beautiful Barcelona

It's been nearly a month, and a busy one at that, since I last updated the blog.  From April 3 to April 18, I was travelling on spring break with Ashley and (partially) Anna.  My blog posts about spring break are going to be in the form of a blog post per city.  First up on spring break was Barcelona.

Day 1 (April 3)

Our first day of spring break was a deja vu to Dublin travel day--Ashley and I had to get up at 2:30 a.m. to catch a 4:30 a.m. bus to the airport, though our flight did not leave until 9.  Unfortunately, that was the only way of getting to the airport since buses and trains don't run in Glasgow until after 9 a.m. on Sundays.

We arrived in Girona Airport outside Barcelona in the early afternoon.  While waiting for our bus into Barcelona outside of the airport, we were surprised by a great number of mountains surrounding us.

The views on our bus ride into Barcelona were equally beautiful.  Spain is a really lovely country.

We didn't do much on our first evening in Barcelona, since we were tired from our travels.

Day 2 (April 4)

Our priority for our second day in Barcelona was to visit La Sagrada Familia, the infamous and incomplete cathedral, in progress since the 1800s.

When we arrived, we found the fairly huge line to get into the cathedral.  We ended up making friends with the lady behind us, who was from Cincinnati, and visiting Spain with her husband and elderly parents.  Our wait in line also made it clear why the cathedral is still in progress--we saw about four guys actually working on it.

La Sagrada Familia was a very beautiful cathedral.  The main hall was massive!  The details around the cathedral were very intricately done.  After we viewed all of the cathedral, we took a lift to one of the towers and crossed the bridge to walk down another tower.

We had very beautiful views of Barcelona from the bridge.  The spiral staircase down the tower was also a favorite of ours.  It was a kind of confusing tower staircase--it would  have hallways where you could choose two directions to go in, presumably both going down.  There were also a number of photo points along the way down, allowing us to take even more pictures with the backdrop of Barcelona.

Once we made our way down, we paused to take a picture with the statue of la sagrada familia, before grabbing a metro to our next destination:  el Estadi Olimpic (Olympic Stadium).

We had a somewhat desolate, rather woodsy walk from the metro to the Olympic Stadium.  When we reached the Olympic Stadium, we pleasantly discovered that it was free!  We took some pictures with the football (soccer) field and grabbed lunch at the Olympic Stadium Sports Cafe.

Outside of the stadium, there was a cool courtyard area.  There were two small and one massive fountains, stretches of grass, and an interesting tower.  We meandered around the courtyard for a bit before beginning the walk to Montjuic Castle.

Montjuic Castle was on top of a hill, so we decided to take the Teleferico (cable car) to the top of the hill.  The Teleferico was a little shaky, but it got us to the top of the hill safely.

Montjuic Castle, though not on par with Scottish castles, is in a pretty awesome location.  It is right by the Mediterranean Sea and has beautiful views of the city of Barcelona.  There wasn't really much to the interior of the castle--just an inner courtyard.  It had some massive cannons around the outer courtyard area, but that was about it.

After walking down the hill and back to our hostel, we decided to stay in for the night.  While hanging out at the hostel, we met two workers:  Chad the bartender from Australia who has been living in Barcelona for three years, and Peter from New York who just moved to Barcelona.

Day 3 (April 5)

We began our last day in Barcelona by souvenir shopping in the Placa Catalunya, a square filled with fountains and statues.  After finding our souvenirs and sitting in the Placa for a while, we headed to (initially) El Born, a medieval jousting place.

However, we missed our turn and decided to do Barceloneta Beach first, after grabbing lunch at a restaurant near the beach.  Barceloneta Beach was beautiful, but the Mediterranean Sea was freezing!  So, we sat on the beach (it was about 75 F and 25 C) for quite a while.

Once we tired of the beach, we decided to try to find El Born.  Either it was an unexciting square, or we didn't find it.  We did, however, find the Picasso Museum.  Maybe it's just us, but neither Ashley nor I found Picasso's art particularly "wow, this is amazing."  I think we just aren't big fans of modern art.

