Cairngorms...kind of

On Wednesday, we decided that we would head up to the Cairngorms National Park. The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the highlands of Scotland. There was a lot to do--train trips, a reindeer herd, and a wildlife range. We headed out early that morning, excited to see the park.

The view from the top of the Cairngorms. We stopped just long enough to snap a few pictures before we huddled up in the car again. It was too cold for us! And I can't believe there was so much snow (it wasn't just on top of the mountains!)

To start, we headed to the top of the mountains where there was a train that ran from the visitor's lodge to the summit of the mountain. Even just stepping out of the car, I was freezing, and I'm pretty sure the rest of my family was too. None of us were dressed for winter weather, and that was precisely what we had emerged into. There were a few inches of snow coating the ground, the wind was just as biting as it had been in Edinburgh the day before, and I was eager to find some warmth. Realizing that at the top of the mountain it would be even colder and windier--not to mention that it was cloudy enough that we would have been in the midst of the clouds, unable to see any of the views--we decided to just head further down the mountain to see some of the other attractions in Cairngorm. We took a few pictures from the top, but quickly headed back to the car to go to the reindeer paddock.

Probably the most exciting shot of the sleepy reindeer. 

The reindeer paddock was decent. We had missed the morning walk up the hill to see the reindeer in a more natural environment (even though reindeer aren't natural to Scotland). Instead, we got tickets to see the reindeer in the paddock. After their busy morning, all the reindeer were just sitting toward the back of the paddock, not really doing anything too exciting. Since the reindeer weren't so exciting, I chose to do the little kids' activity where you had to find pictures of six elves that were "hidden" around the paddock. When we left the paddock, I had my sister take the list of the elves into the lodge, where she got a sticker for it. We left the reindeer paddock, laughing that we had been so easily sucked into a tourists trap.

At this point, we'd been in the Cairngorms for about an hour, with little to show for it. We decided to drive back down to Aviemore, the town at the base of the mountains. There was a rail station in town, and the train that ran out of it around 3:00 served tea and biscuits on the ride. We decided that would be a good way to get some good views of the Cairngorms and also to have a snack so we weren't all so hungry. We passed a few attractions on the way down to the train station, but most were just more tourist traps. They had pottery painting, clay pigeon shooting, and another wildlife section. When we got to the rail station, we asked about getting tickets for the ride that served tea and biscuits. The man at the ticket station explained that tickets for the ride had to be booked online, otherwise we could ride the train, but there wouldn't be any tea and biscuits for us. Since we had hoped to take the train ride for the views and the snacks, we decided just to find a cafe or somewhere else to eat in town. As we walked to the car, Mom asked "So, what's Plan F?" By that point, we had burned through all of our lightly laid plans for the day.

For some reason, there was a telephone booth out here. This
was pretty much the middle of nowhere!

We ended up going to a restaurant with the 'original' dumplings, which I assume are a dessert that's more popular in Scotland. The dumplings weren't bad, but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting. I ordered the strawberry dumpling, which was dumplings with strawberry jam and ice cream. I was assuming that the dumplings were similar to apple dumplings, but obviously without the apple, depending on what you ordered. Instead, it was more like a thick pancake with raisins and nuts in it, with ice cream and strawberry jam on top.

The day was looking like a flop, but our luck turned after we left the dumpling restaurant. On our way back to the A9, which is the highway that goes back to Stirling, I saw a 'heeland coo' in a field on the side of the road. 'Heeland coos' are the highland cows, which usually have rust-coloured, long hair. The pictures I've seen most often are of the males, so they have long horns like we see on bulls in the States. This was the first time I'd seen one of the coos, so I was pretty excited, as were the rest of my family. Finally, here was some authentic Scottish wildlife! We had seen sheep the whole way to the Cairngorms, but coos are much more specific to Scotland. Like the picture of foreign tourists, Mom parked the car, and all four of us headed down the sidewalk with our cameras out. The coos weren't very close to the road, so we all stood at the fence and zoomed in with our cameras to try to see them better. Again, Alyssa got the best pictures, so I'll be borrowing her photography skills again for this blog.

My first look at one of the famous 'heeland coos' of the highlands of Scotland. I personally think they're adorable.

