Another Brilliant Birthday Weekend

The weekend really started on Friday when we made another trip to the beach. This had to happen because Skye, the birthday girl, hadn't been to the beach yet. So we went and it was an absolutely glorious day. It was sunny and breezy but not too cold. I was able to wear just my sweater. So we splashed around in the water a bit and then walked on to the military hut and then the dunes. On the dunes we also had a Lord of the Rings photo shoot because Marissa found a giant white stick so we each pretended to be Gandalf. I'll post a picture of that at the end. Friday night was a relaxing night. We just stayed in and watched Life as a House.

Saturday was another castle day. This time it was Crathes (pronounced Crath-iss) Castle. It's about 45 minutes away from Aberdeen just on the way to Banchory and it was amazing. It looks more like a tower house but it has a fantastic walled garden and it was actually a private residence until 1951. We got a guided tour of the castle and then we paused for lunch and then we went down to explore the gardens. Just as we were exploring them too the sun came out in all its glory. It was fantastic. On the way back to the bus stop we took a route that was slightly more scenic. The highlight of this was when we found the "Harry Potter" forest. This meant that some good old dueling was in order. I was also "snatched". This basically means that there was an evil guy (or Marissa) chasing me. It was brilliant fun. Then we made our way out the forest and caught the bus back to Aberdeen.

Today the highlight was brunch. We each had full Scottish breakfasts at this adorable place called the Sand Dollar Cafe. It's right along the beach so when we were done we just walked back to Hillhead. It was a little cold because it was very windy but it was fun.

This week is going to be very busy because I have a few assignments due. Next weekend though is Edinburgh so I'll post again after that.

From Scotland with love,

Haley

I'm being snatched.

Just a bit of frolicking.

Aberdeen FC vs. Hamilton...AND HALEY!

Yesterday was a very important day in my Scottish adventures because it was my first time going to a football game! It was Aberdeen vs. Hamilton and student tickets were only 16 quid which was fantastic. We were sitting up in the high bleachers but we were surrounded by all the really enthusiastic fans so the atmosphere was great. We got there a bit late but it was alright and we didn't miss much. Aberdeen ended up winning in the end off a penalty kick. I managed to get a picture of it even though I wasn't supposed to. I took it and then the lady came up and told me that I wasn't allowed to have my camera on while they were playing. But she didn't make me delete it so I still have it. I guess it will come up down at the bottom? I did manage to take a few during the break as well so I'll post two of them. 


Anyways, that was the really exciting news. With regard to a previous comment about the whereabouts of the curry, I wanted to say that I may have found something better. It's like the British version of poutine and we just call it curry-cheese-chips and that's exactly what it is. It is a real treat food because I'm sure that it, like poutine, is hazardous to your health. It's very yummy though and Qismat, the little place in our central building, makes it really well.


This weekend we are venturing to two fun places. We are going to a market in Aberdeen as well as Crathes Castle so I'll do another post after that.


From Scotland with love,


Haley


p.s. In the middle picture, from right to left is Skye (blond hair and hat), Franziska, Austin, Eric, Luke, and another friend of Austin, Eric (who's from BC) and Luke.

 

Aberdeen Update (a Long Time Coming)

I know it’s been a while so I’m sorry about that. The week after Dunnottar was fairly quiet. We had a movie night which was nice. I saw American Beauty for the first time. It was a bizarre film but it was really good. We also watched Titanic because the theme of the evening was sort of sappy, girly movies.

Classes have also been going well. I’ve got some assignments coming up but that’ll be fine. I also bit the bullet and got my books. They’re all sitting above me at the moment, glaring at me. There are only seven of them though so they’re not too intimidating. Yes, they don’t frighten me! But I need to get some more from the library for assignments so soon my core texts will have some friends.

