Happy Birthday America! From Scotland

Fountain's Abbey

Drew, Me, Sara, And Jared in front of Edinburough Castle

View from the top of the Trussachs.

The view of Edinburough from King Arthur's Seat

The Castle

This weekend was a trip to Scotland and wow, it was amazing! I don't even know where to begin. The whole program went on a 8 hour bus ride (not too fun) up to Scotland for the weekend. On the way up we stopped in I think Richmond and saw an ancient castle that was built in the 1100's. There was only one tower still in contact and the rest is just ruins but still super cool. I felt like a child on a playground climbing the castle. It was in a charming city as well so we got to peruse the shops and I found a great little antique store and enjoyed all the cottages. The drive up was beautiful, with rolling hills and the cutest little cottages and houses. When we passed the English border, our bus driver let us get out and take pictures and there was a bagpiper next to the sign that said "Welcome to Scotland" and I knew this would be a great trip. So we arrived in Scotalnd Friday night and we hiked up King Arthur's Seat wheich gave us a beautiful view of the city and the Ocean. We looked out and it was so cool because you could see the old castle and ancient spires poking out and it was enchanting.

So Saturday was an all day trip to the Trussachs or Mini Highlands. Basically we hiked two miles in rain and mud through foilage, it wasn't even really a trail, to the top of this "mountain" to see a majestic view of the highlands and a couple lakes. No, I am not a huge fan of hiking but this was gorgeous and I'd do it again in a heart beat. There definitely is no place like that in America. Saturday night we had a fourth of July party where we did Scottish dancing and that was very amusing. Of course drinks were provided so only the BYU kids were the sober ones so it was funny to watch everyone else. Basically the dancing was like line dancing and square dancing only to Scottish music. Unfortunately there were no fireworks but we still had a blast dancing the night away. Oh and some of the guys from BYU bought full on kilts and wow was that entertaining to see :)

Sunday included running around the city almost literally. We went to St. Giles catherdral for a Presbyterian service in the morning which was really interesting. It's sad to see how misguided they are about principles and how lost it seems but it is also really neat to see that people still believe in God and have a desire to worship him. They prayed for America in the service thanking them for their ingenuity and what has come out from Scotland and then they prayed that America would use it's power wisely and properly. It was very touching. I don't think prayers are said enough like that in America. So after the service we tried to find our own church building to go to but we failed. We got five different directions and then we missed it so we just gave up. It wasn't for a loss though because I got to see a different side of the city of Edinburough which I wouldn't have gotten and then I got to see the residential side of Scotland so it was neat to see how people live. SO afterwards we came back into the city and went to the National Gallery which was beautiful, I love looking at the art and they had a lot of pieces that I had studied in my classes last year from Italy so that was cool. Then we went to the "Elephant House Cafe" where J.K. Rowling started the Harry Potter series. I can definitely see the inspiration as there's a beautiful view of the Edinburough castle through that cafe. Then we went to another museum, went to the castle, and went souvenier shopping. Finally we went back to our living quarters and I was able to change into some dry clothes and pants! It had been raining and windy off and on all day and I had been in a white flowy skirt all day....not a good combination! I basically had to hold down my skirt all day and it was drenched for most of the morning haha so pants were a beautiful thing that night. Then that night we found a kabob house and had wonderful middle eastern food and we just sat and talked for a long time. This trip was wonderful because I got to know everyone so much better.

Anyway so today (Monday) we came "home" to Cambridge. It's so cool that I can call Cambridge home! On our way home though we stopped and saw Fountain's Abbey which was like a nun/priest school. It was started in the 1100's and it's actually pretty well preserved. We had a great time climbing through all the ruins nad it's so fun to see places are that old! Anyway so in a nutshell that was my weekend. Sorry that was probably a lot more than you wanted to know but I still could write so much more! Anyway, now it's back to the books....