I'm back in Glasgow, and hoo doggie was the last week fun. But seeing as so much has happened, and I haven't mentioned my stay in Glasgow, I certainly will not write everything out at the moment. Let's rewind.
Glasgow will certainly be a great place to spend a semester. While yes, I enjoy Edinburgh quite a lot, it's probably a better place to visit rather than live (although studying there would be fantastic). Glasgow has a much different feel, being a larger city and all. Glasgow is a much hipper place than Edinburgh, with plenty of night-life and a trendy attitude. Unlike Edinburgh, its far from touristy (There aren't too many cashmere places here). Even though its not as pretty as Edinburgh, it has some great architecture, mixing Victorian with modern. The city centre can be a little too mainstream with its abundance of department stores (I think I saw about three H&M's), but the west end (where I am) has a great vibe with plenty to offer.
The university here is large, but all centered in one area (once again, the west end). As some people in my group has said, the main building/tower is pretty much hogwarts. On my walk to campus is the wonderful Kelvingrove Museum, displaying art, science-y stuff, and artifacts. It's quite a lovely building too (at night they have cool colors shining on it). I've spend many hours there, mostly in the art sections. They had an exhibition on the Glasgow Boys (a group of artists who worked together around 1880-90s). Its interesting to see how they all started out in the same style, but by the 1890s they branched off into unique styles. I also went to the modern art gallery downtown... meh. (I should say city centre instead of downtown, bloody Scottish are trying to make all American colloquialisms sexual innuendos).
Being a theatre guy, our Professor leader guy treated us to a fantastic play. Its called "Beautiful Burnout," and it's about boxing. Yup. Boxing. At first I didn't care much for it, but the ending was amazing. At a technical stand-point, this play is unlike any I've seen. The choreography was spot on, and the stage (a boxing ring like platform in the middle of the audience) had a circle in it that rotated. This allowed for cinematic-like freeze shots where the boxers clashed, became motionless, and rotated. Then one of them would move in a subconscious of sorts while the other stayed still. They used this in other ways, but they didn't over do it.
With that out of the way, now I can proceed to this last week up north! Ah, maybe tomorrow. Yea, I'll get to that tomorrow.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Friday, 10 September 2010
Temporary message
Sorry I haven't been letting you guys know how Glasgow is. Let's just say I've been enjoying the night-life a bit too much. I'll be without internet access for a week or so, but expect more stories about the highlands (and the Isle of Skye) when I get back.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Ben Nevis
Photos of Edinburgh, Loch Ness, and Ben Nevis are here: http://highlandswingphotos.shutterfly.com/
the password is: edinburgh
My camera has a blemish on it. Just ignore that.
The bus ride to Fort William brought me to mountain territory thankfully. Not really the pleasant looking hills, but the rather craggy ones with a goodly slope. Fort William is certainly smaller, but not quite the remote town, as it is touristy as well (I'll have to wait till Glenelg for that!) But the hiking was certainly there, which made me happy. It was a perfectly clear day when I arrived, which tempted me to climb Ben Nevis that evening (good thing I didn't). Instead I did a pleasant circuit called Cow Hill. Going though a bit of glen and trees, I came upon a mountain meadow (queue the lone female voice eerily singing in Scots Gaelic). The beauty and solitude of this meadow was painful (I hadn't seen nothing yet though!) I frolicked around a bit off track with some sheep eying me nervously. In the distance a loch could be seen tucked between mountains, and this one cliff had a stream flowing in the center of its face. In the other direction I saw the back side of Ben Nevis and the trail leading to it. It looked intense! Looked like fun!
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain (or a munro (and when you hike a munro it's called bagging a munro!)) Well, its only around 4,400 ft, not even half of mt. Hood. But considering it starts around sea level and juts almost straight up, it made for a pretty intense climb. I must admit, I was quite arrogant about it. I figured a big breakfast and a bottle of water would be enough for me. However, with two days of hiking behind me, my legs were already hating me. Also, the water certainly wasn't enough. Luckily, high up on the face of Ben Nevis was an amazing mountain creek that poured cold clear water. Mighty refreshing indeed! Don't fret, no animals get this high, other than panting Englishmen and fit German tourists (they were panting too, everyone was).
It's a pretty popular trail, but you can tell a good amount of people turn back before the top. One of the reasons why there were so many hikers that day was due to the clear weather. Seriously, I've been lucky here! It hasn't rained in Scotland since I've been here, which is especially rare on Ben Nevis. The peak of Ben Nevis is the rainiest part of Britain, and is cloudy for 355 days a year! However, it was a little hazy, so it wasn't the best picture weather.
