The Weekend Getaway

King's "Reading Week" ended on a good note, as I travelled about three hours to Newcastle in Northern England to spend the weekend on a trip with other USC students studying abroad in the United Kingdom. The trip started when the train rolled into the Newcastle-upon-Tyne station, and I met up with Adriane, Eric, and fellow USC student Grant as we caught the city early and explored until meeting up with the rest of the group for dinner at a Chinese buffet. While exploring, we saw the shopping district, the not-so-new castle keep and Black Gate, various churches such as St. Nicholas Cathedral and St. Andrew's, and the beautiful Millenium Bridge. Pictured below is another famous Newcastle site, the Grey Monument. Dedicated to Earl Grey, the earl who the tea flavor is named after!

Another beautiful clear sky, this time over the historic streets of Newcastle.

On the Millenium Bridge looking out over the Tyne River.

Our first night in the city was a rather full one, as the entire USC crowd gathered into a pub nearby and experienced Newcastle culture in the best way possible - ale! Newcastle Brown Ale, to be exact. Although the actual Newcastle brewery has apparently moved to Scotland in recent years, we tried the drink named after the city where it was created, and to my own surprise I found an alcoholic beverage that I actually liked enough to order again! Finally!

Adriane and I continued the night in style by going out to a club called he O2 Academy. Friday nights this is the place to be, as the club was jumpin' jumpin' - literally, there was a bounce house in the main club room! And on the top floor it got even better - a program called "Where Angels Play" where small indie rock bands come and put on concerts in a small but comfortable venue. Adriane and I had such a great time here, listening to the live music or dancing to "Riverside" by Dutch DJ Sidney Samson - which is such a big deal in the UK, by the way. Some of my friends from London have these hilarious arm motions when they dance to this song in the clubs, and although the Americans have yet to learn it, that doesn't stop us from trying to follow along!

So this is love... Adriane and I with our Newcastle Brown Ale!

After we took a walking tour of the city the next morning, Adriane and I met with more things to learn by way of the Newcastle United football team chants! The whole USC crowd got to go to a Newcastle game courtesy of USC, and it was such a riveting experience - being a few of the crowd yelling at the team and heartily singing their team chants, full of pride for their sport and country. The sea of black, white, and blue colored shirts combined with the slurred accents of Newcastle supporters wearing them made the game an event to remember. Of course we had no idea what the chants were - we can barely understand the Newcastle accent when one person was speaking slowly to us on the street - but that didn't seem to matter a whole lot. When we researched it later we found out it basically boiled down to lots of swearing, no shocker there.

Nadine and I at the N.U.F.C. stadium!

We got out of the game at around 5 and headed directly to a nice dinner at the Strada, an Italian restaurant perfectly situated outside the football stadium. I had a steak (thanks, USC!), and I can't even tell you how happy I was to not have bread in a meal for once. Bread and I are definitely in a love-hate relationship right now, and I think we need some time away from each other in order to sort out our differences.

"You are uniformally charming!" - Mr. Collins proposing to Lizzie,

at the Theatre Royal production of Pride and Prejudice

And then it happened. The last part of the schedule for our USC-at-Newcastle Saturday was to attend a play adaptation of Jane Austen's prized novel, Pride and Prejudice, while it was in its last night playing at Newcastle. Those of you that know me, know that this would be the epitome of the trip, regardless of the quality of the show. As Eric so eloquently stated on our way to dinner, "Jenna, I think with this show, you will either hate it, or love it... or maybe you will hate some parts and love others." Nadine and I gave him a hard time about that one for the rest of the night, but he ended up being right. The play was so tiring to watch because it literally felt like a marathon - tons of intricate storylines and character relationships compacted into a two hour story with scene changes and awkward humor thrown in - but the actress who played Elizabeth Bennet was good, and the way they handled the letters in the plot worked well. My main disappointment was that they only had Mary in the first scene, and never again - it was like she disappeared from the storyline, and therefore never got to display her talents at the Netherfield ball! Or pine after Mr. Collins! And Mr. Darcy was a little too giddy for my tastes... okay I'm going to stop short since half of you are probably asleep already.

