Because I love golf so much...

My one class was cancelled yesterday, so I had the opportunity to take a short day trip to St. Andrews with a friend. It's an hour train ride from Edinburgh plus a 15 minute bus ride in to the center of the city, so it's a very easy trip to take.  Although I get bored with 18 holes of mini golf and can't imagine ever playing a real game, I figured I couldn't spend four months in Scotland without seeing the most famous golf course in the world.

Our first stop in the city was Old Course, the original golf course. It was very pretty and right on the ocean.  After taking pictures at the 18th hole, we'd seen enough and began our walk through the town.  Not surprisingly, most of the town is based around golf, with the other small percentage centered around St. Andrews University.  We had the opportunity to see some of the University's academic buildings, and they were beautiful with gorgeous views of the ocean.

Our first stop after the golf course was St. Andrews castle.  It's now a pile of ruins, but there are still parts accessible to people.  The old mines were open though and we were able to walk through those, but they were tiny, wet, and dirty, and it definitely wasn't my favorite part of the day.  From the castle, we began walking on the road along the beach, but got caught in a massive wind, rain, and hail storm with no opportunity for shelter.  It had been sunny all morning, so without coats, umbrellas, or any place to step inside for a few minutes, we were forced to continue walking through the weather (Let me note that hail really, really hurts). We finally found a cafe, and made it out of the rain for a bit, but we were drenched for the rest of the day.

Once the rain stopped, we continued walking through the town and explored the ruins of an old cathedral.  Very little still stands, and there wasn't much to see, so we continued exploring.  After visiting a few shops, we found an adorable ice cream place that we were told has some of the best ice cream in Scotland.  It was SO good. I like anything sweet, especially ice cream, but this was so much better than normal.

I didn't realize how tiny St. Andrews is, and a five hours there was plenty of time to see everything.  It was a fun little day trip, but it would have been a lot more exciting if my interest in golf stretched further beyond good looking men in preppy clothes. The trip definitely made me appreciate living in a city!

London!

Last night I returned to Edinburgh after an amazing weekend in London with two friends, Emily and Marissa. Although I slept like a rock last night, I'm still exhausted. The weekend was packed with sightseeing, touring, and tons of walking, but it was so much fun.


Friday-Day 1: The first step of our journey was a bus from the center of Edinburgh to Edinburgh airport.  I HATE being rushed, or worse, late, for anything, so I made everyone catch the earliest bus possible to the airport.  I was teased pretty heavily when we arrived at the airport two hours early, but it's better to be safe than sorry.  When we booked our flights, we didn't do enough research and chose to fly into London Stansted because it was the cheapest airport.  Poor choice.  After our flight at 6:30 pm (which was quite nice, considering the price we paid for it), we had a 90 minute bus ride into London. From the bus we took a cab to the hostel and checked it. We walked around Covent Gardens and checked out a couple bars, but decided to call it an early night. On the way back to our hostel we passed what looked like a really cool pub, so we decided to check it out.  Well, after being inside for approximately 30 seconds, a fight broke out outside between a few drunk guys and the bouncers. 15 minutes and 5 police cars later, we could finally go to bed.


Saturday-Day 2: We woke up bright and early on Saturday, and it was beautiful day! We began our tour of London at the Tower of London, home of kings, queens, and many famous prisoners.  We took a short tour and spent about 2 hours walking around the complex. It was enormous! My favorite part was seeing the crown jewels. We also got great views of the Tower Bridge.  After taking tons of pictures, we started walking up the Thames to the London Eye.  We crossed the London Bridge, took a few wrong turns, and accidentally stumbled on the Borough Market, a huge outdoor market with tons of vendors.  It was so cool! We got amazing falafel wraps and had a great time walking around.

After exploring the market, we continued to the London Eye, the world's largest ferris wheel. The views were absolutely stunning. I didn't realize how large the city was until I was at the top of the wheel. After the half hour ride, Marissa went back to the hostel. Emily and I continued our tour and crossed the Westminster Bridge, where we were able to get tons of touristy pictures of the House of Parliament and Big Ben.  We walked through Parliament Square and into Westminster Abbey.  Unfortunately we couldn't go inside the church, but the exterior was incredible and we couldn't get over how big it was! From Westminster Abbey, we went on a hunt to try to find Trafalgar Square. Thankfully London has maps every few streets, so we didn't get too lost.  On the way, we passed Downing Street and wondered why everyone was crowded around taking pictures of the gates.  We found out later that it was home to the prime minister. Dumb American moment. Anyways, after Downing Street, we continued walking and finally found Trafalgar Sqaure. It was gorgeous! Emily and I had quite the adventure trying to climb onto the statues to take pictures, and I think we had the entire square laughing hysterically by the time we got up, but at least we got some great pictures and a good laugh.  There were some interesting protests going on as well, including a "Justice for Michael (Jackson)" demonstration. After walking around the square, we walked to Piccadilly Circus (slightly anticlimactic), through China Town, down to Leicester Square and the West End theater district, and finally back to the hostel.  We were completely exhausted by the end of the day, but saw so much that it was well worth it.

