Day 26: The Kelpies and National Wallace Monument

We made some great stops on our way from Edinburgh to Dundee today.

Road trips are generally a fun experience if you're with the right group.

We made our trip from Edinburgh to Dundee in spurts of an hour or two each time, so we weren't able to really nap on the bus, so we had spurts of laughter and song mixed in with silence when people dozed off.

Our first stop was at the Helix Park to see "The Kelpies" which are the largest horse head sculptures in the world at 30 meters high (almost 100 feet). 

These impressive, steel horse heads were built in 2013 to celebrate the role that horses have played in industry and agriculture through Scotland's history, and specifically the "water horses" which towed boats through canals.

After seeing The Kelpies, we headed over to the National Wallace Monument.

Seeing this historical tower and the impressive views from the top of it involved a hike and then climbing 246 stairs, but it was definitely worth the sweat.

We then headed into Stirling's city center for lunch and sightseeing. 

The sun actually broke through the clouds and mist for a bit and I was able to get some great photos.

I generally can't sleep on buses because I get way too nauseous if my eyes are closed, and today was no exception, so I planned on going to bed early but food with friends and homework and then photo uploading and blog writing have kept me up well past midnight again.

Excited to sleep in until 7:45 tomorrow morning,

The Purple Writer

Day 25: Rosslyn Chapel

Today was our last day in Edinburgh.

We had a class session, in which we talked about Romanticism, the sublime and the picturesque, and then had a tutorial on Lightroom and features.

After class and lunch, we traveled out to Roslin, which is a town about 8 miles outside of Scotland, to visit the Rosslyn Chapel. 

This chapel is currently a pretty popular tourist destination because of its role in The Davinci Code (book and film).

I want to see The Davinci Code, and meant to see it before this trip, but got caught up with my other, study abroad trip this summer. 

Regardless, it was a beautiful little chapel with crazy detailed carvings inside, and I enjoyed seeing it. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, out of respect, so you'll just have to come out to Scotland yourself if you want to see the details inside Rosslyn Chapel.

 Packing for the bus ride out to Dundee tomorrow,
The Purple Writer

Day 24: Visit Scotland and Blackness Castle

We started off the day with an hour bus ride through Edinburgh out to Oceans Terminal.

We visited Vist Scotland and learned about their goals for Scotland's tourism industry as well as their current #scotspirit campaign.

It was pretty interesting to hear how Visit Scotland uses digital media and marketing to help raise awareness of Scotland as a tourist destination, help potential visitors get closer to purchasing tickets, and then helps increase the potential positivity and reach of social media mentions of tourists.

After that meeting, we had lunch and then had another hour bus ride (this time in a more comfortable, private bus) out to Blackness, where we walked around Blackness Castle and looked out over Blackness Bay.

Built in the 15th century, Blackness Castle has been modified for various purposes over the centuries, including a prison, an armament depot, and the setting of Hamlet and the BBC Ivanhoe. 

After another hour or so bus ride back to the hotel, we settled in for a responsible night of homework.

We had some responses to write for one class, about the tourist gaze, staged authenticity and the fabrication of highland traditions.

For the other class, we had to upload five of our best photos taken so far on the trip.

Of course, I had to go through all my photos from today and export them from Lightroom, which takes an excessive amount of time, and then the wifi (the ultimate wifi that I paid for) wouldn't let me access my email account or dropbox, so I was unable to upload the photos. (Our professor foresaw that, though, and is letting us turn in the photos on a flash drive tomorrow).

It's almost midnight and I've completed my homework assignments but am still waiting for photos to export before I can go to sleep. But I guess it wouldn't be fair to get 6 hours of class credit in a month if I didn't stay up late doing homework a few nights a week.

Wishing Lightroom was faster,

The Purple Writer

Day 22: Edinburgh Castle

Today was the first official (full-length) day of the Media & Tourism / Photography Course through Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We started off with a class meeting.

Our professors took pity on the exhaustion of my fellow, jet-lagged classmates and pushed back our class time an hour so we had extra sleeping time.

