Okay, but seriously. I'm sorry I haven't actually posted anything yet. My trip started with a day's delay (thank you, Texas monsoons) and hitting the ground running. We've been incredibly busy, not to mention the fact that our Internet has been fickle at best. But now, I sit here on the floor with my computer propped up on a coffee table, writing Blog Post #1 as the hot water heater boils away for 9'o'clock tea.
So far, we've seen the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument, Callendar House, Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles' Cathedral, and some of us have even been to Ireland. I've also learned how to buy a bus ticket, how to navigate a foreign city, how to buy a train ticket, how to survive customs, and that walking through Dublin at midnight is a horribly, terrifying idea (who knew, right?)!
I think I am in love with Scotland, but I could have predicted that. Everything is so GREEN, and it's June and not blistering hot! We've been sleeping with our windows open! The kiddos at the school are absolutely adorable, and even though they say my name about a thousand times an hour, I don't think I'll ever tire of their wee accents and their outlandish questions about America. They've stolen my heart, and I am going to cry like a baby when I have to leave them next week.
Ireland was... Well, interesting. After a transportation kerfuffle (in which we made smart decisions and stayed safe!), we ended up trying to find our hostel at 12 AM on the streets of Dublin. We got leered at by a drunk man on a street corner, but made it to the hostel unscathed, praise the Lord. We took a bus tour during the day Thursday out to the Cliffs of Moher and the surrounding area. It was absolutely gorgeous and brutally cold! The bus tour was nice though because it gave me (at least) a sense of comfort in that we weren't inherently responsible for ourselves for the majority of the day. We just had to make it back to the bus and we were fine.
Friday was nice! Our group split after breakfast and four of us ended up walking around Trinity College, where we watched part of a game of cricket, saw where the Book of Kells is housed, and just generally admired the beauty of the campus. Afterwards, we headed out toward the National Library where we encountered a WWI museum, the Library itself, a cute cafe where we lunched, and went to the National Museum! Once we finished there, we found Grafton Street and enjoyed shopping and gelato and street performers before heading home for the night.
Saturday was probably my favorite. Six of us headed out to the coastal village of Howth, where we all fell in love a little bit. There was a darling open air market where we found more gelato, lots of jewelry, and one very friendly dog. We took lots of pictures and did lots of walking, just relaxing and enjoying our last Irish day.
Grouchy, tired, and a little shell-shocked, we made our way "home" on Sunday morning. All-in-all, this trip has been wonderful. I'm developing friendships with girls in my major and I'm enjoying a whole new place that I love with all my heart. We head out to Glasgow on Saturday for a day on the town after a full week in school! Hopefully, I'll come back with a comfy, Scotland sweatshirt. :)
Cheers!
I'm attaching some pictures from our excursions so far!
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| Scotland from the airplane! We were so happy to finally arrive that I think I might have cried if I hadn't been so tired. |
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| The view from Stirling Castle. Be still my heart. |
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| Wallace Monument, which has 276 stairs that I did not climb in their entirety. I probably made it to about 250 before I chickened out at the last landing. |
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| Callendar House |
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| Because the Potterhead in me always lives on, I had to indulge in the new UK edition whilst in Scotland. |
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