I know it has been quite a while since I have written anything, but school was getting more strenuous and I had taken a little break from traveling for a while. It's exhausting!! But the one thing that had been planned for some time was that Gage was coming to visit me from Thursday to Sunday during CNU's Spring Break. He found a really cheap flight, and he stayed on an air mattress (that I blew up myself with my own hot air) for three nights. It was really great to see someone from home, especially since it has been two months since I had any real contact.
He arrived at Glasgow Airport at 8 am, and as soon as he got through baggage claim he ran out to the main lobby of the airport and kind of like threw himself at me. I was caught off guard and almost fell over, but I was happy that he was actually there!! He flew into Dublin and then took a prop plane to Glasgow, which was really bumpy. He was happy to be on the ground and was ready to explore Scotland for a few days.
We took a cab to my flat and we got him settled in. I immediately took him to Hogwarts... I mean... Glasgow University, and took him around to where all my classes are. It was a perfectly clear day with only a slight chill, so a lot of people were out and it was great to see the campus actually alive. I then took him out to get food at Montgomery's, where he literally ate half of a chocolate croissant and I scoffed down "bacon" (Canadian bacon, but it's literally just sliced ham) and pancakes. We then walked around Glasgow a little bit before my Anatomy class at 2. Gage didn't sleep on the plane, and jet lag was getting to him, so this was a good opportunity for him to sleep while I was in class. I returned from class and woke him up rather abruptly, and got him up so he could get ready to go out. Two of my friends, Elyse and Emily were celebrating their 21st birthdays, and Gage's was a couple of days before, so we were having a pregame and then going out to a karaoke bar to have a little fun. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone let loose and have not a care in the world if they sounded bad singing and just having fun! I was really trying to get Gage to sing a song, but he wasn't having it. I actually put a song request in for me, but we left before we got around to it. There was apparently a long wait for it, but I wasn't necessarily upset about it.
We got up the next morning and decided to go to the Isle of Bute, which wasn't too far from Glasgow. There was, surprisingly, a castle on the island, but of course, we couldn't get into it. So we decided to just go hiking around with two goals in mind: find sheep and find a highland cow. We found both fairly fast! We then trudged around the island for a while just getting into nonsense, and decided to go back because we were still trying to recover from the day before, and Gage still didn't get to catch up on sleep.
The next day we went back to Portencross on the western coast of the mainland. We found a little beach that was really cool. We found more sea glass, I found a sea sponge, and Gage got his foot wet because a wave hit a nearby rock. Another reason that I proposed going to Portencross again was because I had seen on Google Maps somewhere nearby that there was a cave not far from the castle, and me being me, I decided to go trudging through the woods to find it. On the way to the cave, we were jumping in between mud puddles to try to salvage our shoes, which we did not plan adequately for. We then got to this random place where a couple of buildings were fenced in, but the map said we had to go behind them in order to get to the cave. And so we did.
We wandered around at the base of these old cliffs in order to find the cave, and when we finally came upon it, it was probably one of the biggest disappointments that I had ever seen. It was indeed a cave, but it was very small and only went back a small ways. Two people could not have comfortably fit in there. Feeling a bit like my hopes and dreams had been crushed, Gage and I decided to try to head back. A little ways in front of us we noticed that there was a car driving, which obviously meant that there was a road. So instead of walking through the muddy grass again, we thought it would be smart of us to walk on the road for as long as we could in order to save our shoes. However, we soon encountered a dilemma that we could not get ourselves out of.
There was this low-lying area with tall grass in it that we began walking through, but Scotland being Scotland, it was filled with water. Many of the big patches of grass could be stepped on and provide a cushion between us and the water, so for about a good two-thirds of the area we got through relatively unscathed and with minimal mud. The rest of the way to the road, however, was straight mud.
Either we retrace our steps and waste more time and risk not getting our train, or we just suck it up and run as fast as we can through the mud and try not to die. So, naturally, we took the latter. We sank about shin-deep into cold, wet mud and clambered our way to the road. When we got there, we took our shoes off and dumped out an excessive amount of muddy water out of our shoes, but even when we put them back on, water squished out of them when we walked. There was no way avoiding looking like complete maniacs on the train. We even passed this woman walking her dog who gave us a weird look. We walked back toward the gated in buildings, and saw a sign that pointed behind us indicating that there were two nuclear reactors nearby.
So we walked through radioactive mud in order to save time.
We were sure that in a couple of days we would have some anatomical mutation.
And to make the story THAT much better, when we finally got to the train station, we had about 20 minutes until it arrived, so we sat down on one of the beaches and relaxed for a bit when a train not meant to go to Glasgow stopped at the station. A woman ran up to it just as it started to move again, and when she realized she had missed her chance, she walked up to us, got really close to Gage's face, and half-talked half-mumbled asking him when the next train to some random town was coming through. He said he didn't know and she went to go sit down on the floor, even though there was plenty of empty benches open. We were confused, so instead of talking to each other about it and risk having her hear, we were texting each other trying to figure out what it was she was on. As if to confirm our suspicions, we heard a loud snorting noise from her.
