35 hrs

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville

Chalk my lack of updates as me soaking up every last second I have here. Soaking it all up, and packing up my 5 months of living (my room is in such a state). Might not get back to you until I'm back in Canada. Sors.

Good things come to those who wait

So keep waiting and maybe you'll get a great update in the near future.

I've been hanging out with my cousin in England for the last few days but I'm back in the Netherlands for one final weekend before heading back to Canada. I should hopefully update you in the near future about what I was up to from Scotland to now.

Until then.

My Bookshelf

A review on the back of this book states: "An insistently metaphysical mind-bender"

I find this to be exceptionally accurate. I just finished, and thoroughly enjoyed Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

I heard about this book because it was one of the month's selections in a book club I was taking part in. Unfortunately, because I was too busy I didn't get to pick this one up and ended up skipping that month with book club altogether. This is too bad because finishing the book now I realize how amazing it would be to discuss.

The book follows two main characters, one a 15 year old boy running away from his father and a predestined fate he desperately wants to avoid. It also follows an elderly man who can talk to cats. Their lives intersect in a variety of ways. The book takes you outside the realms of reality, walking you through dream worlds and other craziness. It is a really interesting read and one that I would highly suggest you pick up. I would also suggest trying to get someone or a group of people to read it at the same times as you because it demands to be discussed.

Scotland: The 12 hour bus tour

I slept quite well last night, for the most part. I think that I can contribute that to being exhausted. I did wake up at 3am when the people who were on a pub crawl got in. I looked at my phone, saw it was 3am and thought to myself "why are they coming home so early?" Yup friends the Netherlands has me thinking that getting in at 3am is early. Other than that - and the about 20 minutes I was awake because the guy sleeping in the bunk below me was snoring SO loud - I slept really well.

I got up at 6:30 so I would have time to shower and get to the bus pickup spot with plenty of time.

The bus left just after 8am and I was exhausted. I was lucky and got a seat right at the front, this was ideal for optimal sightseeing. Most of the trip was just driving around 'seeing.' This was alright as the countryside is very beautiful, unfortunately it rained all day so the windows were often covered with rain.

Some of the highlights:
We drove by Stirling Castle, which I will be going to see tomorrow. It is the second most visited castle here, after Edinburgh Castle.
We drove by the castle that you see in The Holy Grail.
We drove by the field and hills where William Wallace fought. (FFRRREEEEEEDOM!)

We stopped at Glen Coe which is a beautiful valley surrounded by stunning huge rolling mountains. It was really gorgeous.

We drove through a lot of beautiful scenery, unfortunately taking pictures from a bus doesn't really work that well, especially when windows are covered in rain. As such I didn't actually take too many pictures.

We stopped along Loch Ness and we took a boat ride, unfortunately it was so rainy and cold that I just sat in the covered part and couldn't see much due to foggy windows and rain clouds on the top of the mountains. The boat drives down and takes you past some ruins of a castle which is a really lovely sight, especially with a lovely backdrop. Due to the peat in the soil the water is really dark, think Guinness coloured. Sadly there were no sightings of Nessie. Better luck next time.

Basically we drove back from there. This trip was divided with a couple other stops, most of them were for things like snacks, coffee, and bathroom breaks. It was a great day, albeit it really long. It got quite excessive sitting in a bus that long, but it was nice to be able to see so much in one day.

We arrived back just after 8pm. I walked back to the hostel, stopping at Subway along the way.

I realize that this is not likely an interesting post to read but I can't really list things that I saw or did because mostly I just sat in a bus and looked out the window at what you would imagine Scotland to look like. So imagine Scotland, do you have it? Yup, that's what I saw. Rolling green hills topped with rain clouds, scattered with fluffy sheep, cordoned off by short stone walls. Adorable!

Edinbrraaaah!

The rest of my evening yesterday was rather uneventful. By the time I went to my room in the hostel a number of people were already asleep. I went to bed pretty quickly. I was woken up a few times, but I think that is mostly because I am a rather light sleeper in hostels. I was woken up a few times because the bar downstairs has live music but mostly I thought it was funny because it was a bunch of people belting out "Ghost Riders in the Sky." That was (momentarily) entertaining, and it stopped around 1am.

I woke up around 7 and couldn't get back to sleep so I just got up and showered, sat around eating breakfast and reading, taking my time. My plan for the day was to jump on one of the hop-on-hop-off tours and they started at 9:30. Because I was taking my time I didn't get to the busses until around 10 but this was ok. I don't often want to pay for a bus tour like that but Edinburgh is really, really hilly and I hadn't really done any reading about what you can see here so this really was my only option. This is also great because if you get tired of seeing things you can just sit on the bus for a while and still feel like you are doing stuff.