We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, so returned to the hostel to pack up our stuff for our flight to Madrid the next day.

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. :)

a wee trip to Dublin

Day One
My trip with Ashley and Anna to Dublin began far too early last Wednesday morning.  We got up at 2:30 a.m. and were at the Buchanan Bus Station by 4 a.m. to catch our bus to Prestwick Airport.  The bus ride wasn't so bad, but we ended up with a solid hour and a half after going through security of waiting in the Prestwick Airport.

Once we boarded our flight, it only took about 45 minutes to get to Dublin.  We arrived at around 8 a.m., got our passports stamped and found the bus to our hotel in Clondalkin, about a 45 minute bus ride from the city centre.

Luckily, when we arrived at our hotel, we were able to check in early and drop off our luggage before heading to the city centre.  We ate lunch at Eddie Rockett's, which was mediocre and overpriced.

After lunch, we went to explore Dublin Castle. Our attempts to find the inside of the castle were futile for quite some time.  While trying to discover the inside, we explored the grounds area, taking many pictures.  When we found the inside, we discovered that you can only see it in tours and tours were booked solid for a couple hours.  So, we continued exploring and enjoying the grounds on a lovely, sunny 45-50 degree day.

Our mission after Dublin Castle was to find a shop in which St. Patrick's Day apparel could be purchased.  We found a shop and we each purchased a new t-shirt for St. Patrick's Day, as well as some temporary tattoos.

We wandered through the Dublin city centre for a while, until we came upon Christchurch Cathedral.  We took some pictures outside and continued to enjoy the beautiful day.  Seeing the cathedral sparked our desire to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, so we set off again.  Along the way, I took a picture of something odd in Dublin:  all signs are listed in both Gaelic and English.

We arrived at the rather large St. Patrick's Cathedral and proceeded inside.  Due to some confusion at the till, we ended up not having to pay the entrance fee.  We wandered through the cathedral filled with statues, plaques, and other memorial items for a number of persons, including (strangely at first) Jonathan Swift the satirist.  Apparently he was involved in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

After our visit, we went to catch the bus back to our hotel in Clondalkin for the night.  This was when we discovered just how unreliable Dublin route 69 is when we ended up having to take a different route back that dropped us much further away from our hotel.

Day Two
The second day of our Dublin visit was St. Patrick's Day.  We got up fairly early, grabbed breakfast, and headed out to catch the bus.  The 69 bus was once again unreliable.  It never showed up.  We ended up taxi-ing with a couple from West Virginia.  We arrived in the city centre around 11 a.m., about an hour before the start of the parade.  We nabbed a good spot towards the end of the parade route and waited...until nearly 1:30 before the parade reached us.  At least it was another beautiful day in a row.

The parade was both awesome and very strange.  There were people dressed in costumes that made sense.  For instance, someone was dressed as Dracula (a character created by Irish author Bram Stoker).  Other parts of the parade made less sense.  One of the bands was playing "Firework" by Katy Perry and another part of the parade was playing Michael Jackson's "Thriller."  This upset Ashley because dead fish to "Thriller" was disrespecting Michael Jackson.

Overall, the parade was pretty cool.  There were some interesting acrobatic elements.  There was a pair of people doing tricks on a pole and a guy with bouncing stilts.  Most of the costumes were really colorful and there was a great deal of elaborate makeup.

After the parade finished, we picked up some chips and cheese (fries with shredded cheese on top) before heading to THE Temple Bar of the Temple Bar district.  It was extremely crowded!  We were getting shoved everywhere in our attempt to get to the bar to buy the 6 euro pint of Guiness and in an attempt to find somewhere to stand or sit.  Eventually, we ended up in a little platform up a little set of stairs.