So definitely on drugs.
She had also been muttering to herself for quite sometime, and though we aren't experts on drugs, we knew that cocaine didn't make you babble incoherently. So we settled on bath salts of some sort. Scotland definitely has its fair share of winners.
We finally got back to my flat and we both crashed from the exhausting day of hiking and confusion we had just had. We also started getting his stuff together since he had to leave about midday the next day.
The next day I dropped him off at the airport. It was so great to have someone from back home come to visit me, but it also creates a bittersweet moment when they have to go. The ride back to my flat alone sucked, because I had just gotten used to having someone with me that was familiar and like family. But nonetheless, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with Gage. He got to see me, most importantly, he got to explore a little bit of Scotland, and we had so much fun.
Definitely one of the best weekends of my whole trip.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
The Graveyard, The Mountain, The Castle, and The Whisky: The Tale of Three Days of Travel
I feel really bad because I haven't updated ANYTHING in a while, but school has been busy and I have also kind of forgot to finish writing my other two blog posts. Sorry friends and family.
So the past three days have been heavy travel and adventure days for me. To say I am exhausted is an understatement, but I cannot stress enough just how amazing these travels have been.
I had not yet gone to the Glasgow Necropolis, which is the oldest Victorian graveyard in all of the UK (possibly Europe), and also has the oldest cathedral in Glasgow. So Victoria Cagle and I ventured out "early" on Thursday morning (10 am) before my anatomy class to explore the grave sites, the church, and the view of the city. I have seen and visited quite a few graveyards, but this one seemed to be different. Even though it was old, it felt as though it were telling you a story. So, the best way for me to describe it further is to quote my favorite musical genius Sara Bareilles in her song "Chasing The Sun" - "As the echo of heartbeats, from the ground beneath my feet, filled a cemetery, in the center of (Queens) Glasgow."
It did rain, but that didn't seem to dampen (PUN!) any spirits (PUN AGAIN). It was a great view of most of the city, and also a must-see in Glasgow excursions.
I had also been invited by my friend Michael in my anatomy class to go hiking with him and Austen on Friday at a place called Ben Arthur. "Ben" in Gaelic means "Mountain" or "Hill", so don't think that we climbed up a person named Ben Arthur. I invited Victoria, so I got to be with her 2 days in a row. And then the next day we would have CNU trip #2. So actually 3 days. Great.
(I know sarcasm is hard to pick up on over a computer screen, so I just have to throw out there that I am 10000% kidding.)
We met at the Glasgow Queen Street Station to take the train to Arrochar at 8 am. Austen missed the train, got the later one, tried to find us on our hike, but couldn't. We all felt really bad that he couldn't hike with us, but we should all plan a little better next time.
We arrived at the train station and had a nice little walk to the little town of Arrochar, and we meandered our way to the bottom of the trail that lead to the tip top of Ben Arthur, which was a staggering 3,000 feet in the air. I, at first, did not have a real concept of what that meant, especially since the low clouds were covering about 4/5 of the whole mountain.
Every now and again we would stop and look out over Loch Long and the town, and we would talk about "how high we were". How little we knew.
We eventually entered an area of just cedar trees, which was really pretty, and then after a little while, all of a sudden, the trees cleared and we were in a "valley" in between Ben Arthur and another mountain whose name escapes me. It seemed like we had entered another planet. The open fields with yellow and orange-red grass, the scattered rocks, and the nice stream running right down the middle was stunning. We had long since walked into the low clouds, so the mist made everything look eerie but beautiful at the same time. We could see a faint outline of the top of the mountain if you looked straight up, but little did we know that even what we could see was not all of it.
(pictures aren't uploading so just look at the pictures I have posted on Facebook for reference)
We eventually stopped for a snack on a big rock, and when we checked the time, we had only been hiking for two hours. We seemed to be making good time, but we still had a good 2/3 of the hike left until we reached the top. We trekked on and on until we got to a point where the path split into two. Going left meant trekking up to Ben Arthur, going right meant hiking to the top of that other mountain that I still cannot think of. We set out going up the left trail, which was more steep than anything we had previously done. The only way to travel up the mountain was to follow the path in its zigzag pattern, so every so often we would stop and look out after climbing 5 or 6 zigs (or zags?) and we were actually really shocked just how much distance was really covered. I know for a fact that the slope of the mountain at that point was over 45 degrees. Good thing we were walking on a well-trodden path.
The higher we got, the more snow there was. Thankfully, it wasn't snowing, but the excessive amount of snow (like almost a foot in places) made the trek more slippery and difficult. We saw a dog go up the mountain, and if a dog can make it, damn it so can we! So we persevered and pushed onward until we got to what seemed like the top. However, we did not know that there were two peaks to Ben Arthur. One peak was "small", and the other was much higher and had what was called "The Cobbler", which is a collection of stacked rocks that looks kind of like a boot. But not really.
