Day Eight: Saturday 5/29

Bus Tour to the countryside of Edinburgh

"Back then, people didn't have sewer systems in their house so they would got to the bathroom in a bucket; at 10 pm every night they would throw the stuff out of the bucket... and this is why it is called shit faced when people leave the pubs and get hit by it!!" - bus Tour guide

wee folk= little people= midgets

We left to go bus tour of the Highland/ Countryside at 8:30 am. The tour guides were hilarious always making jokes about their own people and also every other culture on the bus. When he yelled our names he made us say "I" like the Scottish people say- & not to say "Yes" as they think American's say... but I usually say "here." First we went to the William Wallace Memorial-- he defeated the English army in the Battle of Stirling Bridge, he was the inspiration for the movie Braveheart -- what a hike up to it!! They should have told us to wear tennis shoes because it was rough with flip flops & it was raining! Then we drove to Maizzes Castle which was apparently haunted in some rooms- I didn't go in because it was 4 pounds and I was already going to pay 5 pounds for the Whiskey tour. After a convenience store lunch (yeah that's what I said), we had the Dewar's Whiskey Distillery Tour. Lots of info about the process of making it but I cannot remember it all! The 3 ingredients are distilled water (most important), barley, and yeast. They make 400 bottles a minute! It is the #1 company brand in America. Had a wee bit taste of whiskey but it was terrible so I didn't finish it :/
Then we drove to Hemorrhage where the tallest tree in Scotland resides. Cool... i guess. But... there was a magical waterfall close by!!! love love love.

The tour gave us a different view of the beautiful country-- but I do not recommend that specific company - Highlander Explorer Tours.

Later, our group was invited to the National Poetry Library for h'orderves and drinks while listening to poetry. Quite odd to be having a "party" in the library. The 4 boys all read poems- quite well !! But we all have to get up at 7 am to ride the train to London at 9!!!

I absolutely enjoyed being in Scotland but I think I'm ready to get to London . Scotland was a joyful experience and I wish I didn't have jet lag 3 of the days but I would definitely go back again.

I am officially down to 40 pounds... I think I did pretty well with saving my money where I could- but the eating out every lunch and dinner I think put a dent in my budget this week. What budget? The one in my head I suppose. London I assume will be better because our flat will have a fridge and we can buy things at the grocery store! Yay I love cooking!

Goodbye Edinburgh, Hello London !!!!

Day Seven: Friday 5/28

[Botanic gardens, Edinburgh]

better late (post) than never!


"I may have to start smoking and drinking during the day to fit in here."- Me

How do people here stay fit with drinking everyday and night, eating haggis (sheep's guts), fish & chips, meat pie, everything fried ?! Oh yeah! The freakishly intense hills everywhere!

Friday= Free day
Slept in til 10:30 :) woop woop! Woke up, got ready, missed free breakfast, waited around til everyone else was ready. Left the hostel around 12:30. We went to fetch the bus to take us to the Botanic Gardens. We all knew what bus to take but the difficult part was finding what street that bus would be on. So after stepping onto the wrong bus twice- I decided to ask someone. People must get really annoyed with pesky tourists always asking "where is this? blah blah blah" The lady I asked happened to be going to the same place!! Good thing I asked her because we would have gotten lost otherwise.
Adults= 4 pounds
Students= 3 pounds
~ always ask if they have student discounts!
[living stones!! ]
There wasn't many FANTASTIC things to look at except the Large & in charge Water Lilies!! I just wanted to pounce on them! :)

water lilies!

underneath the tree



After roaming all the glasshouses , we wanted to go to the water/ocean front. We all got a day bus pass so we waited for the bus to take us.. Turns out the bus was late...so we waited, and waited... Caitlin, Jenna and I popped into a Jersey store until Megan and Liz gave us the 2 min. warning for the bus. So we went and waited some more... Here comes the bus!! Hmmmm, its # 23. We need # 27. SO it passes by. 10 more minutes go by and #8 comes. So we decide just to start walking since #27 seems like it is never coming. We ask a lady how far the walk is- "it's a way's away." But we're all up for it! We keep walking about 2 minutes and thennnnnnn there goes bus # 27....... sweet. Just fabulous. So we walk & walk & walk. Til we get to where we cannot go straight any longer- it is either right or left. We decide right. Then I ask a ginger where to go because I am not trying to go in the wrong direction for 30 minutes... haha. So we walk down a street with different architecture then we've been seeing - duplex houses- beautiful. About 2.5 miles down that road.... THE OCEAN!!! WOOOOO!!!! We all touched our toes in the water and enjoyed seeing and being by the water :)


[little school boys! - i'm a stalker haha]


The last part of the day, we actually caught a bus back to Princes Street and ate dinner at The Grande Cru. I had salmon and green beans - yummm. All that walking makes us hungry!

