Edinburgh: A Hidden Gem

Hi again!

Last weekend I went to the hidden gem city of Europe: Edinburgh, Scotland! It was one of the most fascinating cities I've been to and I never wanted to leave! It was a perfect combination of Ireland and the city of London because of its rolling green hills, kind people, and fun pubs but also Union Jacks, spectacular architecture, and the royal family's summer palace. As you drive in through the city you are surrounded by rolling emerald hills and past old, spectacular architecture until you see the ancient Edinburgh castle up on a steep hill in the center of the city. Our hostel, the Castle Rock, was directly across from Edinburgh Castle in the center of the city and was decorated inside like an old castle. The kind Australian man at the hostel told us that we just so happened to get to Scotland on St. Andrews Day, a special national holiday in the country similar to our Fourth of July. On that day, entrance to everything was fee so we were able to explore freely! First, we headed out to Hollyrood Palace, the royal family's summer residence. Many important meetings have been held there in the rooms we walked through. Many of the paintings and rooms date back hundreds and hundreds of years so it was amazing to walk through such a well preserved building. There were small, winding staircases, and ancient miniature looking beds were Kings and Queens, such as Mary Queen of Scots, used to sleep. There were even remnants of the Old Abbey still on the grounds. It was a spectacular building. Also on site was the Queen's Galley- a photo tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. The pictures started with her coronation, transitioned to her wedding to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, then to the birth of her four children, her many events as Queen, the Royal Wedding, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Included in the gallery were more personal photographs such as photos with her dogs, on family vacations, horseback riding with her granddaughters, and reading birthday cards from her many supporters. The gallery included an audio tour that described many of the photographs throughout the room. In case you didn't know, I'm quite obsessed with the royal family so this gallery was extremely exciting for me! Before we headed out, I bought some postcards of Princes William and Harry and one of Prince William and Kate Middleton :)

Next, we headed up through town, ate lunch and fudge, and stopped by The Elephant House cafe, known as the birthplace of the Harry Potter series. In the graveyard behind the cafe graves can be seen with names such as Cedric Diggory and McGonagall. After this short stop, we climbed up the many steps to the Edinburgh Castle. The castle, set up on an enormous hill in the center of the city, is now turned into a village setting. You can still go into the buildings but there are also gift shops, a whiskey distillery, and other small shops. It was bustling with people and hard to navigate but the view of the city was phenomenal. Luckily, we had perfect weather and were able to take pictures up there during sunset. That night, we headed into town for the Christmas market. I got a scrumptious meal of German kezpatchel (sp?) which is like mac and cheese. After exploring the market for a while, we decided to go on a ghost tour of the city because supposedly Edinburgh has one of the highest rates of paranormal activity in Europe. The tour brought us around to mostly spots in the New Town (in the pouring rain). In addition to telling us ghost stories, our tour guide pointed out some fascinating things in the city that we wouldn't have discovered otherwise. For example, when Bill Gates wanted to build a Microsoft office in Edinburgh, he wanted to build a structure similar to all the others in his empire. He went to the city to get his plans accepted for an all glass, modern building on the site of this old, beautiful historic building. The city said no, so Gates gutted the building and built his all-glass building inside. So if you look inside the building there is a gap of about three feet where you can see an entire new building inside the shell of an old one. It was so cool! As far as ghost stories go, she told of murderers who left shrines to their victims in the caves at Arthur's seat, the grave robbers who found a woman buried alive, the evil fairies that flock to Calton hill, and the recent story of a vampire killer. It was interesting to hear the many legends that the people of Edinburgh had developed over the years. After being soaked in the rain for a few hours, we headed inside for a drink and then went back to the hostel to go to bed.

Hollyrood Palace

The Abbey Remnants

Just a cute Christmas shop

The Edinburgh Castle

The view from the top

Saturday morning, we got up and headed directly over to Arthur's seat, the volcanic formation atop an enormous hill with views of the entire city. It was a much steeper climb than we thought but the weather was beautiful so we could rest and take in the views at the top. The long, steep walk to the top was certainly worth the hike as the top was a great reward. After goofing around for a while, we reluctantly decided to walk back down to the bottom and head back to our favorite, the Christmas market. There I got a sausage and a pretzel for lunch (loving the German food) as well as mulled wine. After some serious nomming, we decided to work off our lunches and climb up Calton hill, another hill in the city but much smaller than Arthur's seat. At the top of Calton Hill there are some old structures, such as a parthenon-looking building that obviously didn't belong. This stems from the old Scots belief that Edinburgh would be the Athens of the north. For dinner that night we headed to a pub called The Castle's Arms for some good Scottish pub food. I had the steak and ale pie and a cider for dinner. Yum.

