Scotland: scottish cows, malt whiskey, ghost tours, and more

Hej!

So it has been about a week since my return from Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland. It was a packed week full of both academic visits and planned cultural activities. We did have a lot of free time to explore (shop!), and go out at night. Again, anything is cheaper than Copenhagen, right?

So we left Sunday, flew out as a class from the airport, we pretty much took up the entire plane. It was fun though, traveling with friends, and I look forward to it for my upcoming travel break. We got there on Sunday night and pretty much went to bed at our hotel right away. We stayed in Ediburgh the first half of the week. My first impressions of Scotland was the view I woke up to in the morning from my hotel room. Overlooking all of the beautiful old buildings built into the hill-y countryside. The city is so old and built like a fortress. Very cool. Monday morning we got to go to Ediburgh castle, again, built like a fortress so it is high up and overlooks the entire city. It was so cool and where I took a lot of pictures. I am just in awe of history that dates back to the 1400 and 1500s. We did an audio tour of the castle, which was inhabited for some time by Mary Queen of Scotts in the early 16th century.

After the castle we were given free time for lunch. Four of us were just wandering around and we happened to stumble upon...none other than...The Elephant House. Better known as, the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first book. Where it all began, she sat in the back room overlooking the Edinburgh castle...and was inspired to write Harry Potter. We sat in the same back room, and what made it even better, was that the food was amazing. Brie, Chicken, Mango Chutney panini with some shortbread was heaven.

I won't go too in-depth on the academic visits because those can seem boring. Mainly all of them had to do with how Scotland is taking the initiative and placing well-being/happiness at the forefront of mental health care. We learned a lot about their policies, different organizations, and explored expressive therapies in a workshop.

We got to do a Ghost Tour of the underground vaults in Edinburgh- which, I must say, puts Gettysburg to shame. Maybe cause it was listed at one of the top ten scariest/most haunted places in the United Kingdom. It was very scary. Crammed like 30 people into these chambers beneath the ground in pitch black with temperature fluctuations and dripping water. By the last vault I was ready to get out of there, clutching my friend Maggie, and keeping my eyes glued to my feet. Still, I'm glad I did it. If you want to, google Edinburgh Underground Vaults, scroll down, and pictures come up of what it looks like. Ahhhh.

Tuesday we got to see a lot of the Scottish countryside on the way to one of our academic trips. Very pretty. Looks like PA with beautiful white mountains in the background.

Also, during the trip we headed to a whiskey distillery to sample some true Scotch. It was in the middle of the countryside and was called Glengoyne. We tasted their 10 yr old malt whiskey then preceded to have a tour. Neat, though I am no fan of scotch. Felt bad wasting 10 years of work, but after a few sips, some form of chaser I didn't have was needed.

We were supposed to go hiking, see Stirling Castle, and the scenic Loch Lohmond. They lied to us, however, and one full day (I think wednesday?) was spent on a bus...driving by these sights...with a British sounding yet supposedly Scottish old woman tour guide named Leona. She had a knack for yelling through the intercom, preventing us from sleep or itunes, and pointing out scottish cows. I wasn't very pleased. I became further angered when our scenic view of Loch Lohmond consisted of being given 5 mins to hop off the bus, take a picture, then leave. :(

Britt and I also did some exploring, I forgot to mention, In Edinburgh. We climbed Calton Hill which also is another high point and overlooks the city. The sun was setting and it contained these greek looking ruins that were so pretty and good photo-ops. We're freaks. Also to further our weirdness, we sought out this cool cemetary with old tombstones and graves...and general..creepiness. Also, when I saw David Hume was buried there...I was excited...which I suppose makes me a nerd.

Ummm...so the rest of the week we stayed in Glasgow. It was pretty. It had more of a nightlife than Edinburgh which was fun. We met this scottish man named Phil, who was generally not creepy, and he told us about a concert going on the next night. Even though I missed the concert, I was able to navigate and find our group (who had left our dinner early to get there). The night was fun though and we found a club-esque placed where we could dance, so all was good. People in Scotland were all very nice, from those we had met. A funny. And drunk.

Glasgow reminded me of an American city though it did have some neat architecture and and pretty park that Maggie, Amanda, and I explored. We just basically enjoyed getting lost. Sometimes thats the best way to sight see.

All in all, this is what I can remember from Scotland. There was some interesting meals to say the least...don't get why europeans love liver pate (in Denmark especially).

Alright, I'm heading to Paris this weekend with Jenni! Will update after that!