St. Andrews

Last week Andrew, his friend Aaron, Danielle, and I traveled to St. Andrews. It is the birth place of golf and last summer the British open was played there. The old course at St. Andrews is the most historic golf course in the world. It was pretty cool to see where the last British Open had occurred. I remembered watching Tiger when he was playing at St. Andrew's and how the wind was whipping through his clothes. Then I couldn't understand how the wind could be so brutal but now it just seems normal to me. We all took turns taking pictures on the famous bridge at the 18th hole and then watched some of golfers play the course. These golfers had been waiting for years to play on the course so it was a big day for everyone out there. We walked along the shore which runs next to the golf course and makes for a really pleasant walk. The town of St. Andrews was surprisingly very nice and tranquil. In one of the flat windows there was a confederate flag which was very surprising but weirdly comfortable to me.While walking through the center of town we passed St. Andrews University where Prince Williams and Kate went to University. The school was made out of stone, just like everything in Scotland, and had great architecture. However, one of my favorite parts about the trip was sitting next to the ocean with St. Andrews Castle in sight. It was a sunny and warm day with a nice ocean breeze. I just had to sit back and think that I was in the quite town of St. Andrews which was home to the most historic golf course. After that we all went to a small outdoor vendor next to the ocean and got chips and burgers. While we set there talking about our different travels, it was just nice to enjoy the good weather and a good meal. We left St. Andrews and headed back to Edinburgh on the train where there was hens and wives bachelorette group. It was a pretty long train ride back.

Dublin

Andrew, Caleb, Jess, and I all went to Dublin, Ireland for three days the other week. It was the first time I was leaving Scotland so I was ready for a little adventure. From what I had heard from everyone going to Dublin it was going to be a really run trip. Our hostel was located in the Temple Bar district where there was many bars and attractions. The afternoon we arrived, we decided to walk around the city a bit to get our bearings. This just ended up in us finding a bar and ordering our first of many pints of Guinness. Temple Bar was such a cool place to walk around and hope in and out of bars. There was always people walking around on the cobble stone streets and chilling in plaza that was located in the middle of Temple Bar. While in the bars there would be live Irish folk music which was very entertaining and reminded me of Appalachian folk music.
The second day in Dublin we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Guinness Factory. St. Patrick's Cathedral was amazing. It was a an awesome cathedral and people could enjoy looking at it from the little park that was next to it. The park was blooming with different colored flowers and had people laying in the grass and sitting on the park benches. From there we went to the Guinness Factory. A couple hundred feet away all you could smell was the fermentation process. The tour of the factory was sweet. They took you through how it is made, the origins of the factory/owner, how to properly taste Guinness, advertisements, how to pour the "perfect Guinness", and a free pint in the gravity bar on the 7th floor. One cool fact I learned was that Dublin is not home to the biggest Guinness factory, it is actually in Nigeria...yeah weird. I really enjoyed the different TV ads they had in the advertisement section and the gravity bar. The gravity bar was a circular bar on the 7th floor with glass windows and a 360 view of Dublin. You could see for miles all around Dublin and see the different monuments all around town. We all enjoyed our free pint and the sights of the city then headed out to see some more of the town.
On the the third day we met up with Michal who was meeting up with one of his friends the same we were there. It was cool that all of us could meet up and have fun in Dublin. Our third day was pretty chill. We walked through the business/shopping district of Dublin. The business district was at the far end of the river and had some massive glass buildings. Michal had not seen St. Patrick's Cathedral so we decided to get some fish and chips and eat in the park. It was a sunny warm day again and made for a pleasant afternoon of laying and joking around in the park. After our meal we walked to Phoenix Park which is the largest city park in Europe. In the middle of the park they had a monument that basically looked like a smaller Washington Monument. But it was a cool park and there were loads of people playing football outdoors. We walked back and checked out of our hostel. We headed for the airport and back to home (Edinburgh) which I was already missing. Dublin was awesome, I probably drank my weight in Guinness, saw the entire city, and experienced it all with my friends.