We went over our syllabi and started talking about the assignments of both classes and how they may or may not overlap, and then started talking about the "tourist gaze."

We then had a tour of the Edinburgh Castle. 

I have already spent some time in the Edinburgh Castle, so I played tour guide for a few of my classmates as we explored the castle at our own speed for about two hours.

We then headed over to Princes Street for some shopping and walking and talking which was great.

(Have I mentioned how much I enjoy this group of students? It also helps that I have a really good friend on this trip, and the two of us are thick as [very noisy, always laughing] thieves.

Downloading my reading assignment for tomorrow morning,

The Purple Writer

Day 21: 2nd Welcome Dinner

My second study abroad course began today. 

This trip involves two courses: PHOT 4300 and EMC 4301.

We will spend four weeks traveling through Scotland and Northern Ireland to work on our photography skill as well as our proficiency with media and tourism planning and writing.

This trip promises to be both educational and thoroughly enjoyable.

Everyone arrived today; I merely traveled across town while the majority of the group left Texas yesterday morning.

Almost everyone was pretty jet-lagged, so we didn't do too much today, besides getting an orientation of the city and walking around for about an hour to acclimate ourselves.

We then headed to a nice restaurant for our welcome dinner.

There were too many of us to fit at two tables, so we had to split into two. 

We had salad, steak, and sticky, toffee pudding. 

Everyone was almost delirious from hunger and exhaustion, so we got to know each other pretty well over our delicious dinner.

This seems to be a very energetic group of students who enjoy adventures.

Not to say my previous study abroad group was not excited or enthusiastic, but it's a very different vibe to be traveling through Scotland to have adventures and take pictures than to be doing research, giving presentations, and meeting with government agencies. 

I'm excited about this trip. There will be challenges and difficulties, but I look forward to them.

Thankful to sleep in a much more comfortable bed tonight,

The Purple Writer

Day 18: Princes Street & Game of Thrones

The first half of today continued the beautiful, sunshiney weather that's perfect for touring in another country. 

We walked over to Princes Street, which was just a few blocks from the Royal Mile we had walked along yesterday. 

We saw the Sir Walter Scott memorial but chose not to pay five pounds to climb up a lot of stairs to the top of it.

The stores along this street were a little more upscale, and one had some pretty impressive whiskey tastings available.

After walking in and alongside the row of shops on the north side of Princes Street, we crossed over and walked through the Princes Street Garden, which was filled with green grass, picnickers, beautiful flowers, and great views of the Edinburgh Castle. 

We eventually made our way down to the Holyrood Palace and walked along the western curve of the Holyrood park until we came back to our apartment's neighborhood.

By this time, the clouds had returned to Edinburgh and it had been lightly raining on us for a little while, so we ate some dinner and then returned to the apartment to give our tired feet a break.

While the other four played Spades, Stephen and I watched 6 episodes of Game of Thrones, because I'd been slacking and hadn't seen any of this season yet.

We enjoy watching shows together, and it was really nice to return to that in the middle of my 7 weeks of sightseeing and study abroad classes in Europe.

Sad everyone can't stay in Edinburgh longer with me,

The Purple Writer

Day 16: Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile

Today I explored parts of Edinburgh with family and my boyfriend.

We had a bit of a late start this morning because everyone was jet-lagged and tired, but we headed over to Holyrood Park, which was just a few blocks away from the apartment we're renting for the week.

My weak ankle was sore today so I walked across a few smaller ridges while the majority of our group climbed up to Arthur's Seat.

There was quite a bit of struggling and one decently bad fall for the group coming down from Arthur's Seat, so it was probably a very good thing I didn't attempt it.

We came back to the apartment for Neosporin for cuts and my ankle brace before heading to lunch, and then we walked over to the Royal Mile.

There are a plethora of Scottish heritage and tartan stores along the mile of road leading up to Edinburgh Castle.

I ended up buying a beautiful, purple plaid blanket that should serve me well during my time in Scotland, especially during the long bus rides between photography spots.

We concluded the evening with pizza, wine and the Disney docudrama "Greyfriar's Bobby."

