The Arran Adventure

[NOTE: You can find pictures of the trip by clicking the "My Gallery" link on the right, and opening the album "The Isle of Arran, 1st Attempt."]

Yesterday, ten of us took a mini-vacation on the Isle of Arran. It is called Scotland in Miniature, because its geology is analogous to the Scottish mainland. We'd heard it was amazingly beautiful, there were plenty of old forts and castles, and it was great for cycling. Glaswegians like to holiday there.

Train to Androssen, ferry to Brodick. Rented cycles, said we'd have them back by 6:45 so we could make the last ferry at 7:20, and went off for our first leg, a cycle path around Brodick Castle. Which turned out, like everything on the island, to be up a hill. But we went up, most walking their cycles, and were nearing the top of the route, when we find two disturbing things. One was a campfire, still burning, that was not contained, and right next to more flammable wood. There were floor-mats and plastic bottles and plastic tarps in the fire too. So we put stones around it, threw dirt on it, generally tried to contain it. We also found the trail we thought we wanted was closed for forest work. So we had to turn right back around. The sides of the path (really a dirt road) were lined with ripe blackberries (as was every road on the island), so I munched on those. No one else was interested.

Stopped at the beach, ate lunch. I found a giant flat scallop shell. Bryan found a big piece of interesting pottery. Watched the seals. Although they never really moved.

The choices were north, where it was scenic but hilly, and south, where it was flatter and had interesting sites. There's also supposed to be a cave where good geocaching is to be found, and the ruins of a 13th century castle. We made those our goals.

Turns out the south is hilly too. And though places may be only a couple miles apart, it still took forever to cycle between them. On the first hill outside Brodick, we lost two of our group. the gave up and returned to Brodick. And had a good time. The rest of us pushed on to Lamlash, where we rested, had ice cream. I found a genuine Breton Shirt that I really wanted, but was wicked expensive. We lost two more there. I think they took the ferry to the Holy Island. Up and over another giant hill, to Whiting Bay. Lost two more soon after. So the four of us pushed on, thinking that we had struggled this far, we weren't going to turn back till we had seen the castle.

There were no signs for the castle. No signs for the town, Kildonan, the castle was in. Fortunately someone was there to point the way to town for me, but I sped right past the castle. But I asked someone else and so turned around. The four of us were utterly exhausted. It was nearly 5:00, and there was no way we could make it to Brodick in an hour and  forty-five minutes - it had taken us about two hours of riding to get to Kildonan, and by this time we were shattered. And we had no cell phone reception.

There was a sign for a B+B. So we went down the path, knocked, and were invited inside for tea and biscuits and crackers and cheese by the nicest old woman, the proprietor of No2 Coastguard House. We called the bike place from there, they could pick the bikes up, for a fee. The woman knew the bus schedule, so we could take the bus back in time for the ferry. She told us stories, offered us to stay for the night for whatever price we named. She was a portrait artist, and showed us her work.

It was wonderful. We got back to the ferry in time, ate a huge dinner. And some of us are going back soon, finding the cave, staying overnight at the B+B, and traveling by bus. No more cycles.

Ceilidh and Confucious

Last night I participated in what is now, officially by the guys at Guinness, the World's Largest Ceilidh. Which was a bit of a let-down.

What is a ceilidh? And how do you say it? Well it's a traditional Scottish dance party. It's similar to a contra-dance in that there's a live band playing traditional music and a caller telling you what to do. It's different in that there's a lot of drinking, so the dances are much much simpler. It's still fun though; I went to one Freshers' Week. It's pronounced KAY-lee.

The venue is supposedly one of the best clubs in Europe: The Arches. Its the, well, arches and vaults beneath Glasgow Central Station, and was actually pretty awesome. Not my kind of place to hang out, but I could definitely appreciate it. The problem was that it didn't work well for a ceilidh. Most places you could not see the demonstrations, and you could not understand the caller. The drinks were overpriced too. But it was cheap to get in, and I had a good time. And I'm now part of a random bit of trivia.