Michael and I traveled up the shorter one while Victoria rested, and when we met up with her at the bottom, we all traveled up to the top of the larger one.
Once we reached the top, the wind got pretty bad and literally nothing could be seen. You could look down and see the scraggly rocks below you, but there was absolutely no way to see just how far down it actually went. And maybe that was better. But it was such a feeling of satisfactory feeling knowing that you just climbed 3,000 feet in the air. I am not an experienced hiker, and the fact that I did that made me feel very proud of myself and my fellow travelers.
I did want to climb up on the Cobbler as I had seen many people do in pictures, but it was too wet, cold, and windy to risk it. But that didn't hinder me from feeling satisfaction for making it there.
We began our descent down a different path from whence we had come, and this was incredibly steep and rock. It was really slow going down, but we honestly couldn't go much faster because one wrong step would be a not-so-fun descent that could prove to be painful. Or deadly.
After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the bottom of the steep mountain, then the valley, then the treeline, and finally the base of the mountain. Our aching feet, knees, eyes, and just about everything else were telling us to quit, but we still needed food and to get back to the train, so we trudged onward until we found both of those things.
Needless to say, I passed out within minutes of laying down in bed that night.
But there was an 8:30 am wake up call for the CNU trip to Stirling and Loch Lomond. So Day 3 began a lot earlier than I would have wanted, but I have to say, if I didn't go on this trip, I would have been really sad. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to hang out with the CNU group as a whole, so this was a really good bonding experience for all of us. We got a really great tour of Stirling Castle by an extremely energetic and spry old man, and I actually learned a lot about how Scotland struggled to keep control over its country for centuries. It was also really nice to actually be able to go into a castle without it either being closed to the public or too much money.
After Stirling Castle, we traveled to a small town to grab lunch, and then we were off to Loch Lomond for a little sightseeing and a distillery tour. There was a little bit of a hike to get to a lookout point, but it pailed in comparison to the hike I had done the day before. We even went down to a beach, where the sun peeked out for a bit, which was great to see since the forecast was rain all day.
The distillery tour was actually very interesting. I know nothing about brewing, so I expected to be told about things that was out of my realm of understanding, but honestly, all of the chemistry I have been taking really is paying off. They talked about fermentation and the production of alcohol and how distilling works, and I understood it all! It actually made the process of producing whisky engaging and awesome. I also found out that whisky has the second highest revenue out of anything in Scotland, behind oil and in front of Scottish salmon. We got a little dram of Glengoyne Scotch Whisky, which was REALLY FREAKING SMOOTH, and afterward we got to explore their shop. Some things were pretty cheap, but they had a bottle of whisky that aged 35 years that cost a meager 2,850 pounds. They were also in the process of making a whisky that would be aged 50 years and would cost roughly 10,000 pounds for a bottle. Ridiculous. But probably really good.
I know this was a heavy and long blog post, but it was a really rewarding and exhilarating three days. I also know that I have been promising myself a weekend where I didn't travel, and I haven't held myself to that very well, but I swear next weekend I will relax a little!
So the past three days have been heavy travel and adventure days for me. To say I am exhausted is an understatement, but I cannot stress enough just how amazing these travels have been.
I had not yet gone to the Glasgow Necropolis, which is the oldest Victorian graveyard in all of the UK (possibly Europe), and also has the oldest cathedral in Glasgow. So Victoria Cagle and I ventured out "early" on Thursday morning (10 am) before my anatomy class to explore the grave sites, the church, and the view of the city. I have seen and visited quite a few graveyards, but this one seemed to be different. Even though it was old, it felt as though it were telling you a story. So, the best way for me to describe it further is to quote my favorite musical genius Sara Bareilles in her song "Chasing The Sun" - "As the echo of heartbeats, from the ground beneath my feet, filled a cemetery, in the center of (Queens) Glasgow."
It did rain, but that didn't seem to dampen (PUN!) any spirits (PUN AGAIN). It was a great view of most of the city, and also a must-see in Glasgow excursions.
I had also been invited by my friend Michael in my anatomy class to go hiking with him and Austen on Friday at a place called Ben Arthur. "Ben" in Gaelic means "Mountain" or "Hill", so don't think that we climbed up a person named Ben Arthur. I invited Victoria, so I got to be with her 2 days in a row. And then the next day we would have CNU trip #2. So actually 3 days. Great.
(I know sarcasm is hard to pick up on over a computer screen, so I just have to throw out there that I am 10000% kidding.)
We met at the Glasgow Queen Street Station to take the train to Arrochar at 8 am. Austen missed the train, got the later one, tried to find us on our hike, but couldn't. We all felt really bad that he couldn't hike with us, but we should all plan a little better next time.