Jessica and Isaac visit

Jessica and Isaac came to visit Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. They certainly got a taste of Scottish weather with days of sun, rain, snow, and even hail. I wish it could have been a week of better weather but you can't control everything. It is weird though, since they have left it has been sunny and warm for a week straight! Today I even went outside with no coat. Crazy.
Isaac came at the start of the week and stayed for the whole week. It was really good to see a familiar face and catch up on everything back in the States. I showed Isaac around the town his first day and we went to sleep early to go to Stirling the next morning. Stirling is about a fifty minute train ride outside Edinburgh and is home to the Stirling Castle. The castle has a long past of being violence, trading of power, and Kings and Queens. The castle is located at the top of a hill in Stirling and overlooks the Scottish country side with the highlands in the background. Just to the west of the castle is a field were the battle of Stirling Bridge occurred. The Scots were lead by William Wallace and they were fighting to take the castle back from the English. This is what the movie Braveheart is based on. We joined a free tour that was led by a true Scot who described the different rooms, statues, and historical significance of the castle. I thought the tour was very funny, informative and gave a lot of information about the castle.  We headed back to Edinburgh to head to Reuben's loose member party haha. It was a fun night and Isaac seemed to have a fun day and night. The rest of the week I took Isaac to the sights of the city like Calton Hill, The Royal Mile, Prince Street, and the Grassmarkets. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday night watching the Champions League (Barcelona vs Arsenal then Tottenham vs AC Milan). We had a good time watching and talking about football while downing a couple pints. On Thursday we went to the Camera Obscure which is located on The Royal Mile. Camera Obscure has a video camera that looks out onto the whole city and then projects it down on to a table while people sit around the table and look at the video. A guide takes you through the city and describes the history and the different sites of Edinburgh. It was a fun tour and I think Isaac really enjoyed it. Jessica arrived Friday night from Madrid. We all went to a restaurant to eat haggis, neeps, and tatties (haggis, turnips, and mash potatoes). They all enjoyed the national dish of Scotland and also enjoyed washing it down with a couple pints from various pubs and bars. The next morning we toured the Edinburgh Castle, ate in the Elephant House, and went on a literary pub tour that night. The literary pub tour was very fun. Being me I thought it might be a little wack but the two guys who lead it were very entertaining and informational. They told the story of some of Edinburgh's poets and authors and how they got inspiration from the upper class New Town and the drunken, dirty, and day to day life of the Old Town. We stopped in to many small pubs on the Royal Mile for pints and went in close's (small alleyways) were the acted out poetry. Isaac left the next morning and I was sad to see him leave because he had basically become one of the flatmates. I hope he had a fun time and I can't wait to see him when I get back. I took Jessica all around the city the next day...up too Calton Hill, The Royal Mile, Prince's Street, and Holyrood Park. We got to see the whole city and had pretty good weather as well. Jessica was leaving the next morning so we went to sleep early. It was nice to see family again and to show Jessica my city because last year she showed me around Madrid. I had a great time with Jessica and really enjoyed her stay here...maybe I will see you again in Madrid haha!

Hearts Football Game/Scotland Rugby Game

First off sorry for not blogging in a while...I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks with Isaac and Jessica visiting.

A couple of weeks ago Ricardo and I decided to go to a local football match in Edinburgh. Edinburgh has two major football teams in the Scottish Premiership, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian (Hearts and Hibs). In the past Protestants pulled for Hearts and Catholics cheered for Hibs. I am sure this is still the case for some supporters in Edinburgh, but for me I go for Hearts because their stadium is located on our side of town and they third in the Scottish Premiership table.  That day the Hearts were playing Kilmarnock, who were fourth in the table.  Ricardo and I set off for the game around two. It was a three o clock kick off and I had just woken up at one because I went to the Pete Tong/Afrojack concert the night before with my friend Craig (ask me about it later if you are interested), so I was a little tired but pumped to watch my first football match here. The stadium (Tynecastle Stadium) is about a twenty minute walk from our flat. When we started to get close to the stadium, we saw lots of Hearts pubs filled with supporters. Since it was near game time, the pubs started to empty out with all the fans who took over the sidewalks and parts of the streets. They were chanting with Hearts cheers while headed towards the stadium. If you have ever witnessed Green Street Hooligans it reminded me of the supporters walking to West Ham's stadium. Our seats in the stadium were in the second row from the field! They were in the corner of the stadium which didn't allow for the best views when play was on the other side of the field but it was pretty awesome when action was right near us and when they were corner kicks near our seats. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to the game so I did not get any pictures but I there is another Hearts game while I am hear so I can get some pics at that game. Also the Hearts ended up losing the game 2-0. The Hearts dominated the first half (which was on our side!) but failed to score. Kilmarnock scored twice in the second half which was also on our side. In the end it was a very fun game to attend and I got a taste of what a football game is like in the UK.

