More from Glasgow and Edinburgh

So I have been in Scotland for three weeks and I finally feel like I have found my stride in the city. Coming to a campus in such a large city is very new to me because the only college campus I know is a tiny town in southwest Virginia. Glasgow is a very different city than I am used to. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I am pleasantly surprised. Although areas of the city are grimy and dirty, there are some very beautiful parts of the city. Part of me feels like I have been here months and have already done so much, but I also feel like I haven't even begun to explore and experience Scotland yet. I'm getting there though, especially after this past weekend.

Last week I was still kind of settling in and getting adjusted to my new life. It is truly remarkable the feeling of satisfaction after all the grueling hours of work that I put into setting up my study abroad experience. It all seems so trivial now that I am actually getting to enjoy the work of many months of preparation that led to this. Most of my second week was spent figuring out how to do some of the basic necessities that come with living by yourself in a large city. Laundry, groceries, cooking, doctor's visits, banking, cell phones, gym, subway all seemed impossible to tackle at once and all seemed very foreign. I've taken many of these things for granted, especially groceries and cooking. There are no dining halls on campus so I either have to cook my own meals or find local restaurants to eat at. I have found that frozen meals are very easy to make and work wonders for my figure. Anyways, I think I've taken care of all the essentials here and can start really enjoying myself.

Last weekend, my flat mate and I went back to the West End of Glasgow to check out some places that we didn't get to see the first trip. It was very cold when we left on the subway and by the time we got off, there was a blizzard. We stopped at a wee pub on a cool street called Ashton Lane that was full of nice little stores and shops. I was confused by how hard it was to find a normal lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Either places weren't serving food or had ridiculously priced Sunday brunches, but we finally found a place that served sandwiches and beer so we were content with that. We walked through Kelvingrove Park, which had some interesting statues and landscapes along the River. Then, we walked to the Museum of Transport, one of my favorite museums of all time. They had hundreds of antique cars, real trolleys and trains used in town, airplanes, and my personal favorite, an exhibit on model ships. There was a huge room full of ornately decorated and incredibly detailed model ships. From ancient Viking longboats to giant Titanic-like cruisers to high tech naval destroyers to old dredging boats, this museum had everything. This was the first museum of its kind that I have ever seen. They even had the magical flying car fom the Harry Potter movie on display.

It was a fun trip and I am glad to have figured out the underground (metro).

Yesterday was probably the highlight of the trip so far. Unfortunately, the first time we made the trip to Edinburgh, we got to the castle at 4:15 right as they were closing the gates. This time, the only objective was to go to the castle. It was incredible! This fortress is truly impenetrable. It is perched on a huge cliff overlooking the entire expanse of the city. You can even see miles into sea from the top of the castle. The inner workings of the castle are very fascinating too. The Scottish National War Memorial is a huge sandstone building honoring all the noble Scots who died in battle, a very moving exhibit. The Great Hall is an impressive specimen of Scottish architecture with a very royal feel. The vaulted ceilings and hammer-beam roof along with the countless swords and pieces of armor make me think about the many uses of the castle as a fortress, royal palace, and Parliament meeting place. Looking out the North edge of the castle is a giant 6 ton cannon called Mons Meg. This thing is gigantic! It hurled 300-pound cannon balls over two miles! It was used until 1682 as both a military weapon and for celebratory salutes. The most impressive part of the castle is the Royal Palace which houses the Royal Scottish Crown Jewels. The set of Honours includes the Crown of Scotland, Sceptre, Sword of State, and a huge collection of jewelry. Just taking a glimpse at the gleaming gold and shiny jewels of the crown, it is easy to see why Scotland has had such a violent history. Here is an online picture of the Scottish Crown Jewels because they don't allow cameras into the safe where they are kept.

Favorite picture of the castle lit up at night.
After leaving the castle, we tried to make it to the Palace of Holyroodhouse before closing, but just missed it. The palace is where Queen Elizabeth stays when she travels to Scotland and is a very regal stone building. Originally built in 1498, it has some great history as the royal palace of many kings and queens of Scotland. We got there right about dusk which doesn't show up very well on camera.
Right across the street from this remarkable palace is a very ugly looking Parliament building. Designed by the Spanish architect who built many of 1992 Barcelona Olympics buildings, it marks the first official Scottish Parliament separate from British Parliament. It is an important building, but it looks completely out of place with the beautiful medieval architecture throughout the city. After it got dark, we ended up stopping by one of the only pubs that was still serving dinner. Little did we know that this was actually one of a select few "classic pubs of Britain". It is a very old-looking bar that is supposedly haunted by the bishop of St Andrews. It was a great deal, two meals for 10 pounds and of course they had great Scottish lagers. That was the end of a very worthwhile trip and we headed back to Glasgow on the train.

There are some exciting upcoming events in Glasgow including the annual film festival all this week, rugby tournament at the end of February, and comedy festival in March. Also, the international adviser is setting up various trips to the Scottish highlands later in the semester. There is a weekend trip to a few castles scheduled in about a month so I am definitely looking forward to that. I feel empowered after seeing the castle. I am following the wise words of my Grandpa Jack to "not knock up any Scottish girls." Thanks grampa...

