#ToBeOrNotToBe

It has been a while since I have written here, but that is only because of the past few weeks being very eventful. The past weekend I went to visit some family friends in Birmingham. After successfully navigating my first ever train journey, I arrived late Thursday evening, just in time to settle in and get some sleep. The next morning, the family needed to go to work, so they sent me on yet another train journey to Stratford-Upon-Avon, also known as Shakespeare’s birthplace. The town itself was very quaint, but it was being set up for a festival, so the streets were taken up by carnival rides that unfortunately took away from the general Shakespearian atmosphere. It was nice to walk around and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous sunny day. Friday evening included a trip to the theater in Birmingham for a production of “Of Mice and Men”.

Fall is in the air (and on the trees) in Stratford

Hamlet: Voted to be one of the Top 20 Shakespearian characters.

Cool Dude Shakespear

Saturday, we decided to drive to Oxford to explore the university. It was great to walk around and see all the different colleges, each with a very old-timey feel. Unfortunately, this was the day all the freshmen were moving in, so a lot of the colleges were closed and it was extremely crowded. Saturday evening, we went on a Stand Up to Cancer march. This particular march was happening in a number of cities throughout the UK, so we joined in to the one in Birmingham. I headed back home on Sunday afternoon, making it home in time for some dinner and sleep to recuperate before the week ahead.

The following week was spent finishing up my first essay of the Semester. On Tuesday, I went to a Pleasance Sessions concert with a few friends. We went to see Middle of Nowwhere Label Showcase w/ Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire, Miss Irenie Rose, Pete Roe, and Colin Mcleod. Everyone was extremely good and the general atmosphere was nice and cozy and personal. This was my first live concert that I attended, and I have to say it was a lovely experience. Continuing on my artsy streak, I decided to attend a poetry slam on Thursday. I have been interested in spoken word poetry for a few years now, so finding out that the University of Edinburgh hosted them, I jumped at the opportunity. I even got recruited to judge the poetry, having to give all the performances scores based on the poem, their execution, and the audience reaction. The whole evening was amazing, with so many great poems and great poets.

This weekend, I went to the National Museum, part 2. Some highlights include:

Hanging with Nessie

This past weekend, I went on an Arcadia sponsored trip to the Scotland Highlands and oh goodness, what a weekend!

Our first stop was the Blair Athol Whiskey Distillery. They make a single malt whiskey, and we got a very informative tour of how they make whiskey.

We then stopped for a quick lunch and on to Leault Farm, which is a sheep farm. There we got a demonstration of how they use their border collies to herd sheep. Each dog is trained individually and has his own commands that he responds to for left, right, sit, stay, etc. It was amazing! They even had a blind dog that herd sheep by smelling them, thus knowing where they are. I then got to shear a sheep and it was SO MUCH FUN! Apparently I have 'great shearing technique'. We then got to bottle feed some orphan lambs and play with puppies. Teeny tiny puppies that were just so cute and darling! Because of this I have decided to move to Scotland and become a shepherd. And do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGOGOxtN2lM

Apparently sheep go totally calm once you sit them down or put them on their backs

Feeding a baby lamb

Puppy kisses

Shearing a sheep

Then on to the site of the Culloden Battle. It was very windy, but the museum was really nice and informative and our cultural guide did a very good job of explaining everything and now I feel like things are clicking into place and making sense :) To condense an hour of information into one sentence, all you need to know about Culloden is that the poor Jacobites lost miserably.

Red flags mark the starting line of the William of Orange supporters

 

The next morning started off with heading to Loch Ness! After hanging with Nessie for a bit, we took a boat over to Urquhart Castle and had a very cold and windy tour there. We then headed to Ben Nevis, which is the tallest mountain in the U.K. It is used for skiing and mountain biking and quite a steep and cold climb. So we took a Cable Car up to the top where we took in the view and ate lunch. I had Game Pie, which was like Steak pie, but with pheasant, rabbit, and venison. Quite tasty, and I followed it up with the most delicious scone ever. It has cherries baked in and had a shortbread tasting crust= super yummy.

Drinking Irn Bru on Loch Ness. It doesn't get any more Scottish than that.

Urquhart Castle

Great view of the castle, if only the mass pack of tourists was not in the way...

View from Ben Nevis

We then took a quick stop at Glencoe. It is a volcanic and ice created valley/canyon, so pretty lush nature. All of Scotland is quite lush due to the mass amount of moisture the plants get = they remain very green and lush.

More Photos

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:

Edinburgh Castle

Found myself a Scottish man

Just casually chilling in a bowl of fruit

Sitting on National Monument

And now lounging on the National Monument

And still sitting...

Go Forth, my Brave heart

My mother and brother came to visit this week, so I have been doing plenty of touristy things.

Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle where we got to learn a bunch about the history of the Castle and Edinburgh, and how poor Scotland and Edinburgh Castle kept changing hands between English and British rule. We then walked down the Royal Mile, and popped into the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions museum, which was good clean fun. I have not laughed so much in quite a while. It was great to just be silly.

View of Edinburgh Castle

Yet another view of Edinburgh Castle

Another trip we took was to the Royal Botanic Gardens. We caught the gardens in early twilight of a beautiful sunny day and walked around, enjoying the fresh air and flora. That night we decided to be brave and try haggis for dinner, and it was quite taste. I would describe it a cross between a meatball and pâté.

Royal Botanic Garden

Royal Botanic Garden

Yep, that lovely purple blooming flowers are called 'Dick Trotter'

We also took a bus tour up towards Stirling and the Highlands. We boarded a bus with a very chatty, funny, and well-versed tour guide names Marty and began our journey towards the William Wallace monument. Along the way we heard stories and history lessons. Fun fact: William Wallace was the inspiration for the legend of Robin Hood. He would rob in a green cloak with a hood, thus was called the Robbing Hood-turned into Robin Hood. We also learned about Robert the Bruce*. He was also a Scottish freedom fighter, and after an eventful life, on his death bed, he was sad that he would not be able to go on the Crusades. So he asked a friend to cut out his heart, embalm it, and take it on the Crusades with him. The friend did as asked and during one particular battle, the Scottish saw that they will die and as they charged into battle, the friend threw Robert's heart and yelled "Go forth, my brave heart." Thus, we have the Braveheart reference.

Wallace Monument

We traveled on, pausing for photos of the Stirling Castle, the most important castle because the only road towards the Highlands was past the castle, thus it controlled all of England. Then we passed the Lake of Menteith, the only Lake in Scotland. The world for Lake in Scottish Gaelic is Loch, so every lake is called Loch *insert name of lake*, but due to a bureaucratic error with map making, Lake Menteith is called "lake" not "loch." We then got to feed and pet the "Hairy Coo" aka the Highland Cows.

Me feeding a Highland Cow

We then checked out Doune Castle, aka the one that appears in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It is as anticlimactic as in the movie. Last stop was the Forth Bridge, as in the one that goes over the Firth of Forth.

Doune Castle

Our Tour Company. They wore kilts and worked only on tips.

*University of Edinburgh's mascot is a Moose names Robert. Get it, Robert the Moose.