Scotland Trip Recap

There are multiple pronunciations of 'Edinburgh.' I started pronouncing it with the 'gh' at the end, such as 'Pittsburgh.' However, after learning Scottish locals pronounce it, it is pronounced in different variations. Some variations are: 'Edinboro', 'Edinbraw', and 'Edinborough'.

Before I left, I lost my voice. I felt scared that the Border Patrol officers would not let me into the country because of my voice. I compared myself to Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" because of the similarities of unable to talk. I tried pointing at my water bottle during the flight when asking for water, and the attendant thought I had enough water. Thankfully, a hot toddy on the first night helped recover my voice. No wonder people give it to others as medicine!

We arrived in Edinburgh on St. Patrick's Day, which the town also has a Little Ireland neighborhood. I relied on other students to help me speak when ordering food. The four of us went to Maggie Dickinson's to eat Fish and Chips with a pint of Guinness. It is a tradition to drink green beer, and we rightfully followed suit. However, green beer was invented in New York and Ireland adopted the tradition in the 1980s. Who knew it would become this popular! When we finished our meals, we went to explore the city before coming back to the hotel in time for dinner.

We stayed in the Ibis hotel in the middle of Edinburgh next to the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a stretch of food, drinks, shopping, and street entertainment. The Ibis hotel has small rooms and a small bathroom to go with it. Typical European hotel rooms are smaller than American rooms. The door would barely open, and the shower is a quarter of the size of a standard American one. They had the typical setup of a TV, phone charging ports, and twin beds. The hotel also had a buffet-style breakfast that is better than the continental-style American version.

I loved that our hotel was built in the heart of the city because we were able to walk everywhere. From our hotel, the shopping area is about a 15-minute walk. The mall is two levels high and is similarly run down like American malls. Barely anyone was inside and very few people were in tourist shops or the European version of Forever 21. The mall was across from a cemetery and a train track. People crossed that street like New York City. Have you ever heard look both ways before crossing the street? Not these people. I tried to visit as many European-based stores while I was in Scotland. Despite that, we went to H&M that was near the mall. It was huge and we ran into other girls from the trip. There were many places to eat- to the point where we had to choose where to go. We found a few amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurants that I talk about in this article.

However, Edinburgh wasn't the only town we explored in Scotland. We went to Glasgow to visit Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow University and made our way to Whitmuir Organic farm. We additionally went to St. Andrews, famously known for golfing and the place where Kate Middleton and Prince William met. We went to more locations in the Highlands and Lowlands, but I separated it into a different article. After the highlands, we went to Falkland, Scotland, to tour a castle and walk around the town on our way back to Edinburgh. We made stops in smaller cities such as Dundee, Callendar, Doune, Sterling, Falkirk, and more.

Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

We walked 15 minutes toward Edinburgh Castle from our hotel. It is right in the middle of the city. I highly recommend training on the stair stepper beforehand because it's a workout. The castle can be an all-day event. We got the regular passes and spent about 2-3 hours going through the castle rooms, not taking our time. We stayed around for a show about wearing kilts. I volunteered an OSU student to try on the kilt. There is a gift shop that provides single malt whiskey tastings. It was very delicious. It was humbling to experience the different parts and to learn the history behind it. You get to know about Mary Queen of Scots and the successors. The castle preserves the jewels and crowns that they wore and showed bedrooms as well.

Glasgow University, Glasgow, Scotland

We went there to have a guest lecture and meet students. We spent most of our time in three lessons: augmented reality, social entrepreneurship, and university information. I was most intrigued about augmented reality and using it in apps such as Ulta for trying on makeup and Target for viewing furniture in our homes. I think companies will use it more often in the future. Otherwise, the majority of the class was dozing off in the dark classroom. We took a campus tour with a very informative campus guide. I thought she was entertaining and had great jokes for us. The university has so much history behind it, and it looked similar to Hogwarts. A "Harry Potter" fan can dream. We were late getting back to the bus because we were soaking in every minute of it. Plus, we had some curious group members wander off. It was interesting to learn that the courtyard (not pictured) of the campus is taxed to the public so regular citizens can come in and enjoy it. It is almost as if Oklahoma State University taxed Library Lawn, and the Stillwater community members would use it anytime.

St. Andrews Cathedral, St. Andrews, Scotland

We made a day trip to St. Andrews and made it into the cathedral. We went up the St. Rule's Tower (a total of 320 stair steps, to be exact) to have a fantastic view of St. Andrews. I've noticed that most towers have a rotating gate at the beginning of the stairwell. It is not easy to navigate with a camera around your neck and a backpack on. The stairway up the tower is also very narrow because humans were smaller in the past. I enjoyed walking around St. Andrews and learning its history. Our class ate at Tailend restaurant, which was famously known for its fish and chips.

95% of the Church is in ruins, but the cemetery is still intact
I wish we could have made it to the famous Golf course since the sport originated there, but we didn't have time.

Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland

We toured Ibrox stadium, home of the Rangers Football Club. The Rangers and the Celtics are Scotland's national soccer team. The Celtics originate from Catholic origin, and the Rangers originate from Protestant origin. They focus on the history of the two teams and how it is a friendly rivalry. It is very similar to the Bedlam game in Oklahoma. They even have the "12th man" that stands for its fans. The European Golden Shoe is an award given to the leading goalscorer in league matches. The league awarded the golden cleat to Ally McCoist in back-to-back seasons. Lionel Messi is the only other player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. I thought this was interesting because I grew up in a family that loves soccer. We primarily talked with someone on their marketing team, and they spoke about their strategy to use loyalty to build their fan base.

Whitmuir Organic Farm, West Linton, Scotland

I fulfilled an unlikely dream of herding sheep. I did not plan to do that, but here we are. The farm owners were full of generosity to let college students take on the rigorous task of doing it. Despite their doubts, we were successful in it. We had roughly an hour-long lecture about the future of local farms and the impact Brexit can have on it. The lovely meal they prepared makes me not want to go organic and rely on my freshly processed Chick-fil-a for meals. They also screwed up many of our pre-made choices for the restaurant, so we did not get to choose what they gave us.

Falkland, Scotland

We stopped in Falkland for the opportunity to tour a castle. Most of us explored the town or explored the castle garden because it is free. I found the bench dedicated to Johnny Cash because he performed a concert with Andy Williams at the Falkland Palace. Cash also discovered he had ancestors from the small town of Falkland. It was fascinating to learn the American connection to the small town. We went inside an antique store and walked around the neighborhood to the community library. I thought we would end up lost because we didn’t know where we were going. I bought a Tartan fairy doll made from a clothespin and tartan fabric. I bought three of them as souvenirs of the small but historic town.

Flash forward to 2021. Overall, this trip to Scotland made me fall in love with the country. As I'm reflecting two years later, I realized the trip made me passionate about connecting with people worldwide and visiting new countries. It has made me more aware of reading the news coming out of Europe and international issues. It broadened my thinking beyond the bubble of America, and I realized how each country is intertwined. However, for now, I’ll be watching what happens in Europe before I can visit again.