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.