On the way down my legs were shaking with every step, and the top is pretty much gravel, causing some balance issues. I had two bottles of water by the top, but was still dehydrated. So I went decided to not spent much time at top and go back to the stream (it was prettier in the lower part anyways, giving a nice vantage point of the valley). By the time I arrived there, I wasn't feeling the greatest. But the cold water combined with a banana a Scotsman offered (once again, they really are too kind and knowing), I felt rejuvenated to make it down. I even went back to town through that lovely meadow from the day before. Then I showered, ate haggis, and had a whisky.
This morning, I left for Glasgow. Le sigh, no more traveling by myself. Oddly enough, one of the highlights so far was the bus ride today. Not far south from Fort William is the valley of Glencoe. Man I wish I explored around here! (Oh I will though!) I'm not even exaggerating, this valley was the most spectacular and dramatic landscape I had ever seen! I didn't take photos because it's weird to take them on a moving bus. Besides, I don't even think photography could even capture this place (try google imaging it anyways). But lord! Green walls of mountains on both sides of this huge valley. The area afterwords was unworldly as well. Little hills with random rocks jutting out. Bah, I'm not ready to go back to city life!
Overall, I'm glad I did this first leg of my Scotland experience on my own. I haven't seen the others yet, but I'm sure they're glassy eyed here in Glasgow (which sadly isn't as neat as Edinburgh, but will still be nice to study in (I haven't explored it that much yet, but the Canadian guy from the last hostel who appeared on the bus as well said it reminded him of Montreal(that was a wordy sentence (I use parentheses a lot, don't I?)))). Anyways, I feel a little more wizened as to what regions to go to, and considering we're going to the Isle of Skye next week, I'm sure there will be plenty of pretty sights ahead.
the password is: edinburgh
My camera has a blemish on it. Just ignore that.
The bus ride to Fort William brought me to mountain territory thankfully. Not really the pleasant looking hills, but the rather craggy ones with a goodly slope. Fort William is certainly smaller, but not quite the remote town, as it is touristy as well (I'll have to wait till Glenelg for that!) But the hiking was certainly there, which made me happy. It was a perfectly clear day when I arrived, which tempted me to climb Ben Nevis that evening (good thing I didn't). Instead I did a pleasant circuit called Cow Hill. Going though a bit of glen and trees, I came upon a mountain meadow (queue the lone female voice eerily singing in Scots Gaelic). The beauty and solitude of this meadow was painful (I hadn't seen nothing yet though!) I frolicked around a bit off track with some sheep eying me nervously. In the distance a loch could be seen tucked between mountains, and this one cliff had a stream flowing in the center of its face. In the other direction I saw the back side of Ben Nevis and the trail leading to it. It looked intense! Looked like fun!
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain (or a munro (and when you hike a munro it's called bagging a munro!)) Well, its only around 4,400 ft, not even half of mt. Hood. But considering it starts around sea level and juts almost straight up, it made for a pretty intense climb. I must admit, I was quite arrogant about it. I figured a big breakfast and a bottle of water would be enough for me. However, with two days of hiking behind me, my legs were already hating me. Also, the water certainly wasn't enough. Luckily, high up on the face of Ben Nevis was an amazing mountain creek that poured cold clear water. Mighty refreshing indeed! Don't fret, no animals get this high, other than panting Englishmen and fit German tourists (they were panting too, everyone was).
It's a pretty popular trail, but you can tell a good amount of people turn back before the top. One of the reasons why there were so many hikers that day was due to the clear weather. Seriously, I've been lucky here! It hasn't rained in Scotland since I've been here, which is especially rare on Ben Nevis. The peak of Ben Nevis is the rainiest part of Britain, and is cloudy for 355 days a year! However, it was a little hazy, so it wasn't the best picture weather.
On the way down my legs were shaking with every step, and the top is pretty much gravel, causing some balance issues. I had two bottles of water by the top, but was still dehydrated. So I went decided to not spent much time at top and go back to the stream (it was prettier in the lower part anyways, giving a nice vantage point of the valley). By the time I arrived there, I wasn't feeling the greatest. But the cold water combined with a banana a Scotsman offered (once again, they really are too kind and knowing), I felt rejuvenated to make it down. I even went back to town through that lovely meadow from the day before. Then I showered, ate haggis, and had a whisky.
