That one time I went to Scotland...

I know, I know, it was over a month ago... and I apologize for not posting about the land of the Scots earlier. October was a CRAZAY month and for the past two weeks, I have been traveling once again! Thus the delay. Here are some highlights from my trip...

From October 4th to October 10th, 52 psychology students from Copenhagen traveled to Edinburgh and Glasgow! It was nothing short of amazing, and we were incredibly lucky with weather and such. (Read: no rain!!) The academic portion of our trip involved attending four different lectures from professors in the field of psychology, critics of positive psychology, and one from the mental health director of Scotland. It was intended to challenge what we had learned thus far, and to also show us how Scotland is advancing in the implementation of preventative mental health actions, both in the government and in the communities.

I've gotta be honest though, most of our trip was not academically oriented, but cultural and intended for fun. Edinburgh was such a beautiful historical city, and had a breathtaking view from the castle. There were so many cute little shops with kilts, clan histories, bagpipes, plaid, countryside postcards, and cashmere, which I had to indulge in. It was everything you think of when you think of Scotland, the rolling green countryside included. (One of our days was actually reserved for a hike!) People claim to speak English, but apart from the university professors, people were pretty difficult to understand. Glasgow was definitely less picturesque and a bit dirtier than Edinburgh, with more chain stores that we have in the US. The University of Glasgow was amazingly beautiful though, and the only place where cute Scottish boys seemed to exist.

Everywhere we went in Scotland seemed to scream "FALL!" :)

You speak English? No...
Lots of pubs and changing leaves
Here, my heritage

A bullet point list of memorable moments:

• Trying haggis and blood pudding! (Haggis was delicious, blood pudding not so much.)
• Realizing that the UK seems to lie somewhere in between Scandinavia and the US - commercially, geographically, and stylistically, with exceptions, of course.
• Our last night in Scotland - we had a traditional dinner with Scottish bagpipe music, ate traditional cuisine, and I tried some Guinness (ew). It was a ton of fun.
• Drinking wine in our hotel rooms, which were really pretty nice for a school sponsored trip, actually.
• Cashmere scarf finds in Edinburgh!!
• Taking a ghost tour of Edinburgh - our tour guide, Faith was a RIOT, and led us through the streets, told us stories, and took us down to the underground tunnels. She was in full character the whole time, and really freaked us out.
• The search for a club called "Octopussy" in Glasgow (FAIL)... but we had a lot of fun looking.
• Karaoke at some rando Scottish pub with very drunk old men, and Danish teenagers. We fit in great.
  
• Trying chips with pig's blood AKA fries with ketchup! Apparently Scots distinguish between chips and fries by the cut (I think); fries are a bit thinner and what we know as McDonald's version.
• Realizing how much I prefer Danish breakfast over Scottish breakfast... fresh bread, yogurt, pastries, cheese, jam and muesli vs. eggs, sausage, croissants, American bread, cold cereal, oatmeal.
• Going to Starbucks (which doesn't exist in CPH except at the airport) and drinking hot cocoa, realizing afterward that it was a mere 570 calories. This was after an epic Indian meal where we ate a ton. Some of the best food I've ever had, though!

Rachel and I at the top of Loch Katrine!

Look, it's FAITH!
The epic hot cocoa!

Our first fish and chips experience!

The green bag club at the airport!

FALL!

Friends at dinner one night :)

Super Scottish guy!

That was Scotland in a nutshell! Coming soon are updates about Alexander Rybak and my epic two week travel break... :)

loves, kristina