Aye, The Land of the Scots

(Apologies for the delay of this post)
I've decided that if I'm going to move anywhere over here again, it might as well be Scotland. I was only there 4 days but it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the place.  Jess (fellow SPEC volunteer from New Zealand) and I hopped on the bus at 11 pm on Tuesday night, the 28th of December.  After about 10 hours of rather disrupted sleep(that's what happens when you get the front 2 seats and every time the door opens for the driver to get out for a break, the freezing cold air rushes in) we arrived in Edinburgh early Wednesday morning. We were so excited and couldn't believe we'd actually made it! We found our way to Biz's flat (Biz is a classmate from Concordia and a YAGM placed in Edinburgh this year), sat and had a wonderful chat over a cup of tea then decided to clean up and head out exploring.  Biz's flat is perfectly situated right where it's easy to walk everywhere, but it's not right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. So we walked up to St. Peter's Street (which is one of the main streets with lots of shopping and such) and then up to the Edinburgh Castle.  After exploring some of the little shops (and one AMAZING fudge shoppe) and taking lots of pictures along the way, we set out in search of some live traditional Scottish music. We were quite surprised how far we had to walk to find any sort of live music but we finally found a pub where a group called "Bleeker" was playing, it wasn't quite traditional music but we were open to anything at that point.  As we stood and listened to them play, between songs the guy leaned over and asked where we were from(we were standing pretty close to the band, I'm sure he could overhear our accents) but I shouted "Montana!" Right then he started playing their last song "Sweet Home, Alabama" but he changed the words to "Sweet Home, Montana!" I couldn't stop laughing.  A classic rock band, playing in Scotland, singing about Montana. Never thought I'd get to see that.

Viking Ship Bonfire!

   The next day Biz's mom and sister arrived(they were coming to stay for 8 days) but Jess took off up to Glasgow for a friend's wedding. After Biz's mom and sister slept for a few hours, we went out and ate at a fish'n'chips place (I ate a hamburger) and then headed up to the Calton Hill. Every year on December 30 there is a Torchlight Procession and a Bonfire that marks the beginning of the 4-day Hogmanay New Year's celebration. We didn't take part in the process from the Cathedral but we made it to the top of the Hill with the other 20,000+ people just in time for the beginning of the bonfire.  It was like no bonfire I'd ever seen before.  They set a big viking ship alight! We had seen the big ship being set up on the Hill the night before, but little did we know they'd be torching it 24 hours later!  The Bonfire was accompanied by a performance of the best young pipe band(bagpipe)in the country and then it ended with the BEST fireworks show I've ever seen in my life! (the video is posted on my Facebook page) 
   New Year's Eve day we slept in, grabbed some lunch and headed to the Edinburgh Castle for a tour.  What an incredible place! We spent quite a few hours exploring the whole place then we made our way to a pub for some good Scottish grub. Those Scots sure know how to make a mean hamburger. We then headed back to the flat to rest up a little bit before heading to the Keilidh at 9 pm. The Keilidh is one of the main events of Hogmanay and is very well known throughout the UK as THE  best place to be on New Year's Eve.  A Kelidih is a traditional Scottish/Irish dance that I found rather (surprisingly) similar to a square dance! They had a huge dance floor set out(that was packed full, of course) and 3 or 4 different Scottish bands got up on stage and played some songs while they called out the moves to those of us on the dance floor.  It was chilly out but it was such a workout with all the skipping and twirling that happens in Irish/ Scottish dance, we were so hot we were steaming, literally, just standing there.  We had such a blast!  We were in the perfect spot to watch the big fireworks at midnight as they shot them off the Castle.  Following the fireworks, everyone sang the traditional "Auld Lang Syne" to welcome in the New Year.  By that time, we had fully exhausted ourselves so we stopped at the German market on the way out and Biz and I got some crepes.  That was one of the best tasting crepes I'd ever had-chocolate sauce, banana, marshmallows and whipped cream-what a perfect way to celebrate the New Year!

This is why I love Scotland!

  The walk back to Biz's flat was quite entertaining as we had to make our way through the huge Street Party to get to her place.  Let's just say, by the looks of it, the Scots really know how to have fun when they have something big to celebrate.
  The next day, we slept in again and just relaxed for the morning and I had to make my way to the train station around noon.  We had taken the bus up to Edinburgh because it was cheaper but I found train tickets for the same price going back, and since the train took 4 hours and the bus took over 9, I decided to take the easier route.  The train ride back was beautiful, it was just in time for the sun to set. I loved getting to see so much countryside through Scotland and most of England.
  I would definitely love to go back and spend more time in Scotland.  The food is great, the people are so wonderful(at least when you can understand what the heck they're sayin) and I have to admit, I love listening to bagpipes! And I also loved that everyone wore kilts-not even kidding. Biz said that men often will wear them when they go out on dates, or for any kind of celebration.  Gotta love the tarten (red plaid).  I think I could definitely get used to the Scottish way of life.

Check out more pictures on http://oneearth.shutterfly.com! There's lots!

Here's another site that has a pretty good video about the Procession that you might enjoy http://www.hogmanay.net/events/edinburgh/torchlightprocession