Castles, Kilts, and Pubs.

Well, we made it. After a 7.5 hour flight, 2 hour wait in Amsterdam, and then another hour on a plane, we finally made it to Scotland! We landed in Scotland at about 7 am Thursday morning. We were jet lagged, sore and hungry. After what seemed like an eternity at the Scotland airport, we made it through customs and got on our bus for Dalkeith.

Scotland is just as beautiful as you may think. Fun fact for our friends and family back at home: there is green grass here. While on the bus we saw people golfing in January. Crazy. The Dalkeith house is a giant palace with a huge lawn out front, a marble staircase, and freezing cold hallways. Us ITCers got off the bus thinking this place was a tropical paradise, but that didn't last. Scotland has a different kind of cold than Minnesota and Wisconsin, its damp and goes straight to your bones. So we bundle up to go everywhere, even the bathroom.

Our first day here was both exhausting and exciting. The Wisconsin in Scotland group is also staying at the Dalkeith house with us so that makes everything interesting.  In total there is about 75 students all staying in the building, which makes mealtimes crowded, but it's great to talk to them and share fears and excitement.  Each of the students were given keys and rooms to share. Alex is in a lower level room with 6 other girls, and Katelyn is in a upper level room with 2 other girls. We were sad we didn't get to room together, but it's nice to get to know some of the other girls. We were told not to sleep until 9pm (3 pm at home), which was difficult because we arrived at 7am. (1am at home)To try and keep us awake, our professor decided to give us a tour of Dalkeith and then have our first class at 2, which most of us barely made it through. Alex had to elbow me a couple times...

After class, a group of 6 of us decided to explore the grounds to keep ourselves awake. We walked on some trails in the woods where I (Katelyn) saw a sign that said "stableyard". My first thought? HORSES. So I led our little posse all the way down the muddy hill until we saw a giant stable area. They were just about to close so we couldn't actually go in, but there were horses outside in a pasture that we could see. The horses here are huge and gorgeous. I'll probably be visiting them again soon. When we were done with the horses walked back and ate dinner. Dinner consisted of chicken wrapped in bacon, mixed veggies, and these little potato log things that resembled a pierogi. It wasn't awesome, but it did the job. Then it was finally time to sleep.

The next day we woke up in a dreamlike state. This beautiful palace couldn't actually be our home for the next 2 weeks, right? It's still so hard to believe. We had breakfast from 7:30-8 and then class at 9. Class was harmless and actually very interesting. After class we grabbed our bagged lunches and headed to town to catch a bus to Edinburgh.  In Edinburgh we traveled along the "royal mile" which is a road from the Edinburgh Castle to
The Holyrood palace. The road also has tons of shops and pubs running along the street filled with food, scarves and countless kilts. In case you were wondering, yes, men actually do walk around with kilts on. We didn't see too many, but there were a couple.

The Edinburgh Castle is beautiful, we got to take an audio tour through the whole thing. We saw all sorts of things from where prisoners were held to the crown and jewelry worn by the royal family. After we were done with that, we tried not to get blown away and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city.  For dinner, a couple of us in the group found an adorable little pizza place and got free soda and a student discount. The locals here are so nice and open! When we were done eating we walked along the street and happened to find a display of illuminated terra cotta warriors.. It was random  but very cool! Our evening was spent in a little pub called whistle binkies.. super classy, I know.

So far, things are going great! We definitely miss our friends and families back at home, but it's been a blast. We have been very busy, but loving every minute. Stay warm! :)