In Ireland

Hello All,
Well I have successfully made it to Ireland. It was a bit of trouble trying to get all the dots to connect to get here but it finally worked out. I left St. Andrews on bus this morning, then took a train, then a ferry, then by taxi. I've met up with the Keightley family and they are wonderful and I am very thankful they are letting me stay with them. I think that Catherine and I will be travelling down to Dublin tomorrow for the day since she is off. That's about all I know thus far. I will keep updates coming as I can.
Miss you all

London Adventures

Hello All!

I returned to Scotland from London last night and I must say it was nice to have someone to talk to again. London was quite the adventure. The train ride down was quite nice and seemed to go quite fast. I arrived at Kings Cross Train Station which is the train station that they supposedly based the Harry Potter scenes off of. I didn't think it looked anything like it but on my way out coming back to Scotland I found the re-creation of the Platform 9 3/4 and some girls took a picture with me and the luggage cart so that was quite cool I thought. While on the train the lady next to me said it was supposed to be in the 30 degree celcius range in London which is the 90 degree F range for us. I was a little bit shocked and worried, I had only brought clothes for cold weather with me and they defanitely were not appropriate for that warm of weather. As I got off the train it was a defanite heat wave. Once I figured my way out of the train station I headed over to the underground station and bought my osyter card travel pass which allowed me to use the Tube as they call it in London and I made my way to Greenwich were the hostel was that I was staying at. Well I had directions that I had printed off online and so I followed them and got off at the stop they said too and luckily there was a tourist information store right there so I asked them for a map and how to get to the hostel that I was staying at. They told me the wrong direction and I ended up walking for about 20 minutes in the wrong direction and got into a really bad neighborhood. I started to panic a bit at this point and turned around and went back the other direction. I headed back down to the tube and went to the next station where while on the phone with mom the internet said the hostel should be right there when I walked out from the tube station. Well it wasn't, at least where I came out. I walked towards the hostel and ended up passing it because i thought it was supposed to be a green building and luckily there was a guy sitting outside that helped me out. Well the hostel ended up not being painted green like the pictures and it was on top of a bar where I had to check in at. At this point all I wanted was to shower because I was hot and tired from walking in the wrong direction. Well as I was putting my stuff down in my all girl 6 bunk bed room a girl named Liv walked in and asked if I would like to walk around town with her and get some dinner. So I decided why not I am hungry. She was quite nice, from Norway, and we walked the main parts of Greenwich including the park and up to the Royal Observatory. The royal observatory is where the Greenwich time is set as well as it's the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees Longitude. There was amazing views of the Thames, Greenwich, and London from up at the Observatory. After walking around the park we headed to a Mexican restuarant for dinner and I had a Strawberry Daquiri which I felt was much needed after that day. After dinner we headed back to the hostel and I showered and organized my plans for the next day and then tried to sleep. My first night it in the hostel wasn't the greatest experience these two older ladies came in (which I thought it was 35 and under but maybe I was wrong) well they were very loud and weren't respecting that other people in the room were trying to sleep. One girl was snooring and it wasn't even that loud and one of the older ladies said "Oh god shut the hell up" and then threw something at the girl that was snooring. She didn't wake up but from there on out I was afraid to fall asleep in case I snoored I didn't want something thrown at me. So due to the lack of sleep it wasn't hard to get up and get moving early the next morning. The only problem with getting up and moving that early was that I was travelling the tube at the same time as all the business workers so it was packed. My first stop of the day was the Tower of London. My favorite part of the Tower of London was the Crown Jewels I couldn't believe all the detailing in them it was amazing. I also enjoyed seeing all of Henry the 8ths armor that they had on display. I also saw the Ravens that live there and the story is that if they ever left the tower that the kingdom would fall, which I found quite interesting. I then headed outside and saw the Tower Bridge which was quite amazing. I sat and had some Starbucks next to the Thames river with views of the Bridge. I then headed back on the tube towards