Italy for the weekend!!

So this last weekend I went to Torino, Italy to visit Brandon! It had been 2 months since we had last seen each other... which is FAR TOO LONG!!!!

Because neither Brandon nor I have cars, most of my journey to visit him relied on public transport. This has been interesting for me, because I have never had to DEPEND on a bus or train for anything. 

I left the University of Stirling on the bus headed to the train station and was on my way. I left on Friday morning, and so the University was hustling and bustling with lots of things going on.

When I got to the train station, I got in line for my ticket not knowing when the next train was. I got there at 10:32 and the next train to Edinburgh was leaving at 10:36!!! GAHH, and OF COURSE I was in line behind a lady who was 100 years old and wanted her change in coins that were 2005 or newer, because she just doesn't trust that the old money is good. So I got my ticket FINALLY and had to run over the bridge to get to my train, BUT I MADE IT!!!!! So I made the hour journey to Edinburgh!!

I got off at my stop at Haymarket, walked out of the front of the train station and saw this little beauty....

I can't even tell you how ECSTATIC I was to see Starbucks. We don't have one in Stirling, and I'll be honest, our coffee SUCKS! I've pretty much given up on all but 1 place for a cup of joe.
So I RAN in, and had the quickest service of my life. Got a Grande Peppermint White Mocha, which is pretty much HEAVEN in a CUP!!!

So after I got my little cup of heaven, I decided I should be on the look out for the bus. I went over to the bus stop, and the bus pulled up that I needed to. I was about to board and the bus driver says the six worst words I've ever heard in my life. "You can't take that on here". I was literally only 5 or 6 sips in and it was either drink it or wait an HOUR for the next bus!! GAH. So I had to leave it on the side of the street. That should be a crime!!!!!
So I got to the airport, a little annoyed with Mr. bus driver. But I got to Edinburgh Airport and got through security in a breeze. I made it to my gate, where I saw some things that made me laugh, that I feel like I need to share.

Ice cream vending machine....lol

That's right, pregame for the plane, good idea folks...hahah

So I boarded my direct flight to Milan, and directly behind me was a little Italian family. They had a daughter who was probably 4 or so, and she was learning English. This is funny because before I left, Brandon wanted to make sure that I knew a few words in Italian, so that if I needed help I would not be entirely screwed in asking for help. So this little girl was going over some of the words that I had learned in Italian and then saying them in English! lol. So I had a mini-review session with a 4 year old and she didn't even know it!!! hahaha.
We landed in Milan and I guess something that is common is to land and not have a Jetway for passengers to walk out of, so they have to take buses to the terminal. This was rather ridiculous in this circumstance.

The plane in the background is what we got off of. And we had to wait 15 mins to get everyone off the plane and in to buses to travel a 30 second amount of time.

From here I had to go through customs and immigration, which was okay. They stamped my passport!!! and I didn't even have to ask, which was exciting! My passport is going to be JAM PACKED full when I get home!!
I only had 30 mins from the time I got off the airplane to make the shuttle we booked that goes directly to Torino,  I had to jam to get there on time. I left the baggage claim area, following the signs to the bus depot, and made it with 5 minutes to spare!! I got on the bus and then realized how exhausted I was, and I hadn't eaten besides the 5 sips of Starbucks!!!! 

So needless to say I was ready to get to Torino!! but I did sleep on the bus for an hour. I was probably that one person snoring and everyone else is laughing about it. But I did NOT care!! lol. I was so tired, nothing mattered!
I was getting off at the last stop of the bus in Torino, and Brandon was meeting me at the stop. There was a bus/metro strike that day, which resulted in us having to make 3 mile walk back to Brandon's apartment.
But needless to say I was stoked to see Brandon!!!!

Well I don't want to try and cram a whole weekend into one post, so I'll leave you here. Until next time,
Molly

Ceilidh

Thursday Night I went to a ceilidh, pronounced kaylee. This is a traditional Scottish dance filled with tons of traditional dances.
I got ready with Amanda and Allie, in Allie's dorm and then we were off!!! We had to take the bus down to the Red Lion Hotel in Stirling. It was actually a really nice hotel, and we made our way up to the ballroom.