This past Saturday Caleb, Andrew and I all went to the Scotland vs Italy six nations rugby game.  Six Nations is a rugby tournament involving France, Italy, Wales, Ireland, England, and Scotland. This was the last game of the tournament and up to now Scotland had lost every game. Even though they had virtually been in every game of the tournament they just seemed to lack the finishing quality that was need for winning. However, Italy was not a very good team either. They had only won against France in the tournament. So Scotland definitely had a chance of beating Italy and not loosing every game in the tournament. Kick off was at 2:30, but Caleb, Andrew and I all decided to wake up around ten and grab a couple pints before the game. We went to Murryfield Pub (Murryfield is the the name of the stadium) which is only 50 yards away from the stadium. The atmosphere was pretty incredible in the pub. It was packed with Scottish supporters and made for a very fun couple of pints. As the start of the game neared, we left the pub and joined the massive crowed that was walking through the streets to the stadium. At the stadium there was almost a small state fair outside. It had live music and plenty of food and drink stands. It added to the environment as there were many Scottish people standing outside drinking and listening to music. We headed for our seats which were on the second row from the field (weird how that happened twice) and near the right side of the stadium. There was many Scottish flags in the stadium and even a small group of people with bagpipes playing in the stands. Surprisingly there was also a lot of Italian fans who started many cheers through out the game. However those cheers did not seem to help as Scotland beat Italy 21-8 for their first win of the tournament. It was a awesome game and I glad that I have played rugby before and could understand the rules and game flow.

Trip to Highlands/ Town of Oban

Highland Cow

Oban

Kilchurn Castle

Loch Lomond

This Saturday Jess, Andrew and I went on a trip with the international club at Napier to the highlands of Scotland. We set out at 8:30 in morning from Edinburgh where it was snowing/raining. It seemed like a bad day to travel around Scotland but turned out to be very nice weather through out the rest of the day. We headed northwest from Edinburgh where the terrain started to get more hilly as we traveled closer to the highlands. We made a stop next to a farm near the highlands which had highland cattle. The highland cattle looked almost like a yak with their long horns and long matted hair all over their body. After this stop, we now drove into the highlands which were stunning. The hills were now covered in snow from the mornings flurries and made for a really nice drive. There are also many lochs that run through the highlands, and it seemed we were almost always driving next to one. It was pretty amazing driving through the rugged and remote country side of Scotland and made for gorgeous views. Our drive through the highlands was about an hour and half, where at the end of it we reached the small fishing town of Oban which is on the northwest coast of Scotland. We had two hours to travel around the town and eat. We decided to go to a hill near the back of the town which had a monument that was similar to the Colosseum. From here you could see the whole town, the bay with many little fishing boats going in and out, and the coast. While up there the sun came out (which seems to never happen anymore), which made a rainbow over half the town. We all sat up there for twenty minutes just enjoying the view and sun. The rest of our time in Oban we walked down the coast where we came to the ruins of a castle with a castle just 100 yards of the coast. It seemed like a typical picture of Scotland that you find on Wikipedia.  After this we hoped back on the bus and traveled back toward Edinburgh but going south towards Glasgow then east toward Edinburgh instead of directly southeast. We stopped in the highlands to look at Kilchurn Castle which is located on an island in a loch. This is castle that is on my Lonely Planet Scotland book and it was awesome to see it in real life. It was such a nice view, the castle with the snowy highlands in the background. After this stop we then drove to Loch Lomond where we stopped for about thirty minutes to take a look around. This is one of the two national parks in Scotland (the other being the Cairngorms). It was an enormous loch with the hills in the background. It was a great place to sit and reflect on the day. After this we drove back to Edinburgh and ended our trip. It was the first time I had experienced the highlands but I now want to go back a see more of them!

