Glasgow

Today was our day trip to Glasgow. Glasgow is not exactly my type of city. Frankly not many cities are. This one reminded my vaguely of Boston, which is not my favorite place in the world. Despite that it was an enjoyable day. We ate at a wonderful pub/restaurant where the food was very cheep but also very good, I go a delicious piece of triple fudge cake (at 9 am), and took a bus tour around the city.

 Some of the things we saw on the bus tour included this tiny statue on the top of the Town Chambers. Look familiar? It is a miniature of the Statue of Liberty! Or as they call her, the Lady the Truth.

 BBC Scotland. Does this really need any more explanation?

 Okay so really the best thing about the city was the cathedral. This was, hands down, the most amazing cathedral I have ever seen. Above are roses in the rose garden outside the cathedral. I think I took like 12 photos of the flowers. Ha! Anyways the cathedral was truly magnificent. My crummy little camera did a pathetic job capturing it.

 This is the outside. They were doing a lot of restoration and cleaning because the Queen is coming to visit on Wednesday.

 There were many parts in the cathedral. The main hall, the back part, the tombs beneath, and this special little chapel that was completely white. The man who was showing us around said it was a very popular place for weddings. It was beautiful but I can't imagine walking down the stairs to get there in a wedding dress and heals! Anyways the stained glass windows, the architecture, the decorations were so breathtaking. Everyone was so impressed we all felt the need to buy something from the gift shop to support the church, (which is apparently owned by the Queen, although I am not sure any of the money goes back to the church because it was the organization Historic Scotland running the gift shop)

The last interesting bit is this terracotta fountain that was outside the People's Palace. A little signed said it is the oldest of its kind in the world. That is Queen Victoria on top there, then the statues directly beneath her represent Scots and British peeps. Then underneath them were statues representing different countries that I have no idea why they are on there (India, South Africa, Canada, and Australia).

So basically that was the best parts. When we weren't on the bus tour or looking through the cathedral we went shopping. I did not buy anything :D  There was this amazing fax red leather jacket that was AMAZING but it was super expensive :(. Anyways I am looking forward to Edinburgh next week, which should be more my speed. I might even go there this weekend if I don't meet up with my friend in England. Tata!

I care!

I havnt done much the last two days. In writing class today we took a walk through the woods to create a narrative or something along those lines. My professor also provided us with a ton of information that we did not know. For instance, the reason the one academic building is named "Pathfoot" is for the medieval village that used to exist in that location. Another fact was that the reason a particular wall existed where it does is because the nobles who lived on the estate (which is now the campus) wanted to not have to see the peasants walking from the village to the church (which was on the other side of the estate from the village) and so built the wall to obscure them. Another story, perhaps my favorite, was that it became very fashionable, if you owned an estate, to have a "crazy hermit" living in your woods. So nobles would hire a man to become a hermit in their estate and whenever they had guests over to jump out and act like a wild man. The remains of the hermit's house apparently still exist.

Anyways it started to downpour so we ended our walk early. Unfortunately I need to go into town so off I went in the rain. I actually got to take a look at that bookstore underneath the street which was AMAZING and bought more chocolate :D. But what I wanted to talk about in this post is something that makes me a little squeezey and very angry when I think about it.

THIS is a standing stone. Standing stones are extremely common megalithic monuments across Britian and especially in Scotland. Think Stone Hedge but with only one stone. No one really knows how long ago they were erected but it is believed usually around 2,000 years ago. Their purpose is probably spiritual and has to do with the ancient druid religion. This one is extremely wide and 15 feet tall. However that is not what makes this one special.
So after doing research I learned that this stone is much more than I thought. In more modern times it played a crucial role in Scottish history. It is believed that this stone was the marking point for a very important battle. It is the place where King Kenneth McAlpine of the Scots defeated the Picts to create a unified Scotland in 834AD....AND THEY BULLDOZED THE SITE FOR RUGBY FIELDS!!! I found many protest websites leftover from when the university first decidded they were going to do this. Their reason, why they got away with it, was because there was not enough proof that the battle took place there.BS. They know the battle took place at the base of Dumyat in Stirling. They know it took place around a large standing stone. For heaven's sake it is called The Battle of the Gathering Stone!!! Many historians believe this is the site of the battle. Did they excavate to make sure they werent destroying a piece of Scottish history? No! The only thing they did was not knock over the stone. 
As an anthropology student, things like this make me want to vomit, or punch someone in the face. How could they so carelessly disregard the past? How could they destroy it with so little thought? UGH. I seriously cannot get over this. People say they care about the past, but in reality people in power rarely do, and this is an example of their greed. They wanted rugby pitches, and they built them. It the horrid and despicable truth.

