Scottish and Irish Accents are Different

This program has given me the opportunity to see many places. We go to a lot of places as a group, and are given the chance to go to places on our own. Last weekend I went to Liverpool with some people, and also immediately after coming back to London took off for my next destination with friends: Scotland. We took a long train ride up to Edinburgh to relish in the Scottish culture, which I came to discover, is quite unique. We stayed in a hostel in the middle of Edinburgh, which looked a little wary on the outside, but was actually quite safe and clean and run by some very nice people. We had an adventure there to start us off. There were 13 of us who had come together on this little trip, and were booked to stay in a room with 14 beds. We were stoked to have our own room. But wouldn't you know that that one extra bed happened to be occupied??? We were a little nervous at first but they turned out to be a great roommate for the weekend and even played cards with us! We instantly made a new friend in Scotland, though they were French. Even better! We learned about two cultures at once.

Our first stop in the wee hours of the morning was going to the Edinburgh Castle. It's this massive castle on top of the hill overlooking the city. Boy was that a sight! We went in and walked around. At 11 there was a little show of a woman dressed in clothes of the day who told the story of one of the castle's famous inhabitants. Later on at 1 there was also a gun show, when the canon was shot. That was loud but really neat to see so up close. There was also a museum in the castle showing equipment and uniforms of Scottish soldiers through the ages. That was fascinating, which related to something awesome!! There was a guy walking around the streets of Edinburgh dressed in a traditional Scottish highlander! It was great! He looked straight out of the movie Braveheart!

We took some time to go out of the actual city and go hiking. There's a ridge called Arthur's Seat that's walking distance from the castle. Actually, we only did things we could walk to... But it was a really nice hike. Pretty steep in some places and we had to stop for some breaths, but the payoff was definitely worth it. The view was incredible!!! You could turn all the away around and see so far. You could see the whole city on one side, more countryside on another, and a little bay on the other. It was amazing. It was also so windy I thought I was literally going to blow off! But that made for some awesome pictures...

On another day we took a three hour walking tour, which seems like a long time, but that was actually one of my favorite things we did. We were given historical information and saw a lot of the city, but we also saw a lot of contemporary places that hold interest in popular culture. For example, we went by the cafe where JK Rowling first wrote Harry Potter on some napkins. We were able to see what she was looking at while in the cafe so we could see her inspiration. It was fascinating. And a little culture tidbit to not look like a tourist. There's an area with a heart engraved in the ground. Because of its history it has become a spot where the locals spit into everytime they walk by. You can always tell a tourist because they walk through it! Not knowing it's where everyone spits. There was a man even who brought his girlfriend there, and not knowing its history, knelt inside and proposed! He thought the heart in the ground was really romantic. Any other heart probably would have been...

And if you ever go to Scotland, you will come back saying, "Highland coo." You will. Trust me.