They had a deal where if you pay one price you can board any of the 4 different companies buses, this was really nice. I started with one bus and just rode the entire route, it took about an hour. I did this because I was tired, it started to rain (great day for an open top bus tour), and I didn't want to pay entrance into anything. I then boarded another bus, this time with a live tour guide, these are generally much more enjoyable than the ones with headphones. The guide was really great. Again I just sat and listened to the entire tour - it covered mostly different things. I stayed on that bus and rode it to one of the Starbucks (which are conveniently everywhere) and hopped off.

I was freezing cold and ready for a nap but determined not to waste my bus ticket by napping. Instead I had a panini and a venti latte. I sat in Sbucks for about an hour reading and trying to warm up. From where I was I walked up the hill towards Edinburgh castle stopping to buy a lambswool scarf along the way - I desperately wanted to buy a cashmere one but I was being realistic about money matters so opted out of it.

I then went to the castle. It was alright. I was pretty exhausted and most of it was set up like a museum, which was nice, but I wasn't really up for reading a bunch of stuff. Don't really know if I got my money's worth, but for 5 extra pounds I paid for entrance into ALL historical sites in Scotland, so once the weekend is over I will have made my moneys worth.

I wandered through a lot of the castle before eventually coming out and finding a tour to book for tomorrow. It is going to be an epic day of busses but I think it'll be good, and it will be substantially easier than if I tried to plan it all myself. Sounds like a lot - a lot - of people have done similar tours so that means it really is easier. It is an early start and we get back late. Sunday I've plans to get to a castle that I won't get to see in the tour but I'll tell you about that after I actually do it.

So I hopped back on another bus and rode it around until I could stop by the train station. I thought I wanted to come and have a nap or something but instead I went to look for a shirt to buy because I need to do laundry but I thought maybe it'd be easier to buy a cheap shirt, then changed my mind again and convinced myself to just wash my clothes - which I still need to do! I went to the tourist office to get some details about my Sunday trip then walked back to the hostel, hung out, ate some food, had some tea, and now I'm updating all you lovely people on my day.

I realize I wasn't very informative about what I saw, but I don't really know what to tell you. The city is really beautiful, some highlights were the Queen's Scotland palace, the castle, beautiful architecture, private parks (you have to pay a membership to use them!), beautiful bridges, ya, I guess mostly it was just nice to look at the city today. I just wish it wasn't so cool and rainy. It really tires a girl out.

I'm hoping I get a better nights rest tonight because I have to get up at something like 6:30 and the tour is almost 10hrs I think. Clearly I will be sleeping on the bus. And yes, I am charging my camera battery as I type :)

Rouen - Paris - Edinburgh

Long day to say the least. I've gone from an adorable quiet French hotel to bustling noisy youth hostel. Oh to have money for a hotel. That'll be the day.

My day started rather early, I woke up so that I would have time to eat the hotel breakfast I had agreed to purchase (mostly because I'd have a long day and I hate not knowing if I'll have time for food) and hopefully make the 8:57 train to Paris. This is quite a task if you consider the fact that I had to make enough time to re-pack my bag AND go downstairs and eat breakfast AND the French don't like to rush their eating so you can't be an in-and-out sorta person who grabs a few things and runs out the door.

I was a little surprised by the breakfast to be quite honest, although upon reflection, I realize that I should not have been. I guess I was expecting a typical buffet style thing with cereal, yogurt, some pastries, boiled eggs, and cheese. I love the boiled egg for breakfast, what a wonderful thing. Well, there was no boiled eggs and there was no buffet. This was all fine and dandy though because I was served a personal pot of coffee and given cheese (emmental, yum!) and baguettes as well as yogurt, orange juice (good stuff, which you don't come-by often), and a croissant. Have I mentioned that they serve delicious baguettes with everything? Literally, every meal, and if it isn't served with a baguette is probably is a sandwich inside a baguette - also delicious. They are like the Mexican's and their tortillas.

I drank a pot of coffee, which would prove to be troublesome later, grabbed my bag and headed for the train. Now that my Eurail pass has expired I have to buy a ticket each time I take the train. I know how the system works in the NL but ever since I got a ticket in Italy I told myself I would always go to the counter to get a ticket from a person so I don't mess up and get a huge fine again. I arrived with enough time but the line was long. Luckily for me I made it to the train with one minute to spare. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. The train was packed. I ended up standing the entire way to Paris, but it was only about an hour and a half so it wasn't the worst thing to happen. Mostly I read, although I was super nauseous for the first little while, too much coffee mixed with little food (let's just be honest France, a baguette and a croissant isn't enough to fill anyone up in the morning!) plus a hot packed train car had my stomach turning.

So otherwise everything went well, and it was nice because I arrived shortly after 10am. I made my way to another station that both be on the metro line that I would take to get to the airport and have somewhere for me to leave my luggage. Eventually, after a series of metro stations I stepped out onto the streets of Paris. J'adore!

