Lots of places

Thanks for being patient. I had a couple essays due this week so they got priority over the blog…sorry. But the essays are turned in now and I won’t have to worry about anymore of them until April 20th.
Last weekend, the 7-8th, I went on an overnight trip with the international student society. The trip was jammed pack of things to do and places to see. We started out at Loch Muick then quick stops at Loch Morlich and Cairngorm National Park on the way to Carbisdale Castle. After getting some sleep we headed back and made a stop at Dunrobin Castle which was amazing!
Let’s start from the beginning. Friday night I went to a Ceilidh, pronounced Kay-Lay, which is easiest to explain as a Scottish square dance. It was very fun but I was pretty tired by the end of the night, you really need to have a some athleticism to keep up with the dance. I tried to keep up with the moves as best I could and it was nice of the band to give instructions before each dance, but there was one that I ended up just watching instead. It was just as much a mental exercise as physical. If you are ever in Scotland this is a must do.
After the Ceilidh, about 12:30AM, I started packing for the international society trip. Since it was an overnight trip I actually had to think ahead and pack a bag. The bag just contained the essentials: pajama pants, extra shirt, camera, my book for English class, half a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter (next time I’ll bring a knife too), and a couple Cadbury eggs. Now that I was ready to go, I hopped on the 8AM bus bound for Loch Muick. I had plans to get a good chunk of my book read, but I’ll I got was caught up on sleep. I woke up to hear our group leader telling us that we were about to take a 3 hour hike around the loch. I remember reading on the ticket for the trip to pack your hiking boots, but had no idea this meant a 3 hour hike. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to go on the walk around the beautiful park, but many other people didn’t share my excitement. I should mention the rain/snow/hail? (I’m not sure if it was hail or the strong wind making the rain hurt) that was falling for over half the hike. We started off on a wide, flat path that doubled as a road for the park service people. Eventually, however, the path narrowed to the point it was more of a balance beam than path. I chose balance beam for a good reason, the path was on the side of a steep hillside so slipping would have meant a 50 foot roll into the loch. A couple close calls got my attention but everyone in the group made it through just fine. Three and half hours later we were all back on the bus and ready to go to Carbisdale Castle. I don't know if it was natures way of apologizing for the cold and rain, but there was one of the widest rainbows I've ever seen as we drove out of Loch Muick.
We did make a couple 15 minute pit stops but they were more for stretching our legs than anything else. After a couple wrong turns, we made it to the castle about an hour and half late. Fortunately, they knew we were still coming so they kept our dinner warm for us. I don’t think that I’ve mentioned that this castle is supposedly haunted, so once I finished dinner I wanted to do a little exploring. First, I wanted to take some pictures of the outside of the castle at night. As soon as I walked out the door, I got distracted by a cat that was real friendly but soon was back to my mission. I started walking and it got dark very fast which caused me to be a little paranoid, every noise made me jump a little bit as I walked through the wooded area just outside the castle. Once I got my pictures and walked back into the castle I saw all the outside lights go off and was really happy I made it back inside before they turned off. Other than the trip outside, nothing was really creepy and nothing out of the ordinary happened. The next morning I woke up a little earlier than I had to so that I could go on a hike on the trails around the castle. I soon found myself off the trail, I’m not exactly sure how that happened, and searching for my way back. I found a wall and followed it as best I could until I finally found a heap of brush tall enough for me to climb up and get over the wall. After that I made sure to stay on a trail, or at least make sure I could tell where the trail was. When I made it up to the top of a hill with a look-out post, it started to snow and I could see the big snowflakes being pushed around by the wind. It had a similar effect as a flock of birds flying in coordination, except on a much larger scale. I needed to make it back to the bus before it left though, and had to leave before it finished.
Our next stop was Dunrobin Castle. Normally, the castle is closed at this time of year but they were nice enough to make an exception for us. It is one of the largest castles in the UK or something like that, I can’t remember exactly, but it has 189 rooms. The castle is right on the coast with a nice garden between the sea and castle. I definitely wouldn’t mind living there that’s for sure. It was the nicest-looking castle I’ve seen so far and wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t see another like it. My favorite room we went through was a bedroom that was completely green. It had a view over the gardens and out to the sea.
The weekend was really busy but a good busy. There was a lot to see and more information than I could even hope to remember. I really enjoyed it.