Cocooned in purple plaid,

The Purple Writer

Day 15: Travels

Today I flew from Berlin to Brussels to Edinburgh.

The sun woke me up at 5:30 in the morning, but I didn't need to get up until 8, so I dozed on and off for a few hours, which led to me having some strange dreams.

These dreams included one where Misha Collins and his family flying to Lubbock to hang out with a small group of supernatural fans and then another dream in a treetop setting where a baby egret attacked me.

I did eventually get up and checked out of the hotel.

I had an impressive amount of clothing and souvenirs packed in my small suitcase, so it was a bit challenging to lug it up and down the multiple staircases in the Berlin subway and bus system, but I had plenty of time to get to the gate for both of my flights and had a window seat in both planes.

I arrived in Edinburgh and was relieved by the cool air and beautiful accents that suddenly surrounded me.

I enjoyed being in Berlin, but there's just something about Scotland that connects with me on a pretty deep level (maybe because my heritage is about 3/4 Scottish).

While on the plane, I had noticed how the Scottish farmlands, while still generally rectangular, were much more fluid and followed the curved lines of the landscape rather than the strict square grids of land I saw in Germany.

Another fun aspect of being in Scotland after spending time in Germany is how friendly people here are; instead of ignoring everyone, Scottish passengers seemed more than happy to start up conversations with each other and strangers on public transportation.

Looking forward to my remaining 5 weeks in Europe,

The Purple Writer

Day 14: Food and Packing

Today was my last day in Berlin.

We didn't have any class activities today, so I was able to sleep in and relax all morning.

I eventually got up around 12 and a few of us went to the closest Burgermeister to enjoy delicious (and messy) burgers.

Back in the states, I rarely have to worry about having enough cash on me, so it's a little strange to find that several restaurants in Berlin don't accept credit cards, but I happened to scrap together exactly enough coins out of my purse to pay for a burger (excepting a euro debt I collected from my friend).

We walked by the East Side Gallery again today, and it seems like each time we walk by, something different seems to pop out of the murals and the various sections of the wall that are painted.

The afternoon was filled with laundry and packing. I have souvenirs tucked between my sweater and flannel shirt that I never needed to wear here, as well as the dress pants and shoes that I won't need on the next leg of my trip.

Dinner was sweet potato fries and a pitcher of beer in an interesting restaurant called "White Trash Fast Food." Their nachos sounded like the best option but the other members of our group who had been there earlier said they really weren't as good as expected. 

Ready to head to Scotland tomorrow,

The Purple Writer

Day 12: The Reichstag

Today, I bought expensive sandals, saw where the German Parliament meets, and went by an Islamic protest rally. 

It seems Birckenstocks are a big thing. I never really noticed or had any desire to wear them before, but multiple people in our group kept talking about how comfortable and long lasting they are.

So, I went with a friend by a Birckenstock store in Berlin and tried out some shoes.

I ended up buying a nice pair with a back strap that wraps around my ankle. They were a bit expensive, but much cheaper than they would be in the U.S., and seem to be pretty great quality.

After buying sandals, we went to the Mall of Berlin in Potsdamer Platz, which was pretty impressive. 

There are several very nice floors  with almost the entirety of the third floor being filled with food courts.

After exploring German stores, our study abroad group headed to the Reichstag.

This is a very cool building, although one of the coolest parts (the glass dome) was closed to the public because of a political dinner event.



The Reichstag was built in 1894 for the German government (the Imperial Diet), has been damaged, fought over, repaired, and more over a century.

The building topped with an iconic glass dome now houses the German Bundestag (national Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany).

After touring the Reichstag, we passed by an impressively large protest rally.

The area was filled with the atmosphere of a festival, with a stage, group singing and enthusiastic waving of flags.

It was interesting to see a protest happen in real life, instead of only hearing about or seeing photos from protests on social media. (Granted, I'm sure the majority of protests are different, depending on their location, consitutents, goals, etc.)


Going to sleep much later than planned,
The Purple Writer

Day 8: Laundry Day

I took a break today.