We spent a few hours in Temple Bar talking to some boys we met who were from Austria, Alex, Matthew and Seth.  While we were chatting with them, we noticed some men wearing How I Met Your Mother themed t-shirts.  (MacLaren's Irish Pub on the front, Haaaaaaave you met *insert name* on the back.)

Around 7 or 8, we decided it was time to start heading back to our hotel.  After waiting nearly an hour, we finally caught 51c back to Clondalkin after 69 failed to show up yet again.

Day Three
On Friday, the sole item on our agenda was to tour the Guiness Brewery.  We decided to avoid the 69 bus stop and to go straight to a different route's stop.  Ironically, we ended up taking bus 69 anyway.  Silly bus 69.

We arrived at the Guiness Brewery around 2 p.m. to stand in a really long line.  We realized that the day after St. Patrick's Day is probably one of the Brewery's biggest days of the year.  The wait in line wasn't so long--about a half hour outside and 15 minutes inside.  The tour was pretty much self-guided.  We went through rooms with TVs telling us about the brewing processes.

It started with the ingredients.  First, Barley, which we got to touch, then hops and water.  Following ingredients were brewing, roasting, mashing, fermentation and maturation.  After we went through all the sections, we got to taste Guiness Draught.

At the end of the tour, we had the option to use our free pint vouchers to either pour our own pints or to get one from the Galaxy Bar.  We chose to pour our own pints and then headed up to the Galaxy Bar to observe the 360 degree views of Dubin on yet another beautiful, sunny day.

After we finished up at the Brewery and purchased some souvenirs, we headed back to our hotel.

Day Four

On Saturday, Ashley and Anna went to the Dublin Zoo while I explored a few literarily nerdy museums.  I went through the city centre, past the Spire and O'Connell Street, to visit the Dublin Writer's Museum on yet another beautiful day.  

The Dublin Writer's Museum had a self-guided audio tour (by a phone) through the exhibits.  The museum had biographies of important Irish authors, such as Jonathan Swift and James Joyce.  Parts of the exhibits included original editions of the authors' works and letters written by the authors.  The museum was overall very interesting.

I went to the James Joyce Centre after finishing up at the Writer's Museum.  The James Joyce Centre had articles belonging to James Joyce during his lifetime, his biography, his family history, and the difficulty in publishing Ulysses.  There were three documentaries in one of the rooms focusing on different aspects of James Joyce.

Still having some time before Ashley and Anna finished up, I headed to take a picture of the James Joyce statue and the Molly Malone statue.  They were pretty crowded with tourists, so I ended up snapping pictures with random people in them anyway.

Saturday night, we grabbed a Guiness in the hotel bar and packed up for our return to Glasgow.

Day Five

On Sunday, we journeyed back to Glasgow.  For our route back, we chose to take a train from Dublin to Belfast, a ferry from Belfast to Stranraer, and a train from Stranraer to Glasgow.  It ended up being quite a long day.

Since the bus doesn't run until 11 a.m., we ended up taking a taxi to the train station to catch our 10 a.m. train.  The journey was pleasant, overall.  There were some noisy people on the train, but the scenery was beautiful.  

We arrived in Belfast with barely enough time to taxi to the harbour and catch our ferry to Stranraer.  The ferry ride was a little long, but it was likewise beautiful.  

We arrived at Stranraer at around 4:30 and were disappointed to realize that it is a pretty boring town.  There wasn't anything near the ferry/train station, nor was there much inside the station.  Luckily, there was a snack bar to grab dinner from.  It was a long three hour wait for our train back to Glasgow.

The train ride itself was also rather lengthy.  But we finally were back in Glasgow and at our flat at around 10:30 p.m.  We were sad to leave Dublin, but at least it was going back to Glasgow, and not returning to North America.

The Decemberists and Approaching Departure to Dublin!

The past ten days have been more on the academic and less on the diversion side of things as I approach what I shall dub the month of travels.

Before I delve into my extreme excitement for all the Europe I'm going to explore, here's the highlights of the past ten days.

