Birthday Week!!

So last week was my birthday and it was a fantastic birthday week! Tuesday night Marlo took me to stay in what was basically a castle. Her parents stayed there their last two night here and had a third night free that they could not use since they were heading home, so instead of letting it go to waste Marlo decided she would take me there for my birthday :) The place was called Adare Manor, which we were informed is different then a castle cause castles are meant to keep people out whereas manors invite people in. The place was absolutely beautiful. Marlo's parents arranged for a car to take us to and from school to the manor. Tuesday night we checked in and settled, then we went for a swim in the pool. After our swim we did some homework, yes we did homework on our little get away from school. Then we snuggled in bed with some hot chocolate and Bailey's and watched a movie. And of course Marlo made me take a shot at midnight for my birthday lol. The next day we got a free Irish breakfast and then did a little wandering around the grounds and golf course to take pictures of castle and Abbey ruins.  Can you imagine golfing on a course that was also home to these beautiful ruins? Well that's what the Irish get everyday.  So on my birthday I got to see some gorgeous ruins and then that afternoon I treated myself to a bit of a shopping spree. You see I needed some summer clothes for our trip to Italy, and since it was my birthday I figured it was ok to buy myself some new outfits :) My birthday night the girls all surprised me with a make-shift cake complete with candles and they even had balloons blown up and some party hats for everyone. I love those girls. We had a good night together and they helped me have an excellent birthday even though I wasn't able to celebrate it with those I love back home. I did have a rough morning the next day though ;)
To conclude my birthday week I spent the weekend in Scotland! Me and Marlo had to catch a bus at 1am to get to Dublin for our 6:30am flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. We landed in Scotland around 7:30am and found our way to the hostel. Friday consisted of playing on a playground in Princes St. Garden (yes we were 22 year olds playing on a playground, I think we were a bit overtired at this point, but it was a fun time!), a walking tour around Edinburgh which was really nice we got to see some gorgeous buildings and learned a lot of the history of the city. I loved Edinburgh city, well at least the old town, it was made of all old gothic style architecture, simply gorgeous. After our walking tour we caught a train to Glasgow, we were told by everyone that we had to go to Glasgow. Well after arriving at Glasgow we couldn't really figure out why everyone said we HAD to go there, although it was cold and rainy so it might just have been that we didn't want to spend the time walking outside to see the sights.  Anyways we decided to walk down what seemed to be the main road, Style Mile, and while walking we were seeing a lot of shoe stores. Marlo and me looked at each other and instantly decided that the afternoon was going to simply consist of shoe shopping, a decision we were both very satisfied with. By the end of the day we both had a new pair of shoes :) We then had an absolutely amazing meal at a pizza place in Glasgow. It was probably hands down one of the best meals I've had here, a chicken pizza and then a slice of apple pie of dessert, both were to die for! Once we got back to Glasgow we decided to just chill at the hostel, which was a real cool place. They had free internet, games, and even a really nice movie room. Saturday we did a tour of the Highlands, the tour complete with a guide wearing a kilt :) The highland were beautiful, the day consisted of gorgeous snow covered mountains and lochs. Eventually we made it to the famous Loch Ness, where we took a boat tour to go on a search for Nessie. Sadly we were unable to find the girl, but we did get to see the beautiful surroundings of Loch Ness. It was a very long day so once we got back to Edinburgh we were ready for a warm place to eat some traditional Scotish haggis. Me and Marlo decided to share an appetizer portion of the haggis, we both decided we really enjoyed it and would definitely eat it again. For those of you who don't know what haggis is, it's basically every other part of the lambs insides that doesn't go towards the traditional cuts of meat. I know sounds gross but it was surprisingly good. After diner we were going to do a ghost tour of Edinburgh but it was still raining and we had a long day so we decided to just hang out at the hostel again. We ended up watching two movies with a lot of very cool people and actually met and were roommates with two guys from Milwaukee. Sunday we walked the shops a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. By one o'clock we were on our way back to Ireland. The reminder of the day was spent on the bus from Dublin to Limerick. I swear have our days when we travel are spent on buses, so much so that I'm pretty sure we have been conditioned to fall asleep whenever we are on a bus now. So yeah overall it was a great birthday week here in Ireland! Scotland was magnificent, a bit cold but nonetheless a beautiful country. Now this weekend we are starting our big week long trip starting with our flight out to London early tomorrow morning. We are starting with two days in London, then we'll fly to Venice and spend a day there, then on to Florence for a day, and lastly three days in Rome! We'll be flying home next Friday and have actually decided to spend the night in Belfast. Since that is the one place in Ireland we haven't seen yet, and they are the home of the Titanic, we decided to extend our trip for a day and make our way up there right from Dublin. So my next blog won't be for a while but it will be on a lot!

Adare Manor

This is what they get to golf next to!

Edinburgh Castle

Scot's Memorial in Edinburgh

The Highlands

It's Nessie!!!

Oh and on a side note, I got some very exciting news last night. I was accepted into the Veterinary School at University of Minnesota!!! I'm still hoping to get into Madison, but at least now I know that I definitely have a spot at my second choice school!!