We turned in to the hostel after the play and played Uno while eating cake from a nearby cafe and making toast at the hostel (hence my current aversion to bread). We woke up the next day and had a traditional English breakfast, after which the USC kids started to splinter off, as some had to head back to their respective universities at different times. Adriane and I stayed until after dinner, giving us ample amounts of time to shop at the Sunday markets and go to the Baltic contemporary art house - which was probably the highlight of the trip, as they had some funky displays there that we got to take pictures in front of. We got to the train station at around 6:30pm, when I found out that I had missed the last direct train to London by about fifteen minutes - so it was a mad dash to the train leaving in four minutes that included two changes, with one of the stops being Cambridge. It was too dark to see any of the area, but it was a nice little reminder of another place I need to visit before my time studying abroad in England is over. I got into my dorm at around one in the morning, so the whole return trip ended up being at least two and half hours longer than the trip to Newcastle - lesson learned, do not rely on the pamphlets for the available train times, always check with the station directly!

This week marks my return to the wonderful world of King's College and class - I have my first paper due on Friday in my Intro to Christianity class, and I think I'm going to write about the early Christian church and the different councils that made decisions of doctrinal import to the history of Christianity. I'm excited, but also obviously need to get my act together and write the thing - taking pass/fail classes is not conducive to being motivated for schoolwork. The next couple weeks will be me laying low in England, and I'm looking forward to the rest and relaxation. Hope you all are doing well and being able to enjoy some form of rest and relaxation yourselves!

Chasing the Sun Through Madrid and Barcelona

I can't tell you how good it is to be back in good ol' Mother England again. As amazing as it has been traveling from London to all these new and exciting places, weekend after weekend, I have to admit that I'm getting a little worn out already. All of these experiences so far have been incredibly full and rewarding, even at their most stressful moments. I think my brain is about to explode from the reality of all of these different situations - anything from "Oh, I just took a two hour flight and somehow ended up in Madrid" to "I just saw Bosch's The Garden of Earhly Delights in person at the Prado, and it's not a 2x4 picture in an Art History text book to me anymore." They're a series of feelings that I can't describe very well except to say they're surreal. And I hate that I have to describe them that way, because what does that really mean, anyway? But there you have it.

Before the flamenco show at Casa Patas in Madrid.

My friend Melissa and I took an 8:30 am flight out of London to Madrid. Yes, you read that right. 8:30 in the morning. For those of you that know me, you know what an accomplishment that is. I decided that there was no way I would be going to sleep the night before, which turned out to be completely fine because I visited my friend Nadine as she celebrated a friend's birthday at the London club Fabric. By far the best all-nighter I've ever spent!

Melissa also decided to stay up the night before, so our first order of business upon arriving to Madrid was to get to our hostel and blend in with our host country by taking a proper "siesta." This plan got delayed, however, because about ten minutes into using the Madrid metro system to get to our hostel, I got pickpocketed! Yes, a traditional tourist experience for Jenna, woohoo... my entire wallet was stolen. I frantically called my dad to cancel my credit cards, and spent the next hour or so trying to communicate to the metro security guards and police officers in Spanish - which was a lot harder than I anticipated once I realized I hadn't brushed up on my Spanish lessons in over three years. It would have probably been a hilarious scenario had it not been me... and although it was incredibly inconvenient at the time, I'm thankful for a few things. One, most of my cash for the trip was in my backpack, so I had enough to use for the rest of the trip. Two, while the ruffian got my credit cards and driver's license, he left everything else in my purse untouched - including my passport (international crisis averted!), iPod, and student ID slash London travelcard. I'm also thankful that it happened at the onset of the trip because when I returned from my trip yesterday I had my new cards waiting for me in the mail, and if it had happened any other day I might not have come home to my replacement cards.

At the time though, I didn't really see a lot of the silver lining. I was pretty frustrated, both with the situation and myself for letting it happen. I spent most of the rest of the day dealing with the fallout of the incident (lots of phone calls, lots of stress), and consequently couldn't really enjoy the beautiful sunshine that Madrid welcomed us with. Melissa and I went to our hostel and I seriously just wanted to hide from the world and not do anything for the rest of the day... but luckily we didn't keep to that plan. Instead, Melissa and I went to a local bar for beer and tapas (traditional Spanish appetizers which turned out to be bread, potatoes, and some form of meat that translates to ham in English) once the evening started and followed it up with an authentic flamenco show at a renowned restaurant/stage called Casa Patas. The dancing and the musical accompaniment were both excellent, and it made me forget about the troubles of the past few hours, which was no easy task!