After the coos, we decided we would just head back to Stirling. But Alyssa mentioned that she had seen some ruins of the A9 on the way to the Cairngorms, so we decided to stop and check them out. The ruins turned out to be the remains of the Ruthven Barracks, which were built early in the 1700s. The site itself has a rich history dating back to the early 1200s, when the first castle was believed to have been built there. It was fascinating to see the barracks, and hear about the history. It was obvious that the ruins were in disrepair--parts of it were boarded up, and many of the plaques that described the barracks said things like "here, there would have been two levels," where it looked like it was just one, big hall. Without even intending to, we had come across fascinating Scottish history.

The ruins of the Ruthven Barracks. You can't tell, but the person coming out of the doorway in the middle of the picture is my Mom! There was a tour there that day, so I think they're having a snowball fight over on the left.

Once we had seen the ruins, we headed back to Stirling. For dinner this time, we went to Nicky Tam's, a bar/restaurant in Stirling. Both Alyssa and I got the not-so traditional Scottish burgers. (Just regular burgers with Scottish beef!). Mom and Dad got much more traditional Scottish meals. Dad got haggis, neeps, and tatties, or haggis, turnips, and mashed potatoes. Mom got a steak and ale pie, also a much more traditional meal.

With our not so great trip to the Cairngorms behind us, we finished the day on a much better note than I would've thought earlier in the day. We might not have been able to see what we had planned on seeing, but the day turned out all the better for it.

A tout a l'heure!

Arrival and Edinburgh

With my family headed back to the States, I've now got time to post about this past week. Most of the past week's been packed with lots of traveling across Scotland, so til now, I haven't really had the time to post about our adventures. So, now that my week of sightseeing with my family is done, here goes!

The picture Alyssa took from the airplane as she got her first view of the United Kingdom, flying into Manchester.

Break at Stirling is officially April 2 to April 9, but since the second is a Monday, a lot of people had already headed home or off on vacations by the weekend. After a very slow weekend, I was very happy to head into town on Monday. I had some shopping I wanted to do, and then I was heading a little bit out of town to meet Mom, Dad, and Alyssa (my sister) at Mom and Dad's guest house. I went to town in the afternoon, bought some yarn from the yarn store, and then headed to a used book shop. I'd heard about this shop--it's a bookstore that has all these used books, and you can find some really great stuff if you look around a bit. I bought 'Hamlet.' Admittedly, it's not one of my absolute favorite books, but it's a classic, it is quite good, and the books itself was very cool (it's a blue, cloth-bound book with gold engravings on the front and then the inside's got amazing drawings).

Finally, I headed out to meet my family at their guest house. The woman who owns the guest house showed me to Mom and Dad's room, and I got to see my family again! Since I figured they'd be jet lagged after just arriving to Scotland, I gave them a tour of campus, checked Alyssa in with the porter, and we headed into Bridge of Allan for dinner. We went to the Allanwater Cafe, where we all ordered fish and chips (not bad for a British meal!). It was a good night, especially considering that my family was tired, and were all ready to go to sleep pretty much right after dinner.

Edinburgh Castle, from the bottom of the hill. 

Tuesday was more exciting than Monday. Mom and Dad got to University early to pick me and Alyssa up, and we headed to Edinburgh, bundled up to try to stay warm. After the heat wave last week, Tuesday was forecast to be cold, with the biting winds I'm starting to get used to here. We parked at the base of the hill that Edinburgh Castle is built atop, and set out on foot for the castle. We got to the castle just in time to see the firing of the gun at one o'clock. It was pretty cool, watching the ceremonial firing of the gun. We explored the rest of the castle, and got to see the crown jewels of Scotland too! It's amazing, being able to see the history of the country I'm spending the entirety of my spring semester in.

The firing of the gun at one o'clock. The way they did it seemed like a very strict, ceremonial routine, but it was really cool.

Our hot chocolate and shortbread at the Elephant House.