East Lothian Coast and Craigmillar Castle

North Berwick

Gullane Bay

Last weekend Jess, Andrew, Catlin, and I all took a train to North Berwick which is located in East Lothian district. North Berwick is a coastal town to the east of Edinburgh. It was an overcast day which was good weather to me since it had been raining the past couple of days. We planned to do a 6 mile hike along the coast. The hike would go from the North Berwick to the town of Gullane. The hike started off in a bay in North Berwick, with a golf course running next to us for the first two miles a trail. Just off shore were a couple of islands which also went along with the first two miles of the trail. I really enjoyed the first part of the walk, watching people play golf and the Scottish coast next to us as well.  We decided to eat our packed lunch on a rock that over looked the sea and had one of the islands in background. Sitting there I could really understand why people enjoyed Scotland's nature. For the terrain to be so pleasant in such harsh conditions is really amazing. The second part of our hike was still along the coast but the trail was over small hills with knee high grass growing on it. In the fields of grass were also bushes with orange berries growing on them which made for a wonderful background. The end of our hike ended in the town of Gullane on the Gullane bay. Gullane bay was was wedged in between the town and the grassy hills. The coastal town of  Gullane, which had cobble stone streets and many stone building overlooking the bay, reminded me of a quit get away house. East Lothian coast has been one of my favorite places here in Scotland to see because of the rugged and scenic coast.

Craigmillar Castle is located 3 miles south east of Edinburgh. Ricardo, Jess, Andrew and I all decided go and see it. The castle is still mainly in tact which was cool because a lot of the castles in Scotland are ruins now. We learned that the reason Scotland has many castles (over 2700) is because of the different clans trying to protect there territory. Anyways, the castle is most famous for because Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the castle for awhile to escape some of the madness that she was going through back in Holyrood Palace. The castle was pretty massive, having three floors and a couple rooms which were underground. You were able to see all the rooms, including the cellar, prison, bedrooms, dinning rooms, and go on top of the roof. Since it was a pretty nice day (it was sunny for the afternoon. but it had also rained three times that day as well) there were great views of Edinburgh and the surrounding  countryside. I could see all the way to North Berwick where we had traveled the other day, all of Holyrood Park, and the entire coast which was east of Edinburgh. I really enjoyed visiting Craigmillar Castle because of its medieval look, ancient but still intact rooms, and the amazing view of Edinburgh.

Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Abby

Last week Jess, Andrew, Mikal and I went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is located next to Holyrood Park. The palace is the Queen's residence when in Scotland and was the residence of many King's and Queen's from the past. It is also used by the Queen for ceremonies and engagements. When we toured the palace we  were able to see the rooms that were used by the Royalty of Scotland, from the dinning rooms, bed rooms, and entertainment rooms. The room of Mary the Queen of Scot's, who had a very interesting and depressing life, was located in the back corner on the third floor. She stayed only a couple of years at the palace, but witnessed her husband (Lord Darnley)  kill her secretary in front her by stabbing him 53 times. However, my favorite part about the palace was the Holyrood Abbey located by its side. The abbey was mostly ruins but you could see its skeleton structure of what it use to be. With most building in Edinburgh it feels like you are taking a trip back in time, and the abbey was no exception. The stone pillars and arches showed what the abbey could have been if was fully constructed. I also thought it was cool that Sean Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at the Holyroodhouse.