Sunday-Day 3: Once again, we woke up early the next morning and it was a beautiful day.  Our hostel was right next to the British museum so we started our day there. I love museums and could have spent two weeks there, but unfortunately we only had about an hour. We made sure to see the Rosetta Stone and all of the ancient Egyptian artifacts. From the museum we walked to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards.  My favorite quote from the weekend occurred when we asked a policeman if we were going in the right direction to the palace. After joking with us and giving us a hard time for being Americans, he pointed down a long street and said "Yeah if you go down there it's the big house at the end." We thought he was hysterical. After seeing Buckingham Palace, it's become my mission to find Prince Harry and marry him. I would definitely not mind living there. Buckingham Palace was followed by a trip to Harrods, where I fell in love with a scarf only to realize it cost 500 pounds. Needless to say I fell out of love with it quickly. From Harrods, we took the tube to Abbey Road! It was so neat to be in such an iconic spot.  We got a Polaroid picture of us crossing the infamous crosswalk like The Beatles, signed the wall outside the recording studio, and read messages left to The Beatles on the wall over the years. Our last major stop of the day was St. Paul's cathedral. It was unbelievable! The interior was so beautiful and ornate, and the whole church was enormous.

We walked back to the hostel after St. Paul's (a much longer walk than we anticipated) and prepared to leave.  Thankfully we had a cab driver who was a total beast and managed to get through London traffic to our bus back to the airport just in time. I think he could sense three girl melt downs coming on and wanted to avoid the tears. Our flight back home was easy and everything went smoothly.

Overall, we had an incredible weekend in London. We saw all of the major sites, mastered the tube, tried cream tea (possibly the most amazing thing in the world), and got enough exercise for the next two months. Although I loved London and will definitely go back, I'm really glad I'm studying abroad in Edinburgh. I prefer a smaller city that's a lot easier to navigate, and Edinburgh feels much more comfortable. I would definitely not be opposed to living in London as royalty though...  

Touristy things

After living in Edinburgh for 6 weeks, this past weekend I decided it was finally time to do some touristy things around the city. I live within 15 minutes of most of the big tourist destinations around town but had yet to be a "typical tourist" for a day.  Therefore, Sunday morning, my adventures began. I started at the Edinburgh castle, the most popular spot for travelers in the city. The castle is impressive and learning about the history was really cool.  The original castle was built in the 1100's, and one building from the original castle still stands. This tiny chapel is the oldest building in Edinburgh.  The majority of the castle has been rebuilt several times due to the many military conflicts that happened in the area.  Most of the castle's exhibits focused on Scotland's military history and conflicts with England.  I also got to tour the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth, the prisoner of war holding cells, and the Great Hall, a beautiful, ornate room still used for ceremonies.  Finally, I saw the Scottish crown jewels.

After the castle, my friends and I checked out St. Giles cathedral, a beautiful building still used for services today.  The stained glass and architecture was incredible and the church was enormous.  During our tourist weekend, my friends and I also visited the National Museum of Scotland. I live right down the street from the museum, and it's free, so it was perfect! I was very impressed with the entire museum.  It was enormous and the exhibits were very interesting. Visitors are also allowed on the roof which offers incredible views of the city, and we tried to get a few pictures, but the rain and fog made it tough.  After the museum, we crossed the street to one of the most famous pubs in Scotland, Greyfriar's Bobby.  This pub was built in honor of a small dog, owned by a businessman in town.  When the man died, the loyal dog guarded his grave (in Greyfriar's Kirk, behind the pub) for FOURTEEN YEARS! The town fell in love with the dog and fed him, and when the dog passed away, he was buried next to his master.

On a sadder note, I've started wearing my winter coat, and I'm very depressed about it. It's gotten extremely cold and although I'm a Mainer and should be able to handle any weather, I really miss 80 degree summer days.

Tomorrow I leave for London for the weekend to do some sightseeing and shopping!

My trip to the Highlands

This past weekend was one of the best weekends of my life.  All Butler programs in Scotland were taken on a trip through the Highlands to Inverness, a city of about 50,000 in northern Scotland. The entire trip was unbelievable and so much fun, and everyone on the program bonded and had a wonderful time.