Yesterday morning, my foot slipped on a cobblestone road right outside our hotel. I didn't twist my ankle or anything, but when I took off my shoes before bed, I discovered that the left/top side of my left food was pretty badly bruised.

It worked out pretty well then, that I didn't have any plans to go walking for several miles today.

I gave my feet a break and finally did my laundry, which I'd been too tired to do after my previous adventure-filled days.

This relaxing afternoon was just what I needed, so now I can continue exploring Berlin and taking full advantage of this awesome study abroad program tomorrow.

Addicted to schnitzel
The Purple Writer

Day 6: Pergamon Museum

Today started off pretty well.

I woke up before my alarm, got ready for the day, wrote my blog post, ate breakfast, read yesterday's issue of The Skimm, and discovered that Twitter will now allow usernames to be included in tweets without taking up characters.

This may seem trivial and not particularly noteworthy to you, but I was pretty excited!

It can be very challenging to write a solid tweet when needing to include usernames that take up the space of multiple words/ideas, but I won't have to worry about that anymore when I return to my social media internship in July.

After finishing my cup of coffee, I headed off to the Pergamon museum with a group of professors and students.

 

The "Museum Island" area of Berlin is filled with beautiful buildings and statues. 

I've been pretty burned out on museums throughout my life, having spent way more time than desired in exhibits around the states and Europe. 

However, I was pretty optimistic about German museums.

I probably would have enjoyed seeing the reconstructed gates and architecture in the Pergamon Museum if we had gone through without a guide, as they are truly impressive structures, but our guide was extremely condescending and boring.

I know what color leaves and skin were probably colored in Greek times. I understand the difference between hunting scenes and peaceful scenes in a mosaic. I can read the signs which explain exhibits, process the information, and be satisfied in the knowledge learned, but our tour guide did not seem to think Americans capable of such intelligence.

I'm probably being overcritical right now, as I massage my throbbing feet.

Today's theme could probably be walking.

We walked (and stood too long) through the museum, walked through large stores, walked to a craft beer pub which didn't serve food, not to mention the walks to, through, and between public transportation. 

I assumed that if I stayed in a city longer than a few days and kept walking around, eventually my feet would stop hurting.

That was a misconception, at least so far.

But today was pretty enjoyable over all.

The long periods of walking were also spent talking with fellow students and enjoying the sights (and smells) of Berlin.

Also, this monstrosity of an ice cream dessert made my sore feet seem a bit more worth the 7 miles that I walked as I adventured throughout this large, German town.






Googling ways to help my feet stop hurting so badly,
The Purple Writer

Day 2: acclimation and dinner

We slept in today. 

Technically, we were sleeping for 11 hours, although as a light/restless sleeper, I really slept in three increments of three hours.

I felt the effects of jet lag off and on through the day, but felt much better than day 1!


Today was a bit lazy for the first part. My three hostel-mates and I checked out at 11 and hung out until we could check back in with the full study abroad group at 3p.

I opened lightroom and played around with it a bit, developing a few of the photographs I took on day 1.

My new room is in the hotel section, so we have air conditioning, which is fantastic!

You really don't realize you need until it's 85-degrees Fahrenheit and you don't have any on the hostel side of the hotel.

We then met up with our CEPA tour guide for an orientation to the city and a two-hour walking tour of a couple sections of Berlin.

Everyone was tired with sore feet, so walking and standing for two hours while hearing information that varied in degree of interesting was a little painful, but we saw some pretty cool things.


We wrapped up the tour at the tallest building in Germany, where we had a scheduled, three-course meal in the rotating restaurant!

We headed back to our hotel, and my group met up to work on our presentation, which we are giving Monday morning instead of Tuesday morning, as we first thought.


This is a pretty short post, but tomorrow's should be filled with more information and will hopefully be written by a more rested Lydia.


Hoping to sleep through the club music that my room faces,
The Purple Writer 

Day 1: Travels

Hallo Berlin, ich bin Lydia aus Texas.

That's about all the German I know, besides the names of random foods/animals, thanks to my 2% fluency in Duolingo. 

After 24 hours of travel time, 3 flights, and a lot of walking, I have arrived at my destination: PLUS Berlin (hotel/hostel). 