the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. I couldn't go into Big Ben or Parliament because they were closed but they were amazing just to look at. I then headed over to Westminster Abbey where I did go in. You couldn't take pictures in the Abbey which quite bummed me out but I got chills when I walked in because it was so amazing. It amazed me all the people that were buried in there and had memorials for them in there. Charles Darwin is buried in there, which I found interesting since I've learned about him my whole science schooling career. As I was walking to my next tube station I found a statue of Abe Lincoln which I thought was pretty cool so I took a picture. I then headed back on the tube to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately both days I headed towards here I missed the changing of the guard. But I did take a picture of the flag pole because it was missing the flag indicating that the Queen was there because she's in Scotland. I thought I could put the two pictures together. The area around Buckingham Palace is just gorgeous. The gates are amazing and then you cross the street and you are in Hyde Park. Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are these huge park areas that are across the street from Buckingham Palace. They were so large I didn't even see all of the parks. I wish I would've had more time for the Parks because they are both amazing. I have a giant map of them so you can see how big they are. After Hyde Park I went to the shopping district and had to buy myself some tank tops for the hot London weather because I only brought clothes for cold weather with me. After shopping I headed back to Greenwich for the night. The next day I got up early again and headed to St. Pauls Cathedral, where Princess Diana was married. Again at this Cathedral I couldn't take pictures inside. It was a breathtaking Cathedral and the ceilings were amazing. I bought postcards here to show the inside because I was so amazed. At the Cathedral you can climb up stairs to three different galleries to see different parts of the dome. I did all three levels which was close to 600 steps one way. So I did almost 1200 steps that day not including the rest of the walking. But it was worth it. At the top you can go outside and there were great views of the city. I just sat up there for a while looking and taking it all in. Then I headed back to Kensington Gardens area (I'd only done Hyde Park the day before) so that I could see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. The Fountain was really cool and was in sort of a cascading heart shape. In one area of Kensington Gardens they have a circle pond where there were a ton of swans. Now you all know how much I don't really care for birds seeing how they like to poop on me, but these swans were gorgeous. I learned that all the swans in England are the Queens property and you can get in big trouble if you injure one which I thought was quite interesting and cool at the same time. I wasnt even close to being done with Kensington Gardens when my camera card ran out so I had to go find another one. Well it wasn't easy to find one in this area. I ended up walking around for about 2 hours trying to find somewhere to buy a camera card and finally found one at a tube station for a ridiculous price but after 2 hours I wasn't looking anymore. As I was walking trying to find a camera card I found the National History Museum which is one place I wanted to go. However when I went inside this free museum it was deathly hot in there, hotter than outside. So I decided to just go find the thing I wanted to see. They have a Blue Whale skeleton and a life size model of a Blue whale that I wanted to see, as well as other whales. But they also have a skeleton of a Steller's Sea Cow which we learned about in my Marine Mammals Course that went extinct a long time ago so it was cool to see what it kind of looked like. After the Marine Mammals area I headed out to Trafalgar Square. On this particular day it was Canada Day (Their National Holiday) and the Canadian Embassy is right by the square so they were having a huge celebration in the square. The square is also home to the National Gallery (free) of paintings. I spent quite a lot of time in here. I am sad to say it wasn't for the paintings though, it was the only place in the city I could find air conditioning. I know it's sad but I enjoyed the paintings as I sat in the air conditioning for a while. London doesn't know how to handle heat very well. After the museum and I had cooled off a bit I considered riding the tube out to Wimbeldon but then decided to head back to Greenwich because it was already quite late in the day. The next day I headed back to St. Andrews and was quite ready to come back to cooler weather. All in all London was an okay place to visit. I found the local people to be sort of rude and I found that it was more a metropolis now versus being the London that everyone thinks off. I didnt get to see everything I wanted but the majority at least and despite the heat I had fun.