After the castle, we headed down the royal mile. We stopped so Dad could get a hat--his ears must have been frozen from the wind and the sporadic rain. Then, we headed down the road that led to the Royal Museum of Scotland. On the way there, we stopped for my second trip to the Elephant House. We got hot chocolates to warm us up, and shortbreads to fill us up. The shortbreads are shaped like elephants, and they're really, really good. After we finished our snack, we headed down the street to see Greyfriar's Bobby before going into the Royal Museum of Scotland. The museum was awesome. I'd been before, but it was still fascinating to see how much history there was from such a small country. We stayed in the Scottish history section of the museum, moving from the early history level up to the sports and more modern-day Scottish facts.

Greyfriar's Bobby!

At the end of the day, we headed back to Stirling. After our more traditional Scottish meal of fish and chips the night before, we went out to eat at a restaurant called Papa Joe's. I think we must have picked one of the few restaurants that served all American food. The menu even said 'fries' instead of 'chips.' Mom, Alyssa and I ordered pizzas, and Dad at least order salmon. I'm sure it's much more local than my pizza! By that point, we were all pretty tired, so Mom and Dad dropped me and Alyssa off at AKD (my residence hall). Alyssa and I were both out pretty quick.

My sister's a very, very good photographer, so I'm stealing her pictures for my blog posts about this week! Thanks, sis.

A tout a l'heure!

My apologies for the delay in posts! My family's here for the week, so I'm enjoying my time with them! Expect a battery of posts throughout the coming week. :)

A tout a l'heure!

Trip to the Movies

I know this is a travel blog, but my friend and I went to see The Hunger Games yesterday, and it was so good, I feel that I have to post about it. If you haven't read the book, there might be some spoilers! I wanted to see it right away. I fell in love with the book almost as soon as I started reading it, so I was really, really excited to see what they did with the movie. By the time I got to go see it, I had been hearing from my friends that they did a really good job of sticking to the book and that the movie itself was excellent. So I bought my ticket for a Friday showing at the local cinema and headed out, eager to finally see the movie.

The cinema here seemed very similar to the ones at home--perhaps a bit smaller than the theater I usually go to, but otherwise the same. The only notable differences were that when I bought my ticket online I had to actually choose the seat I wanted to take. The other difference was that in the front of the theatre, they have VIP seats, which are these massive bean bag chairs with what looks like mini tables next to them instead of simple cup-holders.

The movie started, and I was instantly impressed. The way district 12 was pictured was amazing--for me, there was no doubt that it was just as I had pictured district 12 when I was reading the book. When they showed Prim, my first thought was that the actress was perfect for Prim. My second thought was that she looked way too much like my sister did at that age for me to be able to handle. Sure enough, when it came time for the reaping scene, I started crying. A lot. And kept crying for about the next ten minutes. I calmed down in time for the arrival at the capital, and then got all teary-eyed when Peeta and Katniss made their entrance in the Tribute's Parade.

I was very interested in seeing how they were going to film the actual Games--obviously, there's a lot of death and in a movie with a 12A (PG-13 if you're in the States) rating, I knew that they weren't going to be showing too much. Again, I was very impressed. They made it obvious that many of the tributes, who I kept reminding myself are just kids, had died, all without displaying horrible, gory deaths. I'll also say that the Cornucopia in the movie made a lot more sense than the one I had pictured in my head. I had imagined the cornucopias that we see pictures of at Thanksgiving every year--a horn woven from branches and stuff like that. But the metallic cornucopia made way more sense!

When it came to the scene where Rue died, I again cried like a baby. There's a scene in the movie where Katniss is in the forest, basically sobbing and holding her head, and I wasn't too far off from looking like that myself. And then when District 11 started rebelling, I just kept crying. My friend said that at that point, she could even hear me sniffling.

I was impressed with how well the movie was done, from start to finish. It stuck to the book better than most book to film adaptions I've seen. I thought it was emotional in the right places, powerful in the right ways, and all the actors and actresses were perfect for their roles. I can tell this is going to be one of those movies that I'll love to watch again and again. And I certainly can't wait for Catching Fire!

A tout a l'heure!

P.S. I'll return with more travel stories soon, I promise!

A More Successful Hike

The two formations at the summit of Dumyat. I believe the metal cage filled with rocks is just to mark the summit. The concrete pillar used to have carvings on it, but due to the weather, it's no longer legible. The silver, carved monument is a nod to the soldiers who fought in the military in Scotland. 

