Photo Essay of My Travels: Part One

I'm calling this a photo essay in honor of Eleni (who used that word more times then I could count while I was visiting her). Because I have so many pictures, I'm going to separate them into 3 parts: Edinburgh, Berlin, and Maastricht. That way I can space out my posts to pretend like I'm writing more often then I am.

The view from Hannah's room. She lives in a flat with 4 other girls (I think I have that right) and a squatter from New Jersey. It was great to wake up on the first full day of my vacation to see that there were all sorts of things to explore outside.

We never did figure out this outfit, which all the little girls in Edinburgh seemed to be wearing. I was really curious as to what made all their parents let them wear pink wigs. But I'm serious, every little girl I saw during my visit was dressed like that. I think that Grace, Angell and Ellie would go crazy over something like that.
Just a typical street in the old town, where both Hannah and Doug live.

Tourist trap. Funny that it's really common for people to dress up as Mel Gibson and not as the actual historical guy he was portraying in Brave Heart (Mom, I know you loved that movie, especially all the violence!)

Enjoying the sights from the walls outside the castle.

The Edinburgh Castle, on the edge of a huge cliff over looking the city. Pretty incredible. We just stayed on the outside though, because you have to pay to go in and from all accounts the outside is much better. And we're cheap.

Aurthur's Seat, right in Edinburgh. Unfortunately it was too windy to climb while I was there. It was so strange for me to see big hills with nothing on them after being in Paris for so many weeks. There are hills in Paris, but they're covered in houses and churches and apartment buildings. I think that that's why I loved Scotland so much, because on the train ride and during my visit, there was so much natural beauty everywhere (you may call me sappy, but it's true!).

Just more proof of how windy Scotland is. I had a hard time standing up along the railing and taking a picture at the same time because the wind was blowing so strongly that it kept pushing me over

Coffee and tea in the coffee shop where J.K.Rowling started to write Harry Potter. How exciting.

Hannah's birthday dinner, made with love. We decided on comfort food, so we made macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and Becky (the girl on the right, a Madisonite studying in Edinburgh) made a delicious salad. It was a wonderful way to spend my final evening in Scotland and to celebrate Hannah turning 21.

Those are just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took in Edinburgh, but really, who wants to see all those. When I get back, Nad and Keith, you can have a slide show. I will post the next 2 sets of photos soon. Miss you all and hope that March finds you well and happy.
Love,
Liza