occasional rain. The sunsets and clouds are beautiful EVERY DAY. It's really a beautiful place to study. More and more tourists are coming in, I'm noticing. Other than that, it's a pretty tranquil place. A lot of the shops close down early (around 5 or 6pm). So, if you want to get some shopping done, go early. On Thursday, our group took a four-day trip to Scotland! It was fun. 8 buses total went.. The drive was smooth; we stopped a couple times on the way up. One of our stops was Fountains Abbey, which is ruins of a Cistercian monastery. It was cool to see! Afterwards, we made our way to Scotland! It was very much like England -- rolling green hills, sheep, and more hills and sheep. :) We stayed in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. You can tell it's very old by the architecture, but still a nice place as there is much to do and see. The following day I hiked Arthur's Seat with my group. It was fun! Definitely worth it. It was pretty steep in the beginning and very windy at the top, but very fun. The rest of my time there I relaxed, read, and took a walk to the Royal Mile (the street connecting the Castle and the Palace and Parliament). There, I did some window shopping and got some lunch. :) Indian food! Yum! At the end of the day, our program organized a dance for us -- Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish dance, somewhat like square dancing. I didn't go because I wasn't feeling too good, BUT I could hear it from my window and sounded really fun. :) Those who went had a blast. We made our way back to Cambridge today, with a couple short stops. I slept practically the whole way over.. I'm definitely caught up on my sleep. Looking forward to another week in Cambridge. Tomorrow, classes are not meeting due to the Tour de France! The bikers will ride through our town so much of the faculty won't be able to drive over because of roads being closed. So, tomorrow is another day off. :) Time to catch up on studying, laundry, etc! God bless. xoxo.