As week five comes to a close my collection of train tickets and photos are begging to be shared with you all. So I am going to share some of the places that keep me falling head over heels with Scotland.
Let’s start in the city I flew into, Edinburgh. This city is the reason I fell in love with Scotland and made it my goal before finishing my undergraduate coursework to study here. Aside from all of the hills that make my calves burn and my ankles quiver, the city has so much to offer.
But my absolute favorite thing so far, has to be going to the town of Callander to hang out and feed Highland Coos. Pulling into the Woolen Mill and seeing two Cows made my day, as their adorable faces drew me in. The Mill sells all your typical Scotland Souvineers, with some very cheeky postcards and calendars you’ll want to bring home for the sheer laugh, it also sells bags of veg you can feed to the cows. For a pound you I got to live my dream of feeding and petting a Highland Coo. It was definitely worth the 30 mintue taxi ride and the walk back to Callander in the rain.
In the last three years, I have started the tradition of visiting a pumpkin patch with my younger sister each fall. I quickly learned that all my flatmates were saddened by the thought of possibly missing the opportunity this year.
That is until my determined flatmate, Lauren, found one in the outskirts of Stirling for use to visit. So we loaded six of us into a taxi on a rainy afternoon to pick our own pumpkins, neeps, and tatties. While this was more muddy and cold than the pumpkin patches back home, I’m very happy to say they were some of the best potatoes of my life.
When I studied abroad in England, my depression kept me away from joining social groups/societies. This time around I have joined SUDS, the Stirling Uni Drama Society. I got to assist in a make up class for other less experienced members and I assisted in doing the stage make up for the fall show, Arthur Miller’s A View from a Bridge.
What I look forward to in the next couple of week is the end of reading week and the Heartland travel guided tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Keep your eye out for the review and recommendations of guided tours of Scotland. -Rose xx
Isaias Dassum 