We met the buses at 7:30 am (way to early!) on Friday morning and began our journey up north.  A group of about 15 of us stuck together the whole trip, beginning with our first bus ride, and we all managed to sit and stay together throughout the weekend.  After a very long and bumpy ride, we made it to our first stop-the Hermitage in Dunkeld.  The Hermitage is a beautiful area in the woods, with lots of paths for hiking and walking.  There is a stunning waterfall, and our tour guide told us that famous British writers used to go there to take hard drugs, get stoned, and ponder life.  Weird.  The weather wasn’t the greatest, but the waterfall was stunning and it was great to get some fresh air after the long bus ride.  

After a quick stop for lunch in Pitlochry, a small town that is the self proclaimed “gateway to the Highlands” we continued the drive up north to Glenfinnan, a touristy spot on a loch with a statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie (a Scottish leader).  Glenfinnan is known for its great views of the Jacobite Express, a train that the Hogwarts Express was modeled after.  I think that is also the train used in the Harry Potter movies. After a short hike to a viewing spot, we got to see the Hogwarts Express! As most of you know, I have an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter, so this was an enormous deal for me.  Glenfinnan was our last stop for the day, so from there, we continued to our hostel.  That evening, we went to a local pub with tons of other Butler students to hear some great live Scottish music.  Our program leaders and our tour guide even made it out, so it was a really fun night!

Saturday was another bright and early morning, but the day was worth it.  Our guide told us that normally it rains almost everyday during this time of year in the Highlands, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  We began our morning at Culloden Battlefield, the site of an important battle between the Scottish and British during the Jacobite rebellion.  The Scots got demolished, but it’s still a celebrated site.  It was so eerie because the entire field was covered in a thick fog, and you could just make out headstones marking where different clans had fallen during the battle.  After the battlefield, the group traveled to an enormous farm in Kingaussie for a sheepdog display!  The farm was huge and so picturesque, set in the middle of the hills with sheep and Highland cows dotting the landscape.  The shepherd showed us how herding sheep worked, and it was unbelievable how smart the sheepdogs were! They each had their own set of sounds and motions, and could respond immediately when presented with a command.  At one point during the display, a rouge sheep almost mauled us, but luckily the dogs got him back in line.  The shepherd trained all of the dogs and pigs in the movie “Babe” so he definitely knew what he was doing.  He also showed us how to shear a sheep!  He owns over 2,500, so he’s mastered the craft, but he let us all have a turn.  The highlight for all of the girls though was the puppies.  They had puppies that were about a month old, and then a bucketful (yes, a bucketful) of puppies that were only 10 days old! I debated stealing one; they were so cute!

After the sheepdog display and a quick stop for lunch, we continued to the Glenlivet Distillery to learn about the process of making whiskey.  The tour was really cool, and we learned all about the distilling process.  At the end of the tour, we were able to try a 12 year, 15 year, and 18 year whiskey.  It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.  I don’t understand why people pay money for it.  The tour guide also told us that they have a barrel of whiskey distilled in 1962 that they’ll open in 2012.  These bottles of 50 year old whiskey will sell for up to 10,000 pounds!  In my opinion, whoever’s buying that definitely has more money than brains.

The final day of our trip began with a cruise on Loch Ness.  Despite our efforts, nobody spotted Nessie.  Our boat dropped us off at Urquhart Castle, where we were greeted by a man playing the bagpipes for us.  So Scotland.  We got to explore what was left of the castle (much of it had been destroyed by the British) and took plenty of great photos.  From there, we made our last stop at Glencoe, a gorgeous stop in the Highlands where part of Braveheart was filmed.  It’s a huge valley with a sad history.  The MacDonald clan, considered “royalty” of the Highlands, was slaughtered here by the British after refusing to succumb to unfair British laws and practices.  When my ancestors moved from Scotland to the United States, they changed their name from MacDonald to Fisher.  I’d like to think that my ancestors were the ones that fought the British and won (or maybe just the ones who ran for the hills as fast as they could).  From Glencoe, we worked our way back through the Highlands and into Edinburgh while watching Braveheart on the bus.  It doesn’t get much more Scottish than that.

I could not have asked for a better trip and experience.  Everyone got along so well, even though we were cooped up on a bus for much of the trip.  Our tour guide was amazing and extremely knowledgeable and so much fun to hang out with for the weekend.  I can’t say enough good things about the Highlands and this trip, and although it sounds cheesy, it made me so grateful for the opportunities I have.  I felt so lucky to have such great company while having the time of my life.  This trip is definitely going to be hard to beat!