On Saturday, March 5, I went to the extremely EPIC Decemberists concert with my lovely flatmates Andrea and Jacquie.  It was a wonderful concert experience.  The venue was fairly small and with the heights of my flatmates and I, we made a tier so that all of us could see.  And, no, I was not the shortest.

For any Decemberist fans following my blog, here's their set list:

• California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade
• Calamity Song
• Rox in the Box
• Rise to Me
• July, July!
• The Rake's Song
• Los Angeles, I'm Yours
• Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
• The Crane Wife 3
• January Hymn
• Don't Carry It All
• Down By the Water
• 16 Military Wives
• Sons and Daughters
• Eli, the Barrow Boy (Encore 1, Song 1)
• The Mariner's Revenge Song (Encore 1, Song 2)
• June Hymn (Encore 2)

The concert was, all in all, amazing!  Not only are The Decemberists fantastic live, but lead singer Colin Meloy could double as a comedian.  He was hilarious in his interactions with the crowd.

My favorite song performed that night was The Mariner's Revenge Song (the link is to a live performance of it, but unfortunately not the last one).  Other favorites of the night were Don't Carry It All (link from the performance) and 16 Military Wives.

Much of last week was about getting papers and readings done so that I can have a worry-free trip to Dublin.  I turned in a Victorian Literature essay on Friday.  On Sunday, I had my most productive day of the semester.  I printed my RyanAir and train tickets, did all my reading for class this week, found and checked out seven books for my history paper, skimmed and pulled quotes into an outline from all seven books, and did a few hours of blogwork.  It was a successful day.

Unfortunately, when I plugged my adaptor into the plugin the living room (that I had used before), it got fried. I think it was because the plug in was loose.  It made a weird noise and hasn't worked since, so I had to buy a new one.

I also did a lot of preparing for the flights.  I picked up a carryon that will suit RyanAir's standards.  Now, I just need to make sure it's under 10 kg (22 lbs), and I'm golden.  I'm a little nervous for dealing with RyanAir because I have heard a number of bad things, but I'm sure it will turn out okay.

Today, I went to the Kelvingrove Museum of Art and History.  The museum is HUGE.  It spans two really large floors, a total of about eight wings and two courts.  It was pretty cool.  My favorite section was the one on knights, weapons and armour.

I also finished packing for Dublin!  I think my bag is underweight, but I'm leaving my laptop in the flat just in case.  Only 5.5 hours until we leave for Dublin!  :)

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! 

classes, clubs, cooking and castle!

My first four weeks,  or nearly a month, in Glasgow have flown by far too fast.

The past ten days have been a tale of flatmate fun, classes, going to clubs, cooking/baking and seeing another castle.

Last Friday, we went to O2 ABC nightclub.  The layout was nice, and I enjoyed the indie-like music played on one of the floors, though it was not dance-conducive.  Saturday was a return to the Garage for the Traffic Light Party.  Ashley and I were supposed to get free glowsticks upon our entry, but they apparently ran out before we arrived.  The music and atmosphere were really good.

Earlier on Saturday, Andrea, Anna, Jacquie and I tried Assam's Indian Restaurant.  Their chicken patia (sweet & sour) was truly delicious.  It wasn't all that expensive either--only about five pounds ($7-8).

On Monday, Ashley, Anna and I ventured to the birthday store to prepare for the week, or more accurately ten days, of birthdays (Mine, Ashley and Jacquie's).  We bought balloons, noise-makers, banners, crowns, pins and fancy 21st glasses.

I turned 21 on Tuesday.  It still hasn't really hit me this year.  Maybe it's because 21 isn't a big birthday in the UK.  Anyway, Tuesday afternoon, I went to Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow dating back to 1471.

The house was really awesome.  It had an array of cool, old furniture--chairs, tables, etc.  And, almost every room had at least one fireplace.  There was a really epic spiral staircase in the house, too.  All the awesome spiral staircases here make me want one in my future house one day.