Plaza Mayor, complete with street flamenco performace.

The next day we woke up and decided that we would take advantage of our only full day in Madrid by taking a bus tour of the city. We started out from the Plaza Mayor and took both lines the bus had to offer, which drove past such sights as the Royal Palace and the Neptune Fountain leading up to the Prado Museum, pictured below. Melissa and I followed up on the bus tour by going to the Prado museum, where we stayed until closing. By far one of the most impressive museums I have ever been to as far as expansive collections go - they had some of the best works from some of the best artists - Goya, Velasquez, El Greco, Durer, Titian, Rembrandt, you name it they had it. Later that night we went with other students in Madrid hostels to some of the bars and clubs in the area for a little taste of Spanish nightlife... we got a deal with our hostel where we were able to try sangria and mojitos during the excursion, which added to the experience. The weird thing about going out at night in Spain is that, maybe in part due to the siestas everyone seems to take, people don't really start their nights until 2:30 am! Also, all of the bars we went to had people smoking all over the place, which in turn made all of our clothes and hair smell like smoke for the next day. So lesson is, Spanish partying is not for Jenna. But I'm glad I got to experience it when I did.

El Fuente de Neptuno - to the right of the picture is the world famous Prado Museum.

Our last day in Madrid was spent at the Reina Sofia modern museum, where we saw Picasso's Guernica among other pieces of relatively contemporary art. Not really my thing, but Spain really taught me to love Picasso since I also visited the Picasso Museum while in Barcelona. Not to jump ahead or anything, but while reading one of the wall panels in the room for Picasso's Blue Period, I found this quote:

"He discovered a type of literature in which sincerity is inseparable from pain; in which the art springs from sadness and suffering."

I really enjoyed the honesty in Picasso's work. He was always searching for new ways of expression, but he was always unapologetically himself.

And now for my other favorite thing about Spain... KIT KATS! I'm serious. I don't know what is different about Spanish chocolate, but it is phenomenal. I had so many Kit Kats on this trip, I don't even know what to do with myself. And while even the McDonald's are expensive in Spain, they had this great deal for a euro called the "Con Kit Kat" - basically a regular McDonald's vanilla ice cream cone with a Kit Kat stuck in the middle. Words fail. I would have taken a picture of it to document the evidence for you guys (yes I would waste a picture on this, it was that good), but around this time my camera also died. So the last two pictures you'll see are still from the first couple days of Madrid. We took some other pictures throughout the trip with Melissa's camera, so once I get my hands on those I will try to add them here or something.

We ended the evening by walking off my Con Kit Kat in the Parque de Buen Retiro, a gorgeous park with a few beutiful monuments and palaces sprinkled throughout. We headed back to our hostel to grab our things and take the overnight sleeper train to Barcelona, but not before stopping to admire the beginning of Madrid's Carnival celebration in the city street Gran Via.

Melissa and I on the sightseeing bus in Madrid. Look at that sol! No wait, don't look! Ahh!

We arrived in Barcelona at around 8 in the morning to find that Melissa's bag had been rummaged through in the middle of the night. Needless to say, she was not happy about this and we had to go through the whole ordeal again - finding security guards to direct us to the police station to file declarations of theft, dealing with the language barrier on top of the little to poor quality of sleep... and this time, there was no sun to greet us. Once we were done at the police station, we found Melissa's friend Julia from USC, and we ended up having a great rest of the day. We took a day trip to the local beach town of Sitges, which was AMAZING. Without speaking for the others, it was just what I needed. It was so relaxing and it served its purpose to make me forget the incident in Madrid, which had still been hanging over me this whole time - all it took was walking around the ocean aimlessly. The ocean! That's one thing I wasn't expecting to miss about home. Hearing the waves crashing into the rocky beachside, seeing the blue water of the Mediterranean and the sun as it came out for the daytime expedition... the whole combination of circumstances made me so happy. Although I don't find the weather in London depressing and usually quite like it, there's something about sun streaming through a clear sky that just feels right.