Huntly Castle, Elgin Cathedral, Spynie Palace, and Dallas Dhu Distillery

I had a very early day today for a Saturday. I left at 8:15AM on a bus going to Huntly Castle, Elgin Cathedral, Spynie Palace, and Dallas Dhu Distillery. The trip was planned by the International Student Society so it was nice to just show up and not have to worry about anything beforehand. (Also, it’s a whole lot cheaper.) The weather today couldn’t have been nicer. The sun was only behind clouds for a little bit towards the end of the day, and I had to take off my coat after just a few minutes of walking.
Huntly Castle was about an hour away and my plans to sleep didn’t go so well. The scenery was to interesting to close my eyes. The castle, cathedral, and palace were all in ruins but were much more together than any of the other ruins I have been to yet. Huntly Castle was huge! We were only given an hour to look around and I spent the entire hour running from place to place looking into rooms and taking pictures. (I took a ridiculous amount of pictures today…302 after deleting the ones that didn’t turn out.) I kept expecting to run out of new things to see but then I’d find a new room I hadn’t peeked into yet. I really liked the kitchen because it had a fire place the size of my room. Then when you stood in the fire place and looked up you could through the entire chimney and out the top of the castle. All four floors of the castle! (All the other chimneys had been blocked off so far.) This castle seemed to be the place for cool fire places. There were also two other fireplaces on the top floor that still had the decorative stone around them. Huntly Castle still had quite a bit of the designs left in the stone throughout it and it was a nice change to see more than just crumbling walls. Not that there is anything wrong with the crumbling walls.
Next, we went to Elgin Cathedral. This was my favorite place so far. So much of the cathedral was still standing we had to run even faster to see everything than we did at Huntly. Once again, we only had an hour. The first thing I did was go up the two towers that were pretty much completely together still. I wish I would have counted the number of steps it took to get to the top, it took at least a minute and a half to reach the top. I was starting to get dizzy by the time I was at the top. One cool thing about the steps, some had writing on them. I couldn’t read it very well but I’m pretty sure it was latin. Anyway, the top of the tower had an amazing view. It was a couple hundred feet high and I took a lot of pictures from up there. It gave a great view of the cathedral grounds. The reason I liked the cathedral so much was the intricacy of the stone. All of the walls had designs running along them and the windows were more than just square wholes. The vaulted ceilings, where there were ceilings, looked like they took a lot of work to build but the time was worth it. The building was not the only thing to look at. Around the entire cathedral was a cemetery. I found a couple tombstones that dated back to 1670’s and I’m sure there were even older ones as well. The only reason I have to assume there were older ones is that they were so worn down and covered with moss, you couldn’t read what they said. Many of the tombstones were elaborate with figures and different architecture. Looking back I guess it was weird to spend so much time walking through the cemetery but it was still worth it.
Spynie palace was worth going to but not worth staying there for an hour. I really enjoyed it and the scenery was beautiful there just wasn’t an hours worth of entertainment. One thing all of these places had in common was tall towers you could walk up. This is where the tallest tower, of some kind I can’t remember, in Scotland stood. It wasn’t the one I got to go up but the theme seemed to keep popping up at all the places we went. After looking at all the ruins, I thought it would be fun to go looking through the woods surrounding the palace. I was right it was fun, but the woods were more like a swamp than woods. So, I didn’t get very far before having to turn around.
Finally, we made it to the Dallas Dhu Distillery. This distillery had actually closed down in the 1980’s and was just a museum now. They did, however, have a sample to try when we walked in the door. It was a blended whisky that you can only get at the Dallas Dhu Distillery and it was called Roderick Dhu. I liked the taste. It was a little sweeter than the other whiskies I’ve tried so far and I was tempted to buy a bottle before leaving but I didn’t. The museum took you through the steps of making the whisky and I finally made the connection between chemistry and the process. I knew they distilled in the process but I never realized it’s the exact same thing I do when I distill in Chem lab. Obviously, it was a very informative tour.
Today was very busy yet a good busy. I got to see so much I could barely keep it all straight by the end of the day. It was a great day.