We arrived at the train station and had a nice little walk to the little town of Arrochar, and we meandered our way to the bottom of the trail that lead to the tip top of Ben Arthur, which was a staggering 3,000 feet in the air. I, at first, did not have a real concept of what that meant, especially since the low clouds were covering about 4/5 of the whole mountain.
Every now and again we would stop and look out over Loch Long and the town, and we would talk about "how high we were". How little we knew.
We eventually entered an area of just cedar trees, which was really pretty, and then after a little while, all of a sudden, the trees cleared and we were in a "valley" in between Ben Arthur and another mountain whose name escapes me. It seemed like we had entered another planet. The open fields with yellow and orange-red grass, the scattered rocks, and the nice stream running right down the middle was stunning. We had long since walked into the low clouds, so the mist made everything look eerie but beautiful at the same time. We could see a faint outline of the top of the mountain if you looked straight up, but little did we know that even what we could see was not all of it.
(pictures aren't uploading so just look at the pictures I have posted on Facebook for reference)
We eventually stopped for a snack on a big rock, and when we checked the time, we had only been hiking for two hours. We seemed to be making good time, but we still had a good 2/3 of the hike left until we reached the top. We trekked on and on until we got to a point where the path split into two. Going left meant trekking up to Ben Arthur, going right meant hiking to the top of that other mountain that I still cannot think of. We set out going up the left trail, which was more steep than anything we had previously done. The only way to travel up the mountain was to follow the path in its zigzag pattern, so every so often we would stop and look out after climbing 5 or 6 zigs (or zags?) and we were actually really shocked just how much distance was really covered. I know for a fact that the slope of the mountain at that point was over 45 degrees. Good thing we were walking on a well-trodden path.
The higher we got, the more snow there was. Thankfully, it wasn't snowing, but the excessive amount of snow (like almost a foot in places) made the trek more slippery and difficult. We saw a dog go up the mountain, and if a dog can make it, damn it so can we! So we persevered and pushed onward until we got to what seemed like the top. However, we did not know that there were two peaks to Ben Arthur. One peak was "small", and the other was much higher and had what was called "The Cobbler", which is a collection of stacked rocks that looks kind of like a boot. But not really.
Michael and I traveled up the shorter one while Victoria rested, and when we met up with her at the bottom, we all traveled up to the top of the larger one.
Once we reached the top, the wind got pretty bad and literally nothing could be seen. You could look down and see the scraggly rocks below you, but there was absolutely no way to see just how far down it actually went. And maybe that was better. But it was such a feeling of satisfactory feeling knowing that you just climbed 3,000 feet in the air. I am not an experienced hiker, and the fact that I did that made me feel very proud of myself and my fellow travelers.
I did want to climb up on the Cobbler as I had seen many people do in pictures, but it was too wet, cold, and windy to risk it. But that didn't hinder me from feeling satisfaction for making it there.
We began our descent down a different path from whence we had come, and this was incredibly steep and rock. It was really slow going down, but we honestly couldn't go much faster because one wrong step would be a not-so-fun descent that could prove to be painful. Or deadly.
After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the bottom of the steep mountain, then the valley, then the treeline, and finally the base of the mountain. Our aching feet, knees, eyes, and just about everything else were telling us to quit, but we still needed food and to get back to the train, so we trudged onward until we found both of those things.
Needless to say, I passed out within minutes of laying down in bed that night.
But there was an 8:30 am wake up call for the CNU trip to Stirling and Loch Lomond. So Day 3 began a lot earlier than I would have wanted, but I have to say, if I didn't go on this trip, I would have been really sad. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to hang out with the CNU group as a whole, so this was a really good bonding experience for all of us. We got a really great tour of Stirling Castle by an extremely energetic and spry old man, and I actually learned a lot about how Scotland struggled to keep control over its country for centuries. It was also really nice to actually be able to go into a castle without it either being closed to the public or too much money.
After Stirling Castle, we traveled to a small town to grab lunch, and then we were off to Loch Lomond for a little sightseeing and a distillery tour. There was a little bit of a hike to get to a lookout point, but it pailed in comparison to the hike I had done the day before. We even went down to a beach, where the sun peeked out for a bit, which was great to see since the forecast was rain all day.
The distillery tour was actually very interesting. I know nothing about brewing, so I expected to be told about things that was out of my realm of understanding, but honestly, all of the chemistry I have been taking really is paying off. They talked about fermentation and the production of alcohol and how distilling works, and I understood it all! It actually made the process of producing whisky engaging and awesome. I also found out that whisky has the second highest revenue out of anything in Scotland, behind oil and in front of Scottish salmon. We got a little dram of Glengoyne Scotch Whisky, which was REALLY FREAKING SMOOTH, and afterward we got to explore their shop. Some things were pretty cheap, but they had a bottle of whisky that aged 35 years that cost a meager 2,850 pounds. They were also in the process of making a whisky that would be aged 50 years and would cost roughly 10,000 pounds for a bottle. Ridiculous. But probably really good.
