Haggis and the Highlands- A Weekend in Scotland

First of all, I didn't actually try haggis (but it made for a catchy title). Also, Scotland was incredible. It was beautiful. The ride up there started off with flat, boring English countryside but turned into lush, green, rolling hills. In general, I really like ocean views and really dislike the open countryside, but once we got into the hills, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before and it was breathtaking. I have also never seen more cows and sheep than I did on that bus ride. Our journey north began at 8 am on Friday morning. Our coach driver, John, was the best. On the way there, we stopped at Richmond Castle. It had great views over the town and we climbed to the very top of the tower...135 steps to the top. There was also a cool, small, semi-secret spiral staircase that we went down. Then we had lunch in town and I bought a bottle of water for 29 pence ($0.43)!! We stopped at the border between England and Scotland. There is someone that stands there all day and plays the bagpipes. I also bought a Scotland sweatshirt. We finally arrived in Edinburgh and went to our rooms at Pollack Halls at the University of Edinburgh. It was really nice there and we had a great view of Arthur's Seat. The University of Edinburgh is far more modern than Cambridge and the modern conveniences that are somewhat lacking here at Cambridge made Edinburgh feel more like America. On Friday night we went out to a club called Espionage which was super fun. Alot of the PA's came too so that made it even better.

On Saturday we went hiking in the Trossachs to Loch Lomond. And by hiking I basically mean mountain climbing. The hike was really intense and definitely not as easy as they made it sound. We drove about 2 hours or so to get there and when we did arrive, it started to rain. Luckily the rain didn't last very long, but the ground was still wet, muddy and slippery. It took us a little over an hour to get to the top and we were moving pretty quickly. There was alot of complaining, but that stopped once we got close to the top. Once we got up there, the view of Loch Lomond and the surrounding area was incredible and well worth the effort it took to get up there. We stayed on the summit to eat and just relax for a little while then began the treacherous descent. Going down was much harder than going up. Everything was wet and slippery but we finally made it back down to the coach. I don't think I have ever been more tired than I was after that hike.

After getting back from the hike, we ordered pizza and got ready for the 4th of July party that they were having for us. It really didn't celebrate the 4th of July in any way since it was just alot of Scottish dancing, but it was still really fun. Some people were really good....I was not one of them. After that we went out to Espionage again and had fun singing and dancing to classic American songs at midnight.

On Sunday I went to the Royal Mile and did some shopping. We then went up to Edinburgh Castle which was pretty cool and which offered some amazing views of the city. We didn't do too much else on Sunday as everyone was wiped out from the rest of the weekend. We all just hung out and that was nice too. Today was the journey back to Cambridge. This time our bus stopped at Fountains Abbey. I had been really looking forward to going there and I was not disappointed. Of course I found myself analyzing the ruins like we do for the buildings we visit in my Gothic Architecture class. But it really was an amazing place. So, overall the Scotland trip was fantastic. I'm so glad they planned it for us. I absolutely loved Scotland and I could totally see myself living in Edinburgh. It's so different from London...more like NYC but without the skyscrapers. It's basically the best of both worlds...the modernity of the city plus the beautiful scenery and views from Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle make it a phenomenal place. I really loved it there.

On another note, I'm so glad I'm doing this programme. It has been so cool to meet people from all across the globe including people from China, Lebanon, Turkey, Romania, France, England and all across the US. I have been here for less than two weeks and I have already gotten to go to Scotland. I'm hopefully going to either Bath or Oxford this weekend, back to London next weekend and then possibly Paris the weekend after that. Tomorrow night I'm going to a lecture by US Supreme Court Justice Breyer at the Union Society. I still have to try punting, take a trip to Granchester for afternoon tea, and go to see where Watson and Crick announced that they had discovered DNA. This is such an incredible opportunity, but being here for eight weeks isn't enough. I think I could stay in Cambridge alone for 8 weeks and not see all there is to see. Oh well, I guess I will just have to see as much as I can and then come back to see the rest!

Cheers!