Scotland 2012 – Part 2

I departed from the Inverness train station on Thursday morning and arrived at Edinburgh Waverley in the early hours of the afternoon. I was on a Virgin train, and much to my delight, they offered free wireless Internet. You’re hard-pressed to find free Wi-Fi (let alone Wi-Fi at all) out in Scotland. I made my way out of the train station and boarded a bus which would take me in the direction of the bed and breakfast I was going to be staying at for the remainder of my travels. The bus dropped me at a five minute walk to the bed and breakfast, which was… Good. Apparently, I was given one of the larger rooms, because “That’s the way it worked out.”, according to the woman who owned the establishment.

The other half of my room at the B&B.

The room at the B&B.

My first day in Edinburgh started with exploring the city. I caught another bus back towards the city and explored the area around Saint Andrew Square. I ate lunch at Jenners (The Harrods of Scotland), which was one of the oldest independent department stores in Scotland until it was purchased in 2005. Following Jenners, I meandered up and down Princes Street, which is the main retail area of Edinburgh. While a majority of the retail is geared towards tourists, it was still good fun wandering through the shops and seeing everything the stores had to offer. Later on, I headed up across Waverley Bridge and did more exploring.

Jenners

A view down Princes Street.

A view inside the School of Divinity at The University of Edinburgh.

Unfortunately, a majority of the distilleries in Scotland do very limited tours during the off-season, but I was able to go on The Scotch Whisky Experience, where I received the crash course in how Scotch Whisky is made and tasted a few wee drams from the Highlands, Lowlands, Islay, and Speyside distilleries. It was definitely an enjoyable learning experience, though I still have a great deal to learn. The Scotch Whisky Experience currently houses the largest whisky collection in the world. Owned by Diageo Claive Vidiz, the collection was moved from Brazil in late 2008. You could go to Edinburgh (or all of Scotland for that matter) solely for the purpose to taste, learn about, and collect whisky.

Just a single wall from the world's largest whisky collection.

Just a dram of nectar of the Gods from each of the main regions in Scotland where whisky is produced.

My second day in Edinburgh brought me to Edinburgh Castle, which was another enjoyable learning experience. The entire first day, my eyes kept wandering up to the castle on the hill, for it dominates the skyline and is visible from nearly everywhere in the central downtown area. Primarily used as a military castle, there is very little original castle remaining. It is renovated frequently to ensure that it can handle the 1.5 million visitors it receives each year.

A view of Edinburgh Castle from directly outside.

A view inside the castle.

Following Edinburgh Castle, I walked down The Royal Mile to Scottish Parliament, which is this absolutely beautiful building which is no more than 10 years old. It just opened in mid-2004, I believe. But I got a thorough tour of the building, including some areas that you can’t normally see as a tourist just wandering aimlessly around the building. Makes me really appreciate the tour guides. Following the tour of Scottish Parliament, I went on a hike through Holyrood Park, which is literally right next to Scottish Parliament. I had a beautiful day for hiking, and could see for miles as  I walked along the Salisbury Crags. Literally though, the trail was as rugged as rugged can be. Unpaved, loose gravel, uneven rocks, and the like caused many hikers to stumble before they quickly caught themselves. The hike took me a better part of the afternoon, and after walking back up The Royal Mile, I headed to a place I could eat dinner.

The view from the path along Salisbury Crags. Edinburgh Castle faintly on the horizon.

 

Inside the debating chamber. On the tour, we were able to actually walk down where the MPs sit.

A view of the Scottish Parliament building from the path along the Salisbury Crags.

Overall, I was amazed with the beauty of Scotland, after seeing both the countryside as well as the capital city. Both held a great deal of history in nearly every single crevice and in each drop of whisky. The natural beauty of the countryside was only rivaled by the historic and original architecture that defined Edinburgh. I was fortunate enough to have the great weather that I did for my time in Scotland, which made the trip even more enjoyable. As I was telling the Prentices that I met earlier on in the trip, I’ll definitely need to come back in the near future with the rest of the family in tow.

Heading into the last month in London… It’s shaping up to be a very busy one. I’m trying to get at least one or two more travels in before I head back home to the States. I’ll be sure to write once more before the week’s out. As always, thanks for taking the time to read. See you all very soon.

Scotland 2012 – Part 1

So let’s pick up where I left off… From what I remember, I was headed to O2 Brixton on Saturday night for the second round of Skrillex/Alvin Risk/Zane Lowe/Sebastian. It was such a better atmosphere than the after party last Friday night. The best part? It was louder. Although I found myself in line for 40 minutes from the time doors opened to when I entered the venue, I still had a blast. I would love to get back to O2 Brixton to see Nero in late March.