I know this was a heavy and long blog post, but it was a really rewarding and exhilarating three days. I also know that I have been promising myself a weekend where I didn't travel, and I haven't held myself to that very well, but I swear next weekend I will relax a little!
Glasgow Botanical Gardens (AKA my favorite place in Glasgow so far)
I had heard about the extraordinary place called the Glasgow Botanical Gardens, but I had not had the opportunity to experience it yet. Until one Thursday morning. I didn't have class until 2 that day, and so I decided to go with Claudia to see what all the fuss was all about.
Fuss indeed.
I have been to some beautiful places in Scotland, but because it is still winter, it is likely that things are not in full bloom. But, since the gardens are mostly in greenhouses and tended to very carefully by maintenance, EVERYTHING is in bloom. So many flowers, ferns (yay!), cactuseses, and succulents. It seemed like the greenhouse would not end, and honestly, I really didn't want it to. It was amazing to see just how diverse the world is, because just about every plant you can think of from all across the world was present in these gardens.
It is really easy to get yourself lost in this place. Not like, physically lost, but you could spend all day in there and not get bored. The smell is great, because it smells like life and growth, and it is also quiet. All of the noise of the city that is around you is drowned out by both glass walls, but also your own comfort of being there.
There is a rose garden outside, but it was obviously not in season, because it was just dead bushes everywhere.
There is also a small area that seems kind of obscure, but there is a sign that points to the deep drop that was once a train terminal. It is all fenced in, but upon further research, there is a way to get to it. Trying to climb the fence and drop down could break you legs, but there is a part of Glasgow that has some woods that you can follow down into a short tunnel that emerges into where the fenced in gorge is in the botanical gardens. If I have some time and courage, one day I want to find it.
I will go back to the Botanic Gardens when spring has sprung, but there is not doubt that I absolutely loved my short few hours there.
P.S. Thanks for being my partner-in-crime
Fuss indeed.
I have been to some beautiful places in Scotland, but because it is still winter, it is likely that things are not in full bloom. But, since the gardens are mostly in greenhouses and tended to very carefully by maintenance, EVERYTHING is in bloom. So many flowers, ferns (yay!), cactuseses, and succulents. It seemed like the greenhouse would not end, and honestly, I really didn't want it to. It was amazing to see just how diverse the world is, because just about every plant you can think of from all across the world was present in these gardens.
It is really easy to get yourself lost in this place. Not like, physically lost, but you could spend all day in there and not get bored. The smell is great, because it smells like life and growth, and it is also quiet. All of the noise of the city that is around you is drowned out by both glass walls, but also your own comfort of being there.
There is a rose garden outside, but it was obviously not in season, because it was just dead bushes everywhere.
There is also a small area that seems kind of obscure, but there is a sign that points to the deep drop that was once a train terminal. It is all fenced in, but upon further research, there is a way to get to it. Trying to climb the fence and drop down could break you legs, but there is a part of Glasgow that has some woods that you can follow down into a short tunnel that emerges into where the fenced in gorge is in the botanical gardens. If I have some time and courage, one day I want to find it.
I will go back to the Botanic Gardens when spring has sprung, but there is not doubt that I absolutely loved my short few hours there.
P.S. Thanks for being my partner-in-crime
The Luck of the Irish: My Trip to Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher
Now, I've got to put out a disclaimer. Scotland is probably one of my favorite places ever, but since my recent endeavors to Ireland, I have to say that there is some competition. The terrain of these two countries are different, the accents are different, and the weather just happened to be better on the weekend of our trip. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
A couple of weeks ago, Austen, my friend from anatomy class, and his friends Kendall, Katrina, and Briana invited me on the trip they were planning to Dublin. I decided to jump in, because I really didn't know when I would get the opportunity later to go to Ireland, and it was definitely on my list.
When we were planning our RyanAir flights, the website said that there was only one seat left, but one of the group members said that it wasn't true, and we resulted in trying to buy tickets individually. I got mine first, and the others were locked out of the site. Turns out there was only one seat left. Like the website said.
So they bought tickets for different flight times, so we all arrived at Dublin at a different time, but we all managed to make it to our hostel with little to know trouble (except for them telling me to buy a ticket for the wrong bus and giving me directions to go "right right right left" to get to the hostel from the bus stop). We then went out for a night on the town. Now, Glasgow nightlife is fun, but the people of Dublin take it to a different level. We went to the infamous Temple Bar (even though I had never heard of it), and then barhopped for some time thereafter. Alcohol was extremely expensive there no matter where you went, but the dancing and music was really great.
