Saturday, May 5, 2007
My first castle!
I had the best day yesterday. A
few weeks back I asked my friend Ross what the chances were that he’d take me
to Dunnotter Castle, which is located near where he
lives in Stonehaven. He told me that it would have to
wait until all of our essays were finished. Well, the essay deadlines passed,
and quite honestly, I didn’t think that he’d take me, but I got a wonderful
surprise yesterday after our Russian class when he was driving me home. He
asked if I wanted to see the castle, and after I got over my initial shock, I replied
quite excitedly yes. We stopped by my flat to fetch my camera (as my mom is
always yelling at me for not taking more pictures over here in Scotland) and
then we headed out. 
After
a few errands that had to be done, we finally arrived. Even from a distance,
the castle is spectacular! I’m something of a castle-nut (being American and
all), so I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to historic sites like
castles. We walked down a long path, and then Ross suggested that we walk over
to an adjoining cliffside to get a better view of the
castle (see picture to the right). I started to have flashbacks of my geology
trip to Stonehaven earlier this year, when I had to
walk along narrow dirt paths right next to the cliffside.
My phobia of heights was thrust into the forefront of my mind, so I proceeded
down the path 
with
caution. As you can see from the picture, I stayed quite a distance away from
the cliff edge…I’m not stupid! Lol. After I snapped a few pictures, we walked back to the main
path and continued on to the actual castle. The walk there was perfectly fine,
being all downhill, but I was dreading the walk back up, and a wheezing group
that we passed on the stairs didn’t really inspire further confidence. Once we
got to the castle, we walked through a little tunnel (I think it used to be the
watchman’s post, if I’m not mistaken) and came out to a little area overlooking
the beach. Ross asked if I wanted to go down the (very, very steep) path to the
beach, and I stupidly agreed. Once I started down the path and began slipping,
I changed my mind. I lost count of the amount of times that I told Ross that I
wouldn’t be able to do it…I was utterly terrified. Ultimately, after some
unknown period of time, I did make it (very ungraciously, I might add) all the
way to the bottom. The view from the beach was also amazing (see left), and in
the end it was worth it, but I can’t believe how scared I was coming down. We
spent a while on the beach, and I even embarrassed myself by revealing how
girlishly I throw, as I tried to huck a rock into the
North Sea. The hike back up was easier for me, but didn’t seem that easy for
poor Ross. However, just as I was near the top, I grabbed onto to the grass to
steady myself and ended up putting my hand in some prickly plant. It
immediately felt as if a hundred pins were pricking my hand…very painful. And,
being the pain baby that I am, I had to keep complaining about it for the rest
of the day. Actually, I can still feel it even today. Ross promised me the pain
would go away…liar!
Anyhoo,
we finally went into the castle proper and had to pay £5 each to enter, which
Ross graciously took care of. He was quite the little gentleman. We explored
every room and climbed every stair. I absolutely loved it, and spent the whole
time imagining what it must have been like to live there back in the day. The
castle is actually a ruin, but many of the buildings are still in remarkable
condition. It was also so much greener than I thought it would be. I always
thought that most castles would be dreary and stony, when in fact, there were
enormous areas of lawn up there (see right). So, after thoroughly exploring
everything, we finally headed out. As soon as we walked down the castle’s stony
steps, I saw the thing which I had been dreading…the unending miles of steps.
Okay, so it probably didn’t stretch for miles, but it was traumatic
nonetheless. See, I should point out that I would gladly walk ten miles 
along
a flat road before agreeing to walk up a dauntingly tall flight of steps. I
didn’t have much choice though. I was trudging very slowly up the steps, and
when I glanced up, I saw that Ross was bounding up them with no problems. Damn
him and his superior fitness levels! Lol. There was even a bench half-way up that he sat on as he
waited for me to catch up with him. Cheeky little bugger. I did manage in the
end to climb the steps without actually dying, but it was a close call. The
picture on the far left shows the full extent of the stairway from the view of
the adjoining cliffside, and the second one shows the
stairs from the bottom of the hill (for those of you that have been to the Metrodome in MN, imagine the feeling that you get in your
legs after running up those steep steps, and that’s what I was going through).
I know that they don’t look all that intimidating, and I’m sure that Ross would
agree with you, but I had a hard time, so lay off! Ha ha
ha. After the steps, there was still the gravel
walkway to finish before we reached the car. Again, I didn’t collapse, but I
was so glad to finally hop in the car and sink down into the seat. As always, I
enjoyed the scenery on the drive back into Aberdeen. I love getting out of the
city and seeing the country, but unfortunately I don’t get an opportunity to do
so very often, so I really appreciate it when it finally happens.
So there it is…another experience
to check off my mental list of things to do in Scotland. The next castle that I
would like to see is Edinburgh Castle, and of course the Tower of London. Those
will have to wait, however, as they’re both quite expensive trips from what I
hear, and money isn’t exactly raining down from the sky for me at the moment.
Monday, April 30, 2007
No more essays please!
I was reminded immediately upon my arrival in Scotland that I had two essays that I had to write. In typical Michelle procrastination mode, I promptly put that thought into the back of my mind and did nothing for the first week I was back. Well, that thought was quickly thrown back into the forefront of my mind at the beginning of last week. Therefore, during the course of the last week, I’ve been doing absolutely nothing but reading and taking notes on Witchcraft and the Crimean War (two distinctly different topics, I know). After all the preparation work, I really didn’t have the energy to actually write the essays, so again I procrastinated. Well, time eventually ran out, and the last two days have seen me feverishly trying to write something that wasn’t complete rubbish…I think I failed in that endeavor! I handed in my witchcraft essay today, and just an hour or so ago, I just finished my brilliant work on the Crimean War. I would like to say that the two pieces of work won’t disappoint my tutors, but I can’t lie…they’re absolute rubbish! On the bright side, however, I’m done! My brain is fried and I don’t want to think for a very long time, so I’m going to take the week off I think, and veg out on the sofa eating chocolate digestives. Sounds like a good plan, don’t you agree? Yes, I concur.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
World traveler
It’s official…I’m going to Denmark! I’m so excited. My friend Theresa and I kept saying how I should come over and visit her, and I finally made up my mind and decided to book the trip today. It only cost me 25,000 frequent flyer miles, so I didn’t have to actually ‘buy’ a ticket. Who can argue with a free trip to a foreign country? I sure can’t. Theresa is a great friend…I’ve been trying to deal with some personal stuff lately, and she’s been so supportive, and I miss her so much, that I can’t wait to get a chance to see her again. I met Theresa in class here at Aberdeen, but she was only on a one-semester exchange program, so she had to go back to Denmark in December, and I was crushed. I don’t make friends very easily, so when I met her and we became fast friends, I really didn’t want to see her go. She’s trying to come back to AU, but it’s looking a bit iffy right now. So, I’ll settle for visiting her in her native country. I can’t even imagine how much fun we’re going to have during that week. I’m flying out on June 27 and coming back to Scotland on July 3. This means that I’m going to get to spend my birthday (June 28) with her, which is great, because I have never had a good birthday, so I’m expecting that this one will be different. Mind you, I’m not going to be celebrating actually turning another year older (I stopped counting at 25!), but rather just the occasion.