The Windy City

Every night, I hear it. That sound you can't quite describe, as it flits past your window. It manifests itself in the creaking of walls, the bending of trees and their branches, as the click-clack of footsteps rushing down the sidewalk, hurrying to escape its chilly grasp.

I do not want to go outside.

I'm currently sitting in my room, wrapped up in my 243%-cotton IFSA-Butler sweatshirt, trying to brainstorm ways of buying groceries that do not involve going outdoors. None come to mind. Even Coburn's doesn't deliver in this cold weather.* That "tea" is the first item on my grocery list should be a telling sign of how the weather is getting to me. I don't even really LIKE tea. But when in Rome...

Speaking of which, I will actually be in Rome in two weeks. I'll get to that in a later post though.

Yesterday I braved the weather to travel to Oban, an even colder and windier town than Edinburgh, lying on the western coast of Scotland. It was a day trip offered through the International Student Centre. Though we spent more time driving there and back (2.5 hours each way) than we did actually AT the sites, I'm very glad I went! I went on my own, which made it all the easier to make friends. I spent the day with Kayla, a Theology masters student from Ohio, and Ines, a biomedical PhD student from Portugal. Our first stop was the actual town of Oban. We decided to head up to McCaig's tower, a structure commissioned by banker John McCaig. He wanted it to be a monument to his family, but died before the tower could be completed. Only the outer walls were ever finished. It's still quite impressive.

Did I mention it was windy?

Looking out at Oban

Ines and myself

After the tower, we wandered down along the coast, searching for castle ruins. (Because when in Scotland, a ruined castle is hidden around every corner. Basically.) We saw it, but couldn't reach it in the short time before we needed to be back on the bus. Instead we stopped at a Cafe and had tea and biscuits. Now, as I mentioned, I'll drink tea, but it's not my favorite. However, after walking right next to the water and being buffeted by icy winds, this tea was absolutely delicious. Our next (and final) stop was Dunstaffnage Castle and chapel ruins. The castle seemed like any other, but as you walked past it out to the water, gorgeous views came into... view. One thing I found really interesting about the chapel is that it was built in the 13th century. It's hard to imagine that those stones have been there for 800 years. Hopefully they'll be around for another 800.

The Chapel

we had some photoshoot fun.

With the combination of getting up early for class Friday and getting up early for this trip, I slept for a record of 10 hours last night. There are also only two weeks of classes left. I still can't really comprehend that.

*they probably do.