Post-Italy, the first stop for my two friends and I was Scotland! They are sisters, and have relatives that live just outside of Stirling, Scotland that offered to house us for about 5 days. It was definitely one of the best places I've been to! I think through living with the locals we were able to get an even more accurate and fun view of Scotland, and the trip would not have been the same had we stayed in a hotel. While there, we did several day trips, to the cities of Edinburgh, Stirling, and Glascow.
EDINBURGH
Definitely worth it to spend the whole day, after breakfast through after dinner. We left before dinner time, and we still got to climb Scott's Monument (it gives a fantastic view of the city!), eat lunch, tour Edinburgh Castle, do a little shopping, have a few drinks... Especially the latter! Our hosts wanted to take us on a pub crawl, which we started in Edinburgh before heading back to their little village. However, we only went to a total of 4 pubs and were sad to hear we barely came close to a traditional pub crawl, which involves more like 10 or more pubs. Solid try? Sure!
STIRLING
We did a bit of a half-day trip to Stirling, which I think was plenty. A smaller city, we were on a mission to find a couple gifts for friends and family back home, and there were many shops to choose from for not only souvenirs but also just shopping in general. We walked up to the top of the hill where the Stirling Castle sits, too look out at the great view. Having toured the Edinbugh Castle already, and because our hosts said it was underwhelming, we decided to skip the Stirling Castle.
GLASCOW
This was such a fun city, and surprisingly artistic! We were told the Willow Tea Rooms were a must-visit, because they feature the architectural designs of famous designer Charles Renny Machintosh. After a yummy lunch, we came across the Lighthouse, the architectural center of Glascow. They had some cool exhibits, and naturally Lauren and I were in interior architecture heaven! We then found our way to the Gallery of Modern Art, a free museum that was worth the walk through. If we didn't have dinner plans with our hosts, and we had gotten there earlier, I think we could have used a longer amount of time in Glascow! There was so much to see and do, as well as good shopping. (Is it clear that I love to shop yet? Because I love window shopping!)
Although I loved exploring the larger cities of Scotland, it was so nice to also explore the area our hosts live, a village called Menstrie. A quaint little place, some of my favorite moments in Scotland were just exploring the hills leading to the Highlands and looking out over the village below.
Overall I loved my time in Scotland, and getting on the train to continue onto London was quite hard. I didn't want to leave! I'm already thinking about when I can come back, and have decided that Kyle must come with me. In trying to keep my personal life mostly personal, I haven't really spoken much about missing my fiancé while I've been away on study abroad. As I write this, it's my last night of the trip and I'm sitting in my bed in our hotel in Paris (posts about London and Paris to come!), and I have to say that while I'll miss Europe I am quite excited to be back and see Kyle, my family, and be back in Colorado. Kyle and I have done long distance for so long that we are used to this unfortunately. But this time it's been especially rough, especially because of time differences and my lack of an international phone plan. Like the huge sweetheart he is, he's making a trip out to Colorado to see me over my birthday, so we get to hang out with our friends and wedding plan... Together! I'm over the moon excited!
Anyway, like I said look for posts to come about my experiences in London and Paris, and I'll be back on normal posting schedule shortly as I arrive back in the States from my study abroad and travels in Europe!
Cheers, Ciao, and Au Revior for now!
--Caroline