Scotland is bringing out my domestic side

Two of my friends and I have recently decided to make weekly dinners a ritual over here.  One person hosts every week, cooks the meal, and cleans up. As it's usually the only normal and well balanced dinner we have every week, there's a lot of pressure to make it good! Tonight was my turn, and after a great deal of stress, because cooking is not my forte, I decided to cook some spicy chicken. Don't judge me too harshly, but this was actually the first time I've used the oven, so figuring out how to turn it on took a bit of time (In my defense, I have used the stove top). To my great surprise, the whole meal was a success! I made my own rub for the chicken, grilled it, sautéed some vegetables in soy sauce, and made my own garlic bread. I'm feeling quite domestic at the moment, and Mom, I might help you more in the kitchen when I'm home (but no promises)!

Weekend pictures

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I was able to share my many musical talents with the world on Thursday evening through karaoke. But not just any karaoke: karaoke with a live band. My dreams of becoming a rock star have been fulfilled. I also forgot to include a few pictures from my weekend. I'm having a case of the Mondays.

Family Homestay

Part of the program I'm studying abroad through includes a mandatory, two night homestay with a family in the United Kingdom. This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to go to Raughton, England, a tiny hamlet outside of Carlisle and stayed with a lovely family, the Openshaws, in their home with two other girls from the program.

The ride to Penrith (the initial drop off point) was about 3 hours from Edinburgh. Unfortunately, I was car sick the whole time, so I wasn't able to enjoy the ride as much as I would have liked, but the landscape was beautiful. We drove through rolling hills, covered in sheep and cows, and tiny villages.  After being picked up by our host mom, we drove half an hour to their house and met the rest of the family. The Openshaws have three grown daughters (all of whom have moved out of the house), a cat, and two dogs, Beau and Coco. Beau was a yellow lab puppy, and instantly won our hearts, despite his tendencies to cause trouble.

The family lives in England's lake district, so after an enormous breakfast on Saturday, we met up with a few other families hosting students and hiked to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the woods. It was a beautiful day and nice to get some fresh air. After the waterfall, we were taken to a small lake, surrounded by hills and mountains which were covered in sheep. The scenery was so picturesque and looked like it was straight out of a movie. Although it was chilly, we rented rowboats and got to take a spin on the lake. Thankfully, in the lake district, boats that travel over 4 mph are banned, so we didn't have to worry about getting run over by a large boat, although we did manage to hit each other quite a bit. Rowing was so challenging! I tried for approximately 1 minute, and didn't move at all. Luckily I was in a boat with three boys, and one was able to get us around the lake. After rowing (and by rowing, I mean sitting while people rowed me around) we all went to a stone circle, built 4,500 years ago.

After sightseeing for the day, we went back to the house and took the dogs for a walk around the hamlet.  I'm obsessed with British literature such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, and the area is exactly what I imagine every time I read those books. The old houses, huge fields, stone walls, and sheep and cows roaming around was exactly what I had envisioned when I imagined the British countryside. We did have to be careful when walking the dogs though because they weren't on leashes. If dogs get into a field of sheep or cows, the farmer has a right to shoot the dog because it could cause the other animals to abort or stampede. Who knew?

After another huge breakfast on Sunday, my host mom took us into Carlisle, the nearest town. We visited a cathedral built in 900, went to a museum that focused on the history of the town and its Roman influences, and took a trip to TK Maxx (the exact same thing as TJ Maxx). Around 3, we headed back to the bus and back up to Edinburgh.

My host family was so wonderful, and it was nice to get out of the city for a while. I forgot how much I enjoyed seeing the stars! They cooked so much food for us at every meal (think roasted chicken and vegetables, homemade soup, apple and peach cobbler, etc) and the beds were unbelievably comfortable. I slept so well without the noise of cars and screaming boys outside my window all night! My host family was really interesting, and we had great conversation all weekend. Bill, the father, works a supervisor on oil rigs (I refrained from talking about environmental degradation and global warming for most of the weekend) and gets to travel all over the world. Melanie has joined him on many of his trips, and they take vacations all over the world every year, so they've been just about everywhere. Their last trip, last week, was to Boston, so they wanted to hear my thoughts on the Red Sox (there's always next year), the Museum of Science, and Faneuil Hall. They told us all about Europe, India, South East Asia, and Africa. Their stories were endless and very entertaining.

They also loved talking to us about the United States and our views of the world. They both asked lots of questions about the Tea Party, immigration reform, gay marriage, and our thoughts of the Middle East.   Their entire family loves Obama, and told us how the election was not only important for the USA, but it  inspired the world. I didn't understand what an enormous effect the election of Obama had, but they insisted that it had inspired hope and unity across the planet.

Overall the weekend was a great experience, and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to meet such an interesting family.