Walking everyday is such a joy and totally refreshing




[weird flavored chips!!!!]

Day Six: Thursday 5/27

" The Blue Whale's tongue is as heavy as an elephant" - Employee in The Museum of Scotland

Struggling in class this morning... due to lack of sleep from staying out at the pubs. After class, we went down the street and saw Elephant House where J.K Rowling wrote the first book of Harry Potter!!!!! I <3 style="font-weight: bold;">Greyfriar's Bobby- skye terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray. Freaking adorable.
The Museum was HUMONGOUS! 7 floors with 2-3 exhibits on each floor. So much information to take in- it was impossible to see and read everything in one day. Level 0 I learned about Scotland geology. Then we decided to go to the exhibits we wanted to see- makes sense right? In Scotland, "Dolly" was the first sheep/animal to get cloned. She lived for 12 yrs and died of Arthritis. This cloning happens due to Genetic Modification (GM). Next, we went to see the Sumatram Tigeress and her cub. They are on the critically endangered list and there may be less than 500 left. :( Their native home is in Endonesian.
There was an African Queen buried in a tomb and her child was buried in a box right next to her- so odd... why a box? Then we went up to the Roof Terrace to see the extraordinary view of Edinburgh.

For dinner, Felicia, Mary and I went and got Thai food. Mmmm Pad Thai :)

Day Five: Wednesday 5/26

" Can I ride that dog up the mountain?" -Mary

Had a visit to the National Library of Scotland this morning for 2 hours. Learned about Lord Byron (1788 - 1824) was one of England's most notorious womanizers. A world

-famous poet by the age of 24. He had an intense love affair with Caroline Lamb. She was so obsessed with him it was ridiculous. She was only a fan of his work and just kept going after him! We saw (& touched) the letters she had written him (200 yrs ago). I cannot believe we actually got to TOUCH old artifacts of writers and even Charles Darwin who was a famous British naturalist and proved the theory of evolution and natural selection. There were old scripts from playwrights, books that Darwin had wrote, famous maps, Chinese passports, letters, pictures-- about 400 years old. The map was made out of goat skin and so detailed. We got to touch Byron's manuscript and a letter to John Murray. It was such a great opportunity to touch the artifacts ~ like Charles' Darwin signature, his books. Normally , we cannot touch anything and everything is secured.

Around 4:30 pm we all walked up to Arthur's Seat! All I can say is - it is indescribable and no picture can capture the view. The trek up was absolutely the most difficult hike I have ever encountered. Completely worth it though. Walking back down the mountain we went to St. Anthony's Chapel- or what was left of it. Furthermore, a married couple said to us "We can't pass you by without saying GO HOKIES!!" :) Hokies are everywhere, even Scotland!!

Later that evening we did a Pub Crawl with the majority of our group- LOTS of fun! It was my official first night out on the town! Bar's we went to:

• The Advocate
• The Globe
• Whistle Binkies
• Frankenstein
  

What a crazy day & night :)

Full Packed Day: Monday 5/22

Grudgingly woke up at 8am. I was mad we had to wake up early to go see places when our schedule said our first thing is at 3:25 pm: Scottish Parliament. Our professors changed it the day before. I just want to sleeeeeep... so all 8 of us (in the room) got ready to be downstairs by 9 am. I of course was late, was there by 9:20 am. I mean 8 girls all getting ready at the same time in 2 bathrooms in a room about twice the size of a dorm is just difficult. So, Mary and I ate breakfast~ nasty grapefruit, banana and hashbrown- tried the "brown sauce" but will never again... They had beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, ham, sausage, bacon... what's with the beans for breakfast? No thanks. I'll stick to fruit. Next we walked to where we will be having class tomorrow morning (The Quaker House)- it's about a 7-10 min. walk. Of course up hill because that all Edinburgh is. Then we went to The Writers Museum. It was nice- 400 yrs old. I kind of zoned out while I was in there-- still jet lagged.