Tuesday night, in keeping with American tradition, my flatmates, friends and I headed to Barony Bar in the Student Union.  It was a really fun night with friends and the DJ played some pretty good music, including Ashley's request of "Right Round."

On Thursday, I made my first attempt at baking in the UK.  I made the chocolate chip cookies that I frequently make at home.  Though they did not turn out as well as usual, they were still pretty good.  Finding shortening was an issue--I ended up with some "baking vegetable fat" which sounded similar.

Ashley, Anna and I booked our trip to Dublin March 16-20 for St. Patrick's Day.  Well, by booked, we have our flight there and our hotel.  We are hopefully taking the train and ferry back, but they cannot be booked more than 28 days ahead of time.

On Friday, I returned to Glasgow Necropolis and Glasgow Cathedral with Ashley and Anna.  We had a lovely afternoon exploring the beautiful graveyard and ancient cathedral.

Jacquie and I ventured to Dumbarton, Scotland (a half hour train ride out of Glasgow) on Saturday afternoon to see Dumbarton Castle.  Before walking to the castle, we searched for a cafe to eat lunch at.  Unfortunately, we happened across the most depressing square that I have seen in Scotland.  K.F.C., McDonald's, Domino's, Subway, a New York Italian restaurant and, the worst of the worst, Asda, part of the Wal-Mart family.  Luckily, we spotted a Maritime Museum with a cafe inside.

Dumbarton Castle was amazing!  As we approached it, Jacquie was worried that the huge cliff we saw with a castle-like gate at the top was something that we would have to climb.  It turns out, she was partially right.

The castle was spread out all across the hill.  Luckily, the journey up was staggered with stops to see various cliff/castle parts.

My favorite parts of Dumbarton Castle was the cliffs, the river and the cannons.  There were literally a dozen cannons!  It was absolutely gorgeous!  We truly felt that we were in Scotland.  The views were fantastic.  The trip was well worth it!

On Saturday night, we had a little flat party in honor of our birthdays (Mine on the 15, Ashley's on the 20 and Jacquie's on the 24).  Jacquie made a delicious cake and our French friends Mathieu and Maxime made us a lovely apple tart.  Following our pastry-filled party, we went to The Garage (again) for a night of dancing and fun.

pure dead brilliant

Pure dead brilliant:  A very Glaswegian phrase.  Used to enthusiastically describe something that is really great.

The past ten days ranged from chill to adventurous, but have certainly been pure dead brilliant.

Last week involved spending a lot of time, in the flat and out about Glasgow, with the flatmates.  My flatmates are a great, crazy, fun bunch of girls to be around. Our flat, though small, is wonderful.  The little, literally, kitchen is going to see a great deal of baking this term.  We've already lost track of how many batches of cookies we've made, but it's been quite a bit.  And, of course, last and this week involved the usual 12 Hour Tuesday adventure and time spent in the Union.

On Tuesday last week, I went to St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art.  I confess that I am no museum expert, but St Mungo's is fantastic and my current favorite.  St Mungo's brings together religious art from a number of religions and lays them out comparatively.  For instance, the first art room had Buddhist, Egyptian, Greek, Christian, and Jewish art items.

The best section, hands down, is the religious life room.  The layout serves its purposes well.  You walk into the room and go down a row showcasing the phases of life as interpreted by different religions:  Birth, Childhood, Coming of Age, Sex and Marriage, and Death.  The space also exhibits the main world religions in depth:  Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

The second floor examined the idea of death--perspectives on what happens and the idea of the soul.  The top floor explored the evolution of religion in Scotland and the current religions represented.

On Wednesday last week, there was an internet loss spree throughout the flat.  At one point, Ashley, Jacquie, Cherie and my internet were all down.  Without internet on a quiet night in the flat, we had nothing to do but finally take out the approaching overflowing bathroom garbage.  Surprisingly, we came back to the flat to discover the internet returned.  Conclusion:  the flat gods decided that we needed to clean before we could have play time.