I have another 4 hours before check-in time and I'm too exhausted to go explore the city on my own, so I decided to sit down and write this blog post.

I was extremely lucky/blessed through the entirety of my airport adventures this go around!

I non-reved this trip, meaning I didn't buy a ticket (hence the non-revenue name) because my dad is a captain for Delta and I can fly on Delta for free if there's empty space (at least until I graduate and am no longer a dependent). 

I've non-reved plenty of times when things don't go so well, and I've had to spend full days sitting in airports, hoping that just one or two more people won't show up so I can get a ticket. 

So, I was trying to not  be too optimistic; my dad and I made sure there were plenty of backup flights in case I didn't get on any of the first ones.

I got to the DFW airport at 6:15 for the 8:15 flight to Atlanta. Security felt pretty long for so early on a Friday morning, but I got to the gate at 6:45, in time to see people show up late for the 7:00 flight and transfer ahead of me on the standby list for the 8:15 flight.

It went from me being number 8 on the list of 7 open seats to being number 15 on a list of 3 open seats. But, amazingly, just enough people (both paying and non-reving) didn't show up, and I was the last person to walk on the airplane.

So then I got to Atlanta and had a 3.5 hour layover before the first flight headed to Amsterdam. I walked from Concourse B to Concourse F because I had plenty of time and knew from experience that my body doesn't like all the sitting still during international flights. 

I got to the gate, worked on a presentation, filled out a lengthy airport survey, and got awarded a business seat!

Now, if you don't fly very often, especially if you don't fly Delta, you may not realize how fantastic having a business seat is. 

The Delta business seats are basically pods of comfort to make you want to fly internationally all the time.

You get a personal tv with a plethora of shows/movies/music/games/etc., lots of elbow room, complimentary headphones and misc. travel items, delicious food and all the free alcohol you want, and a seat that can go completely flat. 

Completely. Flat. 

This is a miracle of engineering that makes a huge difference when you want to sleep on a 7+ hour flight.

Granted, I'm a very light sleeper, and airplanes are always noisy with some activity happening, and this flight happened to have long sections of pretty bad turbulence, but I still dozed off several times over a 4-5 hour period, without which I would be dead right now. 

Thank you, engineers who designed the business seat.

So, I left Atlanta around 3:00pm, flew for 8 hours, and arrived in Amsterdam at 6:00am. 

This is when things got interesting.

I leave my beautiful, Delta, business pod and head into the Amsterdam airport. 

I go to a help desk to check in for my KLM flight, only to find that my suitcase (which had to be checked in DFW because the plane was full) could not be transferred from the Delta baggage carousel to the KLM flight I was listed on. 

The helpful people who helped me said that I should just get on the flight because it was wide open, and then file a report in Berlin to ask that my suitcase be sent from Amsterdam to my hotel address in Berlin.

That didn't sound fun, but I'm a good non-revver and had all my essentials in my backpack, so I would only be missing my clothes for however long it would take for my suitcase to arrive. 

Thankfully, my dad was still awake (time zone difference meant it was the middle of the night for him) and told me I should definitely not leave my suitcase in Amsterdam.

With half an hour before my flight boarded, I went through the terminal to find the baggage claim with my suitcase, went through customs, ran through three terminals, went through security again (where they had to pat me down and search my bags, of course), ran across the terminal and arrived at the gate almost exactly when the plane was supposed to leave.

Miraculously, there was a delay, so the plane was about 15 minutes behind schedule and the gate agents took pity on my situation and let me get a seat and take both my backpack and my suitcase onto the plane (because the plane-checked luggage had already been put on).

Wind turbines are the first thing I notice while arriving in Germany for a course focusing on renewable energy management. Coincidence? 

So then I arrive in Berlin and follow a set of semi-thorough directions to get to PLUS Berlin. 

I buy a bus ticket, ride it for a while, get on a train, ride it for a while, carry my suitcase up a long flight of stairs because the station is under construction, and then find myself a block away from the hotel.

Do I realize how close I am and walk to the building "directly in front of you on the opposite side of the square?" 

