of Stockholm and soon-approaching spring break

Glasgow

After I returned from Dublin last week, I spent most of the week getting my work done before taking off for Stockholm.

I had a very productive day on Wednesday.  I finished my history paper and submitted it on Thursday.  On Thursday, Jacquie and I decided to attempt to go to Bothwell Castle, a 20 minute train from Glasgow.  We ate at a, as Jacquie phrased it, "little old man bar," for lunch before venturing to the castle.  When we got there, to our dismay, we discovered it is closed on Thursday and Friday.  Their sign and website said nothing about this.  Sad day.

Instead, we went for a walk/hike along the River Clyde.  It was a beautiful day, and Scotland looked beautiful as always.

Stockholm

Day One

Early last Friday morning, I left for my trip to Stockholm to meet my Beloit friend, Sam.  I took an early bus to Edinburgh to allow myself plenty of time to make my 12:20 flight.  Turns out, I allowed too much time and had to wait an hour before check in opened.  Note:  plan to arrive at the airport two hours (and not more) before RyanAir flights.

The flight from Edinburgh to Stockholm Skavsta was pretty smooth, until we began landing.  Then, it got a little turbulent.  We landed in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere.  We were surrounded by pine forests and plains--oddly like Minnesota.  Strange.

My bus to the city centre ended up getting stuck in traffic.  Once I got to the city centre, I got a little mixed up on directions to the hostel (Crafoord Place), but I made there safely around 7 p.m.  Sam had already been at Crafoord Place for a day.  Once I got some food, we headed out to explore Stockholm.

We walked through a large part of Gamla Stan (the Old Town) looking for a cheap bar.  Note:  inexpensive things do not exist in Stockholm.  Most restaurants charge upwards of 100 kroner ($15) for a meal and 45 kroner ($7) for the cheapest drinks.  Lame.  We found a Temple Bar in Stockholm (there was one in Dublin) and decided to stop there.  After grabbing a pint of Briska (cider), we headed into the hostel to call it a night.  

Day Two

On Saturday, we did some more walking around Stockholm, mostly through Gamla Stan and by the harbour. It was freezing!  In the sun it was pretty warm, but the wind was really nasty.  I think I got windburn.  We took an afternoon Winter (boat) Tour of Stockholm.  It was beautiful, but very cold.  We toughed out most of the tour before heading below deck.

Saturday night, we walked around Stockholm some more and went to the KGB bar that David (another Beloit friend) recommended.  It was strange and kind of goth, so we only stayed for one Briska.

Day Three

On Sunday, we went to the Royal Palace to catch the changing of the guard and take a tour.  The changing of the guard was pretty cool.  I caught a video of it.

The Royal Palace was beautiful--filled with all sorts of gold adornments.  Unfortunately, pictures weren't allowed inside.  Lame.  My favorite part of the Royal Palace was the Tre Kronor museum.  It would have been very cool to take pictures.  There was all sorts of historical stuff.

After the Royal Palace, we walked around Stockholm some more, seeing the city.  That night, we went down to Temple Bar and the Bishop's Arms for a drink before turning in for the night.

Day Four

Sam left early Monday morning and explored Stockholm by myself most of the day, since my flight didn't leave until Monday night.  I went around Gamla Stan and down a few random streets near the City Terminal.  It was fun.

It took what felt like forever to get back to Scotland and Glasgow.  But, I made it back to the flat around midnight on Monday.

Back in Glasgow

Most of this week, I worked on an essay for my film and literature class and prepared for spring break.  I finished my essay on Wednesday and went to the Charlie Sheen party at O'Couture with Anna and Ashley.  Clearly, even the Scots are fascinated with Charlie Sheen's antics.  It was a fun night.

Yesterday (Friday), we went on the EPIC international pub crawl.  Ashley, Anna and I were on the blue team (for the win).  We went to four different pubs around George Square/the Union before returning to the Union.  It was a fun night.

In five hours, Ashley and I are taking a bus to the airport for the first leg of our spring break journey!

We're going to Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, and Liverpool over the next 15 days!  It will be epic. :)

of schoolwork and a Scottish adventure

The past two weeks have been more about getting school stuff done than seeing the sights of Scotland.  That said, there has still been some Scotland fun involved.  :)

Last week,  I wrote my first paper at the University of Strathclyde, and, boy do I miss the Beloit paper turning in process.  It is way too complicated here.  You have to submit an electronic copy on myplace (Strathclyde moodle) and a hard copy in a box outside of an office.  And, it has to have a cover sheet printed from some random place on myplace.

