Day Trip to Glasgow

The Wednesday after I got back from Oxford some friends and I decided to spend the day in Glasgow.  We took a train and it only took about an hour and a half from Edinburgh.  Glasgow has such a reputation here in Edinburgh that we thought it would be a shame to go back to America without seeing it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the city, especially considering all of the things I have heard from Edinburgh natives.  It definitely has a reputation for being a rough city (apparently it has some of the worst gang violence in Europe..yikes!)  Although I'm sure there are parts visitors would want to avoid, I thought it was really nice.  It is definitely much larger and more urban than Edinburgh and the buildings are slightly newer (18th/19th century I think), but still had and Old World charm that is hard to find in the states. 

We decided that the best way to get around was to take a bus tour, and after being heckled by two different companies in competition, we decided on one that would take us to all the major tourist areas and the West End. The tour began in George Square, which marks the center of the city.  It's a pretty large area lined with statues of lots of famous people and royals from the 1800's.  The next stop was the Doultan Fountain which was really pretty and very Italian looking.  A lot of the major sights in Glasgow are modelled off of Italian influences and there is an area that is completely based on a Venetian piazza, which I thought was really interesting. 

Our first hop off sight was the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.  The gardens were really impressive, and we were lucky to have a really nice day.  We spent a lot of time in one of the greenhouses (lots of venus fly traps..pretty cool!)  For lunch we had fish and chips at a local chip shop where we met a woman who had a great Glaswegian accent.  When one of us asked for a knife she quickly explained that she couldn't give out knives by law, probably a sign of how bad the gang violence is in Glasgow (red flag?)  We felt completely safe the whole time, but I thought it was pretty telling that you practically couldn't get a knife in the whole city!


greenhouse in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens


George Square in the Glasgow City Centre

Our next stop was Glasgow University.  It was beautiful! I am convinced that the University of Edinburgh students are just jealous of the Glasgow campus.  It would probably explain all of the trash talking.  The buildings that are original at the University of Edinburgh are much older, but many were rebuilt in the 1970s which was a source of major controversy.  At the University of Glasgow pretty much all of the buildings look as though they have been there since its establishment in the mid 1400's.  We walked through one of the main quadrangle areas and explored the main buildings of the campus. 


University of Glasgow


University of Glasgow quadrangle area

Next, we headed to Glasgow Cathedral.  We also got to cross the Clyde River into the famous West End, which is famous for being a really nice part of town and has some really old pubs.  As we crossed the Clyde, we could see some of the old ship-building rigs that made Scotland internationally famous during the Industrial Revolution.  We also saw GOMA (the modern art museum), but sadly couldn't go in.  Once we arrived at the cathedral, we walked the kirkyard which is up on a hill across the street from the church.  The cathedral itself was absolutely huge (probably quadruple the size of St. Gile's).  We walked all the way through it, and even got to visit the underground part which was really beautiful.  The cathedral is famous for being one of the very few in Scotland that survived the Scottish Reformation, so this was a really rare opportunity.  We spent the rest of the evening at an old pub that was established in 1797 and arrived back in Edinburgh around midnight (big day!)  It was a really nice day, and I'm glad that I can say that I have been to Glasgow since it's such a historic city.


Glasgow Cathedral from the kirkyard


Glasgow Cathedral kirkyard


lower level area of Glasgow Cathedral


pedestrian street

Weekend at Oxford University

Last Friday I made the long journey by train from Edinburgh to Oxford.  It was about seven hours with one stop in Newcastle in between, giving me lots of time to study for my exams (fun...)  The lengthy ride was well worth it though because I was able to visit a friend from high school who is there as a study abroad student, and a friend I met at Christie's last summer who is a full time student at Oxford.  Once I arrived I met Liza at a pub about a five minute walk from the train station right as she and her friend were leaving.  She explained that part of getting the full Oxford experience is eating "truck food" and ordered me a massive falafel wrap (definitely a good idea).  We then walked to her dorm in St. Catherine's College.  Oxford University works under a collegiate system, meaning that there are 38 separate colleges within the Oxford umbrella.  Some have their own cathedrals, deer parks (seriously), and sporting grounds and all have residence halls.  It's a really cool system that allows the university to feel much smaller and provides for tons of social opportunities.  Later that night St. Cat's put on an "Entz" which is one of the college's many socials held in their common area, which was really nice.  Cat's is a little different from some of the other colleges in that it was built later on and has much more modern architecture from the seventies, but it's still really nice.  The theme of the party was animals and there were lots of great costumes.  Lucky for me, Liza ran to Primark (British Walmart) and bought me cow print PJ pants before I got there, so I was well prepared.  It was such a great time, and I met all of her friends who were really welcoming (one was from Ceder Rapids!!)

