Trying New Things

It's been a few days since I've been here now, so I finally sort of feel adjusted to the time change. Which is good, because getting a good night's rest is very important to me. In the few days that I have been here, I have already tried many new things, including haggis, Guinness, and the popular soft drink, Irn Bru (Iron Brew). I definitely not a fan of the Guinness, but the haggis was not as bad as I was expecting. Would I choose to eat it frequently? Probably not. The Irn Bru wasn't bad either, but I don't think it will become my soft drink of choice.

Beyond trying new things, I went on my first real Scottish adventure yesterday with a few people from my trip. We decided to brave the walk up the enormous hill in Stirling to visit the castle that rests at the top. But honestly, even though the walk was difficult and it cost 14 pounds (roughly 25 dollars, but it's a lot if you're trying not to spend too much), it was completely worth it. I have not visited too many castles in my time, but this was absolutely beautiful. I would go back there many times, just because I'm pretty sure I did not see everything there was to see.

The best part about visiting the castle was the views of the surrounding area. It was amazing. The castle rests at the highest point in Stirling, so I could literally see everything, even the windmills on the wind farm way off in the distance. It was a great strategic spot for a castle, because not only is it the highest point in Stirling, but it is known as the gateway between the north and the south. It resides close to a river that divides the river, so whoever was in control of the castle was pretty much in control of who or what could travel through this location. Which is why many battles were fought in the area, because everybody wanted to control it. It would be too much to go into detail now about the history of the castle, but if you're ever bored I would encourage you to read up on it. It's truly fascinating stuff.

After the castle tour, we decided to join the locals at a pub, as everyone seems to do in the evening. We only spent a brief time there before we decided to embark on a local ghost tour with a fellow calling himself the "Happy Hangman." It was kind of a cheesy tour - it was meant for tourists after all - but I had a lot of fun. It was a twist on some of the local history, twisted by including the supernatural element of ghosts. If I have time, I'll try to share a couple of the stories here. They are, of course, fictional stories, but they are all based on true events that happened around Stirling. So it was neat, with a lot of cheese. But hey, I have to do touristy things here at some point.

So yeah. It's been a good couple of days. I have my other class today, so hopefully that will prove to be as interesting as the one on witchcraft. If it doesn't, I'll survive. We only have four class periods anyway. I guess that's all for now then. Until next time...