Crathes Castle part 2 and a little more downtown

The first week I was here I signed up for something called Friendship Link. They pair students up with a local family. Last weekend, I finally got to meet the family (at least the husband and wife). Anthony also got paired with the same family. They took us to this waterfall/rapids which were going faster than normal because of all the melting snow. Usually, you can watch salmon jumping up the falls/rapids, but I think the extra water scared them off for the day because we didn't see any. Either way, they were fun to watch. Next, we went to Crathes Castle. This time, however, we actually got to go on a tour of the inside. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures inside the castle. Although the inside of this castle really didn't look much different than any other house. It had been used as a personal home until the 1950's or 60's, but the owners donated it to the National Trust of Scotland. I did learn a couple of interesting things about the structure of a caslte while on the tour. One of the cooler things, the spiral staircases always spiral clockwise, except for a couple castles. The reason is for better defence. If you are defending the castle and someone runs up the stairs, their sword is blocked by the center post of the stairs. The person coming down the stairs has an open right side to freely strike with their sword. The couple castles that have stairs going the opposite way were left handed families. Another fun fact. One of the stairs in the stairway is a little larger than the others. If you were just walking up them you couldn't tell, but if you are running you trip on it. Finally, I had to duck to make it through every doorway, and none of them were the same hieght. This is to keep people from running through the castle. After the castle, Joy and Rob were nice enough to take us to dinner. It was delicious. It was a good way to finish off a good day.
After they dropped us off, Anthony and I decided to go pub hopping downtown. We ended up stopping at Fitzpatrick's, Prince of Wales Pub, The Illicit Still, and Blackfriar's. Fitzpatrick's was alright, I tried Fitzpatrick's Ale but I think that's the last time I'll drink it. Anthony forgot his ID and of course this was the first time they asked for it. So, while he went back to get it. I watched the rugby while he was gone and decided I had no idea what was going on. Prince of Wales pub is definitely my favorite place. They didn't have a single TV or even any music playing in the background, but the feel of the place was much better than any other place. They had really intricate wood work behind the bar and the rest of the place was pretty much hard wood as well. It was actually somewhat fancy looking inside. I tried another ale called Old Perculiar and enjoyed this one much better. I'm not exactly sure but I think it was a local brew. Both of us wanted to try a malt whisky but didn't really know what we should start with. There were a couple elderly gentlemen sitting next to us with whisky, so we were about to ask them but after a little eavesdropping decided we wouldn't be able to understand their accent even if we asked. Next, we headed over to the Illict Still. It was crowded with no place to sit and didn't end up staying, but it did look neat inside. After the quick look, we ended up at Blackfriar's. We ended up blindly choosing a malt whisky called Glenfiddich. It was quite good. I would definitley order it again. By the end of the night, I think the general conclusion was to definitly keep Prince of Wales and Blackfriar's on the list of places to go and maybe try the Illict Still again.