On Saturday morning, Liza took me on a tour of Oxford.  Unsurprisingly, it was so beautiful and so different from Edinburgh!  The buildings are all sandstone and very collegiate looking.  We walked by Christ Church and through the park surrounding it.  I got to see the Thames and some Oxford rowers, which felt very British.  It seemed like everywhere I turned there was someone playing cricket or croquet, and apparently the university teams are really serious there, even though it was hard for me to get past how stereotypically British everyone looked.  We also went into the Ashmolean Museum, which I was really impressed with.  The collection of paintings was awesome, so naturally I was excited.  We also walked by some of the more historic university buildings like the Bodleian Library, which can be used only by Oxford students.  It is forbidden to take out any of the library books because most of them are so old, and it houses some of the oldest manuscripts (so cool).  Liza also told me that often the only way to get a book is by climbing rolling ladders, just like in the movies!  I so wish I could have gone in!


rowers on the Thames River


croquet players in front of Christ Church


the famous Bodleian Library


downtown Oxford

Later on we ate dinner at one of Oxford's historic pubs.  Liza took me inside one of the oldest ones called Eagle and Child, famous for being the favorite writing place of CS Lewis and JR Tolkein.  The atmosphere and super low ceilings definitely felt medieval, which was pretty cool.  After fish and chips for dinner, we headed back to Cat's and had a movie night.

On Sunday morning we woke up to two of Liza's friend dressed in all white asking if we wanted to go with them to a Holi Day paint fight.  Apparently it is a Hindu spring tradition to have a giant paint fight to welcome the new season.  Lucky for me I had a white shirt that I didn't care about!  It was so much fun and all of her friends from Cat's were there.  Afterwards we went to a sandwich shop and ate on the Bodleain steps covered in paint, such a good time!


Holi Day paint fight!

Afterwards we did a little more sightseeing and saw the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.  We also saw the Magdalen College Deer Park, one of the many amenities of the Oxford University colleges...  Later on I met my friend Hattie at Kings Arms, which is a favorite student pub.  It was so nice to see her since she lives in the UK, and we have so few opportunities to get together!  For dinner we bought sandwiches and ate with Liza's friends on the steps of Cat's.  I'm so glad she's met such great people at school, and I was so excited to get to know all of them!


University Church of St. Mary the Virgin


Magdalen College Deer Park

On Monday morning we woke up early and went to breakfast at the Grand Cafe, which was a favorite of Chelsea Clinton's when she attended Oxford.  We were feeling very British as we sipped tea and ate crumpets, which I realized are really what we call English muffins at home.  We also grabbed a cookie for the road from a well-liked place in Oxford's covered market.  On the way to the train station, Hattie biked over to say goodbye, which was really nice!  Then I was off to Edinburgh.  I had such an amazing weekend and was so grateful to be able to experience Oxford with people who actually go there since it is such an amazing and prestigious place.

The Grand Cafe, Chelsea's favorite!

fascinators just like Kate Middleton's!

covered market

typical Oxford street

The Royal Wedding

Congratulations Will and Kate!  It was so cool to be in the UK for the royal wedding!  I was hoping I would be able to go to London, but it turned out to be a little out of my price range since I'm fairly certain that every American exchange student in the United Kingdom had the same idea.  Either way, it was a great day.  Edinburgh Uni and the entire United Kingdom had the day off, so the atmosphere was really great.  Some friends and I got up nice and early and headed out to Teviot Hall (our student union) to watch the wedding on the big screen.  It was such an awesome experience to watch it with people who identify so closely with the royal family (or completely despise it as a waste of tax dollars).  Either way, it was definitely a major event for some of us here in Scotland.  I was so impressed with the ceremony, and even got a little weepy as Teviot Hall fell completely silent when Kate entered the cathedral with her father.  And of course I am completely obsessed with Kate's dress.  Hands down may favorite parts were the awkward moment of panic when William had to force the ring on his new wife's finger (at which point everyone in the bar cringed audibly) and the three-year-old bridesmaid who couldn't take the noise of the crowds on the balcony of Buckinham Palace.

Later that evening we contined the celebration and went to a party that gave out free masks of Will, Kate, Harry, Charles, and the Queen Mother, so that even us commoners could sport that glamorous royal look.  I still can't decide who looked better in that ever-stoic Queen Elizabeth mask; the DJ complete with a full sleeve of tattoos and piercings or the girl in the Hooters wife beater.  Both are images I am sure to never forget.


so close, yet so far away from the real thing!


This says it all.