TravelStream™ news feed for member traveled on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/traveled en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:12:05 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261310280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261310280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261310280/tpod.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:12:05 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

It was tough to leave Edinburgh, but when I finally made it home, it was nice to be back. As soon as I walked out of the baggage collection area at O'Hare, my mom, dad, and little brother were wating for me. It was good to see them right away! I missed everyone else at home too, and I can't wait to see them again! Hopefully, I will be back to visit Edinburgh some time though...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261234080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261234080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1261234080/tpod.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:58:34 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Before I left, Edinburgh was preparing for Christmas complete with tons of shoppers on Prince's St., carnival rides, and ice rink in Prince's St. Gardens, and a Christmas market. My flatmates and I went out to dinner and exchanged gifts for our secret santa before people started to leave. I was one of the last ones left in the flat in the end, so I got to deal with everyone leaving. Sad times...All the rugby games after Birmingham were cancelled, too, but I got to hang out with a couple of the players before I left. After exams were over, I had a great last night out with a few of them. I woke up Saturday morning after about 1 hour sleep, caught the airlink bus to the airport, then flew to London. Sat around for a couple hours, just enough time for lunch, then boarded the plane back to Chicago.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1260584160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1260584160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1260584160/tpod.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:47:28 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Blair Atholl, Scotland, United Kingdom

The Wednesday before finals week, Sally invited me to go hillwalking with her in the Cairngorms. I had tried to go earlier in the semester, the weekend of the Scotland v. SA rugby game, but the plans fell through. This time, though, I jumped at the chance to go again because I was told these mountains were a must do or see. Plus, how could I justify being in Scotland and not bagging a munro? I could not. Thus, Wed. morning, we hopped on a train to Blair Atholl. After arriving, we hiked for about an hour to finally come to the gate opening up to a trail that lead to the base of the so called hill we were going to climb. It was really more of a mountain - Carn Liath, approximately 975m in height. Lucky for me, Sally was an expert hillwalker, so I could just follow her lead. The path was icy, and I nearly slipped each step along the way, but I made it to the hill. Then, the real work began. We began our 3 hour long ascent to the mountain peak first over icy rock, then deep snow and shrubs. Each time I turned to gaze below at the world we were leaving though, the work was well worth it. To one side, the sun was just breaking through the clouds and casting rays on the ground below for what seemed like the whole afternoon. After climbing the steepest part near the summit (for which Sally broke out her pick ax to climb), we found that what we thought was the summit was not actually the summit. Trickery! Thankfully, the real summit was not far away and not much higher. We got caught in some pretty strong and cold crosswinds by the time we made it to the real summit, but I didn't care much - I had just bagged my first munro! The only drawback was, yes the cold, but moreso the snow/fog storm limited view. We soon started our descent after a few pictures to prove we made it to the top. The way down was way more fun than the way up! There were big patches of snow that were icy enough for us to slide down! Awesome. That was how we got most of the way down. Then we returned through the icy path, and walked back into town. We had a little while before the train back to Edinburgh arrived, so we ended up at a hotel next to the station. Inside there was a tiny little pub, probably about the size of my kitchen at home, with a few tables, 1 bar that was manned by one guy, a couple of locals, and lots of Christmas decorations. Sally and I got some hot chocolate and tried to reply to the questions that one of the guys was asking us...we both had a difficult time understanding his thick Scottish accent. Lots of 'aye's and 'eh's...it was cool. haha. A couple hours later, we were back in Edinburgh by about 6pm. I was exhausted, so I went to sleep almost as soon as I was home. Good day. Thanks, Sally.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1228102860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1228102860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1228102860/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:42:56 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Kyleakin, Scotland, United Kingdom