Inverness and Loch Ness

First, I added a lot of pictures to the shutterfly site from this trip. I know they look repetitive, but I just couldn’t bring myself to delete any of them.
My day started out extremely early considering that I’m not used to having to be ready for anything before 11AM, which is my earliest class. Today, however, I needed to be to the bus stop by 7:45AM to catch the bus to downtown and make the 8:20 train. We (I went with 3 other people from the Scotland Program) made it with plenty of time to spare, which was good since you cannot count on a train leaving late. Of all the stops we made along the way, the train never left late. The trip took 3 hours to get to Inverness and even though the it was so early I couldn’t manage to get to sleep. I wasn’t really tired and I didn’t want all of the scenery going by to go to waste. I thought I would do a little reading for my English class, so started reading “The Grass Is Singing,” but I ended up looking out of the window more than into the pages. There’s something about the view that couldn’t be captured by my camera. I tried but it just didn’t look the same.
Inverness seemed liked a very touristy little town, or at least the part I was in anyway. There was a lot of eye-catching scenery and shops to stop in and look around. We got into a tour that included a very informative bus ride to the loch, a short cruise on the loch itself, an hour at Urquhart Castle, and a trip to the Loch Ness Monster Exhibit. Our bus driver, Kenny, gave us the entire history of the area in the 20-25 minute ride to Loch Ness. He was literally talking from the moment we left Inverness to the moment we stopped at the loch. He was going so fast, I’m not even 100% sure he stopped to take a breath. He was a very good guide.
Loch Ness has very dark water, it really looks black. This is because of the peat from the surrounding area is washed into the water. The whole area gives off a very mysterious feel, and not just because of the supposed monster living there either. The Loch is contained in a valley. Large hills and mountains surround the water and the tops of some of them were covered by misty clouds. Loch Ness is also the biggest body of fresh water on the British Isles, and has areas deeper than the North Sea. Between the foggy atmosphere, black water, and deep depths it’s easy to see how the lore of Nessie can survive after 1500 years. (the first monster sighting was around 500A.D.!) The mysterious atmosphere also gave Loch Ness its beauty. Even though it was cold, the sun trying to come through the clouds and its reflection on the water made for a very picturesque view. And no, I did not see Nessie. L
Urquhart Castle was actually the ruins of the castle that once used to be there. During the Jakobite Wars, the owners of the castle blew it up themselves, out of fear of it being captured. Plenty of the castle still remained. The hour we were giving to walk around was barely enough. One tower was still almost completely intact, and you were able to climb the spiral staircase to the top which gave you one of the best views of the loch. I took pictures of almost every wall and room left standing there.
From the Castle we headed over to the Loch Ness Monster Exhibit. I actually left here upset. The thirty minute exhibit pretty much said the monster couldn’t logically exist and disproved many of the famous eyewitness accounts and photographs. Then at the end they had the tenacity to say it just might be possible she exist anyway! I was a little confused why they would spend so much time disproving her existence than try to pretend she was out there somewhere. I’ve decided to just forget that part of my day though. So, besides the exhibit the day was perfect and Loch Ness was even more than I expected it to be.

Fish and Chips, Football, and Double Decker Buses

In my first tutorial for English we spent almost the entire time introducing ourselves. The professor asked us to come up with a top three favorite list. Since I had only been in Scotland for a week and a half, I decided to say my three favorite things I’ve tried since arriving. 1. Milk in my tea 2. IRN BRU (I’m not sure how but I haven’t explained what this is yet. Think what it would taste like if you mixed red bull, red pop, and orange soda. This is pretty much what it taste like and the first time you try it, it really isn’t that good. Then the next day you have the craving for it.) 3. Jaffacakes. These are slightly hard to explain. It’s a soft, less sweet, sugar cookie with chocolate covering one side. In between the chocolate and cookie is an orange flavored jelly. In other words it’s delicious. After I gave my top three list, one of the students from Scotland said that I had pretty much covered all of the stereotypes. It turned out to be a pretty fun tutorial. I finally got to accomplish some of the other stereotypical actions that all tourist should experience. I’ve eaten fish and chips, watched a football game at the pub, and road on the upper level of a double decker bus. Needless to say, the fish and chips were beyond tasty. I’m not sure what they do to the fish but there has to be something more than deep frying, because nothing comes out of a deep fryer and taste that good. I have a feeling it’s a very closely kept secret that I’m never going to find out.
On Wednesday, we went over to the Watering Hole to watch the football game. There were two games Ireland vs. Georgia and England vs. Spain. Having no idea about the teams I randomly chose Ireland and England for my teams. I was soon told that England was a bad choice and quickly switched to cheering for Spain. I have seen professional football before but it was still crazy to watch some of the things they can do with a football. Fortunately for me, both of my teams ended up winning so it was a good night. Also, during the games, the Watering Hole sells pints for £1.70. On top of this, they are giving away Famous Grouse hats if you collect three stamps. You get a stamp for spending £3 at the bar, so Anthony and I teamed up and got a couple hats.
Finally, today I got to ride on a double decker bus. Even though most of the seats were empty on the bottom the group I was with went directly to the upper level. We got to sit at the very front of the bus which had a big window for us to look out. I’m pretty sure we were closer to the front of the bus then the driver. Being on the top level made for quite a scary ride. The roads are already pretty small so this big bus was even closer to sidewalks and other cars than normal. Since you can’t really see anything right next to the bus, it gives the impression that you are running into everything around you. It was awesome.
Speaking of awesome, I am getting on a train tomorrow morning heading for Loch Ness. I’m definitely taking my camera and getting Nessie on film.