We returned from the day trip in Sitges and spent a quiet night in Barcelona. One of the coolest parts of the trip was this night, actually. A group of kids from America and Europe were sitting in a circle in this room, trying to communicate and basically speaking a ridiculous mix of English, Spanish, and French, getting to know each other amidst multiple language barriers, and not caring if we messed up along the way. By this time I'd regained what little bit of Spanish I knew from high school classes, and it was coming in handy!

Authentic Paella Valenciana - this one's for you, Jessica!

The next day puts us at Monday, the 15th. Melissa and I went with Jacob, a friend from Germany, to the Segrada Familia, one of the multiple infamous works of Antoni Gaudi, who left his mark on the city of Barcelona and whose reputation is basically inseparable from the city. We then walked around in search of a few more sights of Barcelona - Casa Batllo, another piece of architecture by Gaudi, the shops down the Pg. de Gracia leading up to the Las Ramblas tourist district down by the water, where we took a cab up to the top of the Montjuic mountain and had a great view of not only the Castell de Montjuic, but of the entire city as well. We then took another cab back down the mountainside and spent a night in, cooking dinner (failing at making our own version of paella) and relaxing in what has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We'd only cracked the tip of the iceberg by our travels that day.

And only got a little further the next day, our last day in Barcelona. Melissa and I got up and went to La Boqueria, a famous food market in the Las Ramblas area that was insane - I got a packet of freshly sliced strawberries and made a tour of the different booths - it had everything, from chocolate stores to carnicerias to bakeries. From there we walked to the Picasso Museum, which as mentioned before was incredible. Oddly enough was probably one of the best investments I made during my Spanish adventures. After that Melissa and I parted ways, her for the bus tour, and I for my walking tour. Obviously I saw less of the city going the way that I did, but I went to some of the main sights of Barcelona following only a map and my sense of direction - usually a recipe for disaster but that day it worked quite well - and saw some other hallmark symbols of the city - the Catedral (so iconic it doesn't even need a name), La Pedrera - another Gaudi building (seriously this guy is everywhere), the Arc de Triompf and the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Then I met up with a bigger group at the Park Guell (also designed by Gaudi) and turned in for a night of sleeping and skype before my plane flight in the morning back to London. I had just enough money to purchase a bus fare and a sandwhich from the Gatwick airport, and met up with my friend Sam in central London, where we took the bus home to a King's College Hall dinner and I took a well deserved, especially long shower and snuggled up in my blankets as the London sky prepared for another rainy day.

All in all, my experience in Spain was a great one. I really loved Barcelona for the simple reason that there is so much culture and life there. I would put it right behind Edinburgh and London as one of my favorite places that I've experienced since coming here. It more than made up for the mishaps of Madrid, which in and of itself had some wonderful places such as the Prado to remember with fondness. More than anything, this trip, and all of the trips I've made so far really, have caused me to appreciate London more. It's become clearer and clearer to me that as the central location for my study abroad experience, London was the best choice. It's safe, full of life, and full of past lives that enrich the city it is today. And, let's be honest, it speaks English.

No Toast, No Fries, No Manicures... Just Good Times in Paris

This past weekend marks my first expedition into uncharted territory - mainland Europe! Paris to be exact. I'd only been on either side of this area until last Thursday - United Kingdom and Russia, and was so excited I got to experience the city with Eric, Adriane, and Emily, friends studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh (where I visited last weekend). I met up with all three at St. Pancras International Terminal on Thursday night, where we caught the Eurostar train from London to Paris. I was a little nervouse because I was in a different coach than my traveling buddies, but got off at the right stop and settled with them into our adorable bed and breakfast in Vitry sur Seine. The room came complete with a few films that deal with Paris in some way: Moulin Rouge, Ratatouille, the Da Vinci Code, among others. We didn't really watch any of them while we were there, but the idea was cute!

Following Eric, Adriane, and Emily up the many steps to Sacre Coeur

The next day was nothing short of a whirlwind. The four of us got up fairly early and started the day off well with a French breakfast - crossaints, baguettes, tea, and toast with marmalade jam. We then bought a Metro Pass and from there the day really started going. First we visited Pere Lachaise, the cemetary where famous names like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Camille Pisarro are laid to rest. After that we travelled to the Montmatre area, which is known as an art disctrict as well as the location of the actual Moulin Rouge. Also in this area is the Sacre Coeur cathedral, sitting on top of a hill that provides a beautiful view of the city of Paris. Once again, we were incredibly fortunate to have a clear day and relatively warm weather, which was perfect because that day was our day to see the any of the views that Paris could afford to spare. We also ate amazing "French food" - banana nutella crepes and hot dog chaude (which translates literally into hot hot dog). Once we had our fill of that area, we took the Metro to the Champs-Elysees, where we snapped photos of the Arc du Triomphe.