This weekend, sort of as a last hoorah since I need to start studying for finals, I decided to go to see the Isle of Skye. I was told by someone that I had to go before I left, and after going there, I can see why. I think that the scenery I saw this weekend was without question some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. After Thanksgiving dinner, I got home at about 12am, then woke up at about 5am on Friday to meet Yana and go to Waverley station to catch the first train to Glasgow. At Glasgow, we caught a bus to Kyle of Lochalsh, the town just before the Skye bridge. It took about 5 hours to get there, but we went through green glens and snowy mountains, passed a bunch of deer, and glassy lochs on the way. When we finally arrived, almost as soon as we were half way over the bridge, it started to to rain snow...sort of a half frozen rain that was just freezing cold and wet. Good omen...yes, that is sarcasm. Thankfully, it stopped, or at least slowed quite a bit, when we made it over to Kyleakin. The town was ridiculously small - there were a grand total of about 3 places to eat out, one of them only open for lunches on weekends, and the others not really open until later in the day...so for lunch, we went to the post office/grocery store. After sitting around a little while, we went to a hostel that had free hot chocolate and tea to hang out and wait until 5 for someone to be at reception so we could ask about a room. Luckily, there was a nice little room with two twin beds in it - sorta rare for hostels - and for a decent price, so we took it for 2 nights. After dinner, Yana and I hung out in the den in the hostel because it had a fireplace, and was the warmest room in the place until the heater in our room had time to heat up. While there, a whole bunch of other people came in from Australia, Austria, Canada, and Italy. It was neat to hear about all their travels. Apparently they were there as part of tour, and since we didn't have any solid plans, Yana and I decided to join up with them on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we left at 8 and stopped to see the red and black Cuillin hills, and dipped our faces for 7 seconds in a river there so we would be forever beautiful. We next stopped in Portree, which was a really cool little town, with a fantastic harbor view. After that, we hiked up to the Old Man of Storr, which I think was my favorite part, and the most beautiful. We saw the Kilt Rock, formed thanks to volcanic flow, and then the Faerie Glen, which had a tiny castle and strange looking hills. All along the way, our tour guide was telling stories about giants, witches, fairies, and warriors, so it was really fun, and I am glad that we happened to run into the tour group! After dinner that night, Yana and I just hung out and talked bit, then went to sleep.

Sunday, we decided, since the group was going back to Edinburgh, and it was so fun on Saturday, we would tag along with them again, which was another good decision. Along the way, we stopped to see the Eilean Donan castle, and then a few times just because it was beautiful and our tour guide wanted some pictures, as did almost everyone else. That doesn't happen on the public bus that we took to the Isle on Friday. We stopped by Ben Nevis, which we could see much better than when Arcadia passed by there for the highlands trip, GlenCoe, which, we could again see much better than before, so it was awesome. At the next stop, we saw Hamish, the famous Highland Cow, near Doune, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see the castle. It is one of the castles used in Monty Python's Holy Grail, so it would have been cool, but, ah well. The last stop before Edinburgh was Stirling for the Wallace monument, which was free thanks to St. Andrew's Day. It was too foggy to see a lot from the top, so but it was still neat. We arrived back in Edinburgh at about 6pm I think, which is not bad time.

This was definitely an awesome trip and a good way to conclude my time here!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1227394860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1227394860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1227394860/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:33:39 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Melrose, Scotland, United Kingdom

This weekend the Arcadia kids took a day trip bus tour to the Southern area of Scotland. Our first stop was the Traquair house, which is Scotland's oldest inhabited house. The dates given in Arcadia's wee trip summary are 1107-2007, but people are still living in the house today, just not really in the area where the tours are given. We first went to the family's private chapel, which was freezing because it was actually cold on this day, unlike most other days in Edinburgh so far. Luckily for us, our huge group was split into 2, and my group was the one that got to have tea and biscuits first! Yumm. Then we explred the house/museum, which was actually really neat because it had secret staircases which were put into place to allow the preists to escape to house because there was a long period during which catholics were persecuted in Scotland. Apparently Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the house with baby James at one point in time too. There was a hedge maze in the backyard, but I did not get the chance to get lost in it. I did, however, get to sample some of the ales produced at the distllery there. 2 out of the 4 were strange because they were fizzy, one had a weiss beer flavor, and the best one had a strange sort of fruity flavor, but it worked. Next, it was on to the tiny town, and I do mean tiny, of Melrose. The main feature of this town is the Abbey, which, like so many others, lay in ruins. I do think that it was the most ornate ruined abbey I have seen though, so it was worthwhile to visit. It had a few little shops to visit, and Sara, Yana, J, and I went to a small pub for lunch. There was rugby 7s on the tele, so I thought that was really cool. Melrose is actually the reputed birthplace of rugby 7s, so it was only appropriate that they would show that on tv. Next, the tour bus rolled through more mountainous valleys and over rivers to Rosslyn Chapel. This location was recently featured in the popular novel the DaVinci Code for its supposed ties to the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail. There was scaffolding all around the outside of the building, and we were not allowed to photograph the interior, but it was absolutely beautiful. I can only imagine what it looked like with all the different sandstone colors it had before people painted over them with concrete in a somewhat misguided effort to preserve the building. There were meticulously detailed sculptures almost everywhere I looked, including the ceiling. The most famous of these, are the columns at the the front of the chapel. Supposedly, the master sculptor carved the column on the left-hand side, then went away to study so he could do an even better job on the right-hand side, but while he was away, the apprentice carved it instead. When the master returned, he saw that the work of his apprentice was better than his own, which sent him into a jealous rage, and caused him to murder his apprentice. He was caught, tried, and killed for his crime. I don't know how much truth is in this story, but I did think the column on the right was done better than the others, and it was kinda cool to think about how something so simple could be so powerful. Then, we returned to Edinburgh. It was definietly a cool day trip though.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226861700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226861700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226861700/tpod.html Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:44:51 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