Dressed for the Ceilidh!!

So how this works is they get a few people to go to the dance floor to teach everyone else how the dance goes, and then everyone else goes up and dances with them. But this is not club dancing in the SLIGHTEST!!!! you are dancing with partners who swing you around and there are "heel toes" involved...lol

Something funny that happened, is Allie is my the girl on the left. She got asked to dance by this rather "strange" fellow, and being polite she said she would. He was probably the worst dancer on the face of the planet..... What they're doing there is supposed to be the waltz position......hahah. but she was a good sport about it. and when asked again she had the guts to say no!!! lol.

This is a fun Scottish dance though. At one point in the dance they pick up the girls and spin them around in a circle!!

Amanda and I dancing to one of the dances!!

I had a fabulous time at the ceilidh, and absolutely would do it again!! I hope that there is another one within the semester!! This is definitely a cool Scottish tradition, and makes me wish that we had something traditional like this.

Stirling Castle

     Saturday Amanda, George and I went to Stirling Castle! We met up at 12, having some general idea of where to go, but in all reality did not really know where we were going. I mean it’s a castle, so kind of hard to miss, but still.We managed to make it to Stirling Castle after some serious uphill walking we made it to the castle entrance.

HAHA, funny sign for Amy

I'm trying to get jumping pictures in front of every castle I go to!!!

Stirling Castle is very cool, and has some great history as well. It is one of the most important and influential castles of the area. Stirling sits at a crossroads of East and West, and also the crossing of the River Forth. It is said that whoever controlled Stirling, controlled Scotland. So it is also known as the “Heart of Scotland”. Stirling Castle sits upon Castle Hill, which is surrounded on 3 sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Stirling castle has also been famous for several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543. There have only been eight sieges of Stirling Castle. 

So we went inside, and looked around, and I decided I desperately needed coffee........

It's magical....hahah

The coffee wasn't too bad, and we headed out to the "Bowling Greens". We caught up with a tour guide who was guiding a group around the castle, and we decided to join in. This guy was a great story teller, plus he was wearing plaid pants, so he was pretty cool. lol. 

He took us around to the different courtyards and told us about the different things going on around the castle. 

Palace in the castle!!

George and myself in the bowling greens.

wall above the cliffs

Sky walk.......

So we walked around the grounds and then walked under a sky walk...lol. from the 15th century. And we walked into the main square of the Castle. There are many different buildings that different royalty had built. It is clear in the age of buildings as well as architecture. One of the buildings was the chapel where Mary Queen of Scots was crowned. There is also a building where someone was murdered and it is said to be haunted because he is an angry ghost.

This is the museum of the highland military from Stirling. It also holds one of the biggest silver collections, pretty much ever! lol. It was really cool!!

This is a picture of the building holding the "Great Hall". I guess the whole castle used to be covered in this goldy/yellow material. So the castle literally glowed, especially compared to all the stone around. I bet a WHOLE castle made out of "King's Gold" as they called it. Would have been spectacular!!

Below are pictures inside the chapel. There are many historic evens that happened in this specific chapel. There were coronations held in this room. So that felt very historic to go there!!

Next we went into the "Great Hall". This room was primarily used for feasts and events. When we got into this room there was a funny dressed guy talking about what it would be like attend a feast like ones that were held in this room. 

Great Hall

We even hung around to get a picture with him!! hahah

Next we went around looking at some of the grounds. There was a the Douglas Garden, which was dedicated to the man that was killed by the king. This sign cracked me up......

Read that, yes it says peaceful garden, and murdered and thrown his body on the same sign.  

The Nether Baileys and the outer wall of Stirling Castle

Beautiful steep cliffs!!

After exploring the grounds we headed down to the Nether Baileys to see the tapestry exhibition. This was not at all what I was anticipating. I was expecting museum type looking at tapestries. But instead it was literally a workshop where they were working on the next tapestry to go in the "Great Hunt of the Unicorn" set. I have a new found respect for tapestry workers. That work is extremely intricate.....
The one thing that kept going through my mind while we were watching them work is
Suicide rates for tapestry creators must be insanely high!! I don't think I could work an entire day on a piece and only get a square inch of flowers done. NOT MY CUP OF TEA!!!

