Finally an update!

So sorry it has taken me so long to post on here!  Not having internet has been a real pain.  I never realized how dependent on it I was until I didn’t have it for a week.  In a foreign country.  With no idea of where I was going.  Long story short I now have internet at the house and am no longer suffering technology withdrawal.  So here is a quick recap of what’s been going on.

Wednesday:  We left for the Philly airport after saying goodbye to my grandparents.  At the airport we had drinks thanks to Scott and Sue (though the cosmo was not a good as a Scott-mo).  I met a wonderful lady at the bar who is from Northern Scotland and we had a nice chat before boarding the plane.  The flight was good I suppose, but I can’t seem to sleep while sitting up right.  Not that I would have been able to really sleep anyway.  Here are some pics of the descent into Glasgow.  Everything is so green!!

Thursday:  We arrived in Glasgow around 8am and went through customs.  I am so glad I brought all the supporting documents for my visa otherwise I may not have made it in.  After clearing customs we walked around the airport a little and ran into two police officers that were chit –chatting.  While holding GIANT machine guns.  Welcome to Glasgow, eh?  I decided it would be best NOT  to get a picture of them.  We took a taxi to the house and met up with the landlord and got my keys.  The house is great!  The previous tenants (also vet students) left us so much stuff including a printer, books, notes, and everything a kitchen could need.  Except a coffee maker.  Oh well.  We ended up walking around the block to the Pound Stretcher store and Morrisons and got groceries and stuff for my room.

Friday: We decided to be adventurous and take the train down to the city.  I really feel like I am starting to get the hang of this!  We walked around central Glasgow and I absolutely fell in love with all the architecture there.  While walking around, we came across George’s Square.  However, it was blocked off by big black gates and there were all sorts of cranes, emergency vehicles and other things around.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the ambulance was from Philadelphia.  Turns out they are filming a movie called World War Z.  It is a zombie movie featuring Brad Pitt.  Throughout the week we wandered around and saw them filming and might have even seen him!

Looks like we're not in Glasgow anymore, Toto.





The real street lights look nothing like this and are far more complicated.  Let's just say that pedestrians do not have the right of way. . .



The filming notice.  Not quite sure why they picked Glasgow to film instead of Philly. . .



Saturday:  Another trip into the city where I got my new phone on the orange plan.  I have some free international minutes so I can keep in touch.  In our adventures around Glasgow we visited the cathedral, the Kelvingrove museum, the St. Mungo’s museum and the necropolis. The necropolis is a grave yard that has a great view of the city. We also visited the modern art museum.  Outside of the Museum of Modern art is a statue of the Duke of Wellington.  From what I've heard, teenagers used to place an orange traffic cone on his head every night only to be taken down by police in the morning.  Now they just keep it on 24/7.

Entry to the Kelvingrove museum.  A lot of fun with many hands on exhibits.

Kelvingrove area.  So pretty.

Duke Wellington with his trusty steed and traffic cone accessory.





We’ve accomplished so many things in the past few days.  We had amazing Spanish tapas (even practiced my fading Spanish with the waitress.  My Portuguese is much better right now).  We wandered around central Glasgow and Byres road in the West End.  We also visited the vet school (met up with the lovely ladies who have helped me through everything from student loans, to UK bank account and visas) and the main university and picked up some sweatshirts.  The main university is AMAZING!  It truly looks like Hogwarts.  Hard to imagine I’ll be there for classes twice a week.

My new vest.

The river and Lock 27: the unofficial vet school pub.

I'll be taking double decker busses to the main campus twice a week.

Cloisters on the quad.

The main university.

We also took a trip down to Edinburgh by train and explored the castle. The best way to get there would be to travel off peak and in groups.  They give some pretty great discounts.  We also headed down to see the Elephant House café.  Anyone know what it is?

Hint:

Yes, I'm a nerd.

We visited the Edinburgh cathedral and walked around for several hours.  The café we stopped in for lunch was pretty cool.  They had 50 different flavored vodkas.  I tried a drink with lemon and lavender vodka that tasted like nerds candy.

View of the castle from the ground.

There was a festival in Edinburgh with street performers.  This is a balloon Loch Ness monster.

A man on a super tall unicycle.  Enough said.

To end this rambling post, I am working on uploading photos to a site and linking it here for easier viewing of additional pics.  Until next time, Cheers!