The Metro system in Paris was really easy to adjust to, since I use the London Underground practically every day when I'm going to school. It's an identical system, just in a language I don't understand. It was helpful to have Eric there, as he took French in high school and has traveled to Paris before. He was such a good tour guide slash travel agent and us three girls were very lucky to have him with us. After the Arc du Triomphe, Eric and I snuck into the Musee d'Orsay to see some great Impressionist works, and then after that the four of us closed the night out with a trip to the Louvre, which is free for students on Friday nights. We got really lucky with the timing of our trip because the first weekend of every month in Paris gives students and visitors tons of discounts on things to do in the area, so we were able to save money and still see some of the basic trademarks of the Parisian lifestyle. I can only put so many pictures on my blog, so for those of you that want to see some of these sites, you'll have to wait till I have the patience to upload them onto Facebook.

I fell in love with a Banana-Nutella Crepe. It was a short-lived romance.

Suffice it to say, by the end of our Friday night in Paris, we were pooped. Our legs were about to fall off and our energy had been spent in what could almost be called a "Paris-in-a-day-Tour." You'd think this would cause us to take a lazy day on Saturday...

The gang in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland Paris!

And you would be wrong. Disneyland Paris it was! We went to the two main parks of Disneyland Paris for as much as we could pack in. Disneyland Paris is similar to Disneyland in California in a lot of ways, so it was familiar enough that we knew how to structure our time... but there were some pretty awesome differences. Their Fantasyland, for example, is bomb. They have a walk through Alice and Wonderland "Curious Labryinth" and the Sleeping Beauty castle allows you to go up one level and see the story of Sleeping Beauty played out in stained glass windows. Also, they have a lot more legitimate roller coasters in the actual Disneyland park. While they had Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and an Indiana Jones ride, all of the rides were way more intense, and most of them went upside down. Definitely not targeted towards the younger kids! I was pleased to find that I prefer the Indiana Jones ride back home much much more than the one in Disneyland Paris. My favorite ride of the day would have to have been... Crush's Coaster from the Walt Disney Studio side park (an equivalent to California Adventure back home). It was surprisingly wild and fun where you didn't expect it to be, and I really liked that!

The weather did finally catch up to us on Saturday, as it drizzled off and on while we were at Disneyland. Somehow the other three had enough energy after all that we'd done the previous two days to go clubbing at a Paris nightclub. I don't know how they did it, but I decided to spend my time relaxing in the bed and breakfast, falling asleep somewhere around 2am. A great way to end what had been previously a mad dash across the city of Paris.

A shot of the back entrance to Versailles.

Sunday the gang slept in a little bit and then made a quick visit to Versailles before Emily had to leave to get back to Edinburgh in time for Monday class. The palace was beautiful, but we definitely came at the wrong time of year - while the interiors were beautiful as ever, the gardens were pretty barren and the fountains weren't working. The bright side is, we got in for free yet again, and the weather didn't interfere with our pictures too badly!

Sunday night was also spectacular because I finally got to meet up with Makini, a friend in Screenwriting with me back home at USC. She's studying abroad in Paris this semester, and the past few days had been disappointing because we were having trouble getting a hold of each other to hang out. Finally I figured out how to call her on my phone, and Eric, Adriane, and I met up with Makini for dinner in the Latin Quarter near Notre Dame. We took pictures by the Eiffel Tower that night, and then returned to the Latin Quarter the next day to actually go into Notre Dame.

Which puts us to Monday morning, the last day in the wonderful city of Paris. After Notre Dame we went over to the Opera House, the location that inspired Gaston Leroux to write the Phantom of the Opera. That was the end of our Parisian adventures - I took my baguette to go with me on the return journey to London, and said au revoir to Paris!

Makini, Adriane, and I in front of the Opera House.

And now, hola to Madrid and Barcelona!

