A Moveable Feast: Turning 20, Volcanic Ash, and a week with my sister

First off, I am very sorry for the long delay in updated my blog - although I hope the following explains why it might not have been a priority over the past couple of weeks.

Well, a couple weeks ago I had the privilege of turning 20 in Paris. My friends went well out of their way to make it a fabulous night. It all started with me and my two friends from college, both named Lauren, standing under the Eiffel Tower as it twinkled at midnight - a little cheesy, but perfectly appropriate. The saturday after my birthday Lauren Moore and I went to Versailles which was absolutely gorgeous and not too crowded at all. I think we just managed to beat the large crowds. The on Sunday morning, in the middle of the whole volcano ash mess we started our journey to Scotland.

We had already bought train tickets, but it still ended up being a battle to get on the train to Amsterdam. Once there we had a lovely evening wondering around and the next day we took a free walking tour of the city. By this time we had found out our flight was not going to leave Tuesday morning, but we managed to change it to Thursday morning. Fortunately I had an old dorm sister, Danjella, who lives about an hour outside of Amsterdam with her brother and sister and let us stay with them for two days. It was wonderful seeing Danjella, relaxing in the Dutch countryside, and cycling like the locals. Our plane did leave Thursday morning.

After many hours of traveling I made it to Aberdeen just a couple hours before Megan, my older sister, found out she had won her campaign and now has a job for the next year! It was perfect timing and I am so glad I was able to celebrate with her and her friends. The next day Megan and I went to see Les Miserables in Edinburgh and afterwards we spent the rest of the week just taking it easy in Aberdeen. Last night I finally made it back to Paris and it felt so nice waking up this morning to fresh baguette, a french press of coffee, and a pain au chocolate on the table.