Love to all and sorry it took so long to update

Getting Ready for London

Hello All,
Alright so I just typed this whole thing but then the computer deleted it so the message won't be in quite as much detail.
Today Sarah and I hung around town and leisurely (not sure on spelling, sorry aunt lori) read books. We were planning on travelling to Stirling Castle but by the time the bus arrived in St. Andrews and would get us to the castle it wasn't going to be worth it for today anyways. Tonight we went and had dinner at a Japanese/Thai place and it was quite delicious.
Tomorrow morning I leave for London on the train at 9:30am and should arrive in London around 3pmish. My hostel that I am staying at is in Greenwich so the plan for the rest of tomorrow is to explore around Greenwich. Tuesday I plan on getting on one of the sightseeing hop-on hop-off buses to see the city. Then Wednesday and Thursday morning I will see the other things I didn't see. I head back to St. Andrews on Thursday afternoon. I am getting quite excited to leave but also a little nervous. Luckily it stays really light here until around 10:30pm (hopefully close to same in London) so that I won't be walking around in the dark. I'm not sure if I will have internet access so this may be the last blog for a few days. I have an international pay as you go phone that I use to talk to Dad and Mom so they know that I will be safe.
Love to all,
Heather heading to London

Dolly and the Queen

Hello All!
Today Sarah and I headed back into Edinburgh and went to the National Musuem of Scotland which houses the Dolly the cloned sheep. We were mostly going just to see Dolly but found some really cool other things in the museum as well. The museum was free and huge so we spent quite a long time there.
The highlight of my day was that the Queen herself is in Scotland staying at her Holyrood House/Palace. I took a picture of the flag flying that indicates that she is here. I was hoping to see her but sadly did not. I was still quite excited that she was in the same place as I was. Quite impressive.
It poured today and was quite cold again so we were soaked almost the whole day but it was worth it. I'm not sure what tomorrow entails yet but Monday I head to London.
Love you all

Zoo, Birds, and Transformers

Hi All!

Yesterday Sarah and I went to the Edinburgh Zoo. We didn't think that it could be that large based on the fact that it was in the city but it is huge. There are gigantic hills that most people take a safari bus up to the top and then walk their way down. Well we walked both ways, it was quite the workout. I was mighty impressed with the amount of space the animals had to roam around in. It was quite fun because they had lots of monkeys and I was able to pick them out before reading the signs from my Social Behavior of Primates course last semester. The zoo was wonderful except it fell in the ratings do to the fact that most of the animals were hiding within their enclosures so we missed out on some of the cool animals like all the big cats. Overall it was great fun though.

Last Night I decided to give mom a call and was out walking around outside and got pooped on by a stupid bird for the 4th time in my life. Some people never get pooped on in their life and I've already been pooped on 4 times. Mom couldn't stop laughing while we were on the phone. It was quite gross though.

Today our plan was to go to 2 different castles however once we started trying to figure out how to get there by bus it wasn't going to be so simple so we decided to hang around town. We ended up going and seeing Transformers 2 tonight. I haven't seen the first one but I must say the second one was awesome and I recommend it.

Tomorrow Sarah has to go do some research work so I'm going to hang out here in the morning then meet up with her later in the afternoon. I'm not sure what the weekend entails yet but it will be an adventure I'm sure. Monday I am heading off to London.

Love you all

Seals, Beaches, and Fog Banks

Hello All!
Yesterday Sarah and I headed into North Queensferry to the Deep Sea World which is an aquarium. They had all tips of fish from around here as well as tropical fish, amazon rainforest fish, sharks, rays, and adorable Common Seals. We got to watch the feeding and training session of the seals and one was being quite stubborn it was funny. The seals come from their seal rescue and rehabilitation program over here. The seals go to a place called the SSPCA Middlebank first where they are assessed and kept for 24 hours and then usually are trasported to the aquarium. I thought this was quite cool. The aquarium also had a stonefish which is the world's most venomous fish and he looks like a rock so if you stepped on him you'd never know it and they are fatal to humans. Quite impressive I thought since I've never seen one. After the aquarium we headed back to Sarah's and watched movies the rest of the night.
Today Sarah had to do some work on her research and had a doctors appointment so I was on my own. It was actually a gorgeous day in St. Andrews so I headed down to West Sands beach which is by the Old Course and walked along the beach then layed down and read a book. The water was extremely warm at the beach today for some reason and I thought about going in but only went up to my ankles. I found some cool seashells, algae, and even shark egg sacs while walking along the beach. It was a great time. I headed back to meet up with Sarah and we went and walked the old pier. We saw some schools of what looked like sardines but was hard to tell. Sarah had another thing to go tonight so I decided that I would head down to East Sands which is the beach closest to her and the place she was going and read again and wait for her. The water at East Sands was much colder but people were still in it. As I was reading I started to get cold so I sat up and turned to put my coat on and saw a huge fog bank that rolled into the town in a matter of like 2 minutes and it was thick. It was quite cool to see and when Sarah came out of her meeting she said she'd never seen anything like it. It's still foggy now and brought in the colder weather so we are in for the night.
Love to all,
Heather