The Beach

I made a quick walk over to the beach today and it was beautiful...a little cold but still nice. There is secluded path that takes you along the River Don right up to the North Sea. Once I got there, I pulled out my IRN BRU and sat there watching and listening to the waves. I guess I haven't explained IRN BRU yet. It's a local favorite pop. To give you an idea of what it taste like, try to imagine the taste of mixing red bull, red pop, and orange soda. At first you don't know why they like it so much, but it really grows on you after those first strange sips. After finishing up the BRU, I took an excessive amount of pictures, which I put up on http://zachaberdeen.shutterfly.com/ . I'm pretty sure I ended up where I wasn't supposed to be because all of the foot prints slowly started to disappear from the snow around me. I did manage to make my way back to the path just fine though.
Next, I wanted to try some fish and chips. Even with the directions in my hand, I somehow ended up lost and had to ask for more direction. Finally, I found the fish and chips only to realize they didn't open until 4. I was 4 hours too early, so I'll have to try again.

Arbroath Abbey and Crathes Castle

Today was the planned trip with the Scotland Program. We started out the day with about an hour long bus ride south to Arbroath Abbey. According to Edith, our bus driver, George, was the best bus driver ever and I think she's right. Besides his awesome accent, he got us where we needed to be on time by going down streets even though the signs said they were closed. I think he said something along the lines of "signs won't hold me back." I can't remember exactly but that was the overall message.
Arboath Abbey was pretty impressive. The Abbey was mostly in ruins. Only parts of the church and the head abbots house were left standing. What I really liked about the Abbey was the size of the church, it must have been massive when it was all in one piece. I also liked the look of the red sand stone that they used to build it. We ended the tour by learning about the declaration of Arbroath. In a nut shell, it was one of the main writings that the writers of the US declaration looked to. I'll make you do your own research if you want to know anymore about it.
After the Abbey we went to the Old Brewhouse for lunch, which was a lot more fancier than the name implies. I had the Arbroath Smokie. It's a specialty that you can really only get in Araboath (even after the air in the town smelled like Arbroath Smokie), and it was delicious. For one thing, we were in a fishing village so the fish couldn't be much fresher. Also, I like my smoked food and it had a very strong, smokey flavor.
Next, we made our way to Crathes Castle. We took these winding roads through huge hills that were covered with very thick conifer forest. The trees may not have been native to Scotland, but it didn't change the fact that the view was amazing. Since the sun was out and the snow was still on the trees they were shining and sparkling. Eventhough George kept true to his best bus driver title, getting us to the castle just in time for our guided tour, we still couldn't go into the castle. Because of all the snow, the manager of the grounds decided to close down the castle for the day. I still don't quite understand the logic behind that choice, but I guess it made sense to him at least. We still got to take pictures of the outside of the castle though. I even managed to get into some of my pictures during the trip.

First Week

The first week of classes was a little confusing. Not because of the material, but just trying to get registered and finding the class. The way it works is that there is a tutorial with every class. The tutorials are when you meet with a smaller group of students from the class and talk about what you are learning in more detail. At least that’s what I understand them to be like, I haven’t actually gone to one yet. All I really know is that the first time you try to register for them they are a lot harder than they need to be.
The classes themselves have been going just fine, though. Art may be the hardest class, because I do not know any of the terminology yet. I’m hoping that once I figure out the meaning of things like naturalism, realism, mannerism, etc. (the list is longer than you might think), I will be able to follow little easier. My English class should actually be fun. The professor is pretty funny and the books should be interesting to read. I mean the class is called Controversial Classics, so obviously they interested somebody at some point. Finally, Organic Chemistry is just Organic Chemistry. It really doesn’t change much no matter where you go. The first class was just review, and I should be just fine since I knew everything that was taught. The lab is a little different. Its twice a week and only goes until Easter break, which will make the last six weeks amazing. It will make Tuesday class from 11-1 and 2-6 to 11-1 and 2-3. And Thursday gets even better. Instead of class from 12-6, I only have class from 12-3. Like I said…exciting.
It looks like we brought the snow over with us, as well. It snowed about 2 inches over the past couple days, and that’s unusual for Aberdeen. My lab professor was even trying to rush us out as we were cleaning up because he didn’t want to get snowed in. I took a few pictures of my walk to campus everyday because it was really cool with the snow.
Tonight’s the Bobbin, they have a really good dinner special, and tomorrow we are going to go see a castle! It should be a good weekend. Hopefully it isn’t raining too much so I can take a lot of pictures.

