A wee trip to the land of Cadbury candy and kilts

I left Copenhagen on last Wednesday's warm and sunny morning.  I do have some posts from the trip but I will try to do another overview because it was such a great trip and totally deserves more than one recognition in the infamous blog.  My cousin Hannah (whose blog link is on the right side of your screen!) is studying at University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland.  To get to her, I flew to London, transfered flights, flew to Glasgow, took a bus to the train station, took a train to Dundee.  Approximately 12 hours after I left my Copenhagen house I saw my beautiful red-haired cousin (I say this because I can tell it is definitely Hannah from far away by the hair :)
After our heartwarming reunion in the Dundee train station, we walked arm in arm through her campus towards her flat.  She made me a wonderful dinner and then we got ready for a night of dancing.

lækkert! (delicious in dansk)

The official "Rachel is in Scotland!" photo

A night at the Union (campus student center) with Hannah's friends! 

Thursday Hannah let me sleep in while she went to class and then we walked around downtown Dundee in the beautiful weather, did a little shopping and got Cadbury egg McFlurries! (Only in the UK, I suppose!) They tasted just like a Cadbury creme egg broken up into ice cream...which equals very delicious!  We basked in the sun and savoured them.

What a pretty day in Scotland!

McFlurry model pose :)

Mmmm!

Square with fountains and other lovely things

Safe to say we are the coolest Iowa cousins in Dundee?  I think so!

More of the pretty square.  

We did a little grocery shopping after our afternoon on the town; we had to buy ingredients so we could make dishes for the potluck that evening!  I made pasta with veggies and parmesan cheese and Hannah made a delectable fruit salad.  Hannah and her two friends have a "heart-warming family potluck" once a week and this week they were kind enough to include me and a bunch of their other friends so we had a bountiful table of food and lots of great company.  The event of the evening, before the pot luck, was a Zumba class taught by yours truly!  8 or so of us gathered in the living room of Hannah's flat and spent an hour dancing away some calories.  Waka waka by Shakira was a big hit, as it always is.  We worked up a sweat and were good and hungry for the delicious food awaiting us.

After dinner and cleaning up a bit, we went out for a pint.  Han does this a lot with her friends and I can now see why.  It is very hyggeligt.  We just sat for an hour or so, sipping our beer, chatting, observing our surroundings and relaxing.  Can't get much better than that.

Tennents...very Scottish and quite good. 

Friday was the day of our big adventure to St. Andrews.  After Hannah's morning class we caught a bus and rode the short 20 minute ride over to the old town of St. Andrews, where one of my wonderful Knox friends, Bess Cooley, is studying.  It was so nice to have a "local" to meet up with in places like this because she knew where to take us and what was cool to see in the area, especially since we only had a few hours there.  We explored the Cathedral ruins...which are ruins because the townspeople took the cathedral stones to build the city....not because of wear and tear, which I thought was fascinating.  

Here are the photo highlights from our day; hopefully they show what a great time we had!

On the bus ride 

Cathedral

There is the castle Bess Cooley can see from her dorm...what a great view!

Love these classy looking buildings.

Beautiful cupcake store!

Bess Cooley and myself!

I take my hacky-sack everywhere I go. I just so happened to have a chance to play in one of the parks. 

Ha! Oh Scotland :P

Friday night was another awesome night of dancing (they are very good at that in Scotland!) and then as quickly as it started, it was already my last day :( 

From that cute cupcake shop in St. Andrews!  This was eaten at 2:15 am...and it was delicious. 

My flight to London left Edinburgh at 5:00 pm so Hannah and I hopped on a train at Dundee around 9:30 and then we spent the day together in Edinburgh.  We did a lot of walking around, looking in funny little stores, watching street performers and enjoying our time together as much as possible.  Thank goodness we get to see each other in 2 weeks in Barcelona because otherwise that good-bye outside the bus (which already included at least 4 hugs) would've been a lot more emotional.  I can't deny shedding a few tears, but I was just so happy I got to spend time with Han in Dundee.  It was a super experience.  

Going to Edinburgh!

A close.  Close sounds so much classier than alley.  Scotland has many closes.

I think this looks like a brain. How awesome is that?

Kilts!!

The cafe where J.K Rowling started writing Harry Potter.  We were standing in the midst of history.  

The Castle!

Edinburgh from a high vantage point by the castle.

We are twinsies!

After our sad goodbye, Hannah spent a few more hours in Edinburgh and I took a bug to the airport, where I flew to London.  My flight was full of drunk Scots...most of whom were wearing kilts.  I can't imagine a more entertaining (although somewhat obnoxious) way to say farwell to Scotland.  I spent the night in a swanky hotel right next to the airport, then woke up early (4:30 am!) to travel back home.  

I have to say, I slept most of the flights during this trip because I was so very tired after all of our dancing and walking around cities, but I love flying so much.  My favorite part is taking off and getting to see what looks like a miniature model of the city you were just in.  It's great to get a bird's eye view of places you have been-- it's a great way to compare the overall look and feel of distinctly different cities such as Milan and Edinburgh.  Both beautiful, but in completely different ways.  

I think I have to wrap up my blogging party for tonight.  I need to get some sleep because I have a massive room clean planned for tomorrow morning.  I am hoping it is sunny and that I can fling open my windows and feel the spring air...I'll cross my fingers as I sleep!

As always, thanks for following my adventures :)

Love to all!