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Study Abroad in Scotland


PhycBookGardenWorm

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PhycBookGardenWorm

Hey guys, my university has offered me the opportunity to go to Scotland for a month in July. I got all the financial and school stuff figured out but I will have weekends free and was wondering if anybody had any idea of what to do over there. I am shy so socializing is a little hard for me but I know this is a great chance to get out of my comfort zone. Any ideas will be great seeing how I will be in the Edinburgh area.

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NerotheReaper

That is amazing!

 

Go see all the castles and historic sites, if not for you for me please. I wanted to study there but I would have had to promise my first born son to Satan. 

 

Have fun! :D 

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If you feel comfortable enough to attend an AVEN meet, the July meet will most likely be in Edinburgh :)

 

There's also tonnes of other things to see too. The castle is worth a look, although the admission price is a bit expensive. The Royal Mile, Holyrood, Calton Hill, and Arthur's Seat are all fairly well known attractions in Edinburgh itself. There are also city tours and ghost tours that start from various points on the Royal Mile. I don't know what the ghost tours are like, but I went on a city tour a couple of years back and that was super interesting - we got history about Greyfriars Bobby, and about JK Rowling writing the Harry Potter books (you can actually go into the café where she used to do her writing!).

 

 

For stuff further afield, Loch Lomond is worth a visit if you're ok with travelling by train, as are Glasgow, Stirling Castle, and Deep Sea World. So yeah, there's quite a bit to do :)

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PhycBookGardenWorm

I hope the meeting would be on a weekend as that is the only free time I will have due to the program scheduled and all that. The last week of the trip we will be going to Perth, Iverness, Orkney Islands, before Kirkwall, to the Loch ness before heading back to the Dalkeith Palace where we will be staying. All that stuff sounds cool sea-lemon, I do not know how much I will do because of my blasted shyness.

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Yep, the meetings are always on a weekend :)

 

Ooooh the Orkney Islands are amazing!! If you get a chance, the Italian Chapel is really cool to see.

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I don't know Edinburgh too well so can't really add much more than what Sea-Lemon said. The outside locations she recommended are good shouts too. If the weather is good, I would recommend at least visiting a beach in somewhere in the Ayr area (west coast of Scotland, south of Glasgow). Did a walk from Prestwick to Troon via the beach that connects the 2 last year in decent weather. Though besides that, I'm not 100% sure what to do in that area.

 

If you like hiking\hill walks, you will have plenty of opportunity for that too. (Loch Lomond alone has loads of opportunities to do that).

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PhycBookGardenWorm

I love to walk and hike so I will look into that @Scott1989. I do not know how far I can get without a group seeing how money is going to be tight and some of them are going to London on the 3 day weekend we will be having. I do not want to go with them as they are talking about doing a bar crawl. Nothing against Alcohol, I prefer drinking it at home where I can fall into bed without driving. I plan on taking a ton of pictures as where I live it is mostly coastal scrub areas.

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I have been on one of the Edinburgh ghost tours, as part of someone's hen night. The best way I can