On Monday evening, I boarded the train at London Euston for Inverness, in Northern Scotland. where my father’s cousin, Archie (would that be my second cousin then?) and his wife Anne live with their two little grasshoppers, Scott and Mairi. The four of them live in a beautiful home just a short drive out of downtown Inverness and were generous enough to take me in from Tuesday to Thursday morning. Upon arriving on Tuesday morning, Archie picked me up from the train station and we headed back to his home where I cleaned up and we took off for a drive along the West coast of Scotland, in the general vicinity of Applecross. We drove through the small mountains of the Applecross Peninsula, along the Bealach na Bà  (pass of the cattle), which is this dangerously narrow, single-lane road, which used to be the only means of getting from Applecross to the rest of civilization. The twisting road took us higher and higher, but unfortunately it was literally raining sideways due to the high speeds of the wind, and the clouds were hanging very low, so the pictures I was able to take were the best I could get with what the weather dealt us that day. Archie was telling me about a bike race that takes place on the Bealach na Bà (because driving it just isn’t life-threatening enough), and I can only imagine how brutally focused you must be as you’re flying down the other side of the pass. One misguided movement could have you hurdling off the course.

... Which I imagine looking something like this...

Despite the unfortunate weather along the West coast, I still saw some beautiful scenery in the countryside. Archie made a delicious meal of venison, black pudding, and white pudding  it consists of pork meat, bread, oatmeal, and various spices,formed into the shape of a sausage. On Wednesday, Archie’s dad (my dad’s Uncle), Richard came to Archie’s and picked me up before we began our adventures. We packed plenty in to our day on Wednesday. We started off with driving to Nairn, located along the Northeast coast, which is known for its seaside resorts, two renowned golf courses, and scenic walks. We drove past the Nairn Golf Club, where the Curtis Cup will be held this summer, in addition to the Culbin Sands, which is a massive forest which stretches from Nairn to the village of Findhorn.

After Nairn, we went to Culloden Field, where the final confrontation between the Jacobites and the forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart took place. Another, very historic and interesting site – It was very eerie and silent as we walked out into the field where the battle took place in 1746. Following Culloden, we drove along Loch Ness, which was absolutely breathtaking. Twenty three miles long and nearly 750 feet deep (at its deepest), Loch Ness is the largest Loch in the Scottish highlands. Located on top of the Great Glen Fault, Loch Ness contains more water than all the bodies of water in both England and Wales combined. Despite all the myths and eye-witness reports, I did not see a monster of any sort as we drove along the water’s edge.

Our day continued as we headed to Fort Augustus, just at the foot of Loch Ness. A small, quiet town, Fort Augustus no doubt relies heavily upon the tourist months. Unlike the previous day, we had terrific weather for the entire day. The mountains along the West coast will catch the majority of the storms before they can reach the central Highlands. The silence that surrounded Fort Augustus was so natural and peaceful as Richard and I walked around. We ended the day in Drumnadrochit, where Richard and his wife Catriona live. We ate at the restaurant in the Loch Ness Inn, just at the end of their street. After the meal, Richard and I dropped Catriona off at their home and we continued to pick Archie up at the train station, for he was in Edinburgh and Glasgow for the day on work-related meetings.

A view from a small hill in Inverness

A view from Bealach na Bà

Fort Augustus

A view from Fort Augustus of Loch Ness

With Richard and Catriona after dinner

The wee grasshoppers, Mairi (10) and Scott (5)

I left Archie and Anne’s early Thursday morning and got on the train to Edinburgh, which transferred in Perth before reaching my final destination. Inverness was great. It was certainly a memorable experience meeting more of the Prentice side of the family, and I’ll be eternally grateful for their kindness and hospitality as they showed me around Northern Scotland. It would really be a different experience if I hadn’t shared it with family. I can only hope to visit again, next time, with the other four family members in two. I’ll get to writing about my Edinburgh adventures once they’re all said and done and I’m back in London on Saturday evening. But until then, here’s a few photos…

“The water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable, we had to add whisky. By diligent effort, I learnt to like it.” - Winston Churchill

Mid-Semester Break

Nearly six weeks down… And it’s been a busy past couple of days. So what have I been up to since the last time I wrote? On Monday evening, I went to the Prince Charles Cinema, one of the independent theaters in London, located in Leicester Square. I went to the showing of the film “The Room” which included a Q&A session with the director/star as well as one of the actor’s from the film. As I mentioned earlier, “The Room” is one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s good. I had never been to an independent theater such as the Prince Charles Cinema before. The cinema frequently plays older, cult movies such as “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and fan favorites such as “Fargo” and “Grease”.

With Greg Sestero (left) and Tommy Wiseau (right).

