Isle of Skye

Where to begin with this unbelievable weekend trip. Apart of being an International Student here at the University of Glasgow gives you a lot of perks, one of them being able to go on weekend trips such that ISUK provides. We took about three coach busses and left at around 8 in the morning form campus.

Loch Lomond was first up:

Here is a list of places we went: (The order is backwards)

●|➥ PLACES TO VISIT
◆ Isle of Skye
◆ Highlands
◆ Eilean Donan Castle
◆ Portree
◆ Broadford
◆ Kyleakin
◆ Kyle of Lochalsh 
◆ Fort William
◆ Loch Lomond
✄---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
●|➥ HIGHLIGHTS: PHOTO STOPS / WALKING / HIKING
✷ Old Man of Storr [movie location for Prometheus] 
✷ Kilt Rock
✷ Cuillin Mountains
✷ Sligachan Bridge, Sligachan River 
✷ Loch Mealt
✷ Mealt Falls
✷ Old Houses of Isle of Skye
✷ Coloured Houses of Portree Harbour and Portree Tower
✷ Lealt Gorge
✷ Lealt Falls
✷ Glencoe [movie location for Skyfall] 
✷ Skye Bridge
✷ Loch Garry and Loch Tulla 
✷ Loch Lomond 

We arrived around about 16h00 at Isle of Skye after a pretty great day of traveling and stopping at different places. We weren't just quite done with exploring because the entire group ended up going to a small castle next to where we were staying.  Calvin was very enthusiastic and decided to climb this rope to the edge of the boat...it didn't end all that well for him.

Later that night calvin and I decided to go for a night swim. We went in our nickers to the Loch/Ocean and dipped inside. The water was freezing and although we both almost stepped on sea urchins, we survived and returned with warm bodies bundled up in our clothes.  

Glencoe was one of my favorite stops because we were in a valley and just surrounded by these amazing mountains that had long grass on them and stretched on for what seemed till the end of the horizon. 

If you know Calvin McNelly and myself pretty well then you know this is nothing new for me and him to do. The "double shocka" as we call it. Caution: Use only when you don't know what to do with your hands 

Eilean Donan Castle: This is the exact place I saw when I first heard about scotland and did my research online. Being able to witness it in person really gives a whole new meaning to how beautiful this place is. While we were here there was a sense of silence and I couldn't help myself but to embrace that feeling and enjoy everything around me. 

Lealt Falls: One of the highest natural waterfalls that fall into the ocean. Another thing about having a stereotypical view of what Scotland would be like really was just this. Sharp edges and a bunch of waterfalls next to green hills. Not to mention how many sheep I saw on this trip. The wind by the coast was pretty hectic but it didn't take away from the breathtaking view that was offered. 

Our final stop of the trip was at Old Man of Storr: This was by far my favorite place because we had about an hour to explore and then come back to the bus. The thing about that hour was that this wasn't a casual walking path, it was a mountain that a handful of us ran up. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top and when we arrived we finally saw where the movie Prometheus was filmed. Occasionally I would glance back and enjoy the view below us and through the clouds the sun shined with a glorious golden glow. It amazed me that sheep made it up here because we were literally in a cloud. The winds were reaching up to 60kmph and it started raining right at the top. I will definitely return to this place in the near future for a camping trip and another exploration trip. We sprinted down the mountain because we had about 20 minutes to get to the bus or take another bus. My knees hurt and sitting on a bus for about 6 hours back really wasn't conducive to the situation but I have zero complaints about this trip other than the fact that I wished it to be longer. If you ever come to Scotland I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you visit Isle of Skye. 

A new beginning

So... How do I put this. I haven't blogged in a very long time. I decided to rather just do weekly updates instead. So this post will be a lot and maybe I will split it up we will see how far I get. Currently I am sitting on a bus returning from one of the best weekends of my trip thusfar. I will get back to it for now let's see if I can recap what has happened in the last two weeks or so. 

Hot dog eating contest. 2nd place with 13 hot dogs. 

 Explored the kelvingrove park by our university. 

 Went to Edinburg with Chris and two french girls we became good friends with during freshers's week. 

Saw Tom Riddle's grave from Harry Potter or otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. We also saw the first coffee shop J.K Rowling sat in while she was writing the first Harry Potter book. 

 Here is a stereotypical picture of Scotland while I was at Edinburgh.

I also found a food truck by campus called Maggie's and they have something called a Scooby snack and looks like this:

Burger with potato, bacon, sausage, cheese and an egg. 

Fish and chips done properly in Edinburgh really puts a shame to any attempt of fish and chips in the states. 

I don't know if you guys have seen some pictures of my campus but this is another view I took after I got lost in the park next to our campus. The statue is on top of the hill and the castle in the back is the University of Glasgow main campus. Absolutely beautiful to think I am studying here. 

 Shopping has been such an interesting event here and buying my own groceries each week but a TESCO EXTRA is a massive Target that we found close to where I am staying and it has about everything I need. They also call an escalator a travelator which is funny I thought.