Shortly after I first got to Stirling, I decided to hike to the top of Dumyat, the closest of the Ochil Hills. If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that that particular trip feel fall short of ideal. This week, when literally all week long it's been sunny and in the 60's (which is not typical Scottish weather, by the way), I decided it was time for a second attempt at the climb. This time I was going to be prepared. I packed my hiking backpack with an extra pair of pants, two extra shirts, my leather jacket for a wind-breaker, a hat and gloves. If you think this is a bit much for 60 degree weather, just keep in mind that the last time I made this hike I ended up at the summit in near-blizzard conditions. In a tribute to just how pale I am, I also had to go to the chemist to buy sunscreen before I left. I had gone out the day before for a run, and ended up slightly burnt (I was out for about 45 minutes). So, yes, in a country where the weather is typically overcast and often looks like it's about to rain, I had to buy sunscreen.

The lambs following their mother! They're so adorable.

So once I was all ready to go, I added Pooh Bear and my camera to the backpack, filled my water bottle up, and headed out. I headed onto the trail behind Geddes Court. I was headed for the road I'd used to get back to Stirling at the end of my last hike, but I was hoping I could find a hiking trail to follow instead. I ended up hiking for about ten minutes before I switched to the road. I knew where the road went, so I figured I'd be better off following that than wandering through the woods with a vague idea of where I was headed. Within minutes, taking the road was well worth it. It's certainly not as good as a trail through the woods, but I soon came across a field scattered with sheep. And for the first time, I saw a group of tiny, tiny lambs following close to their mother. It was so adorable!!

The River Forth, as seen from Dumyat's summit.

About half an hour after that, I got to the gate that leads to the path that a lot of people travel to the summit. I got there at the same time as a couple, and two friends and their dog. I was trying to keep a faster pace, so I was soon quite a ways ahead of them. I don't know exactly how long it took, but I'd guess it was about an hour, hour and a half before I got to the summit. The views were breathtaking. You really can see for miles from Dumyat's summit. Stirling sprawls far below you to the right, and you can see the River Forth snaking through the scenery in front of you. Off in the distance, you can see the faint outlines of mountains that are surely miles and miles away. Behind you, you can see more of the rolling hills--one of them covered with wind turbines that looks like children's spinners from this distance. Being able to see all of this is simply magical.

The view of Stirling, as well as the hill right next to Dumyat, from Dumyat's summit. It's hard to point it out here, but you can see the Wallace Monument and I believe you can see Airthrey Loch from here. It's a truly incredible view.

Me and Pooh Bear at the summit of Dumyat. Ironically, this
the exact spot where I huddled for protection from the wind
and the snow when I got caught in blizzard-like conditions.

I spent a few minutes at the summit. I met an older couple from the West Coast, around Skye and more in the Scottish highlands. They told me a bit about Skye and asked where I was from and why I was in Scotland. I explained that I was from the United States, here for the semester to study at Stirling University. When I said that I was from Pennsylvania (not far from New York City, since a lot of people don't know the states), the gentleman said "Wow, you've walked quite a way to get here then!" I love some of the Scottish humor like this. They were both very kind, and we talked for a while, and then they went behind a bit of rocks for a picnic. The wind was getting quite strong, so I soon changed out of my t-shirt into one of the long sleeved shirts I'd packed, and I headed back down the mountain. It's amazing how the hike back somehow is both easier and more difficult. Easier because rather than climbing, you're descending, but more difficult because (at least for me) there's a risk of your foot slipping and you falling flat on your bum (some more Scottish terminology for you there!). I made it without falling, although there were a few times where I skidded a few feet. I passed the people I had arrived at the trailhead with, and they were surprised to see that I was already coming back down.

Does anyone else think of the Whomping Willow and the
Forbidden Forest when they see this? Because I really do.

On the way back, I took a different path to campus than I had taken to get to the summit. I was hoping to find a trail that actually went through the woods, rather than walking down the edge of a road. So when the trail came to a fork, I took the path that I had seen people walking on, but had never been on myself. The path meandered through the fields. I soon came to a section of woods, which I'm pretty sure is one of the hills right behind campus. Here, I had another Potterhead moment. I saw this old, gnarled tree and instantly thought of the Whomping Willow. And the tree, standing a short distance from the woods, made me think of the Whomping Willow and the Forbidden Forest. So I of course spent five minutes looking about for a castle, or even Hagrid Hut before finally moving on.

