Hey everybody, look at me posting twice in roughly a week! Today we are skipping around Scotland a little bit because the reindeer center deserves its own post and I have to edit the video of feeding the reindeer (and it will give you all time to get as excited in anticipation as I was in person). So where we left off was in Edinburgh, and on Friday afternoon we took our bus to the sleepy little (summer) vacation town of Oban. Picturesque little town, but it still had a blockbuster video...

I am currently traveling 300 km/h away from the biggest city in China, and the city with the largest population in the world: Shanghai.  I had the opportunity to spend the last three days in this marvelous city accompanied by Danny, Trevor, Izzy, James and Caroline. 

The Prado

Our third day in 東京 led us to a place a bit of a ways outside of 東京 itself for a trip to the 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館

Throughout my travels in Ecuador, including: the Galapagos Islands, small mountain towns, living in Quito, and my latest trip to the Amazon I have taken the time to reflect on the type of environment where I feel the happiest and the most at home. I am a strong believer that you have the power to find the good in any situation or living environment, but I have also come to realize that every individual has their own niche, and when put in certain situations or environments people have the opportunity to thrive.

So this is the first of two or three blogs related to our half-term break trip to Scotland. Scotland might now be my new favourite place in the UK. It's windy and chill and overcast but then again so is London, and Scotland doesn't feel quite as modern. Friday morning we took the train up to Edinburgh and that alone was a trip filled with beautiful sights and landscapes - rolling hills, forests, small towns, larger towns, cliffs overlooking the oceans and Berwick-Upon-Tweed which I've made a mental note to go back to.

After a long week of midterm papers interspersed with St. Patrick's Day in Dublin (which was absolutely nuts), I have finally had time to sit back and reflect on my final trip of reading week: Paris. After the whirlwind three city excursion of Prague, Budapest, and Vienna, I was starting to get a little weary by my early Friday morning departure from Dublin to Paris.