I am taking the bus to Heathrow in a couple of hours. It feels like the last time, but it won't be. I will be back for conferences, a ball or two, and of course graduation next summer. A few things I will miss:

Wales is as beautiful as they say. Rugged, but not wild and remote like Scotland, it is a dramatic change from the rolling hills of southern England. We came up from the south and crossed an amazing modern suspension bridge over the inlet into Wales. It was major highway until we turned off at Cardiff and then the roads got progressively smaller – sometimes one lane. It is quite picturesque until you meet a speeding lorry coming straight at you – and they really don’t slow down much.

My cousin Steve is here for a visit. He dutifully attended all of my end-of-course dinners and events, including a drinks reception at the Christ Church College Graduate Common Room (formerly known as Einstein's bedroom). On Monday we drove a little over an hour south for an BBQ/Pool party at William's family estate - Pelham Place - near Newton Valence. About 50 other MBAs and family/friends were in attendance for a beautiful afternoon BBQ, croquet and tours of the sculpture gardens.

From Bergen we took a flight to Stockholm Arvada airport. It was a very quick 20 minute high speed train ride into the center of Stockholm and a quick (uphill) walk to our hotel. We stayed at the hotel Tegnerlunden, which boasts a "Swedish" breakfast that had Sirena very excited. We took a walk through the city center and down to the waterfront. Stockholm is definitely a big town and is very much like the US - maybe because it is more cosmopolitan and diverse than the cities we visited in Norway. It was sunny but cold.

I think I might be Norwegian. Maybe my brunette parents really adopted me? Everywhere I go in Norway I see women that look just like me - hair, face, body type. It is eerie. I think I will start taking pictures of them for proof. As far as I know we are Irish, but clearly I am reflecting the Viking invasion portion of Irish history.

We arrived in Oslo on a cold, dreary Sunday morning - in August. Since it was Sunday, the city was a dead zone. All the stores were closed and the streets were completely deserted. It was overcast and really cold. We checked into the P-Hotel, which is a tourist class hotel right in the city center. The whole of Oslo is quite small and totally walkable. Everything was closed, but we finally found at Vietnamese restaurant to have lunch. There is quite a large Asian community in Oslo, which was surprising? How does one get from Vietnam to Oslo?

After a quick but fun few days visiting my girls in NYC - hanging out in my old neighborhood with Jen and Mary, brunch with Susan & Christine, seeing Luc (Christine's BIG baby boy), and a visit to the office - I took off for London, followed by Copenhagen. I am traveling with Sirena, a classmate from the MBA. For some insane reason we chose to travel through the coldest, most expensive countries in Europe. What were we thinking?

Though I have spent my summer all over the place (New York, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and again New York), I have been a constant resident of Second Life (www.secondlife.com). My SCP (Strategic Consulting Project) team spent the summer interviewing professors and university staff about use of Second Life for higher education.

We are up at Lake Tahoe working on our paper for the summer consulting project. We ended up here because a week in a condo at Tahoe is a lot cheaper than four hotel rooms in the Bay Area. We've been holed up in the "den" (www.tahoeden.com) since Monday writing furiously. We have taken a few breaks to watch the Olympics and play a little. We spent yesterday afternoon on the Lake on uncle Noel's boat. It was gorgeous. We went to Emerald Bay where we saw two eagle's nests and also dropped anchor and swam for awhile. The water in Lake Tahoe is crystal clear. It is so pretty.

I am heading off to Lake Tahoe tomorrow to meet with my SCP (strategic consulting project) team. As fun as Tahoe sounds, it is going to be a grueling week of work. On Monday the 18th we have to turn in 15,000 word project report. Hopefully we will have some time to enjoy the lake and the California weather.

It has been great being home in the NW for awhile. In between interviewing universities for my SCP, I have had some great food (NW berries are amazing!), hung out with friends, played with my nieces, and caught a few summer movies.