We visited the Turtle Hospital and learned lots about turtles and how the hospital works to keep them healthy. Most of the turtles they help have “bubble butt” from getting hit by boats – the boat damages the shell and traps air under it so the turtle floats instead of being able to stay submerged. The weather was finally hot so we stopped by the beach at Bahia Honda State Park.
Finished my final portfolio project today: https://marisasmeadows01.myportfolio.com
Today was Addie’s 21st birthday so we surprised her with a picnic dinner by the loch on campus and did a mini bar hop from Curly Coo to Nicky Tams, the oldest bar in Stirling with very cute interior design.
Finally got to get out and experience the real Scottish weather – went back to Alva to hike through the Alva Glen. My maps steered me wrong again but this time it was 100% worth it because I got to frolic through a field fo sheep and actually made it to my final destination eventually (Smuggler’s Cove). Ended the night going into town for a karaoke night and learned that “Country Roads” is as much if not more popular in the UK.
Went back up to the Wallace Monument to actually go inside; the views from the top were quite good but more welcomed was the breeze cooling me off from the Scottish heat wave (80 deg) – which doesn’t seem like much but is actually pretty serious because Scotland is not equipped for weather above like 70, and we actually had to have class online today because our teacher couldn’t get here because the train lines are melting. Then we went to the Birds and Bees pub where we ate and enjoyed a Scottish and Irish Folk band, and taught us a wee dance.
Last day on the highlands so we made a few stops on the way back to Stirling: Invermoriston Falls, Loch Ness (a lot skinnier and less swampy than I preconceived, but an impressive 800 ft deep almost everywhere), Lagan Dam, and a short hike through Reelig Glen – where the tallest tree in Britain used to be (till it got struck by lightning and fell over and broke the sign talking about how tall it was).
Today’s ISS day trip was into Glasgow. Saw the Duke of Wellington Statue in the square, which has apparently had a cone on its head since the 90s, and whenever it gets taken off it just gets replaced quickly. Then we went onto the Kelvingrove Art Museum; of course all the paintings were beautiful but I was really taken away by the hanging heads – I couldn’t find a plaque so I have no idea what the story is behind them, but it’s quite alarming to be exploring the beautiful old castle like architecture then turn the corner and suddenly there’s a bunch of bipolar heads screaming in the air (spookily lit up I might add). We continued to the Botanical Gardens, and for somebody who cannot keep plants alive, I was really in my happy place walking among these towering plants. Glasgow’s a cute enough town, but not a whole lot to do, so we went around shopping for the rest of the afternoon after eating lunch at Wellingtons, which is apparently a very British and very popular chain, like a Mcdonald’s the way it’s on every corner. We also had our first hint of the classic Scottish rain, but it only lasted maybe 5 minutes.
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.
The cruise is over but we are still hanging around Europe for a little while, so we checked into our hotel where we got a very fancy room for just one night. We explored the city a little more and visited the oldest church in Budapest, the Roman ruins of which can be seen through glass in the floor of the new church built over it. We took a tour of Margaret Island on some electric scooters – the traffic was crazy but it was quite a fun way to get around. Margaret Island is located in between Buda and Pest (on one side of the Danube is Buda and the other is Pest – the two cities joined a while ago, first being called Pestbuda, but since Buda was the previous capital they decided to put that first). The island is so beautiful, basically just a giant park as there are no residences and no cars are allowed to drive around, and it contains an English rose garden, a Japanese garden, a zoo, and a waterpark, as well as a fountain that does a light show in the evening and lots of green space.
We had a short stop in Bratislava, a cute little town hit hard by multiple wars, and you can see the newly renovated buildings right next to those damaged by war. Some of those that haven’t been renovated yet have numbers next to some of the damaged parts, because they want to preserve some of that history in which the buildings were destroyed, so those parts will not get renovated. They also have multiple statues representing their freedom, like Man At Work, and there is a compass embedded in the ground with many different large cities from around the world and how far away they are. In St. Mark’s Cathedral they have glass in the ground to show the crypts below. We then had a long boat ride to our final cruise stop, Budapest. Everyone gathered on the deck to watch as we sailed into the beautiful city lit up at night.
We spent all day in Vienna today. Walked around and took a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour to be able to see more of the city, had lunch in one of the many cafes, stopped by St. Stephen’s Cathedral and saw the floating rocks, and then visited Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and Strauss (they have a special section in the cemetery for the composers so they can all hang out together). We also got to take a tour of Schönbrunn Palace after hours; you can see the extravagant palace with beautiful (and huge maze-like) garden, but some of the extravagance is not what it appears (most of the gold inside is only a gold leaf coating so it is cheaper than it appears, and there is a whole porcelain room except that only 2 things are actually made of porcelain while the rest is just wood painted to look similar). Even though they didn’t have a lot extra money, they took a lot of pains to make it look like they did so visitors would be discouraged from attacking this “rich” army. There are also paintings from Empress Maria Theresa’s wedding, and every person has a small number beside them and are labelled as to who they are; Mozart is in one of the paintings, but he was actually never there and was added in later (bit of old school Photoshop) once he got famous because Maria Theresa wanted people to think he was there.