First week in the land of the scots

Here are some highlights from the first week in Scotland:

Pre-trip idiocy - I packed my three giant duffel bags about two hours before I left for the airport. Then, I proceeded to throw up on the flight over due to stomach sickness and a possible hangover from the night before. I didn't go to any classes the first week because I still didn't have my class schedule figured out for a number of reasons (mainly advisers at Tech and Strathclyde), even though I originally started looking at classes in August! I realize that the people here are a lot more laid back about these things than in America. My favorite response from my international adviser here was "don't worry, it will all work out in the end". Luckily she was right and it did work out, but it was very frustrating. I showed up to one class thinking it was a sophomore level intro to materials class and ended up being a graduate level advanced structures class. When I emailed the teacher to see what happened, she casually replied that she wasn't teaching anymore and the class wasn't being offered, good luck. Needless to say, it was a challenging first few days...

Anyways, when we actually got to Glasgow the morning of January 25th, we couldn't check in to the hotel til 2 pm so went to Edinburgh for the day. It is the capital of Scotland and a very beautiful city. It is known as the "Athens of the North" for the great architecture, rich history, and cultural appeal. The Royal Mile is the main strip of Old Town Edinburgh and is full of shops, pubs, and tons of historical sites. It is a busy city that I will definitely go back to visit because there is just so much to do there. Picture of Calton Hill taken from the North Bridge:


That day, I took a walk around the University of Strathclyde campus. There is some pretty interesting history with the university, which starts with its sister college, the University of Glasgow. The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 and is the fourth oldest college in the world. It was located in the heart of the city, but when space became limited, it branched off and moved to the West End of Glasgow (will talk about that soon) and what was left became known as the University of Strathclyde. It doesn't really look like a normal college campus and even though the buildings aren't much to look at in terms of architecture, campus is pretty much in the heart of Glasgow. George Square is the center of the city and is about 3 blocks away from campus. It is a pretty cool place with a lot of shops, pubs, and statues. They held a celebration for the 250th birthday of Robert Burns, a very famous Scottish poet the night we arrived. There was a bagpipe band, light show, and fireworks in George Square. I thought it was celebrating my arrival... Here is a picture of the Robert Burns Illuminated presentation projected on the City Chambers:

My flat mates are all very nice and I get along with them all pretty well. One is from Ghana but lives in London, one is from Knoxville, TN, one is from France and is really weird, one is from Germany and one is from Poland. They are all very different but very interesting people except the French kid. But the flat mate from Ghana is a fulltime student here so he knows a lot about the city and has taken us to a couple bars and clubs nearby. The club scene is just a wee bit different than in the States. They play American pop and hip-hop songs with really fast techno/trance beats, such as my personal favorites Lady Gaga - Just Dance and Britney Spears - Circus. Also, the girls dress really weird here. They are all pale emo/punk/goth girls with one or more of the following: dyed/spiked hair, lip/nose ring, fishnet apparel, army boots, and oddly enough spandex leggings. It will take some getting used to...

My mom and Aunt Sandi helped me move into my flat which was very helpful because there were a lot of things that I realized I didn't have when I got here. Thanks Mah. Grocery stores are a little different, they don't have anything in bulk except beer, which is not entirely a bad thing. I think it's funny that they sell Budweiser, Coors and Miller high life like it's actually good beer. It is in the same price range as Stella Artois, Guinness, and Becks, which are actually good beers. Needless to say, I haven't had an American beer since I've been here.

When my mom and aunt went to tour the rest of Scotland, I walked around the city and got a pretty good feel for where everything is. I am two blocks away from the Glasgow Cathedral. Originally built in 1136, it is the only complete medieval cathedral left in Scotland although it was burned down in the 13th Century and then rebuilt. The cathedral reminds me of the Beast's castles from Beauty and the Beast especially at dusk. Next to the cathedral is the Necropolis, a large graveyard on a hill and is one of the weirdest places I have ever been. It was really creepy because I went on a cold rainy day when there was no one else there and the place smelled like oatmeal. There were also signs in front of some of the big tombs that said "Danger keep out". Hmmm...

The last night that Donna and Sandi were in Scotland, we went to a wee port town called Queensferry near Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. There are two incredible bridges that you can see from the town. The Forth Rail Bridge is a huge, Victorian, cantilever bridge and is one of the biggest landmarks in Scotland, stretching a mile and a half across the water. The bridge was built in 1890 and it was the first bridge to ever use steel. The other is a modern suspension bridge for road traffic. As a civil engineer, I am very fascinated by these two great examples of human ingenuity so naturally I was inclined to see them. Here are some pictures I took of the two bridges, it was very dark out so they are a little blurry:


The first weekend, I went on a tour with fellow international students to the West End of Glasgow, which is a cool place on the other side of the city. I saw the University of Glasgow which has a lot nicer campus than Strathclyde's and the architecture reminds me of the Virginia Tech campus, except built with sandstone instead of limestone. Then, I went to the Kelvingrove Art Museum, which had a great collection of various 16th Century Dutch, Italian and Scottish artists. They also had an interesting exhibit on some of the history of Scotland.




During the whole first week, I just generally had a very good feeling heading into my semester in Scotland. I am really looking forward to the next 4 months of learning about Scottish culture, traveling around Europe, and meeting new people. I still can't get over the great accents that people have here.

That's all for now. I guess I will have to catch up later on last week's funtivities. Cheers