Instead of Ireland...

As disappointing as it was to not be able to spend the weekend in Ireland, we ended up making the most out of it. Friday I had to go to Edinburgh to pick up something I had left at the hotel. It was a beautiful day out so Spencer and I decided to make a day out of it and go to the Edinburgh Zoo. The zoo is known for their penguins, the most of any zoo in the UK. They even hold a penguin parade everyday where the penguins waddle their way through the park everyday at 2pm! We got to the zoo late so we weren't able to see the parade, but just watching all of them was very entertaining, I could have stood there all day!

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing, I mostly just took it easy and recovered from all of the essay writing the week before. Wednesday night I did go to another Ceilidh, this time put on by the University Mountaineering Club. It was much smaller than the one hosted by the international society but still lots of fun. I recognized some of the dances from the first one so I really felt like I was getting the hang of it, as much as you can understand Ceilidh I suppose.

Last week I also took time to do something I have never done before but always wanted to.. feed the birds!! Airthrey Loch on campus is home to TONS of swans and I had been wanting to feed them all semester. Spencer and I grabbed a few slices of bread and headed to a spot where a lot of them like to hang out. They all swarmed us immediately! There were so many and they were all so beautiful, I almost forgot about how annoying they are when they wake me up every morning!

This past weekend I took another trip to St. Andrews with Spencer, Katie and her flatmate Richard. None of them had been there before and there were still a few things I wanted to see there too, so we decided to take a day to see the sights. We started with the golf course. It was cool too see it again and the progress they are making on setting up for The British Open in July. We watched a group on the 18th green and then watched a group tee off at the 1st before making our way to try to get a picture on the famous Swilacian bridge on the 18th hole. It was a risky move because people were out playing the course but we decided it was worth it for the once in a lifetime picture. We waited till there was nobody playing the hole and made a run for it, Katie first and then me. The pictures turned out great, it was totally worth it!

We had worked up an appetite from our little adventure so we grabed some lunch. With full stomachs we headed to St. Andrews University, explored a little but mostly just relaxed in the grass after our big lunch. Next we headed to St. Andrews Cathedral. The cathedral is in ruins and has been since the Reformation. The ruins are now used as a cemetery which was very interesting to explore. There is also a tower on the grounds that you can climb up to see beautiful view of the city of St. Andrews and the ocean. After climbing back down the tower and exploring a bit more we made our way to the castle. We didn't go in because we didn't have enough time but we took some pictures from the outside and explored the beach that it looks over as well. We made our way back to the city center, got some ice cream and headed back to the Old Course to see the beach. We spent some time down there just walking around and hanging out. After about an hour we made our way back to the bus station and headed back to Stirling. St. Andrews is such a beautiful little town with so much history, I am so fortunate to be able to go twice within just a few weeks.

The past few days have been relatively calm. Classes are keeping me busy and all the homework that I have been getting lately too. I've also been busy getting ready for the weekend which I'm very excited about. Tomorrow Spencer and I are going to Vienna, Austria. We have to fly into Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia first, and then make our way to Vienna from there. The cities are only 40 miles apart but it will be an interesting adventure. Spencer has a friend who is currently studying there which I am very thankful for because neither of us speak German. It is also always nice to have a tour guide. We get back to Stirling on Monday night so I will have an update and pictures up on Tuesday hopefully.

Until then.. take care all, & GO TWINS!

Mum & Pop Visit Scotland

I know this post is just a tad overdue but this past week I have been going crazy trying to finish all of my essays and preparing for a trip to Dublin, which turns out didn't actually happen. More on that later though.


Mom & Dad arrived in Edinburgh Saturday the 3rd around 11. I picked them up at the train station and took them the rest of the way to Stirling. They got checked into their hotel & were obviously pretty tired from the night of traveling, so we agreed to meet up later that night. I went back to their hotel around 6 that evening and then took them on a walk around the town of Stirling. It was interesting to see the town again through somebody else's eyes. We met up with Katie and her family, who was visiting during break also, and we all headed out to dinner. I know both families enjoyed meeting each other since they had heard so much about Katie and I and how much we had been traveling together.