Prince's Street from castle

Mons Meg

For one of our field trips in our Scottish culture class we went to the Edinburgh Castle, which the city was built around. This is probably one of Edinburgh's most popular attraction and is visible almost anywhere in the city.  The castle was built on a volcanic rock which juts out in the center of Edinburgh. However, it was raining on the day we went which made the visit a little dreary. From the castle you can see the whole city. Right in front of the castle is Prince Street, Rose Street, and then George's Street with the port in the background. With in the castle tour we were able to see the castle cannon called Mons Meg, the Scottish National War Memorial, the jail cells for prisoners, and the Royalties residence when there. I enjoyed seeing the Scottish National War Memorial because it showed me how involved the Scots were with WWI and WWII which we are learning about in my Contemporary British History class. I also liked seeing the cells and living arrangements for prisoners who the Scots captured. The cells were extremely small and many of the prisoners slept in a room of hammocks as if on a colonial ship. When Royalty stayed at the castle if was because they were thought to be in danger, not for relaxing. Overall I thought the whole trip to the castle was very informative and gave us great look into Edinburgh's past. Also had great views of the city.

Royal Botanical Gardens and Blackford Hill

In the past weeks the weather has been pretty bad. It has been raining quite a lot lately and we have been getting some snow. Even though it hasn't been the best conditions for outside activities we have managed to see acouple things around town. The other week Jess, Kasia and I walked up to Blackford hill which is located near the south of Edinburgh (opposite of the coast). Edinburgh is full of hills which makes it a great way to see the entire city. THey include Holyrood park (Arthur's seat), the Castle which is located on a hill, Calton hill (near Prince's Street), and Craighouse (one of Napier's campuses) is located on a hill. It was typical Edinburgh weather when we went to Blackford, misty and overcast, but we were still able to see the Castle,  Arthur's seat, and the royal observatory which was located on Blackford hill. Also there was a path that went around the whole hill and went a long a small creek which made the walk very enjoyable. Walking around in the cold conditions made me realize why hardy dishes such as mince and tatties and haggis were typical Scottish meals. To bad I went back and at pasta....

Andrew and I also went to the Royal Botanical Gardens which is located in north Edinburgh. The gardens were free and and nice way to get away from the busy city life. They had many types of different plants and trees which was a nice change from the basically treeless hills and town. They also had a pond in the middle of the park with lots of ducks and weird looking birds swimming around. My favorite part of the gardens was the Chinese Garden. It was located on a hill and you started at the bottom and winded up on a small path to the top of the hill going through bamboo, small ponds, and a creek running down the center of the hill. At the top was once a again a view of the entire city, but from the north. So far I have seen the city from the east (Arthur's seat), the south (Blackford hill) and now the North. If I go on the top floor of my campus Sighthill in the east I can get a view from the West...but it doesn't really compare to the other spots.

Portebello and Rosslyn Chapel

Yesterday Andrew, Jess, Kasia and I all went to the shore in part of the city called Portebello. Jess and Kasia live in the flat below us and Jess is from California and Kasia is from Poland. Portebello is a part of Edinburgh that is by the shore. Portebello had a walkway that went all the way across the shore. There were lots a people walking there dogs and running along the path. Even though the beach was not as nice as North Carolina beaches it was cool place to be. There were no waves but it was nice to be next to the water and walking around a unknown place in Edinburgh. Along the path it had many fish and chips stores and seafood restaurants. We happened to stop and get fish and chips which were very tasty and this time they served the fish with tarter sauce which I really enjoyed. They still had brown sauce on the chips which I am starting to now like. Portebello was a nice change from the busy city center.
Also about 8 miles south of Edinburgh is the town of Roslin. It is famous for the Rosslyn Chapel which has started to be a popular destination for tourist because of the Da Vinci Code. Andrew, Jess, Kasia, Catlin (from New York) and I all went there today. It was really ironic going there because the day before I had just finished the Da Vinci code and near the end of the book they go to Rosslyn Chapel in search for the Holy Grail. It was cool to be at the place that I had just read about and was fresh in my mind. The church was very old and small and had many carving of religious symbols and beliefs. I liked visiting the chapel a lot because there was so much history incorporated into its building.  Also near the Rosslyn Chapel was the Roselin Castle which was mostly ruins but a cool spot in the middle of the Scottish Country side. I really enjoyed Portebello and Roselin because it gave us a chance to escape the city and see other parts of Scotland.

