The last few days.

Nothing as exciting as the last few months has happened over the last few days.

I voted, which was pretty cool. My very first postal vote!

And I spent today at Jardin Publique, just reading and doing sudoku. The weather was beautiful. It's hit its lovely time now. Not too hot anymore, and not cold enough to not wear shorts everyday. I think it will stay like this for the rest of September, and then head slowly back down to the negatives.

I'm on the home stretch now. I start back at uni on the 16th, and have a few enrolment and orientation things before that. But, once I start back, I'll have 14 weeks, I think, maybe 15, and then it's almost home time!

And my new housemate moved in today. Léa is moving to Chester, in the UK, on erasmus for a year. She leaves mid-September, but the new girl has already moved in. She's a friend of Léa's so I'd met her a few times before. And she doesn't speak any English, which will be interesting and fun!
I also bought my first bundle of fabric today. I went in looking for some jersey and came out with some printed cotton. Not what I was expecting, but the print is cool, I just couldn't pass it up. I've been itching to sew all year, so I'll just have to get to hand sewing now!

Printed fabric all round!

Jardin Public

Between blogging.

In between blogging my merry adventures of the UK, I'm just giving a quick update.

After spending 3 weeks with Nat in July, I now eat bucket loads of mushrooms.
And, after the 19 days in the UK, I now drink bucket loads of tea.

Other than that, everything is back to normal. I spent this morning washing, grocery shopping and cleaning. And buying piles and piles of fruit. My fridge shelf is so full some of my fruit is sitting on the bench. Sometime between me leaving for the UK and returning, France has exploded with fruit other than apples, pears, oranges and kiwi fruit. So I bought it all.

Day Eighteen and Nineteen. London.

Day Eighteen was mainly spent on a train. We farewelled our comrades who were continuing to Ireland in the morning, and three of us headed to the train station. It was a 5 hour trip from Glasgow back to London. I periodically slept, but the scenery when I was awake was great. That afternoon, I checked in to my hotel, got some free wifi, grabbed some food from a Tesco and had an early night in. I was exhausted! But not exhausted enough to not watch Harry Potter on TV! It's so much more exciting watching it when you're in London. I forget as well, but one of the places we went to on the tour, Dartford Tunnel in Liverpool, was where they filmed a scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One, where Harry and Hagrid go spinning through a tunnel. 

The next morning I had a sleep in, and when I got up, went exploring in the British Museum. Mum and I had gone to the BM last time we were in London, but only went to see a few things. It's too massive to explore the entire museum in one day anyway, but I kind of wizzed through, seeing all sorts of interesting and old stuff. 

I then headed back to the hotel, collected my stuff, and made the trek to the airport for a 7:30pm flight home (the same flight I got when I was leaving mum 2 months earlier).

All-in-all an amazing trip!

Day Seventeen. Stirling and Glasgow.

This was the last full day of the tour, as I was finishing in Glasgow. About 15 of us were finishing, while the others were continuing onto Ireland.
In the morning, we headed to Stirling, where William Wallace fought his most famous battle; 'The Battle of Stirling Bridge'. We explored Stirling Castle, built by James V, and the had some time for lunch. The castle was, frankly, a little disappointing for how expensive it was to get in. It was 12,50 pounds, and had been almost completely renovated on the inside so it wasn't that old at all. The outside was original, but a lot of the ceiling had been repainted and wood panels had been revarnished and stuff, so it didn't look that worn. It was still interesting to see though.
After, I headed into town for lunch. It was a bit of a hike downhill but worth it. I found a small café and ordered a baguette, forgetting that I wasn't in France. It was a bit disappointing... haha
We then jumped back on the bus and headed to the Wallace monument on the opposite hill where Wallace had gathered his men just before the battle. It has a great view back over the town.
On our way into Glasgow, we stopped at a small rest stop and saw some Highland Cows up close. They're really funny, and a bit dumb, but so cool to look at. I don't think they can actually see you though...
I don't have any photos of Glasgow unfortunately. It looks like a regular town though, almost a bit like Sydney, if not a little older. But there wasn't anything particularly exciting about it, so I didn't grab any photos. I walked into town when we go there and grabbed some afternoon tea/dinner, and then went back and napped at the hotel. As it was the last day away, I was pretty tired, and we were all going out that night, so I didn't want to be dead!
We started out at a less crowded bar for some drinks and then onto a more rowdier night club. It was awesome! Such a great night as the last one out.

Stirling Castle

Great Hall

Painted ceilings 

Highland cows!

Last night out in Glasgow!

Rosie, Stella, me and Caitlin

Day Sixteen. Isle of Skye.

Today was a day I've been looking forward to for a while. We drove into the Scottish Highlands, which, apart from Turkey, was the place I've really wanted to go this year.

It was so beautiful, words can't describe, so I'm not going to try. Photos don't even do the landscape justice, and the history that's involved! We stopped in the morning at Eilean Donan castle. It's on an island surrounded by three different lochs. We had amazing weather for it, so it was warm when we visited. It's still privately owned, so it's kept in good condition.

We crossed on the Isle of Skye for lunch. So many waterfalls! I think I mentioned this before, but I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life! And beautiful waterfalls, and stoney rapids. Awesome! We stopped at Portee for lunch, a small village on the island. It was realllyyy small, but still lovely. On the coast, it was a nice fishing village.

In the afternoon, on the way to our hotel, we stopped at the Commando monument and war memorial. The commandos were the Scottish equivalent of the SAS during the war, and the monument looks over the place where they trained, a massive forest landscape. From the monument, we also got a great view of Ben Nevis, the highest point in Britain. It was a bit cloudy by now, but we still got a good idea of how big it was.

Getting to our hotel, we were staying at a homey hotel right on the bay of a bigger fishing village, Oban. I went to a seafood restaurant with a few of the girls for dinner. It was the nicest fish I've ever eater!

After, we headed out for some Scottish dancing at a club type thing. Super fun!

Passing into the Highlands

Some of the scenery

Eilean Donan Castle

Passing onto the Isle of Skye

Portee, Isle of Skye

Commando Monument, not on the Isle of Skye

Ben Nevis to the right

Commando war memorial