Sunday was Easter so we went to church in the morning. I was surprised that everything was about the same as at home but it was interesting to attend a mass in a different country. After we grabbed some lunch and headed to the University so I could show Mom & Dad what I've been calling home for the past 2 months. We were planning on going to the William Wallace Monument that day because it is so close to campus but the weather wasn't cooperating very well. Mom & Dad decided that they could handle the traditional Scottish weather so we headed up to the monument. It was still raining off and on but when we got all the way to the top the sun decided to come out! We took some great pictures of the University and Stirling way down below. It was great to finally get to the top of this huge monument that I had been staring at from my window all semester long.


After the William Wallace Monument we walked to the Bridge of Allan, a cute little town very close to the University. We got some ice cream and relaxed in the park, the day had already been filled with lots of walking any the rents were a little jet-lagged. We walked back to the University, Mom & Dad got on the bus and headed back to their hotel to rest from the long day. We met up later for a small dinner and some drinks and caught up on everything that we had both missed for 2 months.


Tuesday morning we headed to Glasgow. The weather was again acting typically Scottish so we decided to take a sightseeing bus around town to stay dry, rather than walking everywhere. It was actually a great way to see this city and hear about its history from a live tour guide. There were a few places that I wanted to check out but most of them were closed because it was Easter Monday, a bank holiday that they celebrate here. One museum that was open was the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. It was HUGE! We spent a few hours wandering around in there and only scratched the surface. I'm not a huge museum fan but this one was interesting, it had typical Glaswegian art and artifacts, as well as from around the world. My favorite part was the French wing that held the Monet and the Renoir. After grabbing lunch at the museum we walked around the grounds of Glasgow University, which reminded me a lot of Hogwarts, and then hopped back on our bus. We finished our day with a little shopping on Buchanan Street, famous for its shopping. We headed back to Stirling, ate some dinner and called it an early night.


Tuesday was another rainy day in Scotland, but we made the best of it. We headed up to Stirling Castle and explored. This was one thing that I had done earlier in the semester but it was interesting to see it again through my parents eyes. One thing we did do with my parents was visit the weavers studio. There were two women working on a HUGE tapestry, one in a set of seven. There are already 4 of them done and it takes over a year to finish just one. Once completed they will hang in the royal chambers of the castle. Mom and I found it so interesting to watch them weave so intricately. After the castle all we wanted was a hot meal to warm ourselves up from the cold rain. We ate at an amazing little Italian place in town, did a little bit of shopping and then hopped on the train to Edinburgh. Our highland tour left from Edinburgh early the next morning so we had stay the night.


Once settled at our hotel we walked around the city a little bit since the weather had cleared up a bit. Dad and I decided to climb to the top of the Scott's monument, which had great views of the city of Edinburgh. We had some drinks and an amazing dinner at a cute little pub by our hotel, where I finally got Mom and Dad to try Haggis, which they actually said they liked! :) After dinner we called it an early night, we had a big day the next day.


Wednesday started out Scottish highlands tour. Our tour bus was pretty small, a large van basically with a driver/tour guide and only eleven people total. The small group was really nice, much better then a huge coach tour with lots of people. We left Edinburgh at about 8:30 Wednesday morning and headed north. It took some time to get out of the city but once we did it was smooth sailing from there. We passed Linlithgow Palace where Mary Queen of Scots was born, then Stirling, where you could see the castle and the Wallace Monument perfectly. Our first stop was on the border of the highlands at the Trossachs woollen mill. This stop is home to Hamish the highland cow, an institution in Scotland. He is also thought to be the most photographed cow in the world. After some pictures and gift shop shopping we got back on the bus and headed to Glencoe. The scenery on the way was breathtaking! You could see the landscape changing right before your very eyes as we moved north from the midlands to the highlands. You could notice the increase in sheep too!


