Now on to Scotland. Each year, the students take a group field trip to Scotland for 4 days. We get to go along...which is fabulous. It's such a great trip in many ways, but as a faculty member, I love getting to know the students better! It's fun to travel together, stay at the hostels together, eat together, and experience all the beauty that Scotland is together. Really a fabulous trip!!
Day 1: We left at 4:45AM and headed to Luton airport. It's amazing how smoothly this whole trip goes since we had about 75 people total on the trip w/ SU students and the other IES Study London students plus the IES staff. That's certainly a testament to IES and all the work they do in planning this thing! Easy flight and we were in Inverness. We were greeted by the first of at least 5 rainbows to make an appearance on this trip. Then, it was off to feed the reindeer!!
The reindeer experience was amazing. We took a little 15 minute hike into the woods. It was a bit rainy and super windy, but that was okay. We went to a little enclosure where they had about 25 of the reindeer for us to hand feed. The rotate the deer each day so that these guys will be out and about the next day. We got to feed them, pet them, and take all kinds of ridiculous photos. Just amazing. And the scenery on the way there/back was great. I think a lot of the students really enjoyed being out in nature.
After reindeer excitement, it was off to our first hostel in Aviemore. Tiny Scottish town, but super cute. I took a little nap, walked into town and saw some students having dinner so I joined them for a pint, continued my walk and picked up lunch for the next day, and then headed back to join the other staff members for dinner. We ate this amazing meal at the Old Bridge Inn. It was incredible! I tried black pudding and it was delicious. I also had a Scottish cider that had a 7.4% alcohol content which led to some pretty crazy dreams that night. But, it was tasty too.
Day 2: We left the next morning to head to Loch Ness! I was super excited to search for Nessie! No luck there, but we had a lovely boat ride even though the wind made it a bit chilly. It was really in the upper 50s, but it felt ridiculously cold! We took the boat across the Loch to Urquhart castle and got to explore there for a bit. I had some lunch at the cafe and then we headed out for our next adventure.
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| LOOK! Tea w/ Dr. Marr! |
More scenic drives through the Glen Coe valley. The rain forced us to not be able to take a hike through this area, but the views were amazing and we did stop for a few photos.
After Glen Coe, it was off to Oban to check into our hostel. We arrived and it was rainy and windy. I needed to do a run and I had skipped my morning run because it was still dark at 6:30 when I had planned to run. So, despite my hatred of the rain, I went out on a 40 minute run in the rain. At first it was sprinkling. But, there were certainly a couple of times it was raining and ridiculously windy. I was soaking wet by the time I got back to the hostel. Blah! But, run completed, I met up w/ the rest of the staff for a lovely seafood dinner in the seafood capital of Scotland. We went out for a couple of drinks and I even tried a local scotch. I took my time sipping it and it wasn't the worst thing ever. Maybe that's my Kentucky roots coming through.
Day 3: We had some free time in the morning to explore Oban. It looked like it was going to be miserable because when we went to breakfast the wind was blowing and it was pouring. BUT, just as we headed out for the day, the rain went away and we had sun and a few sprinkles, but perfect weather to explore the city. I headed to the Oban Chocolate Store to check out there delicious treasures. I had some orange spiced chai w/ honey and a chocolate tasting plate w/ 4 amazing truffles. Then, some students came in and had hiked to McCaig's Tower and said the views were amazing, so I recruited some other students and the three of us hiked to the top of the hill in a hurry as we only had about 20 minutes before the bus left. The views were fabulous and the little print shop we found on the way down the hill was adorable.
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| More rainbows! |
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| And more! With sheep! |
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| Crazy sea creature sculptures as you enter Edinburgh. You can apparently tour them and they light up at night! Next time! |
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| View at the top of the hill I ran up in Edinburgh |
Day 4: I was up early and off to the zoo by 8:30AM. This is the only zoo in the UK with pandas, so I had to check it out since I've already seen all the pandas in the US. It was a great zoo! VERY hilly though, however that provided more great views of the city. Pandas, many primates, zebras, lion, tiger, sun bears, crazy birds. Good stuff.
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| Sun Bear! |
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| This koala was way cooler than the real koalas. They are a bore of a zoo animal. |
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| The wind was cold. I feel your pain, Mr. Baboon. |
After the zoo, I headed back to the city center and did a bit of shopping. I wanted so many things, but just couldn't decide. I loved the wool blankets and sweaters, but those aren't much use to me in Texas. So, I went with a nice Celtic ring. Bought a few other gifts and some Scottish shortbread cookies w/ dark chocolate, orange and chili. They are tasty. Then, it was off to a fancy lunch w/ the staff again. This time I tried haggis and it was super tasty!! Maybe it was because it was gourmet haggis. Who knows?! Delicious!
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| Haggis! Oh and that jelly is whiskey jelly! Strong stuff. |
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| Fancy soup w/ popcorn! |
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| Yummy dessert |
After lunch, it was off to the train station and a 5 hour train ride back to London. LONG train ride, but I started up some Telephone Pictionary w/ some students nearby for the last hour or so. That helped pass the time. Here are a few of my favorites:
Amazing. Scenic. Exhausting. I have much work to catch up on w/o wi-fi for 4 days. So, I'm ending this post now, but if you ever get the chance...check out Scotland. And the scenery. And go in the Fall. The colors are amazing!!!
