Scotland
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My Mini European Trip
Germany, Amsterdam, Belgium, Glasgow, and London. Read all about it
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My Family Visits Edinburgh (Christmas and Hogmanay)
Long before I actually arrived in Scotland, my family planned to come and visit me. Along with them came a family friend, Kim! It was decided that they would come for Christmas and New Years, or Hogmanay, as it is called here. Not only is this so that they can see Scotland, but because Edinburgh is one of the worlds Festival capitals, and it is known for having a great New Years Eve party. The family landed on Dec 24th. We spent that day, Christmas, and the next day relaxing and exploring the city. I took them up Arthur’s seat (ofc), to a classic Christmas lunch (this took 20 hrs),…
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Edinburgh’s Samhuinn Fire Festival
For Halloween in Scotland, instead of trick-or-treating, we went to the Samhuinn fire festival! The Samhuinn Fire Festival is celebrated here twice a year, once at the beginning of summer and again at the beginning of winter. This festival marked the beginning of winter. It was one giant show where there was a “winter” army and a “summer” army. Since this marked the beginning of winter, the winter army “won” the battle of the night. Overall it was just super cool. There was a lot of fire spinning and throwing and I have some really cool videos of the night. On a side note, sometimes we could not see the…
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Climbing Ben Lomond on an (actually?) sunny day
"As a medical student I do not support this, but as a friend I say go for it" - Clara
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The Cairngorms and Canadians
Thank you, good ol' fashioned Scottish weather.
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The Isle of Skye – Edinburgh Bus Tour
For those who do not know, Isle of Skye is an island on the northwestern part of Scotland, voted as the 4th prettiest island in the world by National Geographic. So of course my roommate and I, plus two of our new friends, all signed up for the International and Exchange Student Trip to the Isle of Skye. Starting off the Trip We hopped on a bus Saturday morning and headed there (it is a 5 hr non-stop drive from Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye). However, along the way we made multiple stops at places such as Loch Lomond, Loch Tulla, Glencoe (some of these are similar to my…
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Rugby Matches and the Scottish Highland Bus Tour
This past weekend was pretty full for me. On Saturday I went to the St Andrews vs University of Edinburgh Varsity Rugby Match. Edinburgh DESTROYED in both games (42-0 for the women’s and 25 – 17 in mens). I met and made friends with people from both Finland and the Netherlands and basically spent the entire time cheering because I did not quite fully understand what was happening in the game.The best part was at the end when a guy dressed in full white ran onto the field and was then chased around the stands for the next 15 minutes (see the video below). On Sunday, I went with three friends…
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Climbing Ben Nevis (aka The Cobbler)
Ben Arthur, also known as The Cobbler, is a mountain located in the Loch Lomond region. According to Wikipedia, it has one of the most distinctive mountain outlines in the country, and an altitude of 884 meters. However, in true Scottish fashion, when I arrived there yesterday morning (along with the whole Mountaineering society), it was blanketed in fog. According to the Scot’s I climbed with, the weather was “dreich” (similar to when I visited The Isle of Skye for the first time), which means it was wet, dull, gloomy, dismal, dreary or any combination of these. For those who know me, I enjoy a good hike. However this has…