After a stop for lunch just outside of Glencoe we kept chugging along up to Fort William and the Glenfinnian Monument. The Glenfinnian Monument honors "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and the site where he started the Jacobite rebellion. This site was also home to another famous monument in Scotland, The Glenfinnian Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter movies. This is the bridge that the Hogwarts Express travels over on its way to Hogwarts. After a short stop there we headed north once again. On the way we caught views of Ben Nevis, the tallest point in the UK, which I hope to climb before I leave.

Our next stop was the Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness! We drove past the world famous Loch for sometime before reaching the castle and heard all about the legend of the Loch Ness monster, keeping our eyes peeled the whole time of course. The castle was really interesting because it was not rebuilt of re-furbished in anyway. It was left just as they found it. It was cool to explore the ruins of a castle for once instead of one that had been fixed up. After about an hour of exploring it was time to get back on the bus and head to our last stop for the day, Inverness, the self proclaimed capitol of the highlands. We were dropped off at the B&B where we would be staying that night, got all settled in and then had dinner and a great restaurant along the river. After dinner we all crashed, it had been a long day of driving and sightseeing.


Thursday was going to be another big day. We left our B&B at about 9:30 and headed straight to Culoden Battlefields. This was not exactly my favorite part of the tour but still pretty interesting. Next stop was Clava Carins. They were ancient burial grounds which are scattered all around Scotland. Apparently they were built to coincide with certain solar and lunar events, even though they were built thousands of years ago, amazing. Next was a very long journey south to St. Andrews. We stopped along the way and had some lunch in the very cute little town of Pitlochery. We ate at a cute little pub and fit in as much shopping as we could before getting back on the bus.


We finally arrived at St. Andrews around 3:00 in the afternoon, our bus driver drove us around the town, showing us the main sights including the Old Course, The Cathedral, and St. Andrews University. He then dropped us off and we were able to explore the town ourselves, we of course picked the golf courses. We took lots of pictures of the Old Course, the 18th green and 1st tee were the highlights, as well as the Swilcan Bridge. We watched a few golfers who were playing the legendary course and then walked out to the beach. It was so windy, No wonder it's such a hard course! After seeing the golf courses we walked around the campus of St. Andrews University the oldest university in Scotland. It was very very old but incredibly beautiful, as everything seems to be here. After just two short hours in St. Andrews we had to get back on our bus and head back to Edinburgh. It was about an hour and a half back to Edinburgh and we arrived around 7:00 that evening. We were all whipped out from a busy too days, but definitely enjoyed ourselves on a great tour of the highlands.

Friday we spent the day in Edinburgh, mostly walking the streets of Old Towne and shopping. We did visit John Knox House on the Royal Mile which was pretty uneventful. We also walked up to the Edinburgh castle to see the great views of the city below. We decided not to go inside because of the crowds and also my parents were pretty "castled out" from the past week. We were all pretty worn out from the crazy week of traveling. So we just took it easy the last day. Friday night we had dinner with the Wanzer family again. It was great to catch up with them and hear all about what they did with their week in Scotland. After dinner we said our goodbyes and Katie and I got on the train back to Stirling.

I'm so glad that my parents were able to come visit me during my short time here. It was great to be able to share this experience with them, especially since it is something so important to me. Thanks for everything Mom & Dad!

The week after break sure was a busy one with essays due in all three of my classes. I got them all finished and was ready to spend a long weekend in Dublin with Spencer and Katie when we got some disappointing news. A volcano in Iceland erupted on Wednesday the 14th which sent volcanic ash into the atmosphere. Because of this our plane to Dublin was cancelled, along with all other planes across Europe! No flights have flown from northern and eastern Europe for the whole weekend. So far flights are cancelled through this Wednesday but they could very easily be grounded for longer. The good news is that we will still have time to go to Dublin again after classes are finished and we can schedule a flight with the same airline for free.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be cleared up by next Thursday when Spencer and I are planning on traveling to Vienna, Austria for the weekend.

Sorry about the length of this post but its an update from a jam-packed weekend of traveling. I didn't put any pictures in this one because it's so long but I will put the album up of all the pictures soon. Hope everyone is having a good week. Until next time.. Cheers!