Monster Hunting, Scotch Whiskey, and Scottish Music

Hello again! I figured it was about time to share my adventures in Scotland. To start off, I should say that I have travelled a lot, and been to a lot of different countries and places in the United States, but Scotland has been my favorite place I have visited thus far. I would absolutely recommend visiting there if you ever have the chance. The music is great, the food is awesome, and the accents are wonderful. I had the absolute best time.

There is no direct way from Cambridge to Edinburgh, so our indirect route took us five hours. We went up on a Thursday evening, and spent Thursday night in Edinburgh. Christmas lights get put up early in the UK, so we got to see all of the lights on the stores at night. This was also right before Veteran's/Armistice day, so all of the cathedrals had poppies on their lawns in honor the fallen soldiers. It was very pretty at night.

Friday was spent in Edinburgh. We didn't really have any plans for what we wanted to do, so we just wandered around for a little bit. We went up to Edinburgh castle, and on our way down, we came across the Scotch Whiskey Experience, a company that sells whiskey and gives a whiskey tour and tasting. During our tasting, we got a little introduction about how scotch whiskey is made and got to taste a little scotch from one of the regions where it is made. There were five different ones we could taste, and since there were five of us, we each got to taste a little bit of whiskey from each region. And in the end, we got to keep our whiskey glasses :).

World's largest collection of Scotch Whiskey

In the afternoon, we wandered around town and stopped in little shops. We also took a hike down to the water, and got there just as the sun was setting. Some of us (Nichol) were not thrilled that we walked down there for nothing, but she eventually got over it and we got some nice pictures :).

On Saturday, Kathryn went home and the other four of us that were left took a train up to Inverness. For those who don't know, Inverness is probably the biggest city in the north of Scotland, and sits at about the same latitude as Alaska. It is also the home of the famous Loch Ness.

We took a boat tour of Loch Ness. We had the boat to ourselves and our tour guide was awesome. He was one of the original volunteers to work with the Loch Ness Investigation in the 60s, and he took one of the videos that supposedly showed the Loch Ness Monster. He showed us a video that he had made with footage from when he was working on the loch, and gave us many possibly explanations for what we could be seeing on the lake instead of a monster. He even let us drive the boat at the end.

After wandering around on a trail through the Scottish highlands, we went back to Inverness for dinner. We stumbled upon a lovely local pub called Hootenanny's, and decided to eat there. I had skink, which is a fish and potato soup, and SOUPER good (see what I did there?). After we were done eating, there was live music played by a guitarist and an accordion player. They were two of the best musicians I have ever heard in my life, and they played traditional Scottish folk music all night. I had the best time listening to them and dancing all night long.

Our Sunday was spent mostly on trains. The trip from Inverness all the way down to Cambridge again is about eight hours, not including train stops and switching trains. By this point, we were all so tired that we slept most of the way down. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and I would go back to Scotland in a heartbeat.

As always, questions and comments are welcome!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Big Trip: Spain and Italy

Hello again! The past couple weeks have been so full of activities that this is my first weekend home in awhile. So that gives me time to catch you all up on what I've been doing!

At the end of October, the majority of the people I'm living with and I all went to Spain and Italy for ten days. I was a little nervous, because this was the first time I had really travelled with this group of people, but looking back, there was absolutely no reason to be nervous. We all got along well, and broke off into small groups so that it wasn't too overwhelming, and I'm glad I went with everyone.

We spent two full days in Barcelona, Spain. The first day, everyone took a four hour bike tour around Barcelona. Not wanting to pay twenty-two euros for an activity I would not enjoy, I didn't go with. Instead, I walked around Barcelona on my own. I walked down to the pier, through a flea market, into a cathedral and castle, and got gelato all on my own. It was great because I wasn't on anyone else's time but my own, so I could stop and see whatever I wanted and spend as much time there as I wanted. The city was absolutely beautiful, and we had great weather, which made the experience all the better.