There and back again...

Okay this might seem like the same old story but I swear it is different this time! Today I had class and then walked to the William Wallace Monument. The monument was alright but to be frank the spiral staircase 200 stairs tall ruined it for me. I seriously hate those things. They are dizzying, claustrophobic, and dangerous.

 Moving on from that I get to the real fun. I went up Dumyat (Ohil Hills) AGAIN. But this time I went with almost the entire study abroad group! It was SO MUCH FUN! We took a different trail up than I had previously done before which went through the woods more. Okay, so I completely intended to go the entire way up with my flatmates but that kind of went out the window. There was this guy who was like taking out and booking it up the hill. Now, I don't know how many people know this, but I am extremely competitive. My pride could not stand letting him get to the top by himself first. So I may have went the entire way up with him and left the rest of the group in the dust. :D It was good fun though and exhausting. We literally ran half the way up. It was an impulse shared by many in the group I later found out when everyone reached the top. When you are up there you feel like running everywhere, or "frolicking" as my flatmate described it.

This was the crazy tunnel of rhododendrons the trail went through. It was very surreal and amazing.

 The trail was actually the trail that led to the "cliff covered in purple flowers" as I have been calling it. I had been trying to find it on my own and so far had been unsuccessful in finding it.

 Apart from the flowers the cliff was also covered in a amazing field.

 And of course, at the top, I could finally have pictures taken of myself :D. After all unless you are in the photos the photos could have come from anywhere. I have tons of photos from that hike filled with all the people doing crazy things and just having a blast. I had so much fun, everyone did. Everyone felt the magic that was in that place. In fact it seemed, with more people up there, the magic multiplied. The joy was felt by all. Everyone was running around like kids, jumping, and laughing. Everyone stood in awe of the views. It was an incredible thing to be surrounded by so many people that were so happy.

The guy I was with force me to run the last 30 or so meters to the top, which nearly killed me. Not really but I definitely did not feel so good when I reached the top. And of course, since we went up together, we had to go down together, which was vaguely terrifying because everything was a lot slippery than it was yesterday and he was going pretty fast. We got in a jumping competition trying to out jump each other across streams and stuff. Well neither of us won but neither of us lost either. I love jumping across things. I had forgotten how exhilarating it feels. We weren't the first ones back to campus, however, because some people ran past us on the road to get to the showers (??????), but it was still a lot of fun. I know that this experience will be something that all of us will never forget and forever cherish, and it something that we all shared together.

Just me

Today has been interesting, at least to me. It started off kind of sleepy. Literally I slept all morning. I also did my homework for the week which was rewrite a Hemingway short story from the perspective of one of the characters. I find his work to be REALLY BORING so that was really dull for me. I then trekked over to the library to print it out (and was once again reminded how awesome the library is here) and on my way back decided it was a nice enough day outside to go hike up the Ochil Hills again. I ran into a couple that is here that I really like and asked them to come with me but they were heading into town so I made the journey by myself. This time it turned into a walk of self reflection.

