Weekend Three (July 14- July 17): Scotland
This weekend started on Thursday afternoon when a bunch of us went punting. Punting is a type of boat ride that Oxford is popular for. Instead of using paddles to move yourself down the river, you use a pole by pushing off the ground. It was a lot of fun but very tiring for the hands.
The next morning we left for the train station at 7AM. Our train left at 7:30. There were a bunch of Georgia Tech people on our train-Edinburgh was the place to be this weekend for the Tech Oxford program. We, however, made a stop in Glasgow, another city in Scotland, first. We arrived there in the early afternoon. First we found the train station where we had to leave from to get to Edinburgh and in the train station we got lockers to lock our bookbags into so we wouldn’t have to carry them around. Then, we got on the Hop On Hop Off tourist bus and went to ¬¬¬the Glasgow Cathedral. It had a really eerie atmosphere inside because of the gothic music they had playing on the organ. Then we went into the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. They had history of many religions from around the world. We also saw the Glasgow necropolis.
Then we got back onto the Hop On Hop Off bus and went to the another museum and the Winter Gardens. We ate in the café at the Winter Gardens and then saw all of the exhibits in the museum. The museum was pretty neat… it had random information about Scotland from many different aspects. From there we got back on the bus and went through the rest of the city on the bus. It was really windy on the bus, especially while we were crossing the busiest highway in Europe on the bridge the Glaswegians call Squinty. (I found out that the Glaswegians have a nickname for everything). We saw the Tall Ship at Glasgow harbor (one of the five remaining ships that were built in Glasgow) and the Clyde Auditorium (also known as “Armadillio” due to its shape). We got off the bus at Argyle Street and roamed through the pedestrian district. I saw a bunch of Scottish bagpipers. It was really cool to see them playing out on the street in their traditional kilts. Then we went to the train station and left for Edinburgh.
It took us about an hour to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh. When we got to Edinburgh we went straight to the bookstore to reserve copies of Harry Potter. Then we got on the bus to check into the hostel. The hostel was really nice but it took forever to check into. After putting our stuff in our room we got back on the bus and went back into the city. We walked up to the Royal Mile and watched as all of the kids with tickets went inside the Edinburgh castle for the Harry Potter reading. We tried to sneak in, but it didn’t work since we didn’t have tickets. We explored more of Edinburgh and ate dinner at a kabob and fish and chips place, which is a really common type of fast food place in Britain. Then we went down to the other main street and roamed around there for a while.
When it got close to midnight we headed to the bookstore to get in line for our books. The line had gotten relatively long and was now increasing exponentially. It was freezing outside! Our group grew really big as more and more Tech people found us standing in line. Finally at midnight they started letting people into the store in groups of six. From where we were in line we could see the castle. At midnight they set off fireworks all around the castle. It was magical! Finally around 12:30 we got inside and got to pick up our Harry Potter books. I also got a free owl mask and cape (except the cape was like a garbage bag type poncho…). Then we had to wait about 45 minutes for a taxi… It was insane…
The next morning we left the hostel bright and early and walked down to the end of the Royal Mile and climbed Aurther’s Seat. Instead of taking the trail up to the top like normal people, we decided to hike up the side of the mountain. It was a lot of fun. Once we got to the top there was an amazingly gorgeous view of the city. It was also cool because Aurther’s Seat used to be a volcano and we basically sat on where lava used to flow out of it. We ended up sitting up there for over an hour. We met some kids from UPenn who are studying in Notting Hill for the summer. Finally we came down and saw the pond at the bottom that was full of geese.
Then we went back up to the Royal Mile and found an authentic Scottish restaurant for lunch. Ryan decided that he wanted to order the traditional Scottish dish Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties (lamb’s stomach, turnips, and potatoes). I got vegetarian chili on a huge baked potato. It was yummy! Then we continued up the Royal Mile. On the way I got fudge from the Fudge Kitchen. It was really good!
At the top of the Royal Mile is the famous Edinburgh castle where J.K. Rowling had given the reading the night before. There was a long line to get inside the castle so we decided to take a tour of the whiskey factory first. Outside the whiskey factory was a Viking who we all got our pictures taken with. The whiskey tour was fascinating but a little boring. Instead of having a tour of the real factory where they brew whiskey they had videos. Everyone was happy because they got to taste whiskey and got a free whiskey glass.
After the whiskey tour we went back up to the Edinburgh castle and went inside. Once inside we saw a bunch of other Oxford Tech groups. We had seriously invaded Edinburgh for the weekend. The castle was really pretty. There was a really good view of the city because it was on top of a cliff. Inside the castle I got to go into the room where J.K. Rowling gave the reading the night before. I also got to see where Mary Queen of Scots stayed during the time right before she gave birth, the chambers where prisoners of war were held during WWI, and the oldest building in Edinburgh.