Of course not; I'm much too tired to comprehend how clear the directions are. 

 I walk straight forward for like 9 blocks before I look at the map and realize I should have turned left. So then, I go left for two blocks and then left again for the 9 blocks again, and then left 1.5 blocks to the hotel. 

All of this walking happened on a day with great walking weather, but in heeled boots, black dress pants and a dark, long-sleeved shirt. I'm gross and tired when I show up, and all I want to do is take a shower and fall asleep for a few hours. 

This day has been filled with adventures and close calls and walking/running through airports and Berlin, but that's part of the study abroad experience, right?

Feeling pretty good but still looking forward to a shower,

The Purple Writer

Check out my other adventures!

European Adventures

It's time to become a world traveler!

I mean, I've traveled to an amazing amount of countries and states, compliments of my dad working hard as an airline captain. However, most of those trips involve an almost impossible amount of activities and locations packed into two or three days in a city.

I'm excited to be able to experience other countries' cities for weeks instead of days.

So, where am I traveling?

Two Weeks in Berlin

PR 4301: Global Issues Management - Renewable Energy Issues in Texas & Germany

Four weeks in the Northern UK

EMC 4301: Media, Tourism & Culture as Study Abroad

PHOT 4300: Travel & Cultural Photography as Study Abroad

Want to follow my adventures (with pictures)? 

Each day's blog will be added as a link in the list below:

Day 1: Travels 

Day 2: Berlin (Welcome Dinner)

Day 3: Berlin: (Navos PR & Presentation)

Day 4: Berlin (Navos PR & Crisis Communication)

Day 5: Berlin (Berlin Wall Memorial)

Day 6: Berlin (Pergamon Museum)

Day 7: Berlin (Potsdam)

Day 8: Berlin (Laundry)

Day 9: Berlin (Flea Markets)

Day 10: Berlin(Edelman PR & Berlin Adlershof Science City)

Day 11: Berlin (Edelman PR & Freie Universität)

Day 12: Berlin (German Parliament)

Day 13: Berlin (Federal Press and Information Office & Farewell Dinner) 

Day 14: Berlin (Food and Packing)

Day 15:  Travels

Day 16: Family Adventures (Arthur's Seat & the Royal Mile)

Day 17: Family Adventures (Edinburgh Castle & Holyrood Park)

Day 18: Family Adventures (Princes Street & Game of Thrones)

Day 19: Free Day (Sleep)
Day 20: Free Day (Parks & Shopping) 

Day 21: Edinburgh (Welcome Dinner)

Day 22: Edinburgh (Edinburgh Castle)

Day 23: Edinburgh (Scottish National Gallery)

Day 24: Edinburgh (Blackness Castle)

Day 25. Edinburgh (Rossyln Chapel)

Day 26: Stirling (Wallace Monument)

Day 27: Dundee (City Photo Walk)

Day 28: Dundee (University of Dundee - Centre for Comic Studies)

Day 29: Dundee (Glamis Castle & Arbroath Abbey)

Day 30: Dundee (Free Day)

Day 31: Perth (Scone Palace & Hermitage in Dunkelnd)

Day 32: Inverness  (City Photo Walk)

Day 33: Inverness (North Sea Photography)

Day 34: Inverness (Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle)

Day 35: Isle of Skye (Eilean Donan Castle)

Day 36: Isle of Skye (Old Man of Storr)

Day 37: Isle of Skye (Fairy Pools)

Day 38: Isle of Skye (Free Day)

Day 39: Fort William (Travel Day)

Day 40: Fort William (Free Day)

Day 41: Glenoe Village (Glencoe & Oban Distillery)

Day 42: Glasgow  (City Photo Walk)

Day 43: Belfast  (Ferry & City Photo Walk)

Day 44: Belfast  (Game of Thrones Northern Locations & Giant's Causeway)

Day 45: Belfast (Game of Thrones Filming Locations)

Day 46: Belfast  (Tourism Northern Ireland & Farewell Dinner)

Day 47: Travels

Excited to share my travel experiences,

The Purple Writer