This time I was not as overwhelmed by the scenery and therefore noticed the smaller details. Like the bees. I never noticed the bees before. Or the sound of the ground crunching under my feet. I love that sound. I can walk in silence for hours just listening to that. But there was more to hear. The sound of the wind flying over the slopes and the feel of it whipping through my hair made me feel so, amazing. I noticed little paths made by the sheep and different cliffs I had not noticed before. I was so tired and yet I wanted to run around laughing.
It is hard to describe exactly what I felt up there. I was so exhausted but I still went all the way to the top and when I got there I just stood and felt the wind hitting me. I looked around and was overwhelmed with emotion. I realized then that I am in love with this place. I have never felt so comfortable anywhere on earth so quickly and I have never been so content all the time before. I am happy here, I am truly happy here, and if you know me that is a hard thing to accomplish. I feel like this place was made for me. It sounds silly. All the years of history, war, and change all for a place to be perfect for me, but it feels that way. All that history is what is part of what makes this place perfect. I crave history, I need to feel it in the air and feel it seeping inside me when I walk around. There are not many places I have ever felt that but this is one of them. Another thing is the culture here. Now I may not have spent a lot of time with the locals yet or in the city, but I still love it. This place is barely a city. It is so small compared to any American cities and it is beautiful. All the buildings are old and you don't feel crowded. The people make sense too. The pubs close at midnight on weekdays. That irritates a lot of the Americans I am with but it makes complete sense to me and makes me feel better about going out. The city itself is so much safer than any city I have ever been in before as well. I actually enjoy going into town.
Another aspect, probably the biggest one, is the land. The land the land the land. I could walk around the countryside here for the rest of my life and be happy. This past year I realized I am deeply connected to the land around me, and that is part of the reason I am so unhappy at school. There is no land on Long Island. It has been destroyed by suburbs and pollution. When I go home to the country it is always like a breath of fresh air. I feel like I can finally relax and be me when I am at home. Here, the land is more amazing and magical than anything I have ever seen before. I feel so connected and attached to everything here. Every tree, flower, mountain feels like home to me. I felt more alive on that mountain today than I can ever feeling in my entire life. Some people are probably reading this (if anyone is still reading this far in) and thinking I sound like some weird hippie, but I truly believe every living thing has a spirit and I am completely in tune with everything here.
 
On the way down from the mountain I was just overcome with joy. I wanted to run down the mountain. I wanted to laugh and scream like a little kid. At certain points, when there was no one around, I did give into the impulse and run down the slopes. It felt like a little kid again. I was flashing back to when we lived in the old house and I spent my days running through the woods at a dead sprint. I never really remembered how I managed to do that without falling as now a days I am not the most graceful. But today it came back to me. As I sped down the rocky and slippery slopes it was instinctual. My brain knew where to put my feet before my mind did and I found myself flying.  I was jumping from rock to rock and splashing through mud, but I never fell. I was so happy. Maybe I have found something I lost a long time ago. I loved the woods I grew up in. I loved them and knew them. It was in those trees I had always felt content and myself. That is until I got older and became scared of what lurked in the woods. I blame modern society and my sister for that. But up in the mountains I felt like connection and joy like I haven't in so long, and maybe that is where the instinct came from. If I could I would have been running all over the hills singing at the top of my lungs or laughing. Maybe I am losing my mind, but I don't want to lose this feeling. But maybe it is just that, a passing feeling that I need to let go of when the time comes.

Maybe I am naive, and don't know what living in Scotland would really be like. After all I am only here for four weeks and have only been here for one week of that so far. I know so many people leave Scotland, or the UK, and never want to come back. There has to be a reason for that right? And could I really leave the USA? I love my country and I feel like I would be betraying it by living somewhere else, even if it wasn't permanent. Maybe this entire thing is a ridiculous fantasy, a dream that is never mean to come true, but right now that doesn't matter. All I know is that I have never felt this way in my life. I am happier, more alive, and more at peace than I have ever been, and when I think of when I have to leave Scotland, I feel so upset and depressed. I want to cry when I think of that day, and that is perhaps the greatest indicator of all.

It was blood rushing!

Well today has not been too eventful. Most of the study abroad students went on a day long tour of the highlands so I am pretty much here alone. (never fear, I am going on a three day tour in July). So I went into town to do grocery shopping on my own and got tons of fruit. I love fruit.....seriously. Anyways while I was out I spotted a little bookstore underneath a fast food place in Stirling. I had all my groceries with me so I couldn't go in but I definitely plan on returning there. 

