Nostalgia

Coming and going hold that same sense of anticipation and loss. I am sad to leave, but happy for the time I spent here and ready to see home again. This was an incredible experience. I learned a lot and probably never would have visited Scotland if I had not come on this trip. Scotland is unique and rich with history. I'll miss the bus system and walking so easily to places. I'll miss the pub environment and all the good beer. I'll miss the sense of family we created amongst our group. Edinburgh is a place I will never forget.

Harry Potter and the Elephant Cafe

I am a huge Harry Potter fan, but am not one to publicize it. Scotland was the birthplace of Harry Potter, and it happened right here in Edinburgh. Now, I am not a crazy fan so I did not flip out at the Elephant Cafe, but Natalie and I did walk in it once to look around. That is where J.K. Rowling wrote the first book. It will be cool to tell people I was there. The prices were a little expensive and Natalie just wanted coffee so we headed elsewhere.

I was crushed (kind of), when I found out Harry Potter was going to come out while we were here. But then it turned into this great opportunity, just see it here with everyone. We went to the Vue on the Leith Walk. The theater was huge and there was the option of an 18 and up theater. The bottom was like a mall with expensive restaurants. The popcorn was prepopped so it was not that delicious. It was a typical movie theater, only 6 pounds. The movie was awesome.

I think it is cool the irony that I saw the end of it all right in the place where it began. Judge me.

Pollock Halls

I write this as I near the end of my trip, so that might skew my opinion a little. Pollock halls has its pros and cons. Arthur's Seat and the Crags are right behind, which makes them great landmarks when we would get lost. Also, I could wake up at 10 and make it to the top of Arthur's Seat in an hour. It is nice to have that recreation in your backyard. Yet, sometimes Pollock Halls feels immensely far away from everything.

The rooms are nice. I liked having a single and my own space, and the maid service was amazing. But there was no common room for us to really hang out in, which would have made it immensely better. I wish we had a better kitchen so we could cook in it. That would have helped save immensely in food costs.

Edinburgh Castle

One of the field trips for our class was the Edinburgh Castle. I already had some preconceived ideas on the castle because of an article and discussion we had with Bob. When he asked what we thought on the renovations done with the castle I disagreed with the plans. But I thought that Bob made a good point when he said that it is more about preserving history and a celebration of the past of sorts.

However, Edinburgh Castle has been my least favorite castle. It was really crowded and felt very touristy. Perhaps it would have been better to go earlier in the day. The entrance was bogged down by a stadium they were building for the festival. The views from the castle were nice. The tower room was interesting and told some of the history. Natalie and I accidentally went to look at the crown jewels and it took us about 20 minutes to walk through this weird exhibit. I'm not a fan of the fake people models set up to look like they're from the past. Everything just seemed too new with all the shops.

The two best parts were getting to hear and see the gun shoot off and the Scottish soldiers, which were guarding the cathedral that was a war monument (which was really pretty inside).

(awkward award)

Oban

How fitting that the first and last weekend we took a group trips. We headed out to Oban, which takes about four hours by train. A neat town by the ocean that smells like seafood the instant you walk out of the train station. I am not a fan of seafood, but everyone that was loved it. We stayed in a really nice hostel. After we were all settled we went to a restaurant called Cuan Mor. The staff did not seem to like us much but the food was delicious.

Natalie, Sierra and I were hoping to go mountain biking but the rental shop was all out of bikes. So we headed up to McCaigs Tower, which is not really a tower and not as exciting as it sounds. After exploring some shops we did not have much else to do so we decided to start exploring the pubs. Some of them had interesting names, one was the Cellar Bar which was small. O'Donnnels was the coolest pub, there was live music and it kind of reminded me of a bar in Athens. We got to dance a lot. I tried haggis for the first time that night. It tastes just like meatloaf. Natalie and I split it, but she said that she had had better and that there weren't enough neeps in our dish.

On Saturday, Natalie and I woke up early to meet her parents. Along with the Buckleys, we all went to Dunstaffnage Castle. It is not a preserved castle so it was in ruins and very cool to explore. There was an old well and it was mostly used for housing. I found a golf ball hidden in the crack and written on it was: Please leave for Simon to find again. There was also a small chapel. There were graves in one room that were as early as 1975. It was a little eerie and this contraption in the middle looked somewhat like an old incinerator. The area around the castle was beautiful. We found a bog that we ran across and all began sinking. There were two beaches, well the shore was rocks. We found a tree swing. Peter and Ingrid were the best pushers. It was so fun.

After the castle we went on an hour long boat tour that showed us more spectacular views. We got to see a bunch of seals on this little island. Natalie said they looked like huge slugs, but they were adorable. One of the pups was only two weeks old. The Foys and I spent some time in the Oban chocolate factory, which had incredible truffles. Then it was time to head home.

Admittedly I think I would have preferred to spend the weekend in Glasgow or Inverness, but Oban was beautiful and fun to explore. A small town, perfect for one night. I wish the weather would have been better so we could have gone to the Isle of Mull.

Stirling

Before trekking off on my grand adventure I received a lot of advice from my family... namely one of these pieces of advice was that I had better go and see the William Wallace Monument. Boyt my brother and father love the movie Braveheart. Luckily, Buckley had planned a trip to Stirling which has a magnificent castle and the William Wallace Monument.

Stirling is only an hour train ride away and when we got there we all walked to the castle together. It had great views of the city. Stirling Castle is much cooler than Edinburgh's. It is the home of of King James V who was Mary Queen of Scots father. I thought that guided tour and plaques throughout the castle were informative without being too much. You could explore each different part of the castle on your own and did not have to follow a tour which I liked. The wooden carved heads were cool. Also the inner part of the castle was painted a bright peachy orange, which was typical of castles from that era. Natalie and I found creepy, dungeon chambers.

After that we all ended up at Nicky Tams pub which was sub par and it took forever to get our food. Then we all hopped a bus and headed over to the monument. The hike up and down is so pretty. We didn't pay to climb the top of the tower but you can go up there for free. There were people dressed in costumes who told stories about William Wallace. Quite exciting.

The National Museum of Scotland

Maybe I was tired of so many museums, but I did not enjoy this museum that much. The building is really cool. But I do not like when museums don't really give you a sequential order or path to follow and things are hanging out just willy nilly everywhere. There was so much stuff to look at! They had a lot of stuff that people used to cook with and wear. There was a creepy horse skeleton. The Roman stuff was really awesome. The industrial section was definitely the coolest. We did not make it to the top floors and I'm upset that the garden on the roof is always closed. It was free though so it might be worth it to go at least once and check it out.