This weekend was really nice. Saturday was my Glasgow day. It took about three hours to get there and the trip was gorgeous. We went through Perthshire so I actually got to see real snow! I didn’t want to be in it because I wasn’t prepared at all but it was nice to see. Amanda met me at the station and we went back to her residence to drop things off. Then we went for a little walk to the cathedral which is basically just down the road. It was absolutely beautiful. There were four different areas that you could go too. One of them was an area in the back which had a lower ceiling and was just filled with columns. It was really, really beautiful. And I got another mini-tour by just asking about the stained glass windows. Fun fact: only six are from before 1935 and they’re only from the Victorian era. They’re all beautiful though. Entry was also free. I spent 80p on postcards but that was all. After the cathedral we went to the Necropolis. It was just so interesting because there are various levels and they are just covered in some of the most elaborate tombstones. There’s also one mausoleum which is really impressive. After our visit there we went downtown. We didn’t spend too much time though because we had to go back and get ready for dinner. We met her two friends who had come in from St. Andrews as well. The place we went for dinner was called the Landsdown (or some variation of that spelling) and it was really cool. The food was also fantastic. I had pasta with an alfredo sauce of goat’s cheese and spinach. And then they brought a cake out with candles which was cute. After dinner I went back to her place and crashed because I was exhausted. I had less than six hours of sleep two nights in a row so I was gone. My bus was also at 7:40am on Sunday so I needed to be semi-conscious for that.

On Sunday evening we went to a pub called O’Neills. It’s a little Irish place and they have live music every Sunday. They also have the best fish and chips. Or at least they are the best I’ve had since I’ve been in Europe. It’s a Guinness batter so it’s amazing and just really, really crispy. By the end of the night there was a massive group of us too so it was fun.

Today Holly, Rhianna and I went to Banchory. It’s a little town about an hour outside Aberdeen right on the river Dee. We didn’t spend too long there but we went for a walk along the river and then had an amazing dinner. I had haggis for the first time and it was actually delicious! I was kind of shocked. It wasn’t too big so Holly and I still have to have our full-sized haggis but it was a brilliant introduction.

Well, that’s all the news for now. There’s a ceilidh tomorrow night and then this weekend we’re probably going to go and have another castle adventure. For pictures, unfortunately I can’t get anything to work except Facebook. So they are all up there right now though I know that doesn’t work for everybody. If you can’t see them and want to send me an email and I will send you the URLs for each of them.

From Scotland with love,

Haley

Castle Numero Uno of 2011

This week was super busy and fun. On Tuesday night my flatmates took me to a club which was really nice. We were on the guest list as well so we got a free bottle of champagne. Partying in Aberdeen is certainly a different experience. It’s so much classier than in Guelph but it was a blast. Then on Thursday night there was a Rocky Horror themed birthday party. It was awesome because everyone got dressed up and did fantastic hair and make-up. It was an early night but even getting dressed up was brilliant.

Classes also went well. My professor for Late Medieval England is actually from Canada and did his undergrad at Queens. Better than that, he knows K. James. I was super impressed to hear that.

The big highlight from this week was definitely Dunnottar Castle which we visited today. It’s basically this estate type thing on like a large outcropping. But to get there we had to walk on this gorgeous path along the coastline. Some of the paths were so narrow too and you just looked down the cliff and it was a sheer drop. Once we got there we actually sat down for a picnic lunch. It was awesome. We each brought like different pieces so like I brought cous cous salad, Holly brought egg salad sandwiches, Marissa brought yummy Pringles, Skye brought ciabatta bread, olive oil and mini carrot cakes, V’Cenza brought tea and cookies, and Sarah brought two kinds of juices. It was so neat because we just found this little room right when you walk in and we just sat there and had a brilliant little lunch. We also got to hear the pigeons talk to us the whole time because a whole bunch of them lived next door. After lunch V’Cenza went to paint some watercolours and we went up into the castle. It was mostly ruins and like Ross Errily only a few areas were totally blocked off. It was nice again because we just got to go around wherever and take our time and appreciate all the views. Just as we were leaving too the sun came out which was beautiful. To get back we actually walked along the beach a little bit because there was a path that went up the cliff. That certainly turned out to be quite the hike but the views were magnificent. I’ve got loads of pictures which I will manage to get up at some point in the near future. But then we just walked back to the town which is called Stonehaven along the same path we’d come. When we got back to the train station it turned out that we’d just missed the return train and the next one wasn’t coming for about an hour so we popped into a pub and had a pint and watched a bit of football. We did get on the train eventually and I think we made it home a little after 7:00. It was also Marissa’s birthday today so to celebrate we went to Pizza Express and had a lovely little dinner. It was also the Super Bowl so we went to the Watering Hole and watched a bit of it when we got back. We left at half time though because we were all pretty tired.

Anyways, that was pretty much all for the weekend. I’ll let you know what I figure out with pictures a.s.a.p.

From Scotland with love,

Haley