The other thing I did today was take a run around the loch. It was a bit further than I thought it would be and my shins were aching by the end of it, but it was fun. I have never seen so many wild rabbits in my life as I have in the last week, and today only added to the count. They are everywhere! Also everywhere are tons and tons of birds. Stirling also has a large population of Swans, which are beautiful but I try not to get too close. After I returned from my run I got back to my flat and sat down for a moment. I was kind of sitting with my feet arched and my legs were moving with the pounding of the blood rushing through them and I could hear the blood rushing through my left ear. It was very, very, very strange.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain but it should be warmer than it was today so I think I will go into Stirling and explore a little bit. I might go buy some more nutella. It is so much cheaper over here! Toodles!

Doune Castle and The Holy Grail

So today I went to Doune Castle with my Scotland on Film class. The castle is a spectacular example of a medieval castle and was first built for Robert the Bruce's grandson. There is a long history to it and it was amazing to walk around trying to picture the place while it was functioning. We were given little audio tour head sets to go around the castle narrated by an actor from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Why? Because most of the movie was shot at Doune castle. Now, I LOVE THAT MOVIE! So this was an amazing experience for me. Scenes from the castle with the insulting Frenchman, Camelot, Swamp Castle, and the Castle Anthrax were all filmed there!!

 There it is! Doune Castle! Look familiar yet to those who have seen the movie?

 This is the main quart yard of the castle. The wedding at Swamp Castle was filmed here! Many of the extras in that scene were just people who had come to see the castle that day and they convinced to stick around.

 That staircase ring any bells? That is the staircase Lancelot lost control and killed two men before being pulled back. That was one of my favorite parts so I was pretty excited to see it!

 I know it is difficult to tell being the scaffolds, but underneath them was the wall used for the insulting Frenchman scene....your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries!

 So this room was the kitchen of the castle. It was actually very cool and described in detail how it worked in the audio tour. What you see in the above photo is actually the fire place! It was massive! You could cook two full grown cows in the thing! For the movie, this was used for Castle Anthrax. They transformed the fireplace into the room where Sir Galahad is "treated" for his wounds ;)

 The photo above and below are the rest of the kitchen. The entrance to the kitchen was also the entrance of Castle Anthrax and in the scene where Galahad tries to escape and runs into the bathing room is all the same place...the kitchen!

 The below picture is just an example of the insane spiral staircases in this place. Any time you went up you had these staircases which were steep and slippery. The railing, obviously, was a modern addition. I have no idea how people did not fall down these stairs daily.

 The above photo is of the grand hall where parties where thrown. The slightly elevated platform at the front of the hall is where the most important attendees would sit and the rest of the guests would dine in the hall. This was also the location of the song for Camelot!

 This is part of the Duchess' quarters. It was a very large room where the Duchess did her entertaining and also contained the Duke and Duchess' private chapel. It was also the room where, in Swamp Castle, the prince was help. That is the window he fell out of at that doorway (which actually led out to the wall) was where the two terrible guards stood watch!

 I had to take this photo through a door, but the above photo is the top of the wall of the insulting Frenchman! It was actually the wall that was attached to the Duchess' quarters.

 This causeway was where the knights of the round table pushed up the wooden rabbit!

Finally, this is just a view of the castle from the very top of the battlements. I learned a lot about castles today. I learned noble's bedrooms were actually very small and that fireplaces everywhere actually kept the castle very warm. I saw basements for food storage and grand halls for parties. I climbed staircases and walked through the same corridors hundreds of people have done before me and tried to imagine what they saw when they looked at the same rooms as I did. I found the task very difficult and, not for the first time, wished I could go back in time to see it for myself. Of course all the movie stuff was just an extra bonus. It was a very amazing trip :D

Me and the North Sea...