In the morning of the second day, some of us went to Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that has been under construction for nearly 200 years. It is set to be completed in 2026. For anyone who visits Barcelona, go to Sagrada Familia. It was the most unique and beautiful cathedral I have ever been inside. The stained glass is intricate and stunning, and the architecture so unique. I was told that the architect had a fascination with optical illusions, and put them into his creation. If you look at the pillars inside the cathedral, from a distance, they look like they are standing straight up. But when you go right up next to them, you can tell that they are tilted just a little to the side.

The afternoon was spent at the beach, sipping pina coladas, sleeping on a blanket, and soaking up the sun (as much sun as SPF 50 allows). It was a lovely, relaxing afternoon, and it reminded us that this trip was for fun and a vacation. It helped us rest up for that night, where we slept on the floor of the Barcelona airport. That's right Mom, I slept in an airport, and I have to say that it wasn't the worst experience in the world.

After Barcelona, we flew to Milan, Italy, and spent the day in the city before training to Venice that evening. Quite honestly, I had no interest in visiting Milan, and it wouldn't have left any impression on me whatsoever if we hadn't had one of our group members lose her passport and train tickets. Luckily, the ten of us traveling together immediately went into emergency mode, and we were effectively able to get her to file a police report, in contact with the U.S. Embassy, and on the train to Venice. Needless to say, I don't think this is something any of us are going to forget anytime soon.

Venice was our next stop, and it was my favorite city in Italy. I should preface this by saying that I wasn't really that interested in visiting Italy. I know there's a lot of history and culture, but Italy was not on my list of places that I felt I needed to see before coming home. But Venice made me glad that I decided to take this trip. It was a beautiful day, and all of the narrow streets and bridges over canals made Venice feel more like a small town than a big city, which I loved. Venice is known for their Murano glass, and each little street and ally has at least three glass shops. None of us really had any plans for what we wanted to do that day, so we spent a leisurely day shopping, eating gelato, and walking around. We also went on a gondola ride, and rode underneath the Bridge of Sighs.

Florence was our next stop. We saw the David statue by Michelangelo, and the Duomo (which just means cathedral). In the evening, a few of us climbed up to Michelangelo's plaza, which is at the top of a hill that overlooks the city. We were there at sunset, so we got to see the sunset on the river, and all of the lights come on in the city.

We also spent a few hours in Pisa. There's really nothing to see in Pisa besides the leaning tower, but it was one of my favorite afternoons because we spread all of our things our on the lawn, laid down on blankets, and ate food and relaxed for a couple of hours before we trained to our final destination--Rome, Italy.

On October 31 (that's Reformation Day for all you Lutherans), our group went to Vatican City. I got to see the Sistine Chapel--which was beautiful, but definitely underwhelming--and St. Peter's Basilica. I know there's a whole lot more to the Vatican, and I'm sure it was beautiful, but I ended up getting separated from everyone and was unable to get back into the Vatican to meet everyone. So I was "lost" for two or three hours, which was just a joy in a city known for creepy men and pickpocketing. Eventually, we all found each other, and lived happily ever after. If you're interested in hearing the whole story, leave me a comment sometime, because it was quite an adventure at the time.

Our other two days in Rome were spent seeing all of the touristy and historical sites: the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Trajan's Market, the Spanish Steps (under construction), Trevi Fountain (also under construction--VERY disappointing). One of the great things about Rome is that no matter where you go, just around the corner is something interesting to see. We wandered into several cathedrals this way.

We concluded our trip with another airport overnight. This one was a lot more enjoyable because we had a deck of cards and a little boy who invited himself into our group to play. Overall, it was a great trip, and I'm glad I went.

That was a very long entry with a lot of pictures and information thrown your way. Props to those of you who made it all the way through. As always, please leave comments if you have any questions, or just something you'd like to say. Up next will be my fantastic weekend in Scotland.

Until next time,

Stephanie