We also saw St. Giles Cathedral (Episcopal Church) - extremely interesting design.
The chairs were made out of wood that was so detailed and exquisitely hand-crafted. Unbelievable. And every design had a meaning to it.

One part had an angel holding a crest with an Anchor in it-- which means Hope.

We got a break to eat lunch so Mary and I stumbled upon a little deli and cafe shop right beside our hostel. It's called Larder- LOTS of vegetarian, vegan things like sandwiches, salads, soup, etc... You can also make your own item! One barrier is the word "salad"- when they say salad it mean like a potato or egg salad- even quinoa salad NOT lettuce salad... Got to be specific here.


Later, we walked down hill to Children's Museum, Holyrood, The Queens Picture Gallery, and the Scottish Parliament.

What stood out to me in the Children's Museum was the Milk Chocolate Cigarette candy's... and tobacco pipes... so weird. Apparently these were available when I was a kid but I guess my parents never bought any for me (makes sense since they don't smoke). But some of the people in my group ate them when they were little! What does that teach little kids!??? Yet, none of them smoke today...

We went into the Queen's Gallery and walked around the exhibit with an audio guide= headphones and a radio type thing where the art pieces had #'s by them and you could type in the # and a person would speak about the painting. It was nice to have or else I would not have known much about the painting. One stood out to me- it was of a little black boy that was holding onto the cattle. Then there were 2 Scottish men talking. Was was interesting was that the black boy was dressed in a nice Scottish coat and capris & you could tell he was proud to be working for such great men by his hint of a smile on his face. Afterwards, we went into the gift shop where I wanted everything that had a crown on it :) (key chain, soap, t shirt, lotion, chocolate).





Us girls debated which of Queen Elizabeth's sons was cuter-- Harry or Charles? We decided Harry was with his red hair and freckles! We saw Scottish guards that were dressed in uniform - kilts with white boots and hats. Nicole and I got a DG picture with them !!! He was adorable trying to do the "G" !!!

Next, was the tour of the Scottish Parliament! --My favorite place so far.


I learned:

• 100 women were surveyed to write something about other women who have inspired them in their lives. It was done in porcelin because Scottish women were supposed to be fragile and unique even though their quotes weren't.

• The Main Hall- had architecture ceiling that looked like 2 ships for Scotland or 2 eyes to represent the public looking in and public access to the Parliament. It could basically represent whatever you wanted it to be!
• The building is very open with lots and lots of windows so the public knows everything and can see inside. All debates and meetings are open to the public. We can sit in and listen to the debates. If someone has something to say they are cued by a speaker to talk but when their time is up their speaker is shut off -- not but's about it.
• There was a display of a fabric of colors:
  

Brown/Grey= Beginning of Time (Stone Age)
Blue= Sailing and ships
Green= Agriculture and Environment
Orange/Red= Catastrophe and Conflict
Gold= Enlightenment
Silver= Future

• Stones from original house of parliament that they gave back to them to put in this place- mounted above a door.
• The outside of the Parliament has these shapes across the windows. They represent curtains (look it up online- since I can't upload my pics right this second) being drawn back to let the parliament people look into it. It is supposed to mean they are very publicly accessible.

• The Debate Room: The most interesting thing was there were shapes of People on the wall that look like bottles. They were to remind the workers in there while debating that they are representing the "Scottish People" and they are constantly being watched. Every debate is videoed and can be viewed online
• *** BBC was recording as we took our tour! We were on TV!

After the Parliament, I passed out at 4:30 pm and woke up at 10:30 pm... Then I chilled out for an hour, facebooked on someone else's computer (2 people bought internet for 15 pounds for the week- but it was pointless for me to do that because I didn't have plug by my bed which I would need to charge my computer). Later I went back to sleep at midnight and woke up and 8:15 am for class at 9. Class consisted of talking in a group discussion about all the cool places we've seen so far and what was special about them to us. I like these kind of classes ;) After, we walked around and finally found converters!!! -- Since I happened to forget mine. I found a delicious lunch spot "Every day Sunday" on our walk to class which was also in the tourist book my Dad gave me. Then Restaurant labels if it is Vegan, Dairy Free, Wheat free == PERF!

Our our walk to the Edinburgh castle we got stopped by this magician that claims that he has been on Jay Leno twice and on SNL! I took a video!

