Cambridge Chronicles #2: Scotland

Taking a trip to Scotland!

We loaded onto a very long bus where we then braced ourselves for an all-day ride. Two of my good friends sat with me at the very back of the bus, next to two boys who are students at Yale. They were very entertaining. We enjoyed stimulating conversation about nearly everything: Politics, Religion, Movies, education systems, retractable body parts, cuddling habits, self-discovery, and then we still had 6 more hours.

We three girls started a Summer of Self-Improvement program, and decided the first week we’d go without chocolate. Naturally, I panicked at the thought. This whole scheme was concocted by my brilliant friend, Ellie, who’s studying behavioral economics and had the research and rhetoric to convince me that I had the will power. She thinks these methods will help me get over the habit—I definitely don’t believe her.

When we finally crossed the border, a fog—literally immediately after the sign saying we were in Scotland—enveloped the bus. We saw the “First Public House in Scotland” (ie A “Pub”—who knew?!), and we saw gorgeous rolling green hills (for as far as the fog would allow) and we saw lots of rain, and sheep.

every street basically looked like this. (minus the trollies) 

When we finally got to the University of Edinburgh, we walked around the town, and I fell in LOVE. Beautiful, old castle-esque buildings lined the streets of little pubs and shops (including an Auld Hoose—sound it out), and in the light of dusk, which lasted until 10:30 pm(!) and the fantastical fog, I felt like I had been picked out of time and placed into a 17^th century romance novel. Future husband, take note: This could very well be our honeymoon spot.

The next morning, we went on a hike. 

fun fact: this thing is not a lake, but a Loch. 

<------This is the view from the top

 (I think I Like Hiking. Now, someone hold me to that statement, remind me next time someone invites me on a hike, because when I get back to Provo, chances are, I will forget, and not want to go hiking.)

 

That night, we danced a Kaileigh (spelling?) which is basically like a giant line dance with Scottish moves. There was a live Scottish band, and a man in an awesome kilt shouting out the dance moves with an accent as thick as the fog. “Gents on the euinside”: half the crowd was positive he said inside, and the other half heard clearly outside… Nothing brings people together like clapping and skipping in general ridiculousness. And alcohol—but as much fun as people had being tipsy, it was sure fun sober!

So I had some nice blisters from the hike and sat out on one dance, and had the instinct to take a video! They’ll thank me for this later:

(technical difficulties. video coming soon)

I went up to the band later and said thank you, and they responded in their accents, I think they said, “you’re welcome, this was a fun group!” but I can’t be sure. 

We talked at the bar after the dance, and my blister was gross and painful, so I asked the bar tender if he had a band-aid.

“a what?”

“a… band-aid… you know, if you like cut your finger, you put a band-aid on it?”

with his blank stares, I felt like an idiot poking at my fingers, playing a little charades game describing a band-aid until he finally said,

“Oh! A plaster! Why didn’t you say so?”

cause I actually just really like playing charades.

So I went back to some of my Mormon friends and said, “I went to the bar to get a plaster” and got some very confused looks.

The next morning we went to the National Gallery, where we looked through a beautiful exhibit including a Rembrandt self portrait. 

<-----This one, to be exact. This is a poor copy. The real one, just pierces your soul. 

 and my now favorite Scottish artist: Piranesi. A little taste of his work:

these were all etchings. isn't he amazing?!

After the Gallery, we ate lunch at Whiskie’s, where I had the best tomato soup in my life (or tom-ah-to soup, as they called it), and started the long journey home in the famous Scottish rain. Sydney and I decided to take our time and stop in little shops along the way— soak up the Scottish culture and all:

• A fudge shop had samples, so naturally, we went in. But since we weren’t eating chocolate, we sampled the Turkish delight one. It tasted like soap.
• We went into a soap shop (ironic) and our favorite was one that was labeled chocolate. Could be related to withdrawals.
• We saw a wedding clothing store, with awesome kilts for the groom and full-out plaid wedding dresses. (Future husband—we can discuss a kilt option if you want. I’ve got a catalog.)
• There was a no entrance-fee Edinburgh History Museum, which basically had creepy wax statues. Apparently the modern Scottish dad is a New York Yankees fan.
• The Queen’s Gallery was expensive, so the Queen’s Gallery Gift Shop was fun!
• Scottish parliament building legitimately looks like a modern art museum.

Scottish Parliament Building. I feel like it doesn't look like a parliament building, right?

So caught up in the Scottish trinket stores, or maybe it was the fog/consistent rain and our matching polka-dot umbrellas that we didn’t realize we’d missed the turn to get back to the university. When we asked someone who worked at the queen’s gallery where it was, we got a blank stare and heard “which campus? The University’s around here…?”  we didn’t think we’d gone THAT far.

By the time we got ourselves home, my pants were soaked all the way up to my knees, and my socks were drenched, and also there were nice bloodstains where my blister was rubbed about poorly. And the bartender had disappeared after I asked him about a bandaid, so I never got my plaster. We didn’t have internet or phones, so we did the old-fashioned running-around-campus approach to finding friends; including jumping up and down outside of a building to catch the attention of someone on the third story.  Eventually, we all crammed nine bodies into one small dorm room and watched a movie—where I was warm and dry for the first time the entire day.

Some random highlights:

• We made Sydney laugh so hard she cried—several times. Which was awesome.
• Our new Chinese friend, Wilson, forgot our names at least five times. He asked one of the BYU students, “Do you know anything about the church with the Mitt Romney?” why yes. yes we do.
• My new vice is yoghurt covered peanuts. (they have no chocolate)
• Some bald people still have bangs. Our guide with a natural monastery monk hair style booked it up a thousand-feet climb like it was nothing. 
• We spent 3.50 pounds on an ice cream. Which is expensive in itself, THEN convert it to American dollars. Six dollars for about two spoonfuls of ice cream. So we ate it with a one-inch plastic spoon to make us feel better.
• We enjoyed 20 minutes, trying to phonetically spell the letter “H.” You try it.
• …No, that’s ache. 
• On the way up to the hike in Killin, we stopped in a restroom that proudly displayed their “Scotland’s Cleanest Loo: 2012” plaque. It lived up to its name. On the bus ride back, we experienced a public restroom with one vending-machine hole that had three buttons: soap, water, air. It could have easily been “Scotland’s Dirtiest Loo: 2012”
• We learned that relationships between a man and a woman sometimes don’t work out if the female is lesbian. 

All-in-all it was a super-duper trip.

p.s. that lesbian comment: not referring to me. in case you were confused.