Day 4-Student Perspectives

Edinburgh Castle/St. Andrews-March 8th, 2015

On Sunday, March 8th we toured Edinburgh Castle then drove to St. Andrews to spend some time sightseeing and to see the golf course. The tour at the castle was self-guided, so once everyone got their tickets, we were free to wander around the castle and the different rooms inside including the story of the story of the Crown Jewels and the Crown Jewels themselves. In one of the rooms [in the castle] they remembered the soldiers that fought for Scotland. The oldest and younget were remembered and depicted. The oldest being an 89 year old man who carried the youngest around with him, who was only months old.

When we got to St. Andres, we had around these hours to walk around the town. The town was on the coast and there was a pair to walk down to get a better view of the water and town. The city itself looked very old with many beautiful buildings. As we got closer to the golf cour, there were many golf stores. The beach was also right next to the golf course. We walked along the beach until it was time to leave, we many other people from our groups who had the same idea. The view of the city from the beach was beautiful. 

-Alyssa Campbell

March 8th 2015

We were able to sleep in a little this morning and the extra rest was greatly welcomed to rid ourselves of any remaining jet lag. We were downstairs for breakfast by half passed eight and once again were served traditional British foods with juice and coffee. Once the bus was loaded around nine o'clock we were off to the castle in force. The castle in Edinburgh was a stone structure upon a high, commanding rock cliff at the city's center. We ascended the steps up the entrance, which was at the top of the "Royal Mile". 

As you wove your way into the center of the castle, one could tell the fortress was built up at several different periods as layers of walls and buildings were discovered at every twist and turn. The views of the city down below were mesmerizing as the strong winds came off of the water and rushed over the buildings below and up to the castle's ramparts, causing the banners and flags to snap and display their bright colors along the walls and spires of the castles. Inside the castle, every building and structure held some sort of intrigue and captured your wonder as you wandered about. The Scottish War Memorial was a solemn and reverent place where th royal regiments displayed their battle honors and paid respect to the fallen members who had made those honors possible 

Next, we decended down into the collapsed ruins of an old tower that had since been built over. The air was stale and clammny almost like being in a cave. Near the old tower was the prison which we explored and learned of the conditions prisoners existed in throughout the castle's use. Finally, before leaving the main courtyard we saw the Scottish Crown Jewels and the living quarters for the kings and queens. We stopped in the Great Hall on our way out of the castle and were amazed by the vast array of weaponry and display. With not much time left we walked out of the castle and explored the many shops along the "Royal Mile" and grabbed lunch before returning to the bus. 

After a few hours bus ride we arrived at St. Andrews we stppedoff the bus right in front of the old Cathedral ruins and graveyard so we decided to explore here first. The ancient spires and walls that where once part of the larest structure in Scotland now are surrounded by tombs and graves, some even placed in what used to be inside the church itself. We strolled among the broken walls and disrepaired buildings as a strong wind blower off of the beaches. 

From there we meandered down the street that ran to the golf course. Along the way, we passed the University of St. Andrews and I thought how inspiring it must be to study in a place with such a long history. We then walked along the old course since it was closed on Sundays to allow for such activities as ours. We then came upon the pro shop where I spent way too much money for gifts for my family, but it will be well worth it.

From there we boarded to Glasgow and only spent one evening there. We ate and then tried some of the bars before calling it a night.  

-John "JD" Hamby

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 7-Harper Adams University

Image
We spent the first half of today at Harper Adams University touring their facilities and meeting with their faculty and students. We were able to learn about the way they run their schools, facilities, and operations.  Here students learn a brief history of Harper Adams University from Dr. Catherine Baxter, one of hour hosts for the day. Harper Adams has a unique history in that it was founded in the beginning entirely by a wealth man in the late 19th century. Upon his death, he left his entire estate to set up a trust in order to set up a college whose only purpose was "to teach practical and theoretical agriculture". The college has about 3500 students (roughly the size of CALS population).  Here students listen to a lecturer from Harper Adams discuss her research with Holstein cows. One thing we noticed as toured the facilities at Harper Adams is that most (if not all) of their units (beef, swine, etc) are located on campus, so students are able to walk to their facilities...
Read more

Day 6 Centre for Alternative Technology and Powis Castle

Image
 Today was spent in Wales, which is a beautiful country. Today's theme was about sustainability and conservation. The city where we stayed, Machynlleth, is known as one of the most "green" cities in Wales.  This is one of the menu options for breakfast.  Who doesn't like cheese for breakfast? We slept in a little bit (until 9am) before getting on the bus and heading to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). CAT was founded in 1974 by a few volunteers from an old quarry. The centre now functions as an education center. It prides itself on having a low impact on the environment. The CAT offers several master's degrees and also offers short courses for students and the public. There are more than 3 hectares of displays and while there was not as much vegetation (because it's still winter), there was still a lot to see and do. Dr. Fisher talks about the impact of agriculture on the environmentand the work that the CAT does.  We hiked up several (58 or so) st...
Read more

Day 7-Harper Adams University-Student Perspectives

   Day 7- Harper Adams University and Afternoon in Iron Bridge Gorge  At Harper Adams today we had an opportunity to tour the grounds and the units. The first thing I noticed were the sheep in the front lawn. I thought to myself, wow I sure would love to go to a school that had sheep to welcome you! Harper Adams is a very old university that is settled within the countryside of Newport Shropshire, England. The school was opened in 1901 that had a total of 6 students. Needless to say it had grown rapidly since then in size and technology. We first had a brief introduction from one of the staff Mitch Crooks. We then, toured the dairy unit which housed around 300 milking Holstein cows. I have been to the unit back at NC State but this one is off the bat much larger an seems to be much more advanced than ours. They offer a carousel milking parlor that has been on the grounds since 2005. They also have a lot of research going on at this time. One was that the researchers added...
Read more