A Tale Through Scotland

5 July 2013

Beautiful green hills and plunging cliffs. Castles and Marshes covered with age. These things are part of the mysterious beauty Scotland retains. The landscape is so green and flushed with cleanness everywhere. Early this morning I set out on a hike with several other of my friends to Dun Hill, located about an hour and a half from Edinburgh. The hike was beautiful with lots of greenery, sheep, goats, cows, little Scottish cottages…although we never seemed to make it to the “high point”. My favorite hikes are the ones that lead you up and out of the terrain to a viewpoint where you can see the entire surroundings. I like the feeling of being on top of the world where the air is crisp and thin and every sound is lost in the open sky around you. What I mean to convey is the excitement and bliss felt when I stand in high places is incredible. When everything below me is laid out in perfect organization it seems to make the whole journey come full circle.

Our hike took the majority of the day as we bused nearly 2 hours to the starting point and then hiked a good 9 miles through the forests of Scotland. We came to a beautiful loch about halfway through our hike and stopped to enjoy our “picnic” lunches we had prepared from an earlier stop to Sainsbury’s (the English supermarket chain). It was relaxing to be able to wander through the trees, valleys, and lochs that we encountered each step of our hike. It really made me miss the beauty of Idaho, as the surroundings looked very similar to hikes I have done in Northern Idaho.

We arrived back to Pollock Halls around 5pm and quickly tidied ourselves up and set out to downtown Edinburgh. There were about 30 or so kids on our hike and we split into smaller groups as we set out to explore the town. Kailey and I ended up going out on our own to explore the city. We probably walked another 15 miles with all the walking we did today. I really enjoy walking, but sometimes when I walk insane distances in such a short amount of time my feet start to Ache. After our adventures and after taking many pictures we headed back to Pollock Halls only to once again be drug back out into the town by several other Cambridge students.

We walked from Arthur’s seat down Royal Mile street to the the edge of Edinburg Castle. I am not sure if I have mentioned it yet, but I am very fascinated with Scotland and Queen Mary of Scots because I am a direct descendent of her. She is roughly my 14th great grandmother, living back in the 1500s. Hopefully my time in Scotland will give me a deeper understanding of her and her life and I will be able to do my little part in preserving my family history through my thoughts and memories. We then walked across the beautiful bridge leading to the giant brown gothic tower (whose name I cannot remember) and then walked up to the “Athens of the North”. This is a part of Edinburg that contains a small acropolis type structure that is situated on a hill overlooking the city. There are several incredible monuments on the hill that have great views of the city. From there we walked down to Holyrood street and eventually ended up at Holyrood Palace where Queen Mary was murdered. Unfortunately due to a Royal visit, the castle was closed and we were unable to go inside. Another time I would love to come back and take a tour of all the places that were influential in Queen Mary’s life. There are so many of them that I am sure it would take many many weeks to do so. Tomorrow I will go inside Edinburgh castle, and I am so excited…

We visited the Elephant house were JK Rowling began to write the first Harry Potter novels. It was amazing to see where she went during her young writing career to get coffee and write her novels on the napkins they had in the cafe. She went to the cafe everyday to save on heating bills in her apartment and it sure paid off more than just the heating bills. Today JK Rowling is the one of the richest women in Great Britain and she has produced a phenomenal series of books that everyone around the world adores! I have read the complete Harry Potter series twice and own all the books in my collection back home. There is something so inspiring and drawing about Harry Potter and his adventures…thank you JK Rowling.

We went out on the town, chatted for a while and then found a place to go dancing. It was a really fun night…but a late one. We were planning on waking up early in the morning to watch the sunrise from the top of Arthur’s seat but I don’t think that is going to happen anymore!