So today was our day trip to St. Andrews. IT. WAS. COLD. Miserably cold and rainy. I have determined that St.. Andrews' history is more interesting than the city is today. Because of that and the fact that things didn't get interesting till I left the city, I will just talk about the history of St. Andrews that I learned on the walking tour.

 I can't remember his name but this was the place a Protestant martyr was burned. It took six hours for him to burn to death because they kept pouring water over him. I cannot imagine how horrible and gruesome that must have been. He was only 23. P.H was just one of like 4 that this happened to.

 Legend goes that the face in the stone was caused by the spirit of the martyr after his death. The mason claimed no one had ever carved the stone... ;). It looks like a Roman legionary to me.

 The ruins of St. Andrews castle. After the burning of the Protestant martyrs angry Protestants broke into the castle and stabbed the head Catholic guy and hung his body from the top of this roof here. Again, these people were gruesome and hateful. This castle had a very extensive bloody history. This castle was also the place Mary Queen of Scots came for a while. I *think* the tour guide said her jealous husband and his accomplices murdered her supposed lover in front of her in this castle by stabbing him 30 times while she was 7 months pregnant. The plan was to have her miscarry her baby at witnessing the horror of her beloved so savagely killed. (Even though he wasn't actually her lover, just her lute player). But of course she was too strong for them and escaped with her baby still alive. She delivered a few months later in Edinburgh the future king of England and Scotland.

The ruins of the cathedral was next up on our walking tour. It used to be the largest cathedral in Scotland. It is said that this location was chosen a very strange way. After St. Andrew (a disciple of Jesus) was executed, Christians took his bones on a ship and swore that wherever the ship crashed that is where they would bury his remains and build a church. True? I don't know. From Greece to Scotland seems like a very difficult feet, but what do I know about sailing? Anyways the original chapel they built was behind the remains of the Cathedral. Unfortunately I was just too cold and miserable to go take a look at it. The first photo is the original entrance of the cathedral from the side.

 The second photo is what used to be the aisle leading to the back of the cathedral.

 This is a drawing of what it looked like before it fell. In case any of you were wondering, it was abandoned over time as people abandoned Catholicism. It still seems like a shame it has been reduced to mere ruins to me.

OKAY! Enough history, let's get to the fun stuff! SO a couple days ago I signed up for a extreme beach activities thingy. The two activities were land sailing and ocean kayaking. The beach was amazing but it was SO COLD and not to mention raining half the time. The land sailing was pretty fun. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I did I could go pretty fast. It was exhilarating. For those of you who don't know what land sailing looks like... (unfortunately I am not in this photo)

After land sailing I was getting pretty numb so I went back behind the sand dunes into the tent to try to get warm. After everyone finished we decided, despite the cold, we were going in the water. We wanted our money's worth! I questioned my decision a little at first but I was worrying for no reason. We put on wetsuits, which was an experience in itself, and immediately were warmer. I must say I looked quite good in my suit :D. Then we paired up. I ended up pairing with one of the guys who ran the business, which was a good thing because it would turn out I did not have the upper body strength on my own to operate the kayak successfully. We dragged the kayaks down to the water, and after a bit of instruction, went into the water. I was surprised to find the water was actually warmer than the air! A lot warmer! I was so happy! The waves as it turned out were very mild. I had swam in bigger and rougher waves in the Atlantic. The kayaking was a BLAST! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. we paddled through the waves, sometimes flying off the water and landing again. Then, when we got far enough out, we would turn around and ride a wave into shore. We would be going so fast and it would be so much fun! It started to rain pretty hard but it only added to the experience.

