I’ve been really busy lately and last time I wrote an update it didn’t save. So here’s what’s happened in my life in the past two months.
Shortly after my last update, I took a disappointing trip to Manchester. It was disappointing for a couple of reasons. The first is that the driver hit a large bird on the way and shattered the windshield. As a result of hitting the bird we had to go in the opposite direction of Manchester about thirty minutes and then we had to wait for a replacement bus. This ended up making us two hours late reaching Manchester. Because we were two hours late, we didn’t get our tour of Old Trafford which is the stadium that Manchester United plays in. Instead, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a decent museum but, not good enough to make up for events earlier in the day. The museum did have planes and trains on display though. The pictures from this trip weren’t any good and, so I won’t post them here.
After this trip, I only ventured out of Sunderland to Newcastle a couple of times. During this time, I finished my space law class. The professor told me I passed but, I wasn’t ready for the class to be over. A few days after this, Spring break started.
To start off spring break, I sat on a bus for 26 hours. It was worth it though when we finally reached Val Thorens in the French Alps. I don’t have many pictures from this trip but, here are the ones that I do have.
View from the hotel we were staying at.
![IMG_20160324_162805[1]](https://i2.wp.com/patrickinsunderland.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_20160324_1628051.jpg?resize=300%2C225)
Picture from the top of the mountain.
![IMG_20160324_163508[1]](https://i2.wp.com/patrickinsunderland.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_20160324_1635081.jpg?resize=225%2C300)
A steep section on a red that I boarded down (Would likely have been a black in Colorado).
A top of the mountain Selfie.
When it snows at Val Thorens, Visibility goes down to zero. This was taken on a slope that would normally take 5 minutes to get down but, instead took us 45 minutes to get down.
Then at the end of the week, I sat on the bus again for another 26 hours.
A couple of days after I got back from Val Thorens, I left for Edinburgh in Scotland. I took a lot more pictures on this trip.
On the way there I sat in First class on the train because, it only cost me about 3 pounds extra and included free food and drinks.
First Class menu.
After settling in at the guest house that I stayed at, I ventured back out to the Camera Obscura in the city centre. I walked 1.5 miles each way three times that day. The first three pictures below are of Edinburgh from the top floor of the Camera Obscura.
Edinburgh Castle as seen from the Camera Obscura
Another picture taken at the Camera Obscura.
After visiting the Camera Obscura, I went back to the guest house for the night. The next morning, I started off by going to Costa Coffee by Waverly station for breakfast.
There’s a frog in my Coffee!
Next, I purchased tickets for the hop-on, hop-off bus which also included tickets for Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia and, the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Then I rode the bus to Edinburgh Castle. The below pictures were taken from the castle.
I was at the castle for about three hours touring all of the museums (There’s a bunch of them) on site. I also saw the one o’clock gun fire while I was there. An interesting thing about the castle is that it is an active castle. Due to this there is a military unit permanently stationed in the barracks there. Next, I rode the bus to the edge of town where I visited the Royal Yacht Britannia.
View from the bridge of the ship.
The queen’s room on board (yes, that is only a single bed).
The officer’s dining room.
Dining room used by the queen and her guests (Bill Clinton once dined at this table).
Boat used by the queen to visit the shore.
The royal yacht was decommissioned in the late 90’s and was not replaced. While it was in active use, it traveled enough miles to equate to rounding the Earth. There was also a crew of over 250 military personnel on board while it was in operation.
After visiting the yacht, I again went back to the guest house for the night. The following morning, I got up and hiked to the peak of Arthur’s seat.
25% of the way there.
Looking toward the top from the same place.
70% of the way there. I stopped here and ate my lunch/breakfast.
View from the top.
Edinburgh Castle from the top.
Palace of Holyroodhouse from the top.
Getting to the top only took me about 45 minutes. I went up the steep side which was, well, steep. Then I went down the easier way which took me 20 minutes. It let me out at my destination of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The video below shows the distance that I walked from the peak. Surprisingly that point is only about 1.5 miles away.
After reaching the bottom, I toured the palace. The palace is where the queen and the royal family stay when they visit Scotland. Most of the palace was excluded from the tour and instead older parts were included. Everything was off limits to photography therefore, I do not have any pictures from the palace. Next, I went to the Edinburgh Dungeon (not actually a dungeon just a tourist destination). For dinner I went to a sports bar that had a tv at every table. After dinner, I went back to the guest house for the night.
The next day, I got an early start so that I could make it to my tour to the highlands and Loch Ness. The first bus I flagged didn’t stop and almost made me late. Most of the day, I spent in a van looking at the scenery. Our first stop was Loch Lubnaig.
Then we made a bunch more stops for photos.
Finally we made it to Loch Ness. I didn’t spend much time down on the lake though because, in the middle of the town we were in there was a canal system. I watched the boats pass through for a while which, wasn’t very photogenic and then I went to take pictures of Loch Ness.
After we left Loch Ness, we stopped at a bunch more places for photos on the way back to Edinburgh.
When I got back to the guest house, I packed to go back to Sunderland which, only took me 10 minutes to do (Traveling with 1 backpack is amazing). Then I went to bed. The next day, I rode the train back to Sunderland except this time I was in standard class. This meant a lot of screaming kids on the train.
I haven’t done much in the few days that I’ve been back so far. On Tuesday, I’m going to go see like four movies in the theater since it’s half price on Tuesdays here. Then on Wednesday, my flatmates and, I are going to have a taco night for my birthday. Maybe, I’ll update sooner than last time. If I wait exactly another two months again then I’ll be getting on a plane back to the states.
