Blue People

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Scotland Rugby Team

GO SCOTLAND!

Hey Ya'll!  So yesterday February 26, I went and saw the Scotland versus France Rugby game.  This was a match from the 6 nations.  The 6 nations teams that play for the cup are: Scotland, England, France, Italy, Whales, and Ireland.  Scotland played the best they have in years, or so said a fellow Scotland supporter.  It was really interesting because at our sporting events back in the states if the team you support was losing or got scored on you would generally curse, and be really upset.  This was not the case at this rugby game! Scotland supporters would just be quiet and even clap if France scored they were very cordial.  Everyone was dressed in their Scotland blues some completely covering their bodies in paint, too bad the streaker that was there wasn't completely painted when the police escorted him from the field!  Even though the weather was pretty cold, it was a good game to be able to see! France won 23 - 17 but it was very close!  Rugby is now my third favorite sport to watch (following soccer and ice hockey).     

Rain, Cold, Football (soccer)...must be Glasgow

Yesterday (Friday) I took a field trip (yes, like in elementary school, a field trip with sack lunches and everything) to Glasgow (another large Scotland city).  Now Glasgow is NOTHING like Edingburgh, comparing the two is something similar to comparing Wisconsin to Maine.  Now on this "field trip" we were given a tour of Glasgow, taken to 2 different museums, and toured the Celtic stadium.  First we traveled to the Celtic Statdium for a tour.  This was really neat and Carl (one of the professors 4 year old and I decided we are going to play soccer more often together).  Then we traveled to the Riverside Museum which was all about transportation.  Next we went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  After this there was "free time" but since Ben, Britta, Erin and I decided to spend the night in Glasgow and go to a Celtics game. Today (Saturday) we went to the Celtics game.  They played Motherwell and WON 1-0 WOOO!! It was great. We saw our Professor (Jerry) there he was 10 rows behind us, we had 2nd row seats.  Although it rained and was freezing all day we made the best of it and had a blast learning some Celtic cheers and songs!  

Me, Jerry, Ben, Britta, and Erin at the Celtics game

Please Mind the Gap

I just got back yesterday from my adventure to London, it was overwhelming to say the least.  London gave me a chance to perfect my english accent, but besides that it was CRAZY! Seriously, it was very dirty, big, exhausting, smelly, and just busy.  It is comparable to NYC except the people are a bit nicer.  I did so much while I was there I don't even know where to begin.  


First I rode a train from Waverley Station (Edinburgh) down to Kings Cross Station (London).  I had to leave Dalkeith Palace at 6:30am to get to the train so my day started very early.  Then after I arrived in London, I checked into the Generator Hostel, which is an 800 bed gigantic hostel.  After leaving my stuff at the hostel I went to the Science Museum (which is free!) it was amazing! I spent my afternoon there, then went to the "best" fish & chips place, recommended by a local.  It was not good at all and 3 of us got a little sick from it.  Later that night we were so exhausted we all crashed pretty early.  

The next day (Saturday, Feb. 18) I went to breakfast for free at the Generator and stocked up on rolls and cheese for the day (lunch).  I headed out to bus no. 11 and I led us on a tour (book read of course)!  Then we decided to walk the tour backwards from where the bus left us off and see the sights like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  After that I got a wee bit of tea from a fantastic little place, it had been cold and rainy so I needed to warm up!  Then I went to see Wicked.  We were told that the tube stop we needed was closed so we got a bit lost but found our way after all! Wicked was incredible! London sure knows how to do theatre!  After that we were ready for bed!

On Sunday, 19th, at 11am there was the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.  We thought we were being smart by leaving early and arriving around 10am.  Man we could not of been more wrong, the crowd was HUGE!! (and that is and UNDERSTATEMENT).  So we waiting for a while, over an hour, and the decided to get crepes.  As we were walking through the park we happened to have a perfect view of the guards and band marching past us on the street! I even go a video of it! It was fantastic!  Next we walked all around London, seeing all sorts of important things.  On the London Eye we saw a couple get engaged! It was very exciting so a couple of us wrote them a postcard saying congrats!  Later we go Falafel (because it is delicious) and then went to a pub and played some cards.  

Monday was leaving day, after seeing the Broad Street Pump where Cholera was discovered along with the discovery that water born disease was possible.  Then Hannah, Erin, and I did some adventuring before heading to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station and catching a train back to Waverley Station in Edinburgh. 

London was great, but Edinburgh is better.  I am glad to be back in clean air and not in a moldy hostel.

Athens of the North

Scotland has many places all with very individual and unique names.  Edinburgh is sometimes referred to as the Athens of the North.  Robert Burns is the man whom these magnificent columns were built for.  Unfortunately, they ran out of money part way through building this monument so it is still unfinished.  Below are some pictures of this monument along with a few others that can be found on the top of Edinburgh (Calton Hill).

  

Peacocks....

I bet you are wondering why I would be writing a post about peacocks, well the truth is they are my pets! At least for the next 3 months.  On the Dalkeith Estate there happen to be 4 beautiful peacocks who are relatively friendly (we feed them everyday), they sleep in a tree right next to the Palace.  Here are some pictures I took of my fun new friends! 

The Lion, the Witch, and the wardrobe along with some Harry Potter

If you have seen Narnia you will understand why I am so delighted to have the wardrobe I have.  Along with it I have included some photos of the wardrobes in the ballroom because they are awesome! 

My wardrobe 

As most of you are aware I am obsessed with Harry Potter.  So obsessed that one of my goals is to go and find all of the important Harry Potter sites.  So I started my Harry Potter journey by going to the place where Harry Potter was born, The Elephant Cafe.  The place where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. Behind this place is a graveyard where she found a few of her Characters names.  Including "Thomas Riddle" (Tom Riddle) and McGonagall.  

Me outside the Elephant House

If I were a cannon....

If I were a cannon in Edinburgh Scotland what would I shoot?  An Englishman? Most likely.  Most people know of the long battle between the English and Scots.  And today is a very important time for Scotland.  If you haven't been following current British news I will update you on the situation.  Currently Scotland is part of both Great Britain and the United Kingdom.  However Scotland is a very social state and since the UK government does not show most of the Scots view, some of the Scots would like to break away and no longer be part of the United Kingdom.  One would think that more Scots would be interested in this than the English however it is the opposite because English Folk think that Scotland is too socialist and would rather do away with them.  So as you can tell it is a very important time to be in Scotland due to this political movement.  This is just some of the news taking place in Scotland currently.  

      

My new home for 3 months....

Here are some photos I have taken of my new home and surrounding area. 

Kelly and I at Mayson's Pub in Dalkeith 

Edinburgh Castle 

Dalkeith Palace (where I live)

Kilts and Scots

Yesterday we broke up into our clans (I am in clan Campbell) and went on an amazing race (more of a scavenger hunt) around Edinburgh.  Some groups had a lot of difficulty and conflicts.  My group did just fine! We finished and then there were a bunch of random questions so Kelly and I went to Mason's (a pub near where we are staying) and asked the locals the questions we still needed to finish.  Then someone came in dressed in traditional Scottish wear and played the national anthem for us and had us and Buzz (UW-Superior's Mascot) take a picture with him.   It was pretty cool! 

SCOTLAND!!!

Hello there! I am in Scotland now, got here yesterday and it has been as one girl says "steller!" It really has been a fun time! (Besides all the boring orientation stuff but it's important) I have made some really good friends.  Today we went into Edinburgh and toured the Edinburgh Castle.  It was was really interesting.  I found the Sutherland Tartan which was really neat! I am going to get some of that to bring back.  I am living in what used to be the nursery.  There is 5 of us in here and apparently the room is haunted so I guess we will find out.  It has all the original paint and fixtures.  My wardrobe is just like the Narnia one (I bet Katiya will be jealous).  Tomorrow we are going back to Edinburgh for an "amazing race" with our clans - I am not sure what that will entail, but I do know that I am in Clan Campbell.  Well I am off to do some more exciting things! I will try to post again soon!