We got back to the hostel really late, something like 2 am, and set an alarm for 9:30 the next morning. We woke up exhausted, but ready to explore Dublin and all it had to offer. We rationed out our shared loaf of bread and jam for breakfast and walked toward the Trinity College, where the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library resided. The Book of Kells is one of the best preserved and oldest book in existence, and the library was a filming site for the Harry Potter movies. It was so wonderful. The room really was long (as the name implied), and every single book was old. It was actually quite impressive just how many books were there. It was quite a remarkable place that can take your breath away.
After Trinity College, we went to a park with lots of birds and a woman who thought I was taking a picture of her but I was instead taking a picture of a gazebo and she was getting belligerent and was saying it was illegal to take pictures of other people and that she wanted to be out of the public eye and almost started yelling at me until I told her that I had deleted the picture. We also went into a really cool and big shopping center, saw the parliament building, saw bullet holes in a column (yes, the columns followed me from CNU to the UK), and a bunch of really cool architecture. We decided to turn in early that night because we had the Cliffs of Moher bus tour early the next morning at 7:30.
Now, this is the point in which I revisit the statement I mentioned earlier about "one of my favorite places". The Cliffs of Moher at their highest point is about 710 feet high, which is about 2/3 the height of the Empire State Building. It faces the Atlantic Ocean, so I got to look homeward for an hour and a half. The wind was really strong, but the sun, which I had not seen for days, was out, and it was incredible. These cliffs were so incredibly unique and breath-taking that I could have spent all day there and been happy. I even got stupid for a little while and hung me feet out over the edge, and while that was cool, it was also terrifying, so I stopped. The cliffs, while the wind is really loud, seemed to have a peaceful quiet that I had not yet found anywhere else, and I don't think I will find that again.
Ireland is a magical place. I'm pretty sure that a leprechaun talked me into buying yet another cliche shot glass, but I'm not really complaining. And the lady at the Cliffs of Moher gift shop gave me a free postcard to top it all off. All in all, this trip was absolutely stunning and probably something I will never ever forget.
A couple of weeks ago, Austen, my friend from anatomy class, and his friends Kendall, Katrina, and Briana invited me on the trip they were planning to Dublin. I decided to jump in, because I really didn't know when I would get the opportunity later to go to Ireland, and it was definitely on my list.
When we were planning our RyanAir flights, the website said that there was only one seat left, but one of the group members said that it wasn't true, and we resulted in trying to buy tickets individually. I got mine first, and the others were locked out of the site. Turns out there was only one seat left. Like the website said.
So they bought tickets for different flight times, so we all arrived at Dublin at a different time, but we all managed to make it to our hostel with little to know trouble (except for them telling me to buy a ticket for the wrong bus and giving me directions to go "right right right left" to get to the hostel from the bus stop). We then went out for a night on the town. Now, Glasgow nightlife is fun, but the people of Dublin take it to a different level. We went to the infamous Temple Bar (even though I had never heard of it), and then barhopped for some time thereafter. Alcohol was extremely expensive there no matter where you went, but the dancing and music was really great.
We got back to the hostel really late, something like 2 am, and set an alarm for 9:30 the next morning. We woke up exhausted, but ready to explore Dublin and all it had to offer. We rationed out our shared loaf of bread and jam for breakfast and walked toward the Trinity College, where the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library resided. The Book of Kells is one of the best preserved and oldest book in existence, and the library was a filming site for the Harry Potter movies. It was so wonderful. The room really was long (as the name implied), and every single book was old. It was actually quite impressive just how many books were there. It was quite a remarkable place that can take your breath away.
After Trinity College, we went to a park with lots of birds and a woman who thought I was taking a picture of her but I was instead taking a picture of a gazebo and she was getting belligerent and was saying it was illegal to take pictures of other people and that she wanted to be out of the public eye and almost started yelling at me until I told her that I had deleted the picture. We also went into a really cool and big shopping center, saw the parliament building, saw bullet holes in a column (yes, the columns followed me from CNU to the UK), and a bunch of really cool architecture. We decided to turn in early that night because we had the Cliffs of Moher bus tour early the next morning at 7:30.
Now, this is the point in which I revisit the statement I mentioned earlier about "one of my favorite places". The Cliffs of Moher at their highest point is about 710 feet high, which is about 2/3 the height of the Empire State Building. It faces the Atlantic Ocean, so I got to look homeward for an hour and a half. The wind was really strong, but the sun, which I had not seen for days, was out, and it was incredible. These cliffs were so incredibly unique and breath-taking that I could have spent all day there and been happy. I even got stupid for a little while and hung me feet out over the edge, and while that was cool, it was also terrifying, so I stopped. The cliffs, while the wind is really loud, seemed to have a peaceful quiet that I had not yet found anywhere else, and I don't think I will find that again.
Ireland is a magical place. I'm pretty sure that a leprechaun talked me into buying yet another cliche shot glass, but I'm not really complaining. And the lady at the Cliffs of Moher gift shop gave me a free postcard to top it all off. All in all, this trip was absolutely stunning and probably something I will never ever forget.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Edinburgh: CNU Trip #1
I apologize for the delay in updating. Anatomy class has been keeping me busy (got a 89% on my last test!) and I've been traveling to many different places (updates later). But! I need to write about the day trip to Edinburgh before I forget everything that happened.
