The Highlands!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay. It's not that I've been crazy busy or anything, mostly just the fact that I've fallen into a comfortable routine here and there was nothing blog-worthy to tell! Until now.

This past weekend my program, IFSA Butler, organized a trip to the highlands! This trip was open to all the IFSA Scotland students: Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrew's, Stirling, and Glasgow School of Art. It was great to see some people who I only got the chance to meet in our two days of orientation.

The trip was very fun for many reasons, not the least of which being that we all missed school on Friday! We were scheduled to leave at 7:30am, however it wouldn't be college without at least one person over sleeping and making everyone wait. Our coach got on the road by 8:15am. When I awoke from my travelling-induced snooze we were at a massive grocery store for a pit stop. Breakfast, snacks, lunch were all purchased and then it was back to the bus for more snoozing. Next stop was the Hermitage which is located at the falls of the river Braan:

After lunch we visited Blair castle. A beautiful castle-turned-mansion with acres of gardens spotted with peacocks and reindeer. Before our tour a man (who does this every hour) marched in front of the castle. I could have listened to him all day!

The tour of the castle ended in the ballroom where we were allowed to take photos. Our tour guide had made a joke that if we wanted to get married here we should sign up quick because it is such a popular wedding venue. Fun fact: the castle's caretaker's daughter got married there and because the bride was allergic to flowers someone had the bright idea to raid the attic of the castle for the reception's centerpieces...stuffed birds. I don't think I'll be considering that when I get hitched...

Yes, those are antlers and weapons adorning the walls...

Late in the afternoon we checked into our hostel underneath a beautiful rainbow! The hostel was nice. I stayed in a room with three of my girl friends here. After a not-so-great pizza dinner people were discussing what to do for the night. I was coming down with a cold so going to a bar and guzzling alcohol was not exactly on my agenda. Then, someone mentioned that there was a local soccer game going on that night! At first I thought it would probably be some lame high school level game but no! It was the Scottish premier league! Two huge rival counties would play. When we got to the stadium and asked if there were still tickets for sale the woman asked back "home or away?" As Americans, we said, we don't know! She suggested that the home crowd seats were the way to go. Boy, was she right. I am very glad to have spent those 16 pounds sterling because a Scottish rivalry is not to be missed. After lots of yelling, watching rowdy fans, bagpipes at halftime, and of course a little rain, we headed back to the hostel. So much fun!

Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC vs. Ross County FC

Saturday morning was filled by a visit to a battlefield. For those of you who know me, history isn't my favorite subject so I tuned out most of the facts, but it was pretty! I do know that the battle of Culloden (1746) was the end of the era of Scottish clans. There are grave markers around the site with the names of the clans that perished.

             

The flags represent the battle lines. Red is for the British. The guy in the kilt is our tour guide.

Clan grave marker

After the battle field we went to Leault Farm to see sheep dogs in action! This was definitely my favorite part of the day, maybe even weekend. First we watched as Neil the shepherd showed us how he uses his 18 border collies to round up the farm's 2500 sheep spread over thousands of acres. He did a display (not to worry, only around 10 sheep were used) to demonstrate his series of voice and whistle commands. Each dog has their own set of commands so that he can tell them to go different directions at once. Very cool! Next we fed the lambs and they brought out the puppies. I could have cried they were so precious. At only fourteen days old, the youngest ones were so small and adorable. There were also a few year-olds running around. I don't know how they do it but Neil and his wife, their three children, and their EIGHTEEN grown border collies all live in the house together. Thankfully the house wasn't part of the demonstration.  

Neil the shepherd shearing a sheep

This blogpost is seemingly endless but we just did so many things this past weekend! Next up, even though nothing could top the puppies, was lunch and then a whiskey distillery! They split us up, and my group went to the Glenlivet distillery. It was very interesting to see the process of fermenting and casking the whiskey, but the tasting was rough. Let's just say I'm not a fan. Sorry Scotland.

For dinner IFSA promised the best restaurant they could find in the highlands. Little did the unsuspecting-college-students-who-will-eat-any-free-food know that the highlands are not known for their cuisine. The restaurant was equivalent to the worst Friendly's you've ever been to minus a star. Owell.

Sunday was the day to go out on Loch Ness to look for the monster. We took a little cruise across the lock but astonishingly enough Nessie was nowhere to be found. Our boat stopped at the really cool ruins of Urquhart Castle (related to the school in Beverly? maybe...).

Loch Ness

Becky overlooking ruins of Urqhuart Castle

The drive home was long, but gorgeous. In between the pitstops and naps there was much beautiful scenery to be seen. The HIGHlands have some gorgeous hills, mountains, lochs, you name it.

I must say I was happy to arrive back at my hotel-dorm. My own bed and footwear other than rainboots were missed over the weekend. Today I got up to go for a run and I could see my breath. If it was cold before, today it took a turn for really super wicked cold. The days are also getting shorter. Maybe it's time to buy some vitamin D.

I'm having a great time over here. Hopefully I will post on this again soon! xoxo