Tea

I can't believe how much tea I have had in the past few days. And it's really good tea too, but what makes it even better is adding a little bit of milk. I've never heard of adding milk to hot tea, and if you haven't either I highly recommend it. Most of my tea drinking has taken place in the Catholic center (Catholic Chaplaincy). In between classes, I have the choice to either walk 15 minutes back to my room or about a minute to the Chaplaincy. It's a pretty easy choice. At the Catholic center, they have a common room with a couch and 7 or 8 chairs where anyone can come in and grab a cup of tea and a biscuit while waiting for their next class to start. So far, I have gotten to meet people from all over the world in this room. There have been people from England, India, Paris, East Timor, Canada...I think you get the picture. It's a little strange because I haven't really met many Aberdonians, but I'm sure I'll be able to meet one before I leave.

downtown

I made my first excursion to downtown today (about a 40min walk), so I could run a couple errands and it turned out to be a little harder to navigate than I thought. After stopping to read my own map twice, I finally found a city map that actually told me where I was. This was a huge help and got me going in the right direction. Once I picked up my railpass from the railway station, I was pretty sure I knew how to get to the grocery store. Eventually, however, I ended up having to ask for directions. Oh yeah, just in case you didn't know, you have to pay for plastic bags over here, but you are also allowed to bring in your own bag. Since we were given one cloth bag by the Scotland Program, I decided to make sure everything fit into that one bag. This made for one heavy bag to carry back. The groceries may have only cost 10 pounds but it must have weighed 40. The only thing that got me through the whole ordeal is the cadbury egg I bought as a reward for making the journy. I don't know if it was the walk or the fact that I'm so close to the cadbury chocolate factory, but I'm pretty sure it was the best egg I've ever eaten.
Not only did I walk through downtown, I got to go on a free bus tour of Aberdeen today. We started at the harbor and got to walk through a really cool, old fishing village. The last fisherman to live there died about 3 years ago but people do live there still. We made it a lot further than I would ever go on foot where, all the granite mansions are. Most were converted to private schools or offices, I'm pretty sure none of them are still used as housing. If people do live there, they were split up into multiple flats. It was upsetting because my camera's flash didn't work through the bus windows and the pictures were almost always blurry without a flash.
I am just about to leave for Mass in the awesome church that was built in 1509. I'm pretty excited, I'll let you know how it goes.

First days

Fortunately, my overall traveling experience went very smoothly. The only bad part was the 8 inches of snow that fell the night before my flight. Other than that, there were no delays, lost luggage, or screaming babies. Also, Customs only took a few minutes. Jetlag really hasn't been giving me too many problems. Except for almost falling asleep at the introductory dinner, I've been pretty alert. In my defense though, we were sitting on very comfortable couches. All of the people that came over through the Scotland Program have gotten acquainted pretty well, so it should make for an easier transition, hopefully.
I can't believe how much walking I have already done! Wabash has definitely spoiled me. It takes twice as long just to reach campus as it normally would take to walk my farthest Wabash class. At least I will be getting some good exercise. I have, however, gotten to see some cool things on my walks, such as the church on campus, which is the oldest building at the university. Everything is made from grey granite. At first, it made everything seem gloomy, but the sun came out today and changed that feeling. I took some pictures so I won't try to explain it here. Since the sun is out now I think ill go take advantage of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this blogging thing going and write some more.