So we all arrived at the train station on Queen Street to get the train together as a group, and when we arrived at the Edinburgh Waverley station, the tour guide was already waiting for us. He introduced himself and began explaining how the tour was going to work. Now, before we began the tour, Dr. Carlson said that he was under the impression that we would be taking the historic walking tour of the city and THEN get a tour of the castle, but it turns out that it was totally separate and that we would have to pay 16 pounds just to get inside. But more about that later.
We started the tour talking about the Old Town and the New Town, and then proceeded to hit some of the big landmarks of the city, like the famous statues of Hume and King Charles I, pinpointing the many museums, and even locate some of the places that J. K. Rowling wrote her books (Elephant House, Balmoral Hotel). We learned a lot about how the city came to what it is today, and also how the city is built on a dormant volcano. Also learned how death always comes from the right (traffic). All in all, it was a very cool experience had it not been for the cold and the rain (but it turned into snow!)
After the tour, we were given free reign to go do whatever we wanted. We could stay the night, we could go right back to Glasgow, didn't matter. Amy, Nick, Aggie, and I decided to go grab lunch at the Scotland National Museum cafe and then explore the many floors and exhibits it had to offer. Honestly, if there was something there that you wanted to see, it was probably there. We knew that it got dark around 4, so we decided to try and scope out the castle and get as far into it as we were allowed without having to buy tickets. Turns out you can get through the front gates, but not through the front doors. So we went into the gift shop to look around, and this is where I found out that I lost my student ID somewhere in the city. So this would be the third ID I would have to get, since the first one was inactive when I got it.
We left the castle with about an hour left of daylight, and we stumbled upon an old cemetery, and outside the gate there was a plaque commemorating the many Scottish "celebrities" that were buried there. One of which was the philosopher Hume. Amy bolted inside because she is obsessed with him, so we followed suit, even though I wasn't very reluctant of this. The grave sites were far different than what I had seen before - if you were someone of high stature (which apparently a lot of people seemed to be), you had your own tomb. We found Hume's giant temple, and we also stumbled upon one of the two tombs that Robert Burns had been buried in. It seems that he was first buried there, but was then relocated somewhere else. Not sure why, but it was still really cool.
We finally went back to the train station and made our way back to Glasgow. There is so much to do in Edinburgh that you cannot possibly do it all in one day. I plan on going back there soon so that I can climb up Arthur's Peak, visit more museums, and enjoy the capital of Scotland just a little bit more. And maybe when the weather is nicer.
So we all arrived at the train station on Queen Street to get the train together as a group, and when we arrived at the Edinburgh Waverley station, the tour guide was already waiting for us. He introduced himself and began explaining how the tour was going to work. Now, before we began the tour, Dr. Carlson said that he was under the impression that we would be taking the historic walking tour of the city and THEN get a tour of the castle, but it turns out that it was totally separate and that we would have to pay 16 pounds just to get inside. But more about that later.
We started the tour talking about the Old Town and the New Town, and then proceeded to hit some of the big landmarks of the city, like the famous statues of Hume and King Charles I, pinpointing the many museums, and even locate some of the places that J. K. Rowling wrote her books (Elephant House, Balmoral Hotel). We learned a lot about how the city came to what it is today, and also how the city is built on a dormant volcano. Also learned how death always comes from the right (traffic). All in all, it was a very cool experience had it not been for the cold and the rain (but it turned into snow!)
After the tour, we were given free reign to go do whatever we wanted. We could stay the night, we could go right back to Glasgow, didn't matter. Amy, Nick, Aggie, and I decided to go grab lunch at the Scotland National Museum cafe and then explore the many floors and exhibits it had to offer. Honestly, if there was something there that you wanted to see, it was probably there. We knew that it got dark around 4, so we decided to try and scope out the castle and get as far into it as we were allowed without having to buy tickets. Turns out you can get through the front gates, but not through the front doors. So we went into the gift shop to look around, and this is where I found out that I lost my student ID somewhere in the city. So this would be the third ID I would have to get, since the first one was inactive when I got it.
We left the castle with about an hour left of daylight, and we stumbled upon an old cemetery, and outside the gate there was a plaque commemorating the many Scottish "celebrities" that were buried there. One of which was the philosopher Hume. Amy bolted inside because she is obsessed with him, so we followed suit, even though I wasn't very reluctant of this. The grave sites were far different than what I had seen before - if you were someone of high stature (which apparently a lot of people seemed to be), you had your own tomb. We found Hume's giant temple, and we also stumbled upon one of the two tombs that Robert Burns had been buried in. It seems that he was first buried there, but was then relocated somewhere else. Not sure why, but it was still really cool.