I arrived at a train station very close to Notre Dame so I swung by there and then generally wandered from there to the Arc de Triomphe. It is basically a 5km a straight line, it takes you by the Louve, through some nice park areas, where you could if you wanted to get some delicious pastries, and then up the Champs-Elysees. While walking down Champs-Elysees there was some sort of commotion at the Adidas store, there were people with cameras, bodyguards, etc, but as far as I could tell, there weren't enough people eagerly mulling about for it to be anyone really that cool. Naturally I walked on.

Eventually I made it to my destination and at 1:30 I decided I needed to head back to the station, grab my bag, and catch the train to the airport. I didn't actually know how long this process would take and there was no way I was going to miss that flight!

Generally, I just wished I had time to really experience the city. Both times that I've been there now it has been rushed and doesn't really give a fair feeling for the city. Also this time there were so many more scammer kids around asking for money. Gah! Leave me alone!

Total it took about an hour, but with checking in, security and everything I wasn't too overly early. The flight was rather uneventful, mostly I kept on with Kafka on the Shore (man that book is crazy!) before arriving in a country where English is the native language! I didn't have to feel like a fool paying for a bottle of water and not knowing how much it was. I will admit, I just about forgot to get pounds out. Also, for interest sake, it has happened, I have been converting back to euros instead of dollars; it really became clear in Croatia. What'll I do when I go home?

So I caught a bus into the city centre of Edinburgh and tried to follow the directions written down on the website and what I could remember from when I looked at GoogleMaps. It didn't go so well. I got lost, well not really lost, I just didn't know what I was looking for. Then it started to rain. After I had tried three directions, naturally it had to be the fourth way, and it was. Upon checking in I realized why it had such amazing reviews on the hosteling website, it isn't so much that it is awesome because it is so nice, more it is one of those cheap hostels that everyone loves because it is a party house. *sigh* Not like this is a bad thing, it is easy to meet people and everyone is friendly, but I just love my quiet nights in my double bed in a hotel room. Maybe that makes me a recluse? I don't even mind hostels that are clean and neat, these ones look like transient hippies live in them. In fact I think that the people who love these hostels are hippies, or at least want-to-be-hippies. I clearly, am not.

Anyways, there is a cheap bed and I am only here for a few nights so I'll deal with it. It is ideally located. Tomorrow I'm thinking I'll stick to the city and see the sights, it is a really beautiful and I look forward to exploring it. I'm hoping to get out to see some Scottish countryside Saturday and then we'll see what I get up to Sunday.

It is so much more north here that it stays light out for a considerable amount of time. It is 10:30 and still quite dusky. All this traveling in one day, an early rise, sporadic eating schedule, an hour time difference, and the sun still up has my body all confused. I haven't had dinner but it is already 10:30 and I want to go to bed; thinking about being in Rouen seems like day ago. Here's hoping I don't need my earplugs in the middle of the night :)

Not The Breast Summer Ever!

I heard about this radio contest (AMP Radio 90.3) the other day from a friend of mine. I have to say initially I had a jaw dropping reaction to it. Since then I've been mulling it over a lot. The premise is, you post a photo and write a blurb about why you deserve to win the augmentation, finalists are selected and voted on by the public, the individual with the most votes wins.

Here is what I've come up with:

• First of all I think that plastic surgery, if done for the right reasons, can be a positive thing
• If you think about it, I had braces, braces which straightened my teeth to make my smile substantially prettier, at least that is what we value right? A set of straight pearly whites? And I will 100% say that getting braces helped my self confidence and made me feel better about myself
• We consider braces a normal thing, a procedure that changes what we were born with into something considered more socially acceptable and beautiful
• So from that stand point I think that should someone get a little bit of plastic surgery to change something, say a giant nose, that they are constantly self-conscious of, and it would substantially increase their happiness and give them a positive self image, who am I to say no
• In that same vein I feel that breast implants can be a positive thing, if you feel you would be happier with a little bit of a bigger cup than why not, right?
• My problem with this contest lies in the fact that it isn't really supporting the idea of surgery after long personal reflection
• My problem is, it seems to present the idea that the only way to have the 'best summer ever' is win bigger breasts, the focus is all wrong
• Maybe that is just semantics
• I don't feel like I can judge and tell everyone who gets plastic surgery that they are wrong, but I think it has to be done in an intelligent way and quite frankly, this doesn't seem very intelligent to me
• To me, this just seems like an easy way to sell sex and place the wrong emphasis on what is important, because clearly the 'best thing ever' would be winning bigger breasts *rolleyes*
• Then again, I wonder if anyone who wasn't already considering a breast augmentation would apply to this contest anyways
• I guess overall I just feel like it sends the wrong message about where we place our values
• Maybe they should do a contest whereby I could win $10,000 to put towards my education? Have I gone too far, did I cross the nerd line?

What do you think? I would appreciate your thoughts :)