Next we went to the "Great Kitchens" Exhibit. This is where the working kitchens for the whole castle where housed. They had a separate bakery, and butcher among other rooms. This is a scene in there and all I could think about is,

There's no use in crying over spilled milk, unless you're getting yelled at, then YES YOU CRY!!

Stirling castle was beautiful!! and definitely a must see for those who come to Stirling! It was really fun and interesting day learning about the history of this town that I am living in!! 

Until we meet again!

Edinburgh For the Weekend!!

So, since I am living in Scotland, some friends and I decided that we should get out of Stirling and see some of the other cities in Scotland! This weekend we decided to go to Edinburgh. It is only an hour train ride away, and it is much bigger than Stirling, which means more shopping! So we headed out first thing Saturday morning. After many things that we had to turn around and go back to our dorms for, we were off! We hoped on the bus and went to the train station. Now I had never rode a train before this, well besides a field trip in Elementary school where we went in a circle, and the Santa train at the train museum in Carson City. So I had never taken a trip on a train, so I was EXCITED!!!

So we rode the train for an hour and then we were in Edinburgh. It was really neat riding the train in, because on the right side of the train you can see these sheer cliffs and on top of the cliff is a castle!!! Edinburgh castle is positioned on top of castle rock in Edinburgh. It was a military strategy, seeing as it is nearly impossible to sneak up on a castle overlooking all of Edinburgh. It was breath-taking!!
So we got off the train, and had no idea where we were going. So we followed someone and came up on a bridge on "Calton St". So we found the nearest cafe and grabbed breakfast. We hadn't eaten yet, and they had coffee and muffins, so it was hard to go wrong. So we figured out exactly where we were and how we were going to get around. We got oriented to go toward the castle and headed out.

Some of the major streets that we hit when headed toward the castle were Princes St, where some of the major shopping is, including Princes Mall. We came to a garden, which supposedly maybe had a footpath to the castle, but it didn't end up being so easy. We walked around this park but were unable to get to the Castle from there. So we headed up a street with like a 35% incline!!! it was INSANE!!! but we finally made it to the "Royal Mile", aka High Street.

So we walked to the castle and when we got inside we decided to do an audio tour of the castle. Some of the sights within the castle were Mon's Meg, which is a huge old cannon. Also there was Margaret's Chapel which is actually the oldest building in all of Edinburgh.

the great room!

we did a sample of the scotch, and let me tell you,
it was AMAZING!!!

Mon's Meg ( a huge cannon)

We also saw the "Royal Honors" which were the crown jewels that were given to Queen Elizabeth at 9 months old. They were lost for some time, and found in a chest 111 years later. It was AMAZING seeing a real crown, scepter and sword. It felt very Princess Diaries....hahah. It's funny that that is the closest experience I've had to Royalty and it's customs. We also saw Mary Queen of Scots bedroom and closet, as well as an awesome Great Hall.
So we left the Castle after being there for 3 or so hours and headed down the Royal Mile. We were on the hunt for Mary King's Close. Which is access to a part of the underground city under Edinburgh. When The Royal Mile was built, rather than demolishing the old housing, they just closed it in and built on top of it. Resulting in an underground city. These skyscrapers were built in the 1600's and some of the original material remains in tact. So we meandered down Royal Mile and found a place for dinner. We stopped at Deacon Brodie's Tavern when we saw a menu and a sign saying restaurant upstairs!

So we had to make our way through this Tavern. But keep in mind that there is a huge rugby tournament going on, so the taverns are slammed. We hadn't been to the hostel yet so we all had our bags, so trying to squeeze through was kind of a nightmare!! lol. But we made it upstairs and ate a great dinner. Including dessert!!

plaid carpet!!!! inside the tavarn

So when we finished there we were still looking for Mary Kings Close. We did however find a Starbucks!! Which was exciting!!!!!! I hadn't seen a Starbucks in over 2 weeks! So that was a redeeming quality of Edinburgh. lol.
So we were walking around some of the little shops including tartans, kilts, Scotland sweatshirts and tons of CASHMERE!!!