We finally went back to the train station and made our way back to Glasgow. There is so much to do in Edinburgh that you cannot possibly do it all in one day. I plan on going back there soon so that I can climb up Arthur's Peak, visit more museums, and enjoy the capital of Scotland just a little bit more. And maybe when the weather is nicer.
Friday, January 20, 2017
The Devils Pulpit
Not having class on Friday, as well as about 7 other CNU people being in that same boat, let's just say that spontaneous adventures are bound to happen. A bunch of us had always wanted to go to a beautiful, obscure place known as the Devils Pulpit, which wasn't that far from Glasgow. We got two Ubers to take us to the Google maps location, which ended up being this little dirt patch on the side of the road without a sign or without any indication that this place existed. We eventually found a well-trodden path along the side of the road, and decided that it was the best option since we couldn't do anything else. All of this was after Johnny forgot his backpack with his camera and laptop in the uber car.
We had to cross over a bridge that went over the giant 100 foot gorge, and we could see all the way down, but it was REALLY far. This picture does not do it justice (honestly none of the pictures really help you understand the still beauty of the place).
We climbed over the wall right after the bridge, because we found where the dirt path picked back up. The trail wound alongside the gorge, but it was really muddy in some spots, so we had to find new ways a few times so that we didn't get stuck. We finally got to the steps that I had read about, and they were the steepest, most slippery, and uneven things I had ever walked down. We took a good 15 minutes to go down 100 feet, but if we screwed up, we would have had a really rough time going down.
We finally reached the bottom and I kind of had to stop myself, rub my eyes, and pick my jaw up off the cold rocks. This place exhibited a magic that I can only try to explain. Everything was so still, so old, so full of stories that only nature could tell. Moss was covering everything, the soft sound of the waterfall around the corner could be heard, and the air and water was so clean and pure. It had never been a place we had ever gone before, and honestly I could understand why there wasn't much fuss about it... who would want to give up such a special secret like this?
At one point, Johnny decided to go barefoot toward the waterfall, which I tried to do, but the water was way to cold. Like hypothermia, frostbite cold. I don't know how (or why) he did it. We finally decided to head back up to reality, and once we got there we had to figure out how to get a ride back, since we figured out that Ubers don't come out that far, and buses don't either. So we were stuck together trying to figure it out, and a water truck pulled off to the side of the road to figure our his route. Johnny, Ellie, and Christine went to go talk to him about how to get out of this place, and he called us a cab, went to go meet them, and directed them to us and out of the place with us. Whoever that nice Scottish man was, we will most definitely remember him forever, because if he hadn't been so nice and willing to help, we really don't know how we would have gotten home. We almost flagged down a police car to see if they could help us, but luckily it didn't come to that.
We were on our way back, and all I could do was look at the pictures I had taken on my camera. I couldn't believe we had been there... it was a fantasy land (that apparently had been a filming scene for the show Outlander) that I never wanted to leave. Time seemed to slow down there. I really want to go back when it is warmer, so that I can explore more!!
Oh, and by the way, school is going great! I have all my classes figured out. I have an anatomy test Monday, so I better go study.
We had to cross over a bridge that went over the giant 100 foot gorge, and we could see all the way down, but it was REALLY far. This picture does not do it justice (honestly none of the pictures really help you understand the still beauty of the place).
We climbed over the wall right after the bridge, because we found where the dirt path picked back up. The trail wound alongside the gorge, but it was really muddy in some spots, so we had to find new ways a few times so that we didn't get stuck. We finally got to the steps that I had read about, and they were the steepest, most slippery, and uneven things I had ever walked down. We took a good 15 minutes to go down 100 feet, but if we screwed up, we would have had a really rough time going down.
At one point, Johnny decided to go barefoot toward the waterfall, which I tried to do, but the water was way to cold. Like hypothermia, frostbite cold. I don't know how (or why) he did it. We finally decided to head back up to reality, and once we got there we had to figure out how to get a ride back, since we figured out that Ubers don't come out that far, and buses don't either. So we were stuck together trying to figure it out, and a water truck pulled off to the side of the road to figure our his route. Johnny, Ellie, and Christine went to go talk to him about how to get out of this place, and he called us a cab, went to go meet them, and directed them to us and out of the place with us. Whoever that nice Scottish man was, we will most definitely remember him forever, because if he hadn't been so nice and willing to help, we really don't know how we would have gotten home. We almost flagged down a police car to see if they could help us, but luckily it didn't come to that.
We were on our way back, and all I could do was look at the pictures I had taken on my camera. I couldn't believe we had been there... it was a fantasy land (that apparently had been a filming scene for the show Outlander) that I never wanted to leave. Time seemed to slow down there. I really want to go back when it is warmer, so that I can explore more!!
Oh, and by the way, school is going great! I have all my classes figured out. I have an anatomy test Monday, so I better go study.
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