When I first stepped back into the woods, I had this overwhelming sense that I had just walked into a fairytale. Everything about the woods just seemed magical and surreal. I made my way down the trail, which wound through the woods. After a while, I emerged from the woods to find a bunch of students out on the grass enjoying the beautiful weather. I found it funny, them wearing jean shorts and drinking beers, and I was there, emerging from the forest with a hiking backpack strapped to my torso. After that, I went through this tunnel of trees and emerged into more woods. It was a nice walk through the woods, until finally I emerged onto another road. I followed the road for about five minutes until I came onto the gardens behind Airthrey Castle, which sits right at the edge of campus.

This doesn't even capture the magic of those woods, but this is where I felt I had walked straight into a fairytale.

More of the incredible woods. I love the woods here!
They're really, truly awesome.

The creek near the end of my hike. I was actually sitting
on a log above the creek when I took this.

Even though this wasn't the 'authentic Scottish experience,' it was really, truly a great day. I got to experience some amazing views, as well as a good hike. I got to see a lot of really awesome things, and I'm still half-convinced I found the Whomping Willow, which mean Hogwarts is nearby. And trust me, if it is, I'll find it! (For those that know me, my obsession with all things isn't surprising, but for those who don't, I hope you don't mind!).

A tout a l'heure!

The Little Things

Sometimes, I get used to being here, and I have to stop and remind myself....I'm in Scotland!!! This week was a perfect example of this. I had a macroeconomics test on Wednesday and a French test on Thursday. Then for the weekend, I had no plans except working on my sociology paper. I spent the first half of the week stressing out about the macroeconomics test, and then the test itself was an hour of freaking out a bit. I felt like I had studied far too much, but when it came time to take the test, I felt I didn't know nearly enough. And the way grades are done here, that test will be 50% of my final grade. So, just a little stressful. But, even though it's a stressful economics test, it's a stressful economic test in Scotland. Somehow just being in Scotland makes everything that much better!

It was so foggy on Saturday night that when I tried to get a
picture of AK Davidson, all that turned out was the water
droplets reflected in the light of the camera's flash.

Then the weekend came. Most of the FYSAE students went on the Arcadia Borders trip, but I got the impression that the Borders trip was just going to see a bunch of churches throughout Scotland, and I wasn't particularly intrigued. It sounds like it was a pretty good trip, but I'm glad that I had the day to concentrate on the sociology paper. That night, I went into the kitchen to find that Megan, Mike, and Ian were back from the Borders trip. They told me about the trip, we laughed at the sounds of people partying in their kitchens, and then we decided that since it was incredibly foggy out, we would go for a walk around the loch. It seemed like a brilliant idea--walking around the loch at one in the morning in the rather creepy fog.

We set off around the loch. Between the fog and how dark it was already, there were a few points where we couldn't see more than twenty feet in front of us. At one point, Mike and Ian took off, and Megan and I knew that they were going to somehow try to scare us. But we couldn't see anything, and it only took a few seconds for them to disappear too. A minute later, they doubled back to sneak up behind us. Next, we came to a fork in the path. Ian went off on the one path, and Megan, Mike, and I continued around the loch. We realized that Ian, on the path on the hill, was silhouetted by the street lights behind him. It was a really cool effect, and Mike joined Ian and I got some pretty cool shots.

This was my favorite picture of Mike and Ian making
silhouettes against the street lights. And it kind of reminds
me of the fight scene from the third Star Wars movie!

We made it the rest of the way around the loch without incident--until we came to the swans. Ian had brought a bag of cheese puffs, and we knew they weren't the healthiest option for the swans, but we wanted to feed them, so we tossed a few puffs out. Sure enough, the swans were interested. They swam out of the loch and waddled up onto the land. As we sprinkled cheese puffs, two of the swans followed us all the way up to the path. Ian named one Frank, and when the second swan came onto the path to, I name it Natalie Portman (thinking of the movie, Black Swan). Natalie abandoned Ian and I pretty quickly, but Frank kept following us, hoping for more cheese puffs. Ian and I managed to coax Frank halfway to AK Davidson (the residence hall we live in). Then, and I'm not proud of this, but in my defense it was nearly two in the morning, Ian and I figured out how to heard Frank. One of us walked behind him, and the other of us walked to his side. Doing this, we managed to herd Frank down to our friend Brianna's window. (She lives at on the ground floor, so we basically had a swan right outside her room at this point.) At that point, we realized just how stupid it was to herd a swan across campus.