Getting to know Edinburgh

View from my flat

My flat with the golf tavern on the right

This week has been the first week of classes for me. I have successfully found all of them as it was a challenge because Napier University has four separate campuses all across the city. I have two classes in  Sighthill Campus which is the furthest campus from our apartments. It is the newest of all the campuses and is pretty nice, but the bus ride there is dreadful. Then I have one class (Scottish Culture and Society) in Craiglockhart campus. It is a cool looking campus because one of the buildings looks like a huge eye from ( I will post a picture once I learn how). I only have three classes and they are all on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so it leaves me with a four day weekend and time to do some sight seeing. I have gotten a bus pass which allows me to travel all over the city and to my classes easily. I have gotten use to the bus system and how to find which bus I need and when to get it.
In the center of he city is the Edinburgh Castle which is quite cool and is next to Edinburgh main street, Prince's Street. On Prince's street there are all shops which makes the street really busy but makes it a good atmosphere. Right behind Prince's Street is Rose Street. This a little cobble stone road which no cars go on and is sandwiched in between small pubs and restaurants. It is a very lively street as well because there are lots of people pouncing from pub to pub or restaurant. Behind Rose street there is George street which is the location of many pubs and clubs. It is a popular street to go to at night for drinks. All of these is in the city center which is considered New Town. There is also a section in Edinburgh called Old Town. In Old Town there are many small roads like Rose street which makes it a very enjoyable walk and makes you feel like you have gone back in history to old Edinburgh. All the building are stone/cobble stone and all the roads are cobble stone as well. In old own there is the Royal Mile which are a collection of streets that go through this part of town. In the part of Edinburgh there are also a lot of pubs, restaurants, and coffee shop. One of the coffee houses, The Elephant House, was the location where J.K. Rowling would get tea and right the first Harry Potter novel.  Also in the old town is a part called The Grassmarket which is a wide street lined with pubs.  Not in any of these sections is our apartment, even though we are close to old town and a ten minute walk to the city center. Our apartment is located to a massive park called the Meadows and in the backround is the massive Holyrood hill (Arthur's seat). It is nice because there are always people playing sports in the park, walking there dogs, and jogging around the park. Right next to our apartment is a pub called the Golf Tavern. It is called the golf tavern because the part of the Meadow's right next to us has a small golf course with 10 yard long holes, basically like chipping holes. The Golf Tavern is a really cool pub and is are usual destination for a couple of pints. They also play sports so we go down and watch football matches and the American football playoffs.  About 50 yards from us is a Kebab place called Efes. This makes for a bad combination of pints then kebabs.
This is most of Edinburgh which makes it a easy town to travel around, especially now I have my bus pass. 


P.S. Ill try to figure out to put some pictures up

First Couple of Weeks

Hello to my many followers (Jessica and Mom and Dad),

The first week and a half in Edinburgh has been great. The first week I stayed with Craig and his family who showed me around the town and what typical Scottish culture was like. His Mom cooked me mince and tatties which were delicious. I also went out with Craig and his friends a lot which was a good way to meet new people and see the town at night. The town itself is really nice because its all old stone buildings with the castle in the middle of everything. The weather is not as bad it is mad out to be. I was only really cold when I was playing soccer with Craig's friends (i got destroyed). I have had fish and chips as well which was really filling. They put "brown sauce" on all there fries which is a bit weird because it is a vinegar sauce but I have started to like it. I moved into my apartment last Friday which went well and I got a chance to meet all my roommates. It is a pretty diverse flat. Andrew is from Cali, Mikal is from Poland, Ricardo is from Puerile Rico, and Jorge is from Portugal. There is already an xbox and tv in our common area and also a lot of dirty dishes so it reminds me of my old apartment.
Edinburgh is a very walkable city and I have walked most everywhere you can go. Prince's street is in the middle of the city with castle next to you. I tried haggis the other day and I actually liked it a lot, even though it looked like mush. So far we have just been walking around the city and getting our bearing. Yesterday we went to Arther's seat which has an amazing view of the whole city. It was extremal windy at the top almost to a point where it was hard to keep your balance. It is located in Holyrood park which is a nice place to walk around. I plan to do many other things around Edinburgh and Ill keep you posted