At the castle, we saw the Crown Jewels, Prisoners of War, Military and War Museum... etc. Gorgeous view from the top.


[ crown jewels- one of the swords and the crown; not the real thing because the real one's i couldn't take pictures of ]

The castle felt a like it was re-done with all the different houses for each exhibit. It is the most visited place for tourists.

[portrait in Queen's house]
On the walk back, we stopped at some traders on the side of the road. I bought a ring that has a green Scottish marble and a Scottish/ Celtic band. I payed 26 pounds for it... A bit much but I love it :) Also I bought some other Celtic souvenirs for my family! Later on in the night we went to a Karaoke bar!!
We legit made that bar happenin'. haha The 4 boys started out the singing "Happy Birthday" to Rosalie! Then he did "Stacie's Mom" has got it goin onnnnn! :) SOOO FUNNY! I have lots of videos and pictures. Yiseol broke out her dance moves while Mia and Trevor sang "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga! hahaha But Trevor did NOT know the words so Yiseol took over at the end ! I would have never thought Yiseol would have done that!
Tanner picked out a song for Nicole and I to sing-- "Everybody" by Backstreet Boys and apparently all the Scott's knew it and were singing along!! It was a hit! Who knew!?! Lastly, Paige rapped Ice Ice Baby with Tom and Trevor ! That whole night I could not stop laughing!

Saturday Day 1 5/22 & Sunday Day 2 5/ 23

Here goes my attempt to write about a week ago ...



Friday night I got about 5 and a half hours of sleep due to my blogging and of course being anxious about my trip ! Woke up Saturday morning around 8 am and went for a run to de-stress and get some fresh air before a longgggg day of sitting and flying. Then I went out to get a charger for my ipod since I left it in Blacksburg and headphones because mine were slightly breaking. That took about 2 hours due to my wandering around a bit… When I got back to my house, I had to finish last minute packing/ calm down.
I’ve noticed whenever I have to leave home to travel somewhere ‘unknown’ I get in this weird mood where I am not happy, nor sad but I am just in a ‘blah’ mood. I don’t like being in that mood but it just comes over me sometimes. It even happens when I go back to Virginia Tech after being home for a weekend or more. And I love Tech so it doesn’t make much sense—maybe its my comfort level going back and forth? Who knows?

Anyways, that was my mood for all of Saturday morning until I got to the gate for my flight Dulles to Newark. When I was checked into my flight, I was anticipating the worker to ask me all sorts of questions about going abroad to make sure I wasn’t an illegal immigrant (last year’s study abroad group said they were practically interrogated). I think I wasn’t questioned because 5 people before me already went and they knew I was part of that group of students from VT Study Abroad. Next, my dad walked me to the next check in/show your boarding pass stop then I was on my own for security! I hadn’t been to Dulles Airport since all the new construction was finished~ but it looked really nice. So I got through the 3rd time showing my passport and stepped into line for baggage security. However, apparently I was taking too long to get my computer out of my bookbag and the 3.5 oz bottles out so this “older” lady that is BEHIND me gives me a nasty look like “Come onnnnn, you’re taking so long.” Then she steps in front of me… which is fine because it really doesn’t matter to me. BUT then, she starts taking all her stuff out to put in the bins and such and takes ~10 min maybe and I already have all my things ready to go through the x-ray machine and she looks at me like “woops!” Yeah lady… learn to never be inpatient again because this is what you get. Haha jk! :)

The flight to Newark was short then we got on a connection to Edinburgh. That flight was wayyyyy too long. But I luckily sat next to an older couple who were from Scotland. They were coming from California going back home to Edinburgh. I talked to them for awhile which was nice J The flight consisted of me attempting to nap, watching When in Rome, The Office, House, reading the first page of a book 9 times, looking out the window, listening to my Ipod… yeah I was quite busy but the time sure did go slow.



Sunday, Day Two

Such a blur... jet lagged. Had $377 and exchanged it for 232 pounds. We took the airlink bus from the airport to the hostel. Getting off the bus I almost got run over by a bus because we didn't look RIGHT. The walk from the bus stop to our Hostel was the biggest, longest most ridiculous UP HILL walk everrrrrrrr-- and of course I had more luggage than everyone else (woops!). Just a forewarning, I will have thunder thighs when I get home.