Yes I look like a total dork, but ignore that. The helmet was so we wouldn't get a concussion from the kayak when we capsized (which was inevitable) and the life jacket was for insurance reasons. The water, at its deepest, was like 3 feet. They were really unnecessary. It was still so much fun though! Can't you see the joy in my face? Haha! The kayaking was seriously probably the coolest thing I have ever done and I really hope I can do it again in the future! The North Sea and I are on good terms :D

LALALA

So today was kind of uneventful. I got up at nine and took a walk around campus, then came back and slept till my class. Let me just say my writing class is SO AMAZING! Except he never picks me to read the stuff he has us write. I am just sitting there like PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME! Oh well. Anyways so after that I went and played ultimate friz-bee and soccer with some other people. It was a lot of fun. I even managed to score a goal in soccer....somehow. The only downside is the guys weren't playing very aggressively so as not to hurt me. I wanted to be really aggressive but oh well. I am going to go to a pub with my flatmates for karaoke night in a bit which should be interesting. I swear if I end up singing I might die. Then it is off to St. Andrews tomorrow where I will be OCEAN KAYAKING!!! Toddle-loo!

Ochil Hills

MY CARD READER WORKS! Yay! So now I can discuss the amazing experience that was my hiking yesterday. So I found out that mountain part of a series of "hills" called the Ochil Hills. There are two peaks up there actually and I went to both. The tallest on is 421 meters tall. So I started out on campus following a path up the hill through the woods. I didnt really know where I was going but eventually I came to a door in the wall that surrounds the campus grounds.

Beyond that is a road. It took me a while to figure out you are supposed to follow the road. So once I figured that out I went up it about a half mile and found this little parking lot (or "car park") on the side of the road. (These roads could only hold one car at a time btw). I was surprised to see that the entire Ochil Hills is actually privately owned pastures that have been opened up for public hiking. So the entire trip I had sheep staring at me. I went through a gate in the fence and began my trek. So it didnt take me long to realize how stunningly beautiful it was up there.This photo is a view at the lowest I took a photo.

The path was pretty intense. At places it got very narrow like in this photo and in other places it was wide and grassy. It was almost always uphill at a very steep angle and at some places almost straight up. I was very winded. I didnt care, however, because of how amazing it was. I could see for hundreds and hundreds of miles to the high highlands where the mountains dwarf any I have ever seen.

Everything was so large and green my eyes felt overwhelmed with how much I was actually seeing. My photos don't even compare with the scale and grandeur of it all. I had been planning on just wondering around the first time and going for the top another day, but once I got up there I was determined to make it. So i kept going. These are a few photos of the scenes I encountered.

I saw many other people up there...many other people. Most of them were at least in their 50s. I felt very pathetic as none of them were out of breath and were so much older than me. Some people ran to the top of the mountain and down! Anyways I eventually did make it to the top of the mountain and was overwhelmed by everything I saw. On the other side of the mountain, which I couldnt see up till then, was another mountain, even taller. It was completely bare of humanity and covered in grass. It was so large the sheep were little specs barely visible and the lone shack on the bottom of the hill looked like a toy house.

Again my camera fails at actually capturing how large everything was. Apart from being so beautiful up there it was also freezing. The wind was whipping me around so I look for a nice place to sit. I actually found the perfect place where the rocks formed a chair a bit below the top ledge. I made my way down there and sat there for a while, absorbing it all....and taking photos of myself doing it :D

 The cliffs on the way down were pretty impressive. You can't see but there are a few sheep on this cliff.

 I eventually got up and left and made my way down to the second peek, which is actually the one that is visible from campus and that I photographed before. There were two cairn, man-made piles of rocks, on the top of that one. I wasnt sure if they were ancient or modern but I decided to contribute. I scurried down the side of the ledge like 6 feet and grabbed a large rock and carried it back to the top to place it on one of the cairns. All the while I was in the company of my sheep friend who only looked at me if I moved.

 This next photo is a photo of the university to try and give an idea of how far I had walked to get to where I was.

I decided to not go down the way I came up, which ended to be an amazing decision. I ran into two other study abroad students and pointed them in the direction of the peak, but after I ran into them I ran into something even more amazing. It was a foundation situated in front of this amazingly old tree. I had no idea what it was but it was awfully large. I walked around inside of it and tried to imagine what it used to look like. 

