Category: Scotland

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Doune & Callander

Went out to Doune Castle, where it seems that its Monty Python fame has now been overshadowed by Outlander. Continued up into Callander, at the edge of the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park where I hiked to Bracklinn Falls. I tried stopping by Samson’s Stone while I was there, but I took two different  trails, and each time my GPS told me to turn there was only dense forest; even when I found an official park map there was only a dot surrounded by green and no trails so I’m not sure how to get there without a helicopter. It was a beautiful day to waste a couple hours in the forest though, I was led to believe it’d be raining pretty much everyday here but the weather’s been absolutely smashing all week.

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Edinburgh

Day trip into Edinburgh where we explored Calton Hill and the National Museum of Scotland (and passed by the Forth Bridges on our way there). One of my classes then went together to the Edinburgh Dungeons (which was not at all what I was expecting after having done zero research: part semi hasted house and part heightened dramatized history lessons) and it was quite a good time – even though we got hanged (literally a ride at the end – basically a mini tower of terror). We also stopped by the Frankenstein Bar since that’s the first book we’re reading in that class.

Frankestein Bar Video

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Stirling Castle

Today I just took a casual stroll through Stirling Castle after class, as you do. For dinner we went into town to try some Scotland favorites: pizza crunch (deep fried pizza), fried haggis, and a fried Mars bar; pizza could have been really good if it had come with more dipping sauce on the side, but the others were really good.

Stirling Castle Video

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Dumyat Hill

After class we hiked up Dumyat hill, there was about a 10 minute walk up to the trailhead which I think was the steepest part, but then we spent about 2 hours on the hill where there was lots of different paths you could take all around. It was an absolutely beautiful day, now just waiting for the allergy medicine to kick in to recover from all the grass.

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Campus Tour*

Orientation today, toured around campus then took a bus into the city to go grocery shopping (and clothes for me). Here you can see my Campus Tour video I made for USAC.

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William Wallace Monument*

Well, my luggage didn’t make it, but I have arrived to Stirling. I’ve started to meet all the other international students, and a couple of us wandered up to the William Wallace Monument – which is just a 20 min walk from campus; the inside wasn’t open but there’s lots of different trails around the base.