As a group we bought our "pay as you go" phones. Phone cost 4.95 pounds plus 200 minutes which added up to 20 pounds total. Pretty good! Everyone got the same plan haha. Later we went to the mall to look around and try to get converters for our plugs... no luck- sold out. Had lunch at the hostel- actually it has delicious food. Had a salad with goat cheese and vegetables while everyone else had Fish & Chips. The classic Scottish meal-- no thanks !! I tried really hard to stay awake until a normal bed time but I passed out around 7. That's all I remember !!

* Tried to upload pics but apparently my computer can't handle that... I'll try again later. Sorry!

Edinburgh Castle

I know I haven't posted what we did yesterday but it was kind of a longgggg day of so many activities so I'll have to post it later- I wrote it in my notebook so I could remember later :) But today we had class in the morning and we just talked about all the things we did- Writer's Museum, St. Giles Cathedral, Holyrood, Queen's Picture Gallery, Scottish Parliament (this was all in one day- Monday!)... then today we saw Edinburgh Castle. The castle had such a gorgeous view of the city!! Went in the war, military, prisoners of war museums inside the castle.

- Well I'm talking to my dad, carolyn, and taylor and my time is running out!!!!
talk to you all soon!

Fastest & Shortest Blog Ever

I'm on the computers in my hostel in Edinburgh since they do not give us free wireless internet :( So 10 pence for 20 minutes.... got to work fast!!! Since I cannot get on my computer every night, I will be journaling in my notebook to later type into my blog when I get to London and will have free internet. Pain in the butt, oh well. Lots of things to say so far about my trip but I guess it'll have to wait!!! Love to all ! Write to you later !!

- Also if you have skype my name is : mewmccrane
& if you are on your computer keep your skype online so if I am on we can chat!!! I will not know when I will be on the internet-- it's just whenever I have some time and want to pay £ 's .

- Seeing Scottish Parliament and Holyrood tomorrow :)

The Night Before

It is the night before my flight to Scotland and I am 1/3 way packed for tomorrow; yes I am going to bed with unfinished packing... I am not one to usually procrastinate but when it comes to packing I just cannot make myself do it ahead of time yet even finish it ahead of time Too many things to remember, see, do ,etc. Can I please just be transported there?! One day, oh one day. Currently, I have 1 carry on bag packed full of clothes, then my/my dad's humongous, break my back bookbag (ugh) will be packed in the morning when I put my laptop in it, and my suitcase that is almost zipped closed will be checked. I know I over packed but what do you expect? I'm a girl! -- with a love of clothes AND shoes! :) I wonder how I'm going to fit the things I buy there in my suitcase... I may need to take some things out now.
As of right now I don't feel nervous but I do feel quite anxious and just want to be there already. I hate dealing with airports and all the security. Although, as I recall with past airport experiences, all the anticipation of flying somewhere that you want to go takes over and the small, minute details that stand in the way of arriving in a different part of the world is just part of the journey. These pesky details will soon be over and out of my mind once I arrive in my home for the next month :) (Technically Scotland for a week and London for 3 weeks thought...)
I cannot wait to explore everything and learn a new way of living, breathing, being. I am so thankful I get to experience this, so very grateful of my luxurious life (thank you family :D ily). I know for a fact that I will want to go back but this way I won't live for another 21 years wanting and needing to exist where my ancestors, my own blood have grown up and lived before coming to States.
My excitement extends from experiencing the beauty and wonderful sights in Scotland/London/Ireland to meeting new people, soaking in new personalities and information.
Did I forget about my classes I'll be taking in Scotland and London? Woops... I guess its just on the back burner in my mind ;) Hopefully it'll be fun and teach me some culture because I am definitely culturally deprived especially after talking to my friend Lucie who is from France and while she was asking me questions about England --- I was googling them :) I want to learn. I need to learn.
Can it be Sunday morning already?? Oh wait, that would skip my whole airport ordeal which is part of excursion ;)
I feel like I have a ton of condensed energy that is being held captive inside my body and it needs to be released~ but the only way to release it is to be where I have been thinking about 24/7 the past 2 weeks. Maybe a run will help, too bad my Dad won't let me at this time at night ... good thing.
Next time I blog I will BE IN SCOTLAND!!! I cannot explain my excitement and anticipation at this moment; it is completely indescribable.

Love to everyone & keep me in your thoughts while I'm abroad