Lots and lots of swans were pretty eager to get their beaks on some cheese puffs! Hopefully the cheese puffs don't have an adverse effect on the swans, because apparently they're the property of the Queen, and I would not want to mess with the Queen's swans. Although I do wonder if that would be considered a crime against the Queen, since they're her property...

It's the little things like this--tests, writing papers, and going for walks with friends--that make me appreciate being in Scotland even more. I've realized that I don't need to have some amazing adventure every weekend to experience the country. It's the little things that make me feel like I'm really part of the country; the little things that map me fully appreciate the opportunity I have in being here.

A tout a l'heure!

Dining and Dancing

On Wednesday, President Tobey (Arcadia's president) came to Stirling as part of his trip to the United Kingdom to visit some of the many schools Arcadia students are studying at. For his trip to Stirling, Tobey visited with the FYSAE students, asking each of us what we liked best about the FYSAE program and being in Scotland. After we talked, Tobey and Hamish (the Arcadia liaison for Scottish students) took us all out for lunch in Bridge of Allan. It was nice to have a good meal (without having to cook!!) While we were there, we introduced Tobey to IRN-BRU, a Scottish soda. I personally think it's horribly sweet and sugary, but since it's so popular in Scotland, you have to at least try it. It was nice to get out for lunch, get to talk to Tobey, and help introduce him to a small piece of Scottish culture.

The next day was the ceilidh for Arcadia students. Students studying through Arcadia came from all over Scotland. It was the FYSAE students, Preview students, students from Glasgow, and some students from other universities who were partnered with Arcadia to send their students abroad. There was a dinner first. (Again, I was thrilled to not have to cook!!) It was a simple buffet style dinner, but it was pretty cool to just sit at the table, have some good food, and just talk to  everyone at the table.

Certainly not the most flattering of
pictures, but it's proof that I did, in
fact, do some dancing. 

After dinner, it was time for the ceilidh. A ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic gathering which basically involves a lot of traditional Gaelic dances. There were several Scottish dancers there to show us how to do the dances, as well as to demonstrate some of the more complicated dances that we wouldn't be dancing. It was a lot of fun, dancing to traditional Gaelic folk music. Most of the dances are high energy dances that are all about footwork. Since the girls significantly outnumbered the guys, most of the time I ended up patterned with a girl, which almost always led to questions of "Am I a guy or a girl for this dance?" Almost all the dances are dependent on male-female couples, so it was important to try to remember who was being the gentleman for each dance. I think one of the funniest things is seeing a bunch of girls saying "I think I'm the man this time."

Megan, Mike, Ian and I after the ceilidh. We always seem to
end up hanging out in our kitchen, usually until well past
ten or eleven. And these are the friends that I went frolicking
through Edinburgh with. 

The ceilidh was a lot of fun. I was glad I had done the ceilidh at Firbush, because this time around I felt like  I knew what I was doing (Kind of. I still can't really dance). We had one of the Scottish men play the bagpipes. I think he looked like my uncle Alan, so it was kind of weird seeing him play the bagpipes. But he played the more common bagpipes, and then he played the lowland bagpipes,  which are pumped full of air using a pump operated by using your arm to inflate and deflate the bag. The more common bagpipes are played simply by blowing into one of the pipes to fill up the bag. One of the girls that I assumed was part of the Arcadia program is actually a very accomplished Scottish dancer, so she did several dances and showed us all how to do one of the solo dances. All in all, we had a blast. When it was time to leave, it was eleven, and I felt I should have been tired from all the dancing, but instead I felt so alive and I just wanted to run and jump. Luckily, my friends are a lot like I am, so we 'frolicked' through the square, and then literally started running to the train station. It was awesome. We're all legally adults now, but it felt so good to just run through the streets of Edinburgh like we were little kids again. In short, another incredible night in Scotland.