On Tuesday evening, the group attended the Southampton VS West Ham United football match, which was a blast. After watching a few soccer games on television back in the United States, I thought I had seen it all. However, being in the stadium (West Ham’s in Upton Park) surrounded by fans who feel that their territory is being encroached on by the visiting Southampton is a whole new beast. The game itself was very fast paced and only kept picking up momentum as the fans as they launch into chants so vulgar I can’t even begin to reproduce them here. Definitely an experience in British Life & Culture.

On Wednesday, the group took the train out to Rochester where we spent half a day. Located in Kent, Rochester was the setting of many Charles Dickens books. We visited Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral, as well as The Six Poor Travelers House – The inspiration for Dickens’ “The Seven Poor Travelers”. Rochester was very beautiful and we very fortunate to have much better weather than our previous Wednesday trips.

Inside The Six Poor Travelers House

Inside Rochester Cathedral

Inside Rochester Cathedral

On Thursday, I went up to Belsize Park where I joined Archie and Pat for dinner at their beautiful flat. All of my flatmates left for their respective spring break trips on Friday morning, so I’ve got the flat to myself until I leave for Scotland on Monday evening. On Friday night, I was at the Electric Brixton for the Alvin Risk/Skrillex/Zane Lowe after party, which was a lot of fun. I’ve never been to a show where the crowd is unresponsive and generally uninterested in the show happening right in front of them until last night’s show. I’m heading to the O2 Academy in Brixton tonight for the actual show, so I hope it will be a better atmosphere. I’m leaving for Inverness on Monday night, and I’ll be there until Thursday morning, when I’ll head down to Edinburgh until Saturday. I’ll be sure to take some photos and have plenty to write about.

Has It Been A Month?

Yes, yes it has been a month already. If it wasn’t for this blog, I don’t even know if I could remember what we did the first week here. We’re doing so much, it can get overwhelming at times. Another busy week has flown by… We went to the Lyceum Theatre to see The Lion King on Tuesday evening, which brought back countless memories of watching the Disney movie on VHS in the late 90s with Sam and Ellery. I find it hard to dislike The Lion King. It’s such a great story and as I mentioned, it brings me back to the evenings when the VHS tape just would’t rewind fast enough so we could watch it again. The costumes were intricate and stunning, to say the very least. I knew it wasn’t going to be the same exact rendition of The Lion King that Disney produced just under twenty years ago… Yet, the music that accompanied the performance was (noticeably) not the Hans Zimmer score. The music was enjoyable, for I always find it fascinating to watch the musicians in the orchestra pit, yet it was not the same music that won the Academy Award for “Best Music, Original Score” in 1995. Also… Mufasa… The actor that portrayed Mufasa was no James Earl Jones. He was good. But no James Earl Jones. All and all, I still enjoyed the production and am very glad I was able to see it here in London. (My favorite Hans Zimmer scores come from “Inception”, Chris Nolan’s “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, “Gladiator”, “The Thin Red Line”, and “Black Hawk Down”. Check ’em out if you get the chance. He’s definitely got a signature sound.)

The Lion King – Lyceum Theatre

“I write some of the best music for the best action movies of our time, what do you want from me?”

On Wednesday we headed to Oxford where we spent a half-day touring some of the buildings and getting a chance to talk to two students who were friends of the children of our tour guide. One, studying Geography and playing lacrosse, the other studying Engineering and playing “how much can my liver actually take?”. Oxford seems to be on par with schools such as Princeton, Yale, and Harvard in the United States. I don’t have my camera on me at the moment, as I’m writing this from the college, I’ll upload some photos upon returning to the flats. While we were in Oxford, we stopped by a pub where both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (I’m going to start going by S.J. Prentice, although it doesn’t have that ring to it.) both frequented. History is everywhere. In addition to the famous pubs, we visited a location where some scenes from the Harry Potter movies were either filmed, or had set replicas made in the image of these rooms. 

Thursday was another full day. We started the day in the “Introduction To Theatre” class, which is an enjoyable course. We’re learning about some of the works of Harold Pinter as well as Allen Aikborn and will be eventually putting on short (2-3 minute) performances of portions from plays. Following Theatre, we had “British Life & Culture”, which upon hearing I’m taking a course titled “British Life & Culture”, many people assuming it’s “taught” at the nearest pub with the football match on. Contrary to this, we viewed a Karel Reisz film “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” starring Albert Finney (see “Miller’s Crossing”, “Erin Brockovich”, or the unreleased “Bond: Skyfall” among dozens and dozens of other films.), which describes the life of the working class man in the late 50s/early 60s. A film made during the British New Wave years during the 60s, paved the way for films such as “A Kind of Loving” and “Billy Liar” which provided an accurate description of the life of the British working class and were unique to cinema during those years. Originally, “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” was banned from cinemas for obscenity by the local authority in Warwickshire. Despite this, the film was nominated for 6 BAFTAs and picked up 3 wins including “Best Actress” – Rachel Roberts, “Best British Film”, and “Most Promising Newcomer to Film” – Albert Finney. Maybe not a film to add to the immediate collection… But perhaps down the line.