The Chippy and Highland Games

Hello All!
Yesterday Sarah and I headed into a little fishing town to go to the UK's top voted Fish and Chips place. I figured I had to try fish and chips from the land of fish and chips. The restaurant was very busy and they people said that was actually a quite day. The fish and chips presentation in the newspaper box was quite cute. I am not a big fish eater so I wasn't too thrilled about the fish and chips but it was good. It was one of Sarah's friends birthday's last night so he was having a birthday party and we headed into Dundee for that. Her friends seemed pretty nice but I felt quite out of the loop as they were all talking about their work they are doing. When it was time for us to head back and catch the last bus, the birthday guy said that it should only take us about 15 minutes to walk to the bus station....well it was talking us longer than that and we ended up literally running across town hoping the bus was still there but were sure it wasn't. Luckily it was still there and we made it home safely.
Today we headed up to Aberdeen for the Highland Games. I found out these were going on before I even came over here and told Sarah that I had to go and she agreed she wanted to see authentic highland games also. Aberdeen is not that close, about an hour and a half by bus, and the buses don't run often there so our time was limited. But let me tell you these games were so cool. They had the heavy weight games where they throw all the heavy stuff to see who wins, they had scottish and irish dancing, they had tug-a-war, track tip competitions, and the thing I thought was the coolest was a bagpipe competition. I could sit and watch them for hours. It was a perfect sunny day for the Highland games and very glad that we went.
I'm not sure what tomorrow entails yet but I look forward to another fun day.
Love
Heather

Visiting Nessie and Playing Golf

Hello all!
Thursday Sarah and I made the long trek up to the Highlands via buses to visit Nessie at Loch Ness. The bus rides were long but the scenery was amazing. As we headed up you could see sheep, highland cows, and deer in massive amounts all along the mountains. Loch Ness is most famous for the sea monster Nessie but really it should be famous for it's breathtaking beauty. It was amazing how gorgeous it was up there. It was sunny also which was another plus. We went to the Urquhart Castle which is mostly ruins now because it was blown up to avoid the Jacobites from taking it over. The castle is where the most sightings of Nessie have been reported but unfortunately she decided not the grace us with her presence. We also checked out the Loch Ness Centre which featured movies about all the theories of Nessie. Does she really exist?
Today it was gorgeous and sunny in St. Andrews. We headed down and played the 18 hole putter golf course on the Old Course. It was so much fun and we decided that we are going to play again next week. I also got authentic Wellies today to keep my feet dry. I am excited to wear them but I will hold off for the sun that we are having.
Well I am exhausted and heading to bed. Tomorrow lies another day of adventures. Love you all,
Heather

The Rainy Mile

Today Sarah and I travelled to Glamis Castle. It was an extremely rainy day here. Sarah said she hasn't actually seen it this rainy in a really long time. We rode the bus into Glamis village and were trying to see out the windows at the beautiful landscape but this task was soon given up because the windows kept fogging up. When we got off at Glamis village we assumed that the castle would only be a short walk away. Well technically it was, at least the gate was. The castle ended up being down a driveway that was about a mile long. Now normally this would not be a huge problem but the rain added an extra element to our walk today. We were freezing and soaking wet the whole walk down but I must say it was worth it. Glamis castle is a fairy tale castle. It was gorgeous even in the rain. We went on a tour that only showed us a small portion of the castle because the one of the Lord Glamis uses the house as their current residence. Glamis castle was the birth place of the Queen Mother and there are many references to her and pictures of her throughout the castle parts that we saw. The castle is also supposedly haunted and there is a window that you can see on the outside of the castle that when you look through it all you see is a wall. It is said that one of the lords and a friend were playing cards and they played on into the sabbath sunday and the devil himself showed up and started closing in the walls of the room they were in until they were totally enclosed in. It is said that you can still see them every once and a while from that window today closed into the room. This castle was by far the coolest we've seen thus far I think. Some of the doors from rooms are hidden into the walls of the room, it makes it look like a secret passageway. I would've loved to be the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret playing around in this castle growing up. After the castle we headed back into Dundee and to the mall and I got a bigger air mattress to sleep on and then we headed back to St. Andrews for dinner and soon bed. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Loch Ness. I am hoping the weather gets some what better. If this rain continues I'm buying myself true Wellies (aka rainboots if you didn't know).
Love you All
~Heather