You might be wondering about my classes. I'm taking Issues in Modern Education, class of seven, where the issue is diversity (racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, etc.). Central and East European Studies, which is a bit of history, culture, language - a good overview for people like me who don't know anything. The Independent Kingdom of Scotland, 1100-1707. It's a history course, wicked interesting. And I'm unofficially auditing Celtic Civilizations. This is interesting because it's a history of people who didn't leave much written record, so I can learn about the methods involved there. It's a wicked fun class, but I'm allowed to take only three classes. So I'm just going to the lectures of that one. Here's a tidbit of info - Celtica stretched from Orkney to Morocco to Turkey. And the Celts who lived in Orkney, meaning the Land of Young Boars, would drop initial 'p's from words. If the didn't the Island would have been called 'Porkney'.

And Confucius:  One of my neighbors is a direct descendant of one of the founders of Confucianism. She even has his surname. UPDATE: Apparently that's not hard: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8275269.stm

Security

I know some of you might be worried about my safety, living in a big city and all, but don't worry:

Paint Ball! [Updated]

Went paint balling today, ten of us. It was wicked awesome. Only about 20 quid, including transport, lunch, ammo, guns, CO2, armor and coveralls. I wasn't so bad, once I got the hang of it. Doing it again some time. Pictures soon!

[Update]
Wicked sore from all the crouching. Pictures are up.

Sailing and the Fox

I went sailing for the first time today! Part of freshers' week, you can try all the different sporting clubs, and I'd been interested in sailing for a while. There's a loch, just outside the city, in beautiful countryside, where the Uni has a boat-house. The wind was almost non-existent, but we caught some breezes. It was great! I want to join sailing club! It's only ₤15!

Buuuuuut it's ₤40 to join the gym, which you need to do before you can do any of the sports. Good price for a year's membership to two great gyms with several pitches...but still. 40 quid, and I tend to not use gyms.

And then I realized I have my most important class on Wednesday afternoon...which is when sailing happens. So maybe next semester.


A fox visited Kelvinhaugh Gate tonight. A big one. Wouldn't eat the Spam Ing-Wan tried to feed it.

Pictures!

For those who wish to follow in illustrated form, you can click the link on the right.

An Overview

Two and a half weeks in country
Time: half six.

Questions you're are probably thinking:

Yes, I am having a great time! I love it here, it is a great city, great school, great people.

Yes, I have been making lots of friends, and I love them already.

No, I haven't met any Scots yet. Not exactly true, one of my flat-mates is a Scot, and I've met a couple others, but no one else I'll likely see again. Lots of Australians, Indians, and Americans, some Koreans, some English...

No, I have not tried haggis yet. Haven't had a good opportunity. I have, however, tried black pudding. And I really like it. And several different kinds of whisky. (I like them too.)


So, I really like my flat-mates. There's Allie (don't know how that's spelled) the Scot, Paulo the Spaniard, and Ingwan (can't spell that either) the Korean. And an empty room. So far we've all been keeping the kitchen clean. And I've been eating well, my own cooking. The kitchen has an amazing view out to the River Clyde. We can see a tall ship. The Armadillo is nearby, we're right close to the Uni, and to a street with cheap stores and restaurants and bars, and to another street with trendy shops and restaurants and bars.

The Uni is beautiful. It's like a castle. There are spiral stone staircases in towers, and a dungeon. With dead bodies. Seriously. One of my friends is studying anatomy, working with cadavers. There's also a museum with plasticized dead bodies, like BodyWorlds, but creepier. There's another museum in the main building with the most random collection. There is a model of a woman giving birth next to Samurai armor next to a pleiosaur skeleton.

The city is great, but i need to invest in a compass. It is easier to get lost here than anywhere else I've ever been. Everyone I've talked to about this agrees. You can head one direction, thinking you're going the opposite, with great ease. The Uni is the same. It's a maze. The individual buildings and the campus as a whole.

This has been Fresher's Week, basically a week long party where we take breaks now and then to enroll in classes. Except I haven't partied too much. Last night Bryan played an open mike night, so a bunch of us went to that, and a friend's date kept buying pitchers of cocktails for everyone. Which was wicked nice. Went to a ceilidh a few days ago. Basically a neo-traditional Scottish dance party, similar to contradancing. Except simpler, because they serve alcohol.

There are two student unions. The one that I've been in the most (they held the Ceilidh) is the GUU. It has five floors and nine bars. And a world champion debating team, several times over. The debates are very popular.

This weekend a bunch of us plan to go to The Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde. It's an hour by train, about, then a short ferry ride. Said to be "Scotland in miniature," and wicked beautiful, with quaint small villages and lots of caves and geo-caching.

I'll figure out how to post pictures next, and have some of them up. Peace!