The view from Arthur's Seat

At the top!

The view of the palace and the back of Arthur's seat from Calton hill

Sunday morning we got up super early to head back to the airport and onwards to Dublin. We were so lucky to have such a spectacular weekend in Edinburgh and I can't wait to go back. It was a great, relaxing weekend before the next two weeks of non-stop essay-writing for finals. Until next time!

Northern Ireland

Hi again!

This past weekend my program hopped on a bus and headed North for the weekend on an organized trip focused on politics, the juxtaposition of the British north, and of course, the beautiful sites. Ireland is made up of 32 counties, 6 of which are a part of Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. The four provinces of Ireland consist of Leinster, Munster, and Connacht, and Ulster which makes up the northern province. Ulster consists of counties that lie within the Republic of Ireland and those that lie in Northern Ireland (the UK) but typically when one speaks of  Ulster, he is referring to the 6 counties belonging to the UK.

The only way we could tell we were crossing the border into Northern Ireland was a change in the road lines and a change in road signs into full English with MPH rather than KM. There is no physical border denoting the cross into a new country, and as you can imagine, the scenery looks exactly the same. The only noticeable differences between the two countries are the strong influences of political propaganda, and the British accents and flags but the land itself still feels Irish.

Friday morning, we arrived in Belfast and headed to the Lodge of the Orange Order, named after William of Orange. The Order is a fraternal society, predominately Protestant, with strong Unionist ties. There, we heard about some history and the present day role of the Order in Northern Ireland and around the world. The man there explained that he feels British down to his bones and that he feels no ties whatsoever to Ireland. After spending some time at the Lodge, we left to take a bus tour of Belfast city. The city center was beautiful with large decorative buildings, and a festive Christmas market full of delicious food (I got perogi and Bailey's hot chocolate). The tour of the city was fascinating. The tension between Catholics and Protestants as well Unionists/Loyalists and Nationalists. There are vibrant political murals everywhere with very blunt messages on every street corner. Part of the city is still divided by a wall designating the Catholic side from the Protestant side. It was shocking to see the reality of the situation that still plagues the city today.

Political Murals

After our bus tour, we head to Stormont to see the Parliament building. Northern Ireland has its own representative parliament that meets to decide on those issues that are not decided for them at Westminster such as roads, education, and taxes. Inside Parliament, we were able to sit in two of the rooms where meetings and debates are held. It was fascinating to hear how the system works. That night we stayed at the Jury's Inn in Belfast city. I was so exhausted by the end of the long day that I think I had the soundest sleep since I've gotten to Ireland!

Saturday morning, we headed out on a long journey to the Carrick-a-Rede bridge in Co. Antrim. There was about a 15 minute walk through the hills to the rope bridge where you have to descend a steep set of stairs down to the wood and rope bridge that hangs 100 feet over the sea below. The bridge connects the mainland to a small island previously used by fishermen. On the mainland side there is an opening to a volcano that lays dormant beneath the sea. The 25ish foot walk across the bridge was extremely frightening as my friends before me walked across shaking the bridge back and forth! Nonetheless, we all made it across and took some great photos! Once back on the bus, we headed further on to the Giant's Causeway, a naturally formed volcanic rock formation on the edge of the ocean. The rocks have formed, over time, into these tall octagonal tube-like columns that stick up from the sea. It looks similar to a jetty but it is hard to believe that these are not man-made rocks. Legend has it that the formations were created by giants in order to cross the ocean, hence the name, "giant's causeway." Surrounding the rocks are enormous cliffs and caves told to be the home of the giant, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool).

The cliffs of Co. Antrim

Crossing the bridge!

The Giant's Causeway

The columns

The most gorgeous sunset

The next morning, we set out for a tour of the city of Derry/Londonderry. The city was dark and grey and covered with dark political murals. Later in the day, we visited the Bloody Sunday museum where we read about the tragedy the victims, families, and Ireland as a whole faced. It was deeply saddening to think this event happened so recently in the country's history. The many letters and photos on display were very shocking and I think we were all surprised to see how extreme the violence really became.

The weekend overall was a huge learning experience. I definitely didn't expect that the reality of political propaganda would be so in-your-face at this point in time. However, the issues and debates are still very much alive today. It's hard to believe that crossing the invisible border brings a world of changes.