The end is nigh...

I am alone once again, having left my friends in England behind. I've just finished day one of a three day tour of the Scottish Highlands and so far it's been amazing. We're spending the night on the Isle of Skye, which is very picturesque. I've seen about a million lakes (excuse me - lochs) and fantastic mountains, with the odd castle thrown in here or there. Tomorrow we're touring Skye then heading back to the mainland. We spend tomorrow night in Inverness, so hopefully I'll get to see the Lock Ness Monster!!

The week I just spent in England was great. I had a horrible cold but I still enjoyed myself. El met up with Nikki and I as planned, but unfortunately Beth and Sally weren't able to make it. The three of us went to Warick Castle, which is a huge tourist attraction. There's jousting, falconry displays and other entertainment throughout the day. It was really interesting and I loved walking through the castle and learning about the history. We also went to Stratford - Shakespeare's hometown! It was a sunny day, so we rented a boat and rowed up and down the river (actually, El rowed, Nikki complained and I took pictures).

On Friday, we drove to Manchester to stay at El's house. Her house is really nice but I didn't like Manchester as much as Worcester. Probably because it's not as quaint and doesn't have that cliched "English" look. It was still a fun weekend. We went out dancing on Friday and saw The Dark Night on Saturday. I think El was up for another night out but Nikki and I were too tired.

I left Manchester for Edinburgh on Sunday but I wasn't really looking forward to it. I got really homesick all of a sudden and was feeling really sick of living out of my backpack. Nikki talked me into going and I'm glad she did. I did a bunch of the touristy stuff in Edinburgh, like visiting the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle, and wandered around and enjoyed the city. The Edinburgh Festival is on right now, so there was lots to see. I was supposed to stay in the UK until the 23 but I'm coming home this Saturday and I'm really looking forward to it. I've had a lot of fun but I'd like to stay in one place for a while! I'm sure I'll feel differently shortly after I get back home and settle in...

xoxo Becky

PS. Ashley and Carly: If I run across Colin Firth or Hugh Grant I'll be saving them for myself, not bringing them back for you two!! Have you seen Mamma Mia yet?

I love England!

Hi everyone! I've been in England for 9 days now and it's everything I thought it would be. Tina and her friend Liz met me at Heathrow last Saturday. I was incredibly tired (34 hours on planes and waiting in airports!), so I went straight to sleep. The next day we went to Windsor Castle and the surrounding area. It's lovely and green. Liz's family lives in a very nice area. It's called Shepperton and it's about an hour outside London. We were lucky and had a few days of sunny weather, so we were able to get outside and see things. Unfortunately, it rained when we went into London. It was a great day anyway and I got to see loads of things, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and Harrods, among other things. Harrods was actually a lot of fun. I couldn't afford a single thing but it was fun looking. We saw a fur coat worth £20,000!! People spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothing. Coming from Africa and then seeing those price tags really drove that point home.

On the weekend, we went down to Newquay in Cornwall with Liz's brother and his friends. It rained and things got pretty soggy but it was a very entertaining weekend nonetheless. We had a fancy dress night where we all wore bizarre costumes and went out. I felt a bit goofy at first but you can't stay shy for long with the group of people I was with.

We got back on Sunday and Tina and I repacked our bags. She left for Denmark this morning and I'm now in Worcester at my friend Nikki's house. She's one of the girls I met in Africa and it's so nice to see her again. We drove to Malvern so I could see some of the countryside and have spent the rest of the afternoon looking at pictures and talking about how much we miss Harnas. Tomorrow El and hopefully Beth will be coming to meet us. I'm also hoping to see Sally, another Harnas friend, but I'm not sure if she'll be able to get together with us. We're going to El's house in Manchester on Friday, which should be interesting. After that I'm heading to Scotland but I don't have anything planned yet.

I should be home on August 23rd and I can't wait to see everyone, especially Daisy, Misty and Jasmine. ;)

xoxo Becky