This week I had my first essay due, so I did not do much until after I had turned that in on Thursday at noon. Although, on Wednesday the rugby team went down to Sheffield, England to play, and won! We are now ranked 2nd in the BUSC...which is British university sport something....all I know is that it's just really good. I played scrum half again, and it was good fun except the other team's scrummie was really good too, so I had a tough time of it. After the match I had my first chip butty. That is a sandwich with chips (fries) and ketchup on it. It was surprisingly good, but I certainly don't plan to eat one regularly. Friday I sorta had the day off because one of my classes was cancelled, so I went to the Royal Botanical Garden in an attempt to get some pictures before all the leaves had fallen off their branches. Saturday, I had a ticket to the Scotland v. South Africa rugby game. It was a pretty good game, with Scotland leading at the half, but they ended up losing it in the second half. The seats were pretty high up too, which was nice because I could see the whole field, but kinda far away to really get soaked in the experience. It was still pretty cool though. I am looking forward to seeing some more games in the US now that we have a team! Sunday I slept in, but then not wanting to waste the day, walked over to Cragmillar castle, which is just about an hour's walk away, just around the corner from the rugby playing fields. It was built in the 15th century, and is very well preserved, so it was neat to see. Tonight, I am just going to hope to finish some more work.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226164020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226164020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1226164020/tpod.html Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:53:31 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

My last day in Birkdale, I decided to get out early and spend a couple hours in Liverpool since it was so close. The train ride was only about 40 minutes to get there, so it would have been a shame to miss it. When I arrived, it was about 9am, I wandered around a bit through the shopping area because I stopped at Liverpool central station. I made it eventually to Albert's dock and the Beatle's Story museum. I spent most of my time there because it was pretty neat, I thought. Some of the rooms were designed to look like the clubs where the Beatles played, and they had things like George Harrison's first guitar and John Lennon's famed orange glasses on display. Since I only had a couple hours before I had to be back to get picked up, I had to head back towards the station after that, but it was cool to visit for even a short time. Along the way I stopped by the Cavern, one place where the Beatles used to play, then got on the train back at 11:40. I was in Birkdale around 12:30, and then Rose picked me up to take me to Preston station at 1. I was back in Edinburgh around 5. It was a fun little weekend excursion, but now I have to work on an essay due later this week! Hopefully next weekend I will get the chance to get away again since I don't have a ton of time left here.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225980720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225980720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225980720/tpod.html Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:48:26 -0500 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Southport, England, United Kingdom