A throwaway design for one of the buildings from Nolan’s “Inception”. (Only joking)

Now we arrive at Friday. I only have British Life & Culture on Fridays from 09:00-11:00 AM. So I sit here at school where I have access to Internet. I figured I’d download some updates to my computer and Skype my dad while I had the chance. Big props to Chief for waking up at 6:00 AM only to Skype for a continually disrupted 20 minutes. The Internet here isn’t as reliable as I would have liked it to be. I’ve never really just sat in the school and watched the students and faculty mill about. I’m normally in and out, having to leave to get to the next destination, whether it be a theatre or on a bus to get back to the flats. After sitting here for about two and a half hours, I’ve noticed that the students here at City of Westminster College are considerably younger than myself and the other students in the Ball State program. It’s like being back at high school. After talking to some other Ball State students, the consensus seems to be we’re surrounded by kids ages anywhere from 14-? There’s no age cap. Granted, the Paddington Green campus, which opened in January 2011 is beautiful and very modern, but, man, these kids! I originally thought we’d be in classes with other British students, and upon arriving, I was bummed to hear we wouldn’t be. But now, I couldn’t imagine being in classes with any of them. Our “History of British Pop Music” instructor hit the nail on the head when describing the students at City of Westminster College…

I’ll be sure to get a post up going more in depth about the classes (only 3 of them at the College, not including my independent study) I’m taking while in London. Nothing on the radar for the weekend, yet. The six young women from flat two, with whom we normally hang out with, went to Barcelona for the weekend, so we’ll be left up to our own devices. As class started this morning, our professors decided it was important to regale the students about just how frightening of a place Barcelona can be for tourists. Tales of Rohypnol, couples waking up separated, undressed in parks and hotel rooms with no recollection of the previous night were tossed about at the beginning of class.

Our reaction upon hearing these stories so early in the morning.

February 5th

I apologize for not writing regularly the past few days. I’ve either been busy with school or it’s simply slipped my mind. We’ve done a lot since the last time I wrote. I just hope I can remember it all… Let’s see… Last Tuesday, we didn’t have any theater to attend, which we made up for on Wednesday. Wednesday, the 1st of February, may have been the longest day of all days. We took the train out to Windsor Castle, which plays host to state visits, a popular tourist attraction, as well as the weekend home of the Queen. Windsor was truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately for us students/tourists, we were unable to take photographs inside the actual castle, however I managed to get one or two photos. In addition to Windsor Castle, we also walked through St. George’s Chapel – Which certainly upheld the standards (in terms of sheer beauty) of churches I’ve seen so far while I’ve been in England.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

After Windsor, we walked down to Eton College, which is one of the most expensive and exclusive colleges in the United Kingdom (arguably the entire world). The buildings that made up Eton College were spectacular… Almost in the sense that it was a miracle they were still standing. After hearing roughly how prestigious this school is (students have to write musicals in Latin while be dunked in the Thames every 30 seconds, you know, real tough stuff), the feeling of inadequacy was mutual across Ball State students.

The View of Eton From Windsor Castle

After Eton, we got back on the train back to Paddington station, where we headed to Piccadilly to where we attended an improvisational comedy show at The Comedy Store. I was hesitant about this show. I never feel comfortable during improvisational comedy… It always feels so awkward. I am so glad we went though, because I came out of the show having enjoyed myself. After the show, we headed back to the flats, where we got in at around 11:00 PM (a total of 15 hours on the go). May have forgot a slight detail… It was about 25 degrees on Wednesday. Cold times, everybody. Cold times.

The Comedy Store

It was a fairly uneventful weekend, which started on Thursday night, since we did not have class on Friday. It was mostly recovery and catching up on any school work that needed to be finished. We went Camden on Saturday, which is definitely a location I could visit every week, simply for the exciting atmosphere. Not to mention there’s some great places to get movies and vinyl! If I keep bringing DVDs and vinyl back to the flat at the rate I am now… Packing everything up in April will certainly be a test of patience.

I headed to Harrods today, which was everything I had heard it would be. A massive department store that I was more than happy to get lost inside. The retail was diverse and the food halls were absolutely magnificent. I’ll definitely be heading back to Harrods in the future to enjoy a proper sit-down meal there.

My Reaction Upon Realizing The Menswear Was Right Next To The Food Halls