Scotland

Scotland Bound

Sorority squats in front of the Scotland sign.

It's funny how quickly you go on holiday after attending only two days of classes. On July 5th all of the PKP students (unless of course you missed the bus!) left for our trip to Scotland. I must say that this was the LONGEST bus ride I have ever been on (and since I have been on many bus rides for sports...including one that got my whole track team stranded in Fresno, I know what long bus rides are). My suggestion for a long bus ride is to bring water and something to eat. Of course we stopped at a few places along the way which made the trip more bearable, but sitting on a bus for so long can take a lot out of you. If you want to make the most of your time once in Scotland, you are going to want to keep your energy up. I sat next to a lovely guy named Neal from Idaho and we had some great talks about football and dating lives. Shout out to Neal for being an awesome bus buddy!

Richmond Castle

Richmond

On the way to Scotland, we stopped in Richmond which houses Richmond Castle. A group of us wandered around the city looking for food until the castle was deemed safe enough to open. Sadly on our way up to Scotland it rained cats and dogs, but luckily whenever we got out of the bus it was dry! We eventually wandered into town far enough to find a fish and chips take away with great prices. Once we all purchased our food, we headed into THE UNICORN to sit down and have our meal. They were kind enough to let us sit in there even if many of us were not going to purchase drinks. After lunch I made a purchase of an adorable American flag scarf that will be perfect for the Olympics (which seem so close! So excited!). Finally we stopped at the castle. It was beautifully covered with flowers on its walls. I must say that I have a soft spot for ruins. There is such a strange beauty to something that is damaged and has so much history behind it. 

Kirsten, Nick, and I at the top of the hill

The Highlands

You are allowed to go on two different excursions while in Scotland. I only chose one because I was so exhausted from the first week of being in England, but choosing to do a hike was THE BEST decision I made. HINT: These are real hikes. I don't think everyone who went on the hikes really understood that this meant you are going to sweat, it will be hard, you might get sore. Oddly enough I think people underestimated my hiking ability because I showed up in jeans and Burberry boots. FUN FACT: Although I often dress a bit posh, I was an Indian Princess (similar to Girl Scouts) and absolutely know how to hike :P 

Judge me by my size do you? I am a kick butt hiker!

Anyway, the hike was brilliant. We stopped beforehand to buy ourselves a lunch to eat half way through the hike. Thank goodness Kirsten brought her backpack so that we could put our food in it and our jackets. It was amazing how the weather went from miserable and raining to sunny and bright once we got to our hiking site. The hike was only about 3.5 miles, but we took 4 hours to do it because of the elevation and to take breaks for people to catch up. It was loads of fun! I haven't been hiking in a few years so this was great to get back into it again. My poor friend, Christine, had her shoe swallowed up by a mud sink pit! One of the other girls waded into it in order to salvage the shoe. Needless to say, that pair of shoes was thrown out immediately when we got back! One of the best parts of the hike was when we were instructed to sit for five minutes in silence to really take in the noises of the Scottish Highlands. These noises included the sheep, the insects, the harsh wind, and the distant water. The view from the top of the giant hill was breathtaking. You could see where the lowlands of Scotland met its awe-inspiring highlands. One of the guides pulled out his iPhone and played some Scottish fiddle jams. 

Edinburgh

We stayed at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh University. On the first night, Kirsten had fallen asleep and missed dinner. We went out hunting for something that was still open at 9 PM and discovered a Chinese take-out place. I must say that it did not look like very appetizing Chinese food. 

On Saturday, Kirsten and I took a break from studying to go take a walk into town. We stopped at Richmond Cafe to eat and it was wonderful. I had my first full English breakfast. We also had some tea and homemade baklava while we waited for the rain to subside. When we got into the city, we stopped by HMV to get some posters for our dorms. While there we talked with a worker about various bands including Westlife, One Direction, and McFLY. I will admit he laughed at us a bit for our liking boybands, but it's always fun to talk with people who actually know about the bands you like best. We continued our walk into the city center where we stopped by Sir Walter Scott's monument. The rain got pretty intense so we headed back towards the college after taking some pictures and purchasing our MADE IN SCOTLAND wool and cashmere scarves. 

I must admit that the evening was a bit disappointing for Kirsten and I as we weren't too keen to drink at this goth, underground bar that everyone went into. We had really wanted to go to the club Espionage but everyone else didn't want to go until later. Since Kirsten and I had no idea how to get there, we ended up headed back to the dorms without experiencing Edinburgh's nightlife. I have heard wonderful things about that club though, so if interested you should definitely check it out! Also, when Kirsten and I were attempting to find the club, we saw lots of bars that had live music and dancing. Edinburgh looks like it had some great pub crawl bars on The Royal Mile (that is a street name). 

Fountains Abbey

The stunning Fountains Abbey

On the way back to Cambridge we stopped at Fountains Abbey. This abbey was one of the richest and most renowned in England until King Henry VIII burned it down and destroyed it when he felt that they were a threat to his reign after naming himself the head of the Church of England. The abbey was huge, even with most of it ruined. It is hard to believe that it could have been much bigger and more grand! As I said before, I am a sucker for ancient ruins. Another fun fact about me though is that I am obsessed with King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

We walked around the abbey for two hours and found many interesting views with some of the PAs. One view that really interested me was past the Temple of Fame called "Anne Boleyn's Seat". As advertised in the guide to the abbey, this place had a "surprise view". The view included the whole stream leading up to the abbey as well as the abbey itself. It was worth the steep hike to find it. Aside from the beautiful abbey, there were many other stunning parts of the site including the "floating" statues in the stream. These statues resembled those from ancient Greek and Roman times. 

Glad you're back Teemu!The

Things Happening in the World

• Steve Nash is now officially a Laker. Don't know how I feel about this because I really don't like Nash at all. FACT: He looks like an old man with the body of a child. 
• Teemu Selanne is still a Duck! (At least for one more year)

Up next: another week at Cambridge and my trip to see McFLY at Tynemouth!