Spring Break!

I'm constantly amazed by the way America is viewed by other countries. A few weeks ago, I was having drinks with a good friend, telling her about my upcoming trip to Scotland for "spring break". She immediately laughed and made fun of me for referring to the two weeks I have off from classes in the springtime as "spring break". I'm sorry, but what else am I supposed to call it? Apparently the vivid stereotype of girls gone wild in Cancun continues to prevail. That being said, I am quite delighted at the prospect of furthering my adventures in the world of travel, and while there will be no bikinis or Mai Tai's parading around Edinburgh Castle, I plan to see enough unicorns and sea monsters to make up for this less than regrettable loss.

And to celebrate this "break" in the pattern of our day to day lives, several of my classmates and I got together for a little picnic in the park last night. We decided to rest upon the grassy knolls lining Trocadéro, the famous tourist tract, ideal for fantastic photos of La Tour Eiffel. We chose this spot because many parks in Paris close at around 8pm, and since we weren't all meeting until 6:30/7pm, we didn't want to be evicted from our grounds right in the middle of celebrating. Happily. this location is also only two metro stops from where I live, so quite convenient all around. Even better was the fact that as the sun was setting, and the lights of the Eiffel Tower began twinkling in the sky, I got some great shots of a partially filled-in moon hovering over the famous landmark and doing an amazing job of imitating moments from my favorite film, "Moulin Rouge". 

We had a lovely spread of cheese, baguette, and of course ample amounts of wine. We all chatted about our plans for the break, and were really grateful when one of our non-English speaking classmates arrived and forced us all to practice the French we so easily avoid when English is the dominant tongue. As the last dregs of wine had just about vanished, two other friends arrived with four new bottles to keep our Dionysian evening in action. I can't suggest that more wine was completely necessary at that point but, without giving away too much detail, I think my "spring break" managed to kick off with a bang!

Onto London and Scotland this week with my equally adventurous  and blonde cousin!!!