This morning, I left for Glasgow. Le sigh, no more traveling by myself. Oddly enough, one of the highlights so far was the bus ride today. Not far south from Fort William is the valley of Glencoe. Man I wish I explored around here! (Oh I will though!) I'm not even exaggerating, this valley was the most spectacular and dramatic landscape I had ever seen! I didn't take photos because it's weird to take them on a moving bus. Besides, I don't even think photography could even capture this place (try google imaging it anyways). But lord! Green walls of mountains on both sides of this huge valley. The area afterwords was unworldly as well. Little hills with random rocks jutting out. Bah, I'm not ready to go back to city life!
Overall, I'm glad I did this first leg of my Scotland experience on my own. I haven't seen the others yet, but I'm sure they're glassy eyed here in Glasgow (which sadly isn't as neat as Edinburgh, but will still be nice to study in (I haven't explored it that much yet, but the Canadian guy from the last hostel who appeared on the bus as well said it reminded him of Montreal(that was a wordy sentence (I use parentheses a lot, don't I?)))). Anyways, I feel a little more wizened as to what regions to go to, and considering we're going to the Isle of Skye next week, I'm sure there will be plenty of pretty sights ahead.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Inverness, and the sad lack of Nessie
Sorry I haven’t been writing in this, but the hostel in Inverness required payment, and the one I’m in now at Fort William doesn’t even have internet access (I could only find it in this busy bar I’m at now). Anyways, I’ll tell you about Inverness for now.
I strolled around Edinburgh before leaving. Tis sad really, I was starting to get attached to this city. I lugged the semester’s worth of stuff on my shoulders and walked to the rather nice train station and bought a ticket to Inverness. At first it took me along the coast. There were many Scottish thistle (the national flower) along the way. They’re quite pretty, being all purple in color. A lot of plants around here are purple in color. After the coast, the train went through an area that reminded me of Oregon. Then it took me to a landscape that I imagined Scotland would be like. Tree-less hills of green and brown. Green and dark purplish actually. The purple flowers look brown at a distance, but with closer inspection the hills were a mesh of green and dark purple. I wanted to jump out of the train and sprint up them to look at an expanse of barren hills stretching for miles. I was excited to hike!
Unfortunately, Inverness wasn’t quite like that. Actually, I talked to a Scottish gent in my Fort William room and he agrees that Inverness is kind of a tourist trap with not all that much to offer. Don’t get me wrong, it is actually quite pretty, but it’s the type I’ve come to expect in the Pacific Northwest. That is, it was heavily forested with all sorts of trees and flowers, which isn’t anything to complain about. It’s just that, I lusted for those tree-less hills! Also, its more of a central hub for if you have a car, which I did not. So that evening I just did the touristy things of castle and cathedral viewing, and walking around town. It had a neat little indoor market.
I saved loch Ness for the next day. I figured I’d take a bus there then walk back along the river Ness. The loch was quite pretty, but once again a tourist trap considering there are prettier lochs (as I saw on the bus down to Fort William). The loch is very, very long, with hills along the side. Looking down it, the overcast sky looked like it parted the earth as it reflected in the water. I wandered around the shore a bit, and hitched a lift back (hitching a ride would be a sexual connotation). I had heard it is easy to hitch-hike in Scotland, and surely enough the first car picked me up. It was an adorably kind old couple that were wondering where I was from (ah, that’s lumberjack country, huh?) Really though, the people here are only making this trip so much more enjoyable. They’re such a laid back, kind people!
Before heading along the river, I visited this Nessie watcher who’s lived in a shack for 17 years, hoping to see the beast. He makes little waxed Nessies. As for me, I haven’t seen Sasquatch yet, so no luck here either. Also, there was a nice bar at the lochend, with a sitting area outside. So I looked for Nessie while sipping a whisky (the Antiquary, 12 year old blended, an extremely smooth and almost refreshing whisky!) and then a half pint of a real ale (what they call microbrews, in which they pump on a lever to get it right out of the cask). With that, I started to hike tipsy.
I walked along an old trail (which even the locals called it old) that wasn’t necessarily consistent. That is, it broke off sometimes. But I didn’t mind, I just wanted to wander in the woods, so I did! I found an old stone wall in the middle of the forest, and I had to resort to going through some brush. It was fun! As long as I stayed by the river, I was fine. I even saw some Scottish cows. They're kind of cute... but dangerous from what I hear.