 I switched accommodations because I didn't like living in Cairncross, however Murano has treated me so much better already in the past two weeks of living here. I have been meeting a great group of people and we even had some family dinners including Taco Tuesdays.

There are botanical gardens right next to our campus and they stretch for about 5km on both directions of campus. This shot above is just one of the many beautiful spots along the garden side. The people here don't have leashes for their dogs because every one of them are so well trained! 

I have seen my campus before but everytime I end up in a new location it just blows my mind how beautiful this place is. 

Where I live is called Murano Student Village and there is a bridge that connects to the main street and one morning I went for a run to see the sunrise and when it rains a lot you tend to appreciate the sun a lot more especially with this much colour and contrast. 

I have recently joined a tennis team here at the school and everyone on the team are so humble and friendly! We have about four practices a week and not to mention free coaching which is unbelievable. We also have a great indoor facility with about 13 tennis courts. 

When I said that the sun is really appreciated here I was not exaggerating. I took my hammock out for the first time and several people took pictures of me in it and asked if they could take a picture with me because to them it seemed like a foreign object. Not a lot of Glaswegians hammock I guess. 

On my way to the Tesco I saw a pretty great graffiti on one of the houses. 

I think the sun just looks so much better after a fresh downpour of rain and I grabbed this picture right before I went home after one of my classes. 

Day Twelve:

Second day of freshers week and after a sweaty night of dancing I had to just go to the gym and relax in the steam room they have here. There is an app here called "student recommend" and it gives students so many deals including eating free meals at different restaurants:

This meal was so good and I paid approximately £0 for it! 

Today was Chris' 21st birthday and afcourse we wanted to make it a good one so Cooper and I took him to this place to get the above food. It was on us, eventhough it was free. We met up with a couple of people and then took him to Jinty McGintys and we enjoyed one awesome night of Alex the local artist here who can sing just about any song! The pub scene is a lot better than the club scene here because of the live music! 

Day Eleven:

Today I picked up our freshers passes and then got underway with the activities. I cannot begin to explain how many coupons, flyers and random stuff I got. It was as if I was good and everyone campaigning were seaguls on the beach! We went to the beer bar in the GUU and did a quiz about general knowledge, sports and other topics. The only thing is. We don't know much about Scottish knowledge! It was quite funny hearing the actual answers versus ours. The night started our first big event by going to a concert held by Twin Atlantic who were pretty good to be honest! If I could post videos on this blog I would have so much more to show.

When they were done we waited an hour and a half just to see HODOR. Now if you're like me who don't watch Game of Thrones. You will also have no idea who he is. But he is an actor who plays a big role in the series and apparently a DJ as a side job. 

Day Ten:

I am beginning to think that my days aren't exactly matching up with my blog but I will nevertheless continue. I think today was pretty much just a relaxing day and freshers week has begun which means all the freshman have now moved in and to be quite honest it is very hard seeing someone who is 18 move into the same place as you when you are 21. Yikes! It is a Sunday so everyone just took it easy before the big week begins! There is a huge debate going on because of the referendum and so we decided to go to our debate chamber in one of the student unions. It was packed!! And the speakers truly sounded like braveheart when they started saying they want "freedom". It was interesting seeing college students care so much about something that could be a historical moment for their country: 

Day Nine:

Brandon called me about half 10 and told me that we are going to the coast. I am all for spontaneous events such as these but I was still really tired. We were a group of 8 and took a train to a place called Lags. As we were going through the countryside it really started to resemble the Scotland that everyone thinks of. Sheep. Sheep. Green hills. And more sheep. When we got to Lags we decided to have some fish and chips and I thought it was good but everyone else seemed to not like it. Here are a couple of pictures of the coast line and where we walked around: 

Near the middle of this long walkway we saw a massive church built in 1892. The lady inside the church was so friendly and helped us your the church and gave us some information about it. 

These stained glass windows are so vibrant and clear and they say that this church has never been revamped or touched. It's amazing how new it still looks. 

Another awesome thing about Scotland is their double cone ice cream. Pure genius. 

We were all just enjoying the little sun we get and passed out on the lawn while watching a group of 30 wee laddies play football. We also came to the conclusion that no matter where you are kids will be kids and do stupid things. 

Day Eight:

I had to wake up early to get on a bus to Loch Lomond. The school here has a partner program with a local tour group and so I met my tour guide Gary and off we went. It was an hour and a half to the first stop and Gary told us some stories about famous myths of the lake which I quite enjoyed. 

Our second stop for the day was another branch of the Loch:

When we got to our third and final stop, Gary told us a 2nd story about Selkies. They are seals that turn into human and then back into seals. Amazing what people can come up with. Our last stop was Luss and it was a wee village where we witnessed a wedding and just enjoyed the views: 

I slept every opportunity I got while I was on the bus and the day trip was very successful because it really showed me a bit about the countryside of Scotland.