Taking the High Road to Edinburgh

Yes, I know. I'm incredibly behind on posts. I told you this would happen, so I refuse to take responsibility for my tardiness. Suffice it to say, the past two weeks have been a figurative "stormageddon" (while I hear the literal one is still raging on the east coast of the States - stay safe you guys!) of trip-taking and... paying attention in classes, of course.

Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. Okay.

It was a Wednesday. The cold London winds had pushed my easyjet plane all the way to the Edinburgh airport, and as I took my bus into the heart of the city to meet with Eric and Adriane, a flood of memories came rushing back. It's funny how I never knew that I had missed Edinburgh, a place I'd traveled to about three years ago with my dearest friends Rebecca, Carol, and Bob, until that moment the bus turned onto Princes Street and I was facing my beloved city once again.

The Scott Monument. My favorite part of Edinburgh.

Eric and Adriane met up with me once I got off the bus. I got to see their living situations in Edinburgh, and afterwards they took me to a cute restuarant called the Candy Bar, where we ate dinner and shared drinks that were roughly 15% drink, 85% ice. We got fondue at the restaurant, and I tried to make a s'more by holding the marshmallow over the table candle... needless to say, that plan did not work out very well, and we realized afterwards that any Scottish people in the bar probably had no idea what we were trying to do... besides catch the whole place on fire. That night and the next day are a little bit of a blur to me because we honestly had more of a laid back time of it, romping around the city when we had the chance. Adriane and I shopped (something Edinburgh does not disappoint in, let me tell you) and I got to sit in on one of Adriane's classes before we went out on the town and visited the Elephant House, known for where J.K. Rowling penned the Harry Potter books. The other main thing we did those days (and basically every day we spent together in Edinburgh) was go to the Chocolate Soup, a cafe where they sell amazing hot chocolate.

287 steps later... the view from the top of the Scott Monument.

I was worried before getting to Edinburgh because of the fact that my last visit had been during the lovely summertime. Everyone I talked to warned me that, because it's winter and the city is much farther north than London, I would be enduring rather than enjoying Edinburgh this time of year. God couldn't have blessed us with a better weekend. Friday we hiked Arthur's Seat, which affords a great view of the city of Edinburgh once you've reached the top (see bottom picture). The skies were clear and the sun was out in the open, which is incredibly unusual. The few hours it took us to complete our journey up and down Arthur's Seat was, despite the cold climate at the peak, perfect. Couldn't have asked for a better day. We also experienced similar wonderful weather on Saturday, when Adriane, Eric, another Edinburgh student Emily, and I took a tour of the Highlands that included a boat cruise on Loch Ness. It was the best weather they'd had in Edinburgh since they had arrived, and it was a special treat for me to experience the sunshine with them for a couple days.

Looking for a migratory African or European swallow from Doune Castle.

(Shooting location for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in case the reference didn't land...)

Sunday Eric was kind enough to accompany me to Doune Castle so that we could act out scenes from one of my favorite comedies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Once again we experienced great weather and got to see the castle where timeless scenes were filmed, scenes such as "Swamp Castle," the "Knights of the Round Table," "Castle Anthrax," and the "French Guard." We had a pretty great time while we were there, and I got a copy of the script from the store before we left (they were out of hollowed-out coconuts).

One of the many breathtaking stops on our tour of the Highlands.

After getting back from Doune, Eric went back to his dorm and napped (I guess I'm a handful to babysit) while Adriane and I went out for dinner at Monster Mash, another frequent stop for university kids in Edinburgh. We had a great time vintage window shopping and going to bookstores in the Edinburgh area, finishing off the night with a traditional British meal, bangers and mash. Eating this meal made me wish Mrs. Featherbottom was serving it to me within the Bluth residence... which made me wish I brought my Arrested Development seasons to the UK with me.

Dear Arthur's Seat: Why are you so cold?

Monday morning was my last morning in the city of Edinburgh. Adriane, Eric, and I climbed up the steps to the Scott Monument (pictures are definitely out of order guys, I don't know how to make them sequential) and were able to get a great panoramic view of the city. It was a picture perfect way to spend my last few precious hours before heading back to London - right after getting lost in Blackwell's bookstore, the British equivalent to Borders. I was so happy to get to spend time with Eric and Adriane, and was a little sad to part ways with them. But our paths would cross again very, very soon...

The land of my people. Anderson = Scottish clan. Our motto is "Stand Sure."