"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door... You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
--J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Scotland Heritage Trip: Overview

Overview of Trip:
The Scotland Heritage Tour is a trip put on every other year by the Presbyterian Leaders and Scholars Program at my school, the University of Tulsa. TU is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, so the Sharp Chapel Endowment funds most of the cost of this trip. It's for rising juniors and seniors who are active in the PLS program. So, as I am a rising junior, this was my year to go.
The purpose of the trip is to learn about the Scottish Reformation and the formation of the Church of Scotland, or the Presbyterian Church. During the trip, we toured many of the sites that featured in the Scottish Reformation and learned about the history and tenets of our faith tradition. I will post more detailed accounts of the activities of each day, but here I just wanted to give an overview and some of my favorite parts.



Top 5 Favorite Things About Scotland (in no particular order):

  1. Of course, the gorgeous landscapes। The rolling green hills, the rocky moors and mountains, the lochs, the sea—all of it was so beautiful.


  2. There was Fair Trade everywhere. From grocery stores to restaurants to coffee shops to cafés in tourist attractions. Even in hotel rooms, the last place I would expect Fair Trade, since you'd think they'd want to put cheap coffee and tea in hotel rooms.


  3. The environmental consciousness. They seemed to put a much higher priority on recycling than we do in America, as well as clean energy and other green practices. In St. Machar's Cathedral, which I will discuss later, I noticed a plaque that said "ecocongregation." It's a program that certifies a church as an ecocongregation if they commit to using green practices like energy efficient heating, cooling and insulation. There's a similar program for schools, too.


  4. The accent—even after 10 days, I never got over how much I love that accent. Every time someone said "wee" or "queue" I had a little explosion of ecstacy.


  5. The fusion of old and new. Cities are made up of ancient buildings with old gothic stonework or Victorian facades, and then on the ground floor there'd be modern businesses. They don't tear down the old buildings, or fence them off in an "Old Town" district. You'd drive past buildings with plaques stating that this historical figure lived there, or that historical event occurred within that building. Even the most bustling, commercial parts of big cities seemed steeped in history.

Top 5 Things I missed About America:


  1. Peanut Butter—It was so hard to find. They never had it in any of our continental breakfasts. We finally found a jar in a grocery store in Inverness, but it took some serious searching.


  2. American Toilets—The toilets seemed to use a lot more water than they do here, but they weren't as good at getting stuff down. You had to work at a lot of them.


  3. The grid system—Watching our bus driver navigate the winding streets of Edinburgh gave me a brand new appreciation for urban planning. Then again, that might detract from that whole fusion of old and new I loved.


  4. Macaroni and Cheese—the Scottish never seemed to know how to make it right.


  5. Salsa—Granted, I miss good salsa every time I leave New Mexico, but I would even take Oklahoma's salsa over Scottish salsa. The one time I had it, it was literally like ketchup with some vegetative chunks.

Top 5 Favorite Stops/Sights/Activities on the Trip:



  1. Edinburgh—I'm not a big city girl, but I loved this city. I'll expand on it later, but it just seemed to be everything a big city should be.


  2. Linlithgow—This castle was so much fun to explore. I think it was my favorite of the ruined castles.


  3. Dunkheld Cathedral—It was so gorgeous, with the rhododendrons blooming all over the grounds.


  4. Dunkheld, the town—We weren't there long, but it was adorable.


  5. Iona—I loved everything about this island। I think I could be quite happy retiring there—I could own a little shop where I sold hand crocheted items from lamb's wool.

So that's just an overview of the trip। More detailed reports of each day to come.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Hello!

Hi! I'm Christy, and you are reading my new travel blog. I have been lucky enough in my life to be rather well travelled, and I have decided it's about time I started recording my travel experiences, so I can more easily share them and remember them. I will start out with the trip to Scotland from which I returned just yesterday. My first post on Scotland should be up soon. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy. J