Well it wanst till after I got back and did some research that I found out what it was. It was the ruins of an ancient Pictish fort built to fight the Romans in the pre 1000 AD years. It is particularly of the Maeatae Picts. For those of you who don't know, the Picts were the ancient Scots. They were the ones who were covered in blue tattoos and forced the Romans to build Hadrian's wall. After I found this out I could not believe what I had been standing in and did not know. I am going to go back to this fort and take in every detail I can. These remains are the true pull of Scotland for me, a large part of the reason I wanted to come. The history, the ancient history, of Scotland is what fascinates me the most apart from the land itself and this is my first link to it. In a city so wrapped up in the medieval times this is the one place I can stand in and feel the ancient past around me.


After that nothing really interesting happened. I went into the woods for a while, trying to find the cliff covered in purple flowers in vain. I am pretty sure I was on the right trail but I was just so tired and hungry at that point I decided to just turn around and try again another day. The trip back to the school was quick and when I got back I was exhausted, but looking up at the mountain I immediately wanted to return and I am sure I will, many many times, in my stay here.

So....

I was going to have a mega post about my amazing hike up the Ochil Hills......but my memory card reader on my computer decided to stop working. So hopefully I can fix it by tomorrow...

Further evidence my school sucks...

So after being here for three days I have determined something...this place is everything I ever wanted in a university. It is beautiful, it is completely engulfed in history, it is small and has a sense of community, and it it surrounded by amazing country side but there is a city close enough to have stuff to do.

My school is nothing of those things in case you were wondering. Walking around I can't help but imagine myself living here during a regular semester and becoming part of the Stirling community. It is something that I know could have and never will happen, however, so I have to try to make the most of the time I have now

Day Two, Tour of Stirling

So first full day here we went through an incredibly long and arduous orientation which for the most part was very boring. They did feed us breakfast and lunch, however, which was nice. Probably the last free meal I will get until I leave. We also learned a bit about the history of Stirling which was neat but I was so tired it was hard to focus. Stirling has been the focus of many major events in Scottish history and was home to the Scottish monarchy for a long time before they came under English rule. The castle of Stirling (which we only visited but didn't go inside because of time constraints) is a lasting testament to that history.

The reason that one building is so yellow is because a while back part of the castle burned down and they rebuilt it with the stone's original color before aging. Personally I think the  yellow is hideous but whatever. As can be kinda seen in this photo the castle was heavily garrisoned.

So after all that orientation we did a walking tour of the campus and let me say this, this campus makes every other campus I have ever seen hideously ugly and pathetic. I wish I could have come here for college but you know...money and separation issues and all that. Anyways their facilities are amazing, especially their sporting facilities where I intend to spend a lot of time. They have swimming pools, weight rooms, a track, a basketball courts....ect. It will supplement my hiking well.

That is the loch in the middle of the campus :D Anyways then we went on a bus tour of Stirling and the surrounding towns. It took a while and it rained but it was fun. We went around Stirling for a while then headed out to a town called Dunblane where the oldest cathedral in Scotland is located.

The lower dark half of the tower was built around 1100 AD and the rest of the cathedral was built around 1300AD. It was not the most impressive cathedral I have ever seen but it was still pretty amazing. My favorite part was actually the doors.

I mean look at that thing! All the entrance doors were like that. One of them on one side was crumbling on the top. It was pretty cool. Another awesome part of the cathedral was the graveyard. This was the second oldest tombstone I found. (I only had about ten minutes to search sadly). It is from 1738. I realized after I took the picture that the one next to it was 1737 but oh well. It seemed like every other grave of the men buried in the graveyard had the name William.

After that we went to a battlefield where Robert the Bruce stood and fought the British. There was a monument where they roughly think he held the Scotland banner. Behind it was a large statue of him. (featured above).  After that we went and did a brief walking tour of Stirling then went shopping where I bought a lot of groceries which I talked about briefly in my previous post. Hopefully I will be able to feed myself successfully...hopefully. Anyways my first class is tomorrow for which I am required to watch Braveheart...which I am doing at the moment. After that I intend to start my exploration of the mountain. Did you know the largest wild predator in Scotland is the fox? It is very sad. Anyways, toodle-loo for now