Scotland, you have stolen my heart.

We went to Scotland!! How was it you might ask? Well just hold onto your trousers (pants) and you shall find out! 
          So my dad was a professor at the St. Louis Seminary for 17 years and in that time, he became friends with a colleague named Will and they always go hunting during a week in October (seriously, nothing can get in the way of that hunting week) Well, Will has a daughter named Arwyn who is conveniently situated in Scotland as she is studying to become a veterinarian there. So here was an opportunity in front of me to meet up with someone who not only knew Scotland but could possibly house 3 college girls at no charge (Huzzah for saving money!) Here’s the funny part: In my lifetime, I have probably met Arwyn a total of 4 times, so we didn’t really know each other too well except for hearing about each others lives through the grapevine of our parents. It would be understandable if she had some hesitations about letting us come stay with her, but she didn’t and she was the best hostess ever and we will forever be grateful for her hospitality. So I Facebook messaged her and we started getting the plans formed and the possibility of us going to Scotland started to solidify.

            We left Friday (October 10) around 3:30 from the train station and had a 5 almost 6 hour journey ahead of us. It was a little rough and by the time we arrived around 9:30p.m, we were grateful to get off. 

About to depart!

King's Cross Train Station!

Bored on the train

We met up with Arwyn and her Scottish boyfriend, Chris at the station and they took us to a nearby pizza place called Beir Halle. (Men, if you ever doubted the amount a girl can eat, if we don’t have food for about 6 hours, we can devour a lot). When we left, our stomachs were happy and full and we were ready to go to bed. The three of us shared a pullout couch and soon were fast asleep (and yes, we did fit and have bonded over the experience since then).

            The next day, we got up, ate some left over pizza for breakfast, and headed out the door. Arwyn was unable to join us since she had some work she had to get done, but she gave us a Scotland travel book (which became the bible for us) along with some tips and tricks and we were off! We were going to be flying by the seat of our pants that day and that was okay. 

So the first stop was Pollock Country Park because they house real Scottish cows and since the beginning of this whole trip, Adrienne has been wanting to get a selfie with a cow (even though we live in Wisconsin where there is a plethora of cows, but I guess they just aren't good enough for her). Now these cows are different from the black and white cows back in the States. These have long shaggy hair and horns as shown below.

Example of what a Scottish cow looks like

While walking around the park, we got some beautiful pictures of the gardens and the Clydesdales they also house there. There was so much green and I never realized how much I had missed nature and all it's true glory till that point.

Harry the Clydesdale

The downside was that the cows were grazing in fenced in fields and it was therefore hard to get close to them. So what did Adrienne and I do? Well we just hopped the fence and tried to get closer. Unfortunately, there was a couple coming down the path so we hightailed it out of there since we didn't want to get in trouble (our rebelliousness can only last so long). 

Rebelliousness at its finest.

We then hopped back on the train and headed to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was such a beautiful day for relaxing, shopping, and just exploring the city.

Adrienne found a Scottish cow backpack. Sadly, she did not purchase it.

We arrived there starving and went to The Piemaker (suggested by my friend Mary Baker who is also traveling abroad this semester). They had incredible meat pies at a cheap price which makes any college student on a budget happy.

After filling our bellies up with delicious pies, we started walking down the main strip called The Royal Mile. This busy street is full of shops selling authentic Scottish scarves, to street performers, to all the touristy souvenirs you can get till your hearts content. 

The Royal Mile

Why yes, yes that is a stormtrooper in a kilt wearing a Scotland flag.

The Royal Mile leads to the final destination: Edinburgh Castle. This castle is built into the hill and is ginormous in size! It's one of the most expensive tourist attractions in Scotland. We therefore just took some scenery photos.

Jumping shot!

That man behind me decided to move into my picture right before it was taken. I was not amused.

We then visited the Jolly Judge which Arwyn said was one of her favorite pubs. It was off of the Royal Mile in its own little hiding corner and was very cute and quaint.

It was then time to head back to Glasgow. One thing we didn't know when we arrived back was that there had been a football (soccer) game against Scotland and Georgia earlier that day and Scotland had won and boy did we know it. There were people all over the streets with Scottish flags tied around their backs and men wearing jersey's and kilts. There were so many kilts! I loved it! 

Once, we got back to Arwyn's apartment, we dropped off some of our stuff, and were off again to meet up with her a one of her favorite pubs in Glasgow. Now from what she told us about it, I got the impression that it was going to be a mellow place with a few older people casually drinking and maybe some live music playing softly in the background, but boy was i wrong! It was packed with locals of every age due to the earlier football win and instead of sitting down with an ale like I thought we were going to do, we ended up being swept up by some locals to dance the instant we got in. It was amazing, inviting, and loud! Once Arwyn arrived (it was already packed but the security guard let her in because he knew she was looking for 3 American girls (hint, us!) and let her in) to join us, we were able to introduce her to some of the friends we had made! 

Got a picture with a guy in a kilt (sort of)!

You can't tell, but they picked me up for this photo

Arwyn and I

A Scot drinking a crappy American beer and an American drinking a crappy Scottish beer!

The gang!

The pub had an American flag on the ceiling... 'Murica!

It was an absolute fabulous night full of laughter and memories!

The next day we took it easy and went out to brunch with Arwyn and her roommate to Cafe Zique. This cafe was fantastic and food was prepared right in front of you eyes. I also tried black pudding (wasn't going to try haggis even though Arwyn swore it was delicious) for the first time and I will probably never eat it again after learning it is made with pork blood. 

Kelsey with black pudding

It was then time to pack up our things, say goodbye, and head for the train station for our 6 hour ride back to London.

         So why has Scotland stolen my heart you might ask? There are so many reasons, but the most prominent one was the people. They were so kind, outgoing, and loud and it was a comfortable atmosphere to be in. I was okay with going by the seat of our pants for this adventure because I knew that the people would be kind and helpful with any questions we might have (and we had a lot of them). I also loved all of the green! I cannot explain the beauty of Scotland and all it contains! One moment we were traveling by hilly prairie fields with sheep at the up most top, and the next we were going past hills full of green tall pine trees. There were so many colors of green represented at each passing that no painting could ever do it justice. Every now and then, we would pass by a small village nestled in between the hills with smoke coming out of some of the smoke stacks.  It truly was a wondrous beauty to see and I hope to come back some day. 

View from the train

Scotland, you have stolen my heart and I wish I could have stayed longer.

Until next blog post,
Claire