Edinburgh and Holy Island

This weekend the entire Loyola program here took a bus trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We left late Friday afternoon to get to our bed and breakfast around 8:30. This bed and breakfast certainly showed where all the study abroad program fees go (we'll see if we get sweet accommodations in Paris in a couple of weeks). Friday night we were all so exhausted and hungry that we just walked down a few blocks to get dinner and hang out in the pub for a bit. I had my first "bangers and mash" meal ... interesting. Really, sausage and mashed potatoes aren't my favorite, but I had to try it once.

Saturday we got up ridiculously early and spent the entire day touring around Edinburgh. We saw the Edinburgh Castle first, then walked down the Royal Mile to grab some lunch on the way to the Holywood Palace (the Queen stays there when she visits Scotland). All these castles and palaces in the UK are absolutely stunning. It's hard to imagine people living there so many years ago. Call me a nerd, but I love visiting historical places. After our palace tour, we had tea in a cute little cafe, then headed up the King Arthur's seat. King Arthur's seat is basically a HUGE rocky mountain cliff with an incredible view of Edinburgh from the top. Jill, Rachel, Kyle and I hiked to the top of King Arthur's seat (which was absolutely exhausting, yet amazing), and naturally decided to climb the adjoining mountain as well. As if one mountain wasn't enough, we just had to be insane and climb the higher one! (yes, yes ... photographic evidence that i was actually enjoying nature to come soon) We actually met 3 American guys at the top of the mountain who are studying in Cork, Ireland and they actually knew our Loyola friends who are on study abroad there! Small world, right? After that, we grabbed some dinner (noticing a trend with food on these trips?) and went on a ghost tour of Edinburgh. Yes, I survived. Those of you who know how I freak out at scary stuff know the ghost tour was a big step for me. But that's what study abroad is about ... doing stuff you would never have done before.
Saturday night we went out to a Scottish nightclub. Again, it really doesn't compare to the Newcastle nightlife. We're on a mission to go out on the town in every country we visit ... so far so good.

Sunday was another absurdly early morning and the bus took off for Holy Island. It's somewhere on the boarder between England and Scotland. We visited yet another castle and the priory. This place was absolutely gorgeous. By far the best scenic views I've ever seen. We had a but of a short day there due to the timing of the tides. The island is attached by a road to the mainland that submerges underwater with the tides. So if we didn't leave the island by 2:30, we would have been stuck there until 8pm when the tide rolled out again.

I got back around 5 Sunday afternoon to catch up with the flatmates and other people in my block of flats. Apparently I missed a pretty great party in my flat for the Rugby World Cup semifinals on Saturday night. And England won! This means I have to stay in Newcastle this weekend to watch the final game of the Rugby World Cup and witness the insanity that is English sports. We all watched the semifinal game between South Africa and Argentina last night. I figure I can learn a bit about the sport I'm playing by watching it. Rugby practice, then who knows what later tonight. Fun stuff!