This weekend I had a homestay in Birkdale, England, right next to Southport. I left Thursday afternoon after classes and arrived nearly 3 hours later at Wigan station. So I called the phone number that Arcadia had given me, but it turns out that was the number of the people I would be staying with, who were not the people who were going to pick me up. Oh, well that is just great, I thought. I had no way to let whoever was supposed to pick me up know that I had arrived. So I just stood around for a few minutes outside the station, looking a bit lost, no doubt. Thankfully, a young woman walked up to me and asked me if I was Erin, to which I breathed a sigh of relief and answered yes. She was the daughter of the person who was picking me up and who was initially supposed to host me, Rose, who had apparently been caught in traffic. Apparently she and her mom have hosted students for as long as she could remember, and made friends around the world by doing so. She assured me that I was not staying with them anymore not because they did not want to host me, but because their entire house was being redone at the moment. They discovered while redoing one room that almost the rest of the house had asbestos in it, and they were currently in the process of removing it. I am greatful they moved me somewhere else. I would not want to be around while that is going on - asbestos isn't really dangerous unless it is disturbed and particles get into the air where they become breathable. Rose arrived a few minutes later and she and her daughter drove me, on the wrong side of the road, to Birkdale, where they left me with Rose's friends Angela and Roy. Angela and Roy were an older retired couple in their 60s with grandkids, and I think even one great grandkid to boot, but they were very friendly. As soon as I walked in the door, Angela had made a dinner for me of chicken, potatoes, gravy, and peas, and she sat and chatted with me while I ate. I then was introduced to her husband , Roy, who had apparently been born in that very house, and her Son, who was living with them at the moment due to a recent divorce. We spent most of the evening just watching tv, sipping a glass of whisky, and chatting, so it was a nice relaxing evening. It was fun to watch and listen to the family interact - it was a lot like being at home.

The next morning, I had some cereal, then waited for Angela and Roy to get ready because they told me that they would walk me into town (Southport). It was only a 20-30 minute walk, and it was nice to have some company on the way. I got to hear about a few family landmarks such as "this is where my mother used to work" and "this is where my dad used to get a pint after work", as well as Roy's outrage that people fenced up paths that led from the backs of the houses down to the street below. They walked with me down Lord's street, which is the main shopping street of Southport, stopped for a coffee and hot chocolate, pointed out a few places that might be nice for lunch, then left me to wander. So I spent the day walking around, in and out of a few shops, along the endless pier, and along the water. I walked back to the house around 4:30, then had pasta with sauce and mince (ground beef) and garlic bread for dinner at 5:30 with Angela and one of her granddaughters. She was 10 and played football (soccer), and it was her room that I was staying in while I was there. The grandson had been delivering papers, and got lost, but I met him after dinner. He was excited because he found a seemingly unopened Bond video at a charity shop earlier. I watched a little tv, then did some reading, then went to sleep because I planned to get up early the next morning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225124940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225124940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1225124940/tpod.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:49:38 -0400 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

I decided to take advantage of the good weather (not raining) this morning and actually go to see something during the week. I went to Holyrood Palace since I have not been there yet, but it is on the list of essentials to see in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, the Queen's Gallery was closed to move in some new exhibits, so I will have to go back another time to see that, but the Palace was well worth seeing! They gave out nice little audio tour handsets you held up to your ear like a cellphone with the price of admission, which I thought was neat. First I saw the courtyard with the fountain, and the outside of the palace. The towers on the left look and are older than the towers on the right, which were added in a remodling of the palace. Then, just inside the first door, there is another open area where you can see classical architecture and all the different types of columns, with the ionic in the middle because that is the floor where most of the royalty reside. Inside the palace, I was not allowed to take pictures, but the rooms were really grand. Tapestries on the walls, white plaster ceilings, beautiful wood furniture, bright colored carpets, and paintings everywhere. Then the tour took me up to the rooms of Mary Queen of Scots, then down and out to the Abbey and the Gardens. After the tour ended, I sat in the cafe for a cup of tea and a scone. Yes, it was worth seeing at least once, and it was fun to do something during the week like I had planned to do in the beginning. I will have to continue this trend.

After the palace, I came back to the flat, updated this blog, and went to class. Rugby practice was cancelled last friday due to flooded pitches, so it has been rescheduled (that's re-shed-yooled) for tonight. After that, I will be working on some homework or reading...goodnight!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1224942060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1224942060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/traveled/1/1224942060/tpod.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:44:28 -0400 E^2: Exploring Edinburgh

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Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Didn't do too much today, but there was a Japan day going on, sponsored by the Japan soc. I got to see a tea ceremoney, drink green tea made from powder, make my own sushi, and learn a very little bit about how to play Go, which is similar to chess, but more confusing...After that, I came back to the flat and got to have some tea and scones with my flatmates. I was planning to do some things in Edinburgh, but it was raining all day, so it was a good day to stay inside. Hopefully another day!
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