Off and on since I've been here, I've been battling a cold.  I suppose that is what happens when you share a kitchen and bathroom with five other people.  Tea, especially peppermint, has been wonderful in making the cold better.

On Wednesday night last week, we went to a Mexican restaurant called Driftwood for Jacquie's birthday.  Though lacking some staples of Mexican food as we know it (refried beans, black beans, Spanish rice), the chicken fajita and margaritas were pretty good.

For class last week, my homework was to watch The Horror of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee.  Though the film was enjoyable, I was slightly disappointed that Christopher Lee's voice in 1958 sounds way different than it does in the 2000s.  It is not nearly so deep and booming as it was as Saruman.  Nevertheless, Christopher Lee has a way with portraying villains.

One of my professors who looks like he belongs to the Weasley family said something funny during the Dracula lecture.  We watched a clip of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi from the 1930s.  There is a part where Lugosi is motioning to another character to come towards him.  My professor said, "I've tried that move in the clubs.  It doesn't work."

Last Thursday, I wandered with Jacquie to a new part of Glasgow across the freeway.  Our original intent was to go on a tour of the Glasgow School of Art, but the tour was full.  So, we wandered up over the freeway and saw some more Glasgow.  There is a pretty cool walking bridge over the freeway.  It was the first of a week of beautiful sunny days.

Since my 10 a.m. lecture last Friday cancelled, I went with Ashley and Anna to The Garage Thursday night.  It turned out to be the best night at The Garage yet.  It was not super crowded and they played most of Ashley's favorite music.  Though we did not go in, they also had a hot tub, dunk tank, and massage room set up.

While we were in the bathroom, we ran into our bartender from the student union.  I talked to her friend, who I discovered had not only been to Minnesota, but had been to Bemidji!  I never expected to meet a Scottish person who knew where Bemidji, Minnesota is.

On Saturday, we went on a trip with the Strathclyde International Society to Blair Castle in the highlands of Perthshire.  It was another beautiful sunny day and the castle and grounds were awesome.

Though we had to get up and be on the bus at 7:30 a.m., we had a fun day exploring the castle and grounds.  Unfortunately, they did not allow us to take pictures inside all of the rooms--only in the ballroom, where they served us free (non-alcoholic) ginger wine.

Another part of the castle that I did not enjoy was that it had been revamped through the 19th and 20th centuries to fit the fashions.  The castle was more representative of the Victorian era than earlier eras.  Though I enjoyed the castle visit, it was not as fun as Dumbarton and Dirleton Castles.

After we finished up at the castle and ate our packed lunches, we headed off to the Famous Grouse Glenturret Whiskey distillery.

We learned a lot about the whiskey making process.  Our tour took us through each of the rooms:  milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, filling, maturing, and blending.  Glenturret is the one of few distilleries that does most of its work by manpower instead of machines.  Again, we were not allowed to take pictures inside.  The room where the whiskey matures had a comical sign:

At the end of the tour, we tried two samples of whiskey.  One was of single-malt Glenturret whiskey and the other was of the blended Famous Grouse whiskey.  I don't care for the burning of straight whiskey, but the flavour was good.

On Sunday, two exciting things happened.  I found Mountain Dew in the grocery store (for some reason called Mountain Dew Energy).  And most importantly, Ashley, Anna, and I booked our spring break adventures!  

• April 3-6:  Barcelona!
• April 6-9:  Madrid!
• April 9-12:  Paris!
• April 12-14:  Milan! (where Anna will join Ashley & I)
• April 14-18:  Rome!

And on our way back from Rome, we are flying to Liverpool and then taking the train up to Glasgow.  It is going to be legen - wait for it - dary!

On Tuesday, Jacquie and I finally made it on our tour of the Glasgow School of Art.  The building is really cool and I wish I could post pictures, but once again, they were not allowed.  It was designed by Glasgow's famous architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and had a lot of cool elements.  

On Thursday, I made mojitos and we returned to The Garage.  This week, we found the bouncy castle that we thought was going to be there last week.  And, they had something called a gunge tank that looks exactly like slime time from Nickelodean.

Tonight, I am going to see The Decemberists with Andrea and Jacquie!