Eventually I made it back to Inverness, and went to a place that played Scottish music. There, as I waited for the music to start, I was reading. A Scottish girl and her boyfriend wondered what I was reading (Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami). Well, that led to a discussion of literature with them, the guy’s sister, and a couple of Germans. Oh, there names were Rachel (the girlfriend), Johnnie, and Mary. The Germans I don’t remember because they went elsewhere. We talked about Russian lit, Shakespeare, politics, philosophy, etc. Johnnie even wanted to know if I wrote, and he was interested in my story ideas. They even offered to pay for my rounds in Scottish tradition (I declined the first time, must be some pride complex we Americans have). Anyways, what I’m getting at is I think I could be best friends with them if circumstance allowed it. Really, I took a mighty liking to them. But alas, they went to the University of Edinburgh, whereas I’ll be in Glasgow.
Anyways, Inverness was fun, but I decided to go down to Fort William which is a good hiking location. I’ll talk about that tomorrow.
I strolled around Edinburgh before leaving. Tis sad really, I was starting to get attached to this city. I lugged the semester’s worth of stuff on my shoulders and walked to the rather nice train station and bought a ticket to Inverness. At first it took me along the coast. There were many Scottish thistle (the national flower) along the way. They’re quite pretty, being all purple in color. A lot of plants around here are purple in color. After the coast, the train went through an area that reminded me of Oregon. Then it took me to a landscape that I imagined Scotland would be like. Tree-less hills of green and brown. Green and dark purplish actually. The purple flowers look brown at a distance, but with closer inspection the hills were a mesh of green and dark purple. I wanted to jump out of the train and sprint up them to look at an expanse of barren hills stretching for miles. I was excited to hike!
Unfortunately, Inverness wasn’t quite like that. Actually, I talked to a Scottish gent in my Fort William room and he agrees that Inverness is kind of a tourist trap with not all that much to offer. Don’t get me wrong, it is actually quite pretty, but it’s the type I’ve come to expect in the Pacific Northwest. That is, it was heavily forested with all sorts of trees and flowers, which isn’t anything to complain about. It’s just that, I lusted for those tree-less hills! Also, its more of a central hub for if you have a car, which I did not. So that evening I just did the touristy things of castle and cathedral viewing, and walking around town. It had a neat little indoor market.
I saved loch Ness for the next day. I figured I’d take a bus there then walk back along the river Ness. The loch was quite pretty, but once again a tourist trap considering there are prettier lochs (as I saw on the bus down to Fort William). The loch is very, very long, with hills along the side. Looking down it, the overcast sky looked like it parted the earth as it reflected in the water. I wandered around the shore a bit, and hitched a lift back (hitching a ride would be a sexual connotation). I had heard it is easy to hitch-hike in Scotland, and surely enough the first car picked me up. It was an adorably kind old couple that were wondering where I was from (ah, that’s lumberjack country, huh?) Really though, the people here are only making this trip so much more enjoyable. They’re such a laid back, kind people!
Before heading along the river, I visited this Nessie watcher who’s lived in a shack for 17 years, hoping to see the beast. He makes little waxed Nessies. As for me, I haven’t seen Sasquatch yet, so no luck here either. Also, there was a nice bar at the lochend, with a sitting area outside. So I looked for Nessie while sipping a whisky (the Antiquary, 12 year old blended, an extremely smooth and almost refreshing whisky!) and then a half pint of a real ale (what they call microbrews, in which they pump on a lever to get it right out of the cask). With that, I started to hike tipsy.
I walked along an old trail (which even the locals called it old) that wasn’t necessarily consistent. That is, it broke off sometimes. But I didn’t mind, I just wanted to wander in the woods, so I did! I found an old stone wall in the middle of the forest, and I had to resort to going through some brush. It was fun! As long as I stayed by the river, I was fine. I even saw some Scottish cows. They're kind of cute... but dangerous from what I hear.
Eventually I made it back to Inverness, and went to a place that played Scottish music. There, as I waited for the music to start, I was reading. A Scottish girl and her boyfriend wondered what I was reading (Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami). Well, that led to a discussion of literature with them, the guy’s sister, and a couple of Germans. Oh, there names were Rachel (the girlfriend), Johnnie, and Mary. The Germans I don’t remember because they went elsewhere. We talked about Russian lit, Shakespeare, politics, philosophy, etc. Johnnie even wanted to know if I wrote, and he was interested in my story ideas. They even offered to pay for my rounds in Scottish tradition (I declined the first time, must be some pride complex we Americans have). Anyways, what I’m getting at is I think I could be best friends with them if circumstance allowed it. Really, I took a mighty liking to them. But alas, they went to the University of Edinburgh, whereas I’ll be in Glasgow.
Anyways, Inverness was fun, but I decided to go down to Fort William which is a good hiking location. I’ll talk about that tomorrow.
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