Research and Golf

Hello All~
Sorry for the delay in updates, I've been really tired the last couple of nights. Monday we headed into Dundee which is about 30 minutes away by bus and is also where Sarah's research is done for her Masters. We went to Discovery Point which contains the Royal Research Ship (RRS Discovery) which was the first ship built and designed for research in the Antarctic. The museum was quite interesting and interactive. They have the actual ship out in the harbor that you also go onto. The ship isn't the same as it used to be in all parts due to modification over the years but most of it is the same and it was quite impressive. We spent many hours at Discovery Point and had planned on travelling to Glamis castle which is amount 11 miles outside Dundee but by the time we got to the bus station we wouldn't have had much time at the castle so we just headed back into St. Andrews and walked around some more. Yesterday (Tuesday) we stayed in St. Andrews and it was golf day. It was actually a very nice day yesterday, sunny, but still cold. We headed down to the other side of town which is about a 15 minute walk to the Old Course. We had lunch at a pub called 1 Golf Place which was quite delicious. Then we headed out by the Old Course and there were tons of people standing around and also people playing on the course. We walked across the course at holes 1 and 18 where there was a path and headed up towards one of the club houses. There is another course called the Himalayas which is technically the ladies putting green but is now a putting course that anyone can play on for 2 pounds and 18 holes. We were going to play but decided that we weren't dressed appropriately because the people were still dressed in golf attire so we are going to go back another day when dressed appropriately. After checking out the golf courses we headed onto the beach called West Sands which is right across from the Old Course. The beach reminded me of a cross between Florida beaches and Oregon beaches just much colder. We then headed off the beach and up to the British Golf Museum which was extrememly cool. We spent a long time in there. I took a lot of pictures until my camera battery died unfortunately but I got a book all about it. After the museum we went through the golf shops which had way cool stuff but way over priced. They are very proud of their stuff. There were some good deals but I decided not to buy anything I can always go bac. After all the golf stuff we walked more of the town and went to a place called B. Janetta's which is an ice cream/gelato place which Sarah prepared me so I could take lactaid. I had strawberry and it was one of the best I've ever had. I will defanitely have to go back. We went to another pub last night for dinner and Sarah had traditional Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. Haggis is lamb, beef, oatmeal, onions, seasonings and spices all mixed together. Neeps is Turnips and Tatties are mashed Potatoes. It didn't look all that appetizing. Sarah said it wasn't awful but not necessarily good either and didn't think she'd order it again. I'm not sure I can bring myself to try it but maybe the mood will strike me.
Today we are going to Glamis castle and around Dundee.
Love you all,
Heather

Day in St. Andrews

Hello All!
Sorry I didn't update last night, yesterday was a busy day. In the morning Sarah and I travelled around St. Andrews and the old Cathedral ruins that are right next to her place. It was amazing to see some of the old parts of the cathedral. Inside this area is now an old cemetary. There is even a cementary and giant headstone memorial for an old golfer. I took a picture for you Dad and all the golfers. We then headed into Market Street which is the main street in town. As we were walking along Sarah pointed out parts of the university which are spread all across the town. We stopped into Starbucks and had a muffin and drink to get us going for the day (that's for you Grandma Pat). The Starbucks look exactly the same here as they do at home. We then walked around Market Street for a while and it started to really rain so we came back to Sarah's place and hung out for a while. I ended up taking a nap. After our down time and the rain sort of stopped we headed to lunch at B. Janetta's cafe where I had a panini. After lunch we went to Tesco which is the local grocery store to pick up some groceries so we weren't eating out all day long. We took the groceries back to Sarah's and then headed to the local movie theater and saw the Hangover, very funny. The movie theaters here are two stories and depending on where you sit the prices are different. Also the theaters don't show movie previews which Sarah (she hadn't been to one yet) and I were waiting for. After the movie we headed to one of the local pubs, called the Criterion, to meet up with some of Sarah's friends from school. The pubs here do this thing called Pub games where it's all trivia and you play in teams to answer the trivia questions and the team that wins gets a case a beer. Well it just so happened that the team Sarah and I played on with her friends won, so our team one a case of beer. I was thought the pub games were quite fun and a great idea. The two other girls we were playing with took the case of beer home with them for later this week. Sarah and her friends just started a once a week dinner night together so they were saving it for that. After the pub, it was like 10:30 pm and still light outside, we headed to get some dinner from a local shop. We got our food as take out because it's cheaper and then headed back to Sarah's to eat it. That was pretty much all for the day except for heading to bed. Today we are heading into Dundee.
Love to all
~Heather