Last Thursday, the Strathclyde International Society held a welcome meeting.  We were able to bring up ideas of places we want to go during this term.  Some of the popular options that will hopefully happen are Loch Lomond, Inverness/Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, Edinburgh, Whisky Distillery, International Pub Crawl, and, of course, some castles.

On the academic side of things, I'm adjusting to classes here well.  It is still strange to only have class seven hours a week and to have huge classes.  Even if classes are kind of "meh," at least there's the intriguing aspect of the Scottish and British accents of the professors.  Also, one of my professors' looks like part of the Weasley family.

Jacquie and I went to a lovely café called Tinderbox.  It looks very cool inside and had delicious tea and cappuccino (I tried both).  I love having access to a number of coffee shops and tea rooms.  :)

On Saturday, I discovered the best clothing store ever, Primark.  Primark has a vast amount of inexpensive and nice clothing.  I've spent about $40 American and got three dresses, two tops, and a pair of shoes.  Well worth it.

Ashley, Andrea, Anna, Terance (our friend from Singapore), and I went to the club The Garage (pronounced "Gare-ige").  It was a pretty fun experience.  Although, the bouncer was questioning as to why the corner of my driver's license was clipped (I just renewed it), but they let me in anyway.  I think we're going to Garage again tomorrow for the Traffic Light Party.

I went to Glasgow Necropolis on Monday.  A necropolis is, essentially, a huge city-like cemetery.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The monuments, hill, sky, everything was beautiful on Monday.  I definitely plan to explore the Necropolis some more--especially since it is just down the street.

The most epic part of Tuesday was that Andrea, Jacquie, and I purchased tickets to see The Decemberists in concert IN GLASGOW on March 5!  There will be epic times had by all.  :D

Wednesday was one of my favorite days in Scotland so far.  Ashley, Andrea, Jacquie and I took a train to North Berwick because Jacquie had missed an architectural field trip to see some street.  We discovered that Dirleton Castle was only two miles from the quaint town of North Berwick.  Before heading to the castle, we ate in the splendid Tiffany's Tea Room.

After our two mile walk through the beautiful Scottish countryside with the North Sea in not far to the right of the road, we arrived at the beautiful, ancient Dirleton Castle.

The castle, though it has been eroded through time and battles, is a wonderful place to explore.  We were the only ones in the castle that day and we had a great time seeing everything it had to offer.  It had so much history--the oldest parts of the castle date back to the 13th century.

After over an hour of exploring/playing in the castle, we headed back to the train station.  On the train back to Glasgow, we met a nice guy, Dan, who attends the University of Glasgow.  He offered to introduce us to his friends and show us around the West End of Glasgow.  

Last night, Andrea, Jacquie, and I decided to go to The Scotia Bar, Glasgow's oldest pub, established in 1792.  The Scotia Bar was a quaint old pub, full of regulars and live music.  We sat in a lovely corner booth, chatting and enjoying the music.  We met a pair of older Scottish ladies who teach at a local school.  They were pretty fun to talk to and we had an enjoyable night.

My new thoughts on Glasgow (that I've managed to remember and write down) are numerous.  

• The Midwest snowstorms last week made me really appreciate the rains and winds of Glasgow.
• An interesting realization is that Glasgow, at all times, to some extent, smells like beer.  That can be quite startling in the morning.
• Because of the internet settings, my AVG Free Anti-Virus refuses to update.  If I get a virus, Strathclyde IT better kill it.
• At grocery stores, you are expected to bag your own groceries.  If you do not bring a reusable bag, you have to pay three pence for a plastic one.
• UK shoe sizes are, as Jacquie said, very friendly.  While in the US, I would wear a 9, I wear a 6-6 1/2 here.
• Clothing sizes, however, are less friendly.  I'm an 8 instead of a 5.

Until next week, laters!