The Journey to Scotland--Day 1

Outside the Bronte Parsonage, at the Literary Lawn

At the Scotland Border

As I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock ding-ing, I read the black numbers: 6:00am. "You must be joking??!" I thought to myself, as I contemplated going back to sleep, when I realized I was not joking and today was an important day for me to get out of bed on time. It was of course, the trip to Scotland, the bonus weekend for four days around Edinburgh. What amounted to four days was in actuality 2, since the majority of Thursday and Sunday was traveling in a 59 passenger coach bus. By bus (not including stops), the Scotland trip would be around 8 hours. In order to alleviate the insanity that comes with being in a tightly enclosed space, the organizers of the trip included a 3 hour stop along the way, in Northern England at the Bronte Parsonage, the country estates of writers Charlotte (Jane Eyre, anyone?) and Emily Bronte.

After an incredibly early but delicious breakfast, we boarded the bus for Scotland. There are 49 people in the group total, and the coach bus fits 59, so there were 10 extra seats. Despite our scheming, I ended up with Yas (but on the way home we each got our own seats) as my seatpartner, which was fantastic, but still, cramped for space.

The stop at the Parsonage was a welcome relief. Our cook, Stewart, had made us each a boxed lunch--the best box lunch I had in my life! I signed up for a hummus and whole wheat sandwich, but I was surprised by the amount of food in the lunch--a piece of fruit, an apple juice, crackers and cheese, a piece of homemade vegetable quiche, and some sort of banana bread. It was spectacular and positively wonderful we didn't have to shell out extra cash for an expensive, tourist lunch. At the parsonage, we walked around and saw the countryside, including climbing to the top of the moors (small mountains) and walking through large fields near cattle and horses. We also had a chance to tour the Bronte home and I learned more about Charlotte Bronte--she was only around 4'10", lived a relatively short life, and her father was not as "sinister" as some of the autobiographies make him out to be. After spending several hours there, we were rounded back on the bus. However, some students spent longer than usually walking around (or um, going to get ice cream), so we ended up leaving from the parsonage at 3:00pm instead of 2:30pm. Our director, almost 70 years old and very regal, went to the front of the bus and grabbed the microphone: "I'm very disappointed with you all not being here on time. This is unacceptable. Bye." Somehow, the way he delivered it (perhaps the "bye" at the end, making it more like a phone conversation) was comical and we all burst out laughing. I was back on the bus early too and the same old cliche of "preaching to the choir" definitely applied here. C'mon now.

After several uneventful hours reading on the bus, occasionally napping, and playing movie games with my seatmates, we finally arrived outside of Edinburgh around 8pm. Tired and exhausted, we unpacked our belongings at Pollock Halls, part of the university that houses students there. My room was amazing, and much better than Cambridge....it had a shower and bathroom in the room, which was fantastic! By the time I unpacked and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the pub, it was around 10pm, and time for bed. We would all need a goodnight's sleep for the day(s) ahead! More to follow....