we found Mary King's close but decided to come back and go tomorrow.
So we decided to head towards the Hostel seeing as we had a long walk and were already tired from the long day of walking, plus it was getting dark. We found a short way to go, but that included an alley and going under and overpass. Which sounded like everything that we're told to avoid always. lol. So we opted for the more lit and populated route.
We made it to where we were told our Hostel would be, and it was no where to be seen!!! I was pretty much losing it, but thank GOD Allie and Amanda were there. Being in a city already makes me a little anxious, so to be on foot, tired and can't find where I need to go made me anxious! but Amanda and Allie to the rescue, we got directions and got a new heading!!!
lol
We made it to the Youth Hostel in no time and got checked in. We were put in a room with like 5 other people and seeing as we came in later than the other people, we got all top bunks....yeah that's right bunk beds. lol. Sleep didn't come that night. Every time I was falling asleep, the girl in my bunk would roll over!!!! So I stayed awake trying to count sheep, count money, solve the problems of the world, remember where exactly we went, among other things. Well needless to say I didn't wake up feeling refreshed. We were woken at 7 when our alarm wasn't until 8. So, we decided just to get up and go find breakfast. We ate breakfast at a pub in the Omni, which is like a city center. It had a gym, theatre, pub, among other things.

Breakfast: Pancakes and Sausage 

We had to be at Mary King's Close at 9:50, and it was only 8:30 when we left. We walked to the Royal Mile and found the Starbucks!!!!

We went in and I ordered my FAVORITE DRINK IN THE WORLD!!! even after not sleeping, it made me a happy camper!!

Heaven in a cup!!!!

I got a peppermint white mocha, which is pretty much heaven in a cup! and they served it in a mug with whipped cream on top!! AMAZING!!!! We headed to Mary King's Close and had to wait a few minutes for our tour to start. They had an adorable gift shop with lots of silly fun things!!

One of the silly things in the gift shop!! Why did I not buy this???????

We went to Mary King's Close and it was about an hour tour underground, but it was amazing. They showed us paths that used to be open to the sky, and different apartments and what they looked like. It was pretty amazing to see the actual standards of living during the 1600's. There was one of the paranormal activity type TV shows that did an episode there, and it was dubbed one of the most haunted places in all of Europe. It wasn't too scary, but we went when it was just a historical tour. There are ghost and haunted aimed tours. But it was pretty amazing. They wouldn't allow us to take photos or video since it is a government building.

After Mary King's Close we went to find the Elephant House. Which is the cafe that J.K. Rowling went to write all of the Harry Potter books. There are a couple of signs and things on the outside that say Harry Potter was born here, but the inside is supposedly unchanged. It was very neat to go there, and Allie and Amanda purchased Hot Chocolates from there. But I was still pumped full of my Mocha!!!

Next we went to find the school that inspired Hogwarts. Which was just around the corner. As we were walking there, there was a man screaming and running with a broken beer bottle. which needless to say FREAKED ME OUT!!!!! All I could think was we need to get as far away as possible as quick as possible.
So we found the school that inspired Hogwarts, but it is interesting. The building across the street reminded me of Hogwarts more than the school itself. So that was interesting. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful, but it just didn't have any of the turits or iron work or roofing.

This looks like Hogwarts to me

Across the st

Building across from school, that looked more hogwartsy to me

This is the actual school

So after that we went down to Princes St, to do some shopping. We went into Princes Mall and didn't find much. The day before we had seen a girl with an Urban Outfitters bag and we were on the hunt for Urban Outfitters. But it wasn't in the mall. So we walked Princes St, but didn't find it.

Today there was also that same rugby match, only today Scotland and Ireland were playing. So needless to say there were TONS of Irish in town, and the match was being played in Edinburgh.
I wanted a "Scotland" scarf, I mean we're here for this event, so why not. But I couldn't find one. Scotland ended up losing anyway.
We went to the train station, conveniently named the "Waverly Station".  When I went there, all I could think is about Wizards of Waverly Place. Which is a fun show!!! lol.
So my weekend was filled with walking and fun!!!!
Really glad I was able to get out of Stirling for a few days and enjoy some time out. My feet and legs are sore, and bank acct hurting. But it was fun!!!

on campus!! BEAUTIFUL

Until Next Time,