I have arrived

Hello All! I have arrived in Scotland and am currently at my friends place in St. Andrews. It's been a long trip but well worth it thus far. The long lay over in JFK New York airport was quite boring and confusing. Their airport is not very organized but I managed to make it through. Found a Starbucks and got my frappacuino fix for the day. The flight to Edinburgh was better than from New York. We had individual movie players which was nice. I was sitting next to an elderely couple that actually grew up in Scotland and then moved to the US when their daughter was 2. They are staying in the Dundee area with their family that still lives here. They gave me some ideas of places to go and said that I would love it. I didn't get to sleep much on the plane and am extremely tired. When I arrived in Edinburgh I couldn't believe how green it was it was gorgeous. I met up with Sarah about and hour later because my flight got in early. We headed out on the bus into downtown Edinburgh and to the train station where I could store my luggage. We had some breakfast thing called a pasty which was like a pastry filled with different things. Mine was bacon and cheese. But it also had like potatoes and onions in it. It wasnt my favorite but I tried it out. We then walked from the train station up tons of hills to the Edinburgh Castle. That place was so cool. They were doing a changing of the guard when we got up there so we got to see that as well as the bagpipers playing. I recorded a video so hopefully it works. We spent quite a long time at the castle. We then headed out and walked the Royal Mile. There were some pretty amazing buildings along the way including St. Giles Cathedral which we went into and I got chills. The stained glass was amazing as well as the huge organ pipes and all the wood work. We continued along the Royal Mile down to the Holyrood Palace which is where the Queen stays when she is here in Scotland. Because it's the Queens property you are not allowed to take pictures inside, which was a bummer because things were amazing. We walked through the gardens which were beautiful but got my allergies going. As we were walking through the gardens it started to rain. I didn't have my umbrella with me because it was still in my suitcase but it wasn't too bad. We then hoped back on the city bus and went and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Sarah collects drumsticks from them and didn't realize there was one until we passed it so we decided to sit down for a bite to eat. We then decided that we would go back to the train station and get my luggage and head towards St. Andrews for the rest of the evening. The bus ride to St. Andrews took about 2 hours. I was trying to stay awake to see the countryside but was so exhausted that I fell asleep. I will defanitely sleep well tonight. Things that I have learned thus far today towards the rest of my trip:
1. There is A LOT of walking including LOTS of hills. So I will be getting my exercise in.
2. You have to pay to use the bathrooms. This was crazy to me.
I have taken lots of pictures thus far and plan to take many more. Tomorrow the plan is to map out the rest of my time and explore St. Andrews.
Love you all. Signing off from St. Andrews

Getting Ready

Hello All!
I am currently getting ready to take off on my awesome Graduation trip to Scotland, England, and Ireland, thanks to Grandpa and Grandma McCarn (I love you and thank you very much). I am figuring out all the last minute details of things to pack and things that I can live without. I am extremely excited to leave on Friday morning bright and early (6:30am). I first head to New York JFK airport and have a five hour layover and then head over to Edinburgh, Scotland. My friend Sarah is meeting me at the airport when I get in (8:20am) and the plan is travel around Edinburgh for the day and then head to St. Andrews where she is going to school and I will be staying with her. I have no idea what my trip schedule is going to be like yet but I plan on seeing as much as possible in the five weeks that I am there. Well I am off to get to packing and have some dinner. Love you all and updates coming soon.
Love,
Heather