Finals Week

Blog #5

21st Day in Scotland

     So much for doing a blog post every 2 days, or at least every week! Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to try and condense everything. :) Some of the things I've done in the past week and a half or so have been Lithlingow Palace, Wallace Monument, Stirling Castle, climbed Arthur's Seat, went to the National Portrait Gallery, eat at The Elephant House, visited The Royal Bank of Scotland, gone on a 10 mile hike in the Pentland Hills, attempted to visit some of the gravestones that inspired characters in Harry Potter, and went to London. So its been pretty packed lately!
     Some of my favorite attractions were The Elephant House, and surprisingly both hikes. The Elephant House was so cool because you could definitely see how J.K. Rowling was able to write the first 3 Harry Potter books there. From the corner booths in the back there is a great view of Edinburgh Castle, which definitely resembles Hogwarts in some aspects. As for the hikes Arthur's Seat had a great view of the city. The weather was nice and waited to rain until we started walking back to the flat. As for the hike in Pentland Hills we got a good vibe of what our 3 day Highland hike will be like at the end of our trip. The hike was extremely tiring, but probably the worst part was being scratched by a nettle. My arm stung for about an hour. It was almost as if my arm was boiling because of the bubble that slowly grew on a few places on my arm. Other than that the hike was really cool. We got to see a lot of rural farms, and tons of sheep. We even got to see Robert Louis Stevenson's old summer home which was really cool.
     My weekend in London was probably one of my favorite weekends yet! Although I didn't get to go to Wimbledon with Megan she still brought me back an awesome keychain. We did get to go to Madame Tussaud's though which was nuts. There were hundreds of people there, and we waited for about an hour and a half to get it. It was super cool, and I even got to take a picture with a wax figure of Leonardo DiCaprio. ;) Megan's favorite part was definitely the One Direction exhibit which was new to the museum given the fact that its a traveling exhibit. Its only been there about a month so everyone wanted to get in. Some people even tried to budge in line, but some of the staff came by and kicked them out. I can't remember another time where I've seen so many people pushing and shoving. Or little girls having public meltdowns for that matter. I'm pretty sure the parents were in awe of the reaction these young girls were having. I didn't see anyone cry, but that's not to say that they weren't close to it.
     After Madame Tussaud's we headed to Harrod's. I'd never been before and really wanted to see what all of the hubbub was about, and I have to say, it was fantastic. The best way to explain it is the grandest display of clothes, accessories, food, and architecture all in one huge store. The food and chandeliers were amazing. I wish we had had more time so we could have sat down and had to something to eat there, but we were running late to get to Spamalot. I was a little unsure of how Spamalot was going to be in the first 5-10 minutes, but it really proved itself. It was fantastic and I would definitely see it again. I laughed hysterically, and everyone there loved it. One of the best parts was that the guy who played Arthur was fantastic at improvising. Also the woman who played Guinevere had an astounding voice. She had ridiculous pipes, and was spot on the whole time. Overall Spamalot was fantastic, and probably my favorite part of the weekend.
   
I skipped out on a lot, but I've got to get some rest tonight given that this week is finals week! Time really does fly. I'll do my best and blog again at the end of the week seeing as it'll be my first weekend in St. Andrews! I'm really going to miss Edinburgh, but St. Andrews should be amazing.

Until next time!
-Bryn

Blog #4

12th Day in Scotland

     This blog post is a few days later than I had intended, but it's been a crazy week so far! Monday wasn't anything too special. Just normal classes and then a lot of procrastination on my part later that afternoon. However, Tuesday was jam packed with all sort of adventures! Tuesday was a field trip day, so we didn't have to have any class. Instead we went to Melrose Abbey. Melrose Abbey is a super cool place to visit. Essentially it is the old ruins of, what used to be, a giant church. Its in a great location, out closer to Stirling where there are lots of giant grassy hills and ravines on the way there. What's even better is that there is a staircase in one section of the abbey that takes you to a rooftop area from which you can see all of its surroundings. It was in a gorgeous location. 

     Later that day we went to Scott's View. Scott's View was a little viewing area from the top of the hills. There wasn't much to do there, but it was a great view of some of the more rural parts of Scotland, which we haven't really had a chance to visit at this point. After that I headed to Edinburgh Castle with some of my friends. It was cool to see, and something I would definitely suggest, but it gets a lot of hype for what turns out to be a lot of museum type exhibits. It was definitely a great way to keep busy seeing as you can spend from about 2-3 hours there looking at everything. Probably the coolest part about the castle was being able to seen the Scottish crown jewels. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was definitely a 

must see tourist attraction. Overall the castle was really cool, but not as exciting as the outside makes it look. After we finished up at the castle we got some much deserved Japanese/Cantonese food. It wasn't anything crazy adventurous, but it was probably one of the best meals I've had since I got here. 

     Wednesday was similar to Wednesday, but instead of procrastinating I completed my first 2 page paper for Global Politics. The work I had to do for it was far more intensive than I had expected, but I was able to finish everything I needed to, and even get some of my laundry done. 

     Moving onto today, today was probably the best day so far this week. We had Global Politics in the morning, which was painful as per usual, but we got to go on a field trip for Scottish Literature afterwards. We went to The Writer's Museum and learned some more about three of the writer's we're learning about Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns, and Walter Scott. We did a lot of standing and listening, which was rather tedious, but I thought that the information was really interesting and its definitely one of those experiences that you can't have anywhere else; seeing as two of the writers were born here in Edinburgh.

     After we left The Writer's Museum we went to the famous Gothic tower in the middle of the city to climb to the top. It was a long climb to the top, and the staircase was so small that we had to strap our backpacks onto our fronts so they wouldn't get stuck. We also could only go up a few at a time with people either going up, or going down, but not at the same time. Most of us felt a little claustrophobic, but we felt accomplished after reaching the top. Although it was a bit daunting at first, the Gothic tower ended up being a lot of fun.

     Once we climbed back down the tower our legs were all rather shaky, so we did what anyone would do to relax, we got ice cream. :) We got it at an ice cream stand just down the road from the tower. It was the first time I'd had Scottish ice cream, and it was great! Whats so cool about Scottish ice cream is that its basically the same as any other ice cream, but they stick what they call a flake into the top of the ice cream. A flake is pretty much just a piece of chocolate formed into the shape of a swirl. What was great about having ice cream was that we got to sit in grass in the center of the city and just enjoy Edinburgh. Especially after being cooped up inside the previous day due to our torturous two page paper, it was nice to actually be able to spend some time outside. 

     As soon as we finished our ice cream we went shopping at the mall. The mall here is amazing and they have great clothes. Although I didn't buy any clothes I ended up getting a blanket (or a rug as they like to call them here) for my mom as a gift. After that I was pretty much done for the day. Seeing as we have an early start tomorrow (8:15, so not down with that) I figured I would try and get some rest before a big day tomorrow. 

That's it for now! Hopefully I can get in at least one more post until the week is out. 

Until next time!

-Bryn 

Blog #3

8th Day In Scotland

     The first week here in Scotland has finally come to a close. Although I decided to stay in Edinburgh this weekend, as opposed to traveling, Edinburgh had plenty of things to see. This week was a 4 day week, so we ended classes on Thursday. First thing in the morning we had Global Politics, and then after that we had a field trip! We went to The National Museum of Scotland, and it was fantastic. Even though there was not as much historical items linked to Scotland as I had hoped for, there were many other cool things. My top 3 favorite things I saw at the museum were:

1. A giant clock that is made out of wood. It reached the ceiling of the building, and was made with impeccable craftsmanship. The clock was designed to represent the suffering of the workers of the 20th century. It was slightly morbid, what with all of the miniature figures of people starving, being worked to death, and most of all a pregnant woman giving birth to some sort of demon child, but in the end it got the message across. Probably the coolest part of the clock was the fact that it went off on the hour. It played some sort of orchestral/circus piece as the gears turned and you could see all of the figures moving. It was a spectacle to say the least.

2. The rooftop terrace from which you can see the whole city of Edinburgh. This was the first time that we were able to see the city from up above and it was amazing. It was one of the most gorgeous views I've seen. You could see everything from King Arthur's Seat to the famous black Gothic tower. It was absolutely breathtaking. 

3. And last but not least, DOLLY THE SHEEP! I was fairly excited about this given the fact that I didn't know Dolly would be there. Dolly was taxidermied (which isn't a word, but you get the gist) and placed in a glass casing which spun around so you could view her from all sides. It was pretty cool. 

At the end of the day Thursday I went to Calton Hill. Calton Hill is, as you can imagine, a large hill. At the top it has various old monuments that you can look at and take pictures of. These monuments were inclusive of a monument representational of The Parthenon, however, it was never finished, giving it the name Scotland's Disgrace.

     Friday was mostly adventuring around the city, which most of was accidental given the fact that we ended up taking the wrong bus on our way to Arthur's Seat. So we didn't make it to Arthur's Seat, but we got to see a good bit of the residential areas on the outskirts of the city.

     Saturday we visited a new area of the city over by the castle. We went to the Farmer's Mercat (that's just how they spell it here), and later went to Pride, the LGBT celebration downtown. I had never been to anything like it before, and it contained quite the menagerie of people, but it was cool to see Scotland united together in a great cause. Coolest of all though was a little girl around the age of 12 singing for everyone. She had a fantastic voice, and it was fun seeing some of the talent of one of the locals here.

Well that's all I have for this week! Tomorrow begins the start of week 2!

Until next time!

-Bryn

Blog #2

4th Day in Scotland

     Today we had our second day of classes, and although one would think that 5 hours of classes a day would be painful and unbearable the classes go by surprisingly fast. The classes are fun and interesting and unlike anything I have ever taken before. Global Politics is quite complicated, but I was expecting this given the fact that I know nothing about what goes on in the world around us. Scottish Literature is quite complicated, which I was not expecting. So far the best way I can describe Scottish Literature is to equate it to Sophomore year in World History. Our very first day of class in World History we read The Epic of Gilgamesh, and it was the most complicated thing we read all year long. Now, as you can imagine, starting the year off with the most difficult piece of the course is quite daunting, as it was today in Scottish Literature when we read Scottish Poetry. Poetry never was my forte, which, to say the least, is not a good thing to have to admit while attempting to read Scottish Poetry. Some of the poems we read for homework were things along the lines of:

Bot I hard say scho passit to hir den,

Als warme as woll, suppose it wes not greit,

Full beinly Stuffit, baith but and ben, 

Off beinis and nuttis, peis, ry, and quheit;

But although Scottish Literature is quite difficult thus far, knowing that you are learning about Scottish Literature in Scotland by your very cool Scottish professor is indescribable. 

     As for the fun activities outside of class thanks to the JMU alumni we were all able to go to a wonderful Italian dinner last night. Dinner lasted about four hours, and every minute was worth it. Not only was it a four course meal, it was some of the best Italian food I've ever had. It was great fun (especially with my tasty strawberry daiquiri) and the waiters were fantastic. What was most amazing about the dinner was the clash of culture. Having a mix of Americans, Italians, Germans, and Scotsman all in one room really puts this whole trip into perspective. Especially in a multicultural and diverse place like Edinburgh you can really see how people can really come together no matter where they come from. 

Well that's all I've got for now! Now I've got to spend some time with my camera trying to finally get some pics uploaded! 

Until next time!

-Bryn

6/11/2013

Blog #1

Second Day in Scotland

     Today marks the second day of my trip here in Scotland, and my first, blog post! Although my attempt at a blog post shall be a feeble one given the fact that it has been an extremely long day, it will hopefully be the start of a weekly attempt to write down my thoughts and adventures for the trip. Today was the best day so far (even better than the first)! 

    

      We really got a feel for Edinburgh today seeing as we got to venture out into the heart of the city, and away from our cozy secluded home for the next month. We are staying in a flat building called Beaverbank. Beaverbank is amazing because we each have our own individual rooms and bathrooms, unfortunately it is a good 20 minutes walk from the parts of Edinburgh most tourists go to, New Town, and Old Town. Today we got a chance to go to New Town, Old Town, and even more. 

   

     We started the day off with a double decker bus tour. It really gave us a feel for what Edinburgh is all about, while showing us all of the touristy stuff to do. After the bus tour ended we went on our own tours. The bus tour was amazing, but a lot of the good shots are done on your own time exploring the city. We some shopping, a lot of walking, and even went to our first pub for lunch. Although I'm sure vegetarian haggis is probably nothing like the real stuff, it was an interesting experience to say the least. 

     After our first pub experience we went to all of the typical souvenir shops. If I learned anything from that experience it was that kilts. are. everywhere. This realization was quite exciting, but not quite as exciting as our ghost tour. The ghost tour was definitely the most fun part of the day. Because no matter how tired or sore our feet were, our guide Craig was fantastic. He was funny and knew just what to do so that we all had a great time.

     Well, sorry for the poor quality (note to self, writing at 12:42 am is never a good idea).

     

Until next time!

-Bryn