Once we left the castle we walked back down the Royal Mile. I bought a Scottish plaid scarf at one of the shops along the way. Then we went to watch a 3-D movie about the Loch Ness Monster. Then we went further down the Royal Mile in search for dinner. We found another traditional style Scottish restaurant off a side street. I wasn’t hungry at that point so I waited until after dinner to stop by at a quick kabob and fish and chips place to get a cheap dinner. When I was finished eating we waited for a few minutes for people who were going to meet back up with us after dropping stuff off at their hostel. We decided we didn’t feel like waiting any longer and went down to the other main street of Edinburgh. We climbed to the Roman ruins. They were amazing simply because of how far we were from Rome. It was a huge structure on the top of a hill.
Since it was really windy we decided to go back down. We explored more of Edinburgh by foot looking for a café. There aren’t really cafés in Edinburgh… there are a lot of pubs though. We ended up at a Starbucks. We got our coffee and went to the bus station to go back to the hostel.
We ended up having to take a taxi back to the hostel because the bus wasn’t going to come for another hour. We shared a cab with an Australian guy who was also waiting at the bus stop. During the bus ride to the hostel he told us all about Australia and how he had basically come to Edinburgh with the intent of living there. He didn’t really know what he wanted to and he didn’t have a job settled yet. I thought this was extremely ambitious of him… I would never be able to pick my life up and move it all the way around the world.
The next morning we got up early and checked out. We hopped on the 9AM train to York. The train took a couple of hours to get to York. Once we got to York we discovered how small of a town York really was. First we went on the tour of Jorvik, the underground Viking town that York is famous for. It was interesting, but definitely overpriced like most things in Britain are. Then we grabbed lunch at a café. The café had a weird system where some dishes could only be ordered if you were not dining in. The guy saw that we wanted to eat in so he smuggled me into the restaurant. Then we went down the market area of York which is set in the old medieval part of town. After going through Europe I’ve realized how much I love these sorts of markets so much more than real stores. Then we went to York Minister... another really beautiful cathedral. We looked around the outside and went to the park out back. It was really pretty.
Then we decided we were ready to head back to Oxford. We were almost back to Oxford (we had about 45 minutes left) when the train stopped and they made an announcement that there were cows on the tracks and the train couldn’t proceed any further. I felt like I was in India. So we had to get off the train and take a northbound train and change lines and then proceed back to Oxford. Instead of getting back around 9:15PM, we got back to Oxford around 1AM. I wonder if anything weird is going to happen next weekend…
The next morning we left for the train station at 7AM. Our train left at 7:30. There were a bunch of Georgia Tech people on our train-Edinburgh was the place to be this weekend for the Tech Oxford program. We, however, made a stop in Glasgow, another city in Scotland, first. We arrived there in the early afternoon. First we found the train station where we had to leave from to get to Edinburgh and in the train station we got lockers to lock our bookbags into so we wouldn’t have to carry them around. Then, we got on the Hop On Hop Off tourist bus and went to ¬¬¬the Glasgow Cathedral. It had a really eerie atmosphere inside because of the gothic music they had playing on the organ. Then we went into the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. They had history of many religions from around the world. We also saw the Glasgow necropolis.
Then we got back onto the Hop On Hop Off bus and went to the another museum and the Winter Gardens. We ate in the café at the Winter Gardens and then saw all of the exhibits in the museum. The museum was pretty neat… it had random information about Scotland from many different aspects. From there we got back on the bus and went through the rest of the city on the bus. It was really windy on the bus, especially while we were crossing the busiest highway in Europe on the bridge the Glaswegians call Squinty. (I found out that the Glaswegians have a nickname for everything). We saw the Tall Ship at Glasgow harbor (one of the five remaining ships that were built in Glasgow) and the Clyde Auditorium (also known as “Armadillio” due to its shape). We got off the bus at Argyle Street and roamed through the pedestrian district. I saw a bunch of Scottish bagpipers. It was really cool to see them playing out on the street in their traditional kilts. Then we went to the train station and left for Edinburgh.
It took us about an hour to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh. When we got to Edinburgh we went straight to the bookstore to reserve copies of Harry Potter. Then we got on the bus to check into the hostel. The hostel was really nice but it took forever to check into. After putting our stuff in our room we got back on the bus and went back into the city. We walked up to the Royal Mile and watched as all of the kids with tickets went inside the Edinburgh castle for the Harry Potter reading. We tried to sneak in, but it didn’t work since we didn’t have tickets. We explored more of Edinburgh and ate dinner at a kabob and fish and chips place, which is a really common type of fast food place in Britain. Then we went down to the other main street and roamed around there for a while.
When it got close to midnight we headed to the bookstore to get in line for our books. The line had gotten relatively long and was now increasing exponentially. It was freezing outside! Our group grew really big as more and more Tech people found us standing in line. Finally at midnight they started letting people into the store in groups of six. From where we were in line we could see the castle. At midnight they set off fireworks all around the castle. It was magical! Finally around 12:30 we got inside and got to pick up our Harry Potter books. I also got a free owl mask and cape (except the cape was like a garbage bag type poncho…). Then we had to wait about 45 minutes for a taxi… It was insane…
The next morning we left the hostel bright and early and walked down to the end of the Royal Mile and climbed Aurther’s Seat. Instead of taking the trail up to the top like normal people, we decided to hike up the side of the mountain. It was a lot of fun. Once we got to the top there was an amazingly gorgeous view of the city. It was also cool because Aurther’s Seat used to be a volcano and we basically sat on where lava used to flow out of it. We ended up sitting up there for over an hour. We met some kids from UPenn who are studying in Notting Hill for the summer. Finally we came down and saw the pond at the bottom that was full of geese.
Then we went back up to the Royal Mile and found an authentic Scottish restaurant for lunch. Ryan decided that he wanted to order the traditional Scottish dish Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties (lamb’s stomach, turnips, and potatoes). I got vegetarian chili on a huge baked potato. It was yummy! Then we continued up the Royal Mile. On the way I got fudge from the Fudge Kitchen. It was really good!
At the top of the Royal Mile is the famous Edinburgh castle where J.K. Rowling had given the reading the night before. There was a long line to get inside the castle so we decided to take a tour of the whiskey factory first. Outside the whiskey factory was a Viking who we all got our pictures taken with. The whiskey tour was fascinating but a little boring. Instead of having a tour of the real factory where they brew whiskey they had videos. Everyone was happy because they got to taste whiskey and got a free whiskey glass.
After the whiskey tour we went back up to the Edinburgh castle and went inside. Once inside we saw a bunch of other Oxford Tech groups. We had seriously invaded Edinburgh for the weekend. The castle was really pretty. There was a really good view of the city because it was on top of a cliff. Inside the castle I got to go into the room where J.K. Rowling gave the reading the night before. I also got to see where Mary Queen of Scots stayed during the time right before she gave birth, the chambers where prisoners of war were held during WWI, and the oldest building in Edinburgh.
Once we left the castle we walked back down the Royal Mile. I bought a Scottish plaid scarf at one of the shops along the way. Then we went to watch a 3-D movie about the Loch Ness Monster. Then we went further down the Royal Mile in search for dinner. We found another traditional style Scottish restaurant off a side street. I wasn’t hungry at that point so I waited until after dinner to stop by at a quick kabob and fish and chips place to get a cheap dinner. When I was finished eating we waited for a few minutes for people who were going to meet back up with us after dropping stuff off at their hostel. We decided we didn’t feel like waiting any longer and went down to the other main street of Edinburgh. We climbed to the Roman ruins. They were amazing simply because of how far we were from Rome. It was a huge structure on the top of a hill.
Since it was really windy we decided to go back down. We explored more of Edinburgh by foot looking for a café. There aren’t really cafés in Edinburgh… there are a lot of pubs though. We ended up at a Starbucks. We got our coffee and went to the bus station to go back to the hostel.
We ended up having to take a taxi back to the hostel because the bus wasn’t going to come for another hour. We shared a cab with an Australian guy who was also waiting at the bus stop. During the bus ride to the hostel he told us all about Australia and how he had basically come to Edinburgh with the intent of living there. He didn’t really know what he wanted to and he didn’t have a job settled yet. I thought this was extremely ambitious of him… I would never be able to pick my life up and move it all the way around the world.
The next morning we got up early and checked out. We hopped on the 9AM train to York. The train took a couple of hours to get to York. Once we got to York we discovered how small of a town York really was. First we went on the tour of Jorvik, the underground Viking town that York is famous for. It was interesting, but definitely overpriced like most things in Britain are. Then we grabbed lunch at a café. The café had a weird system where some dishes could only be ordered if you were not dining in. The guy saw that we wanted to eat in so he smuggled me into the restaurant. Then we went down the market area of York which is set in the old medieval part of town. After going through Europe I’ve realized how much I love these sorts of markets so much more than real stores. Then we went to York Minister... another really beautiful cathedral. We looked around the outside and went to the park out back. It was really pretty.
Then we decided we were ready to head back to Oxford. We were almost back to Oxford (we had about 45 minutes left) when the train stopped and they made an announcement that there were cows on the tracks and the train couldn’t proceed any further. I felt like I was in India. So we had to get off the train and take a northbound train and change lines and then proceed back to Oxford. Instead of getting back around 9:15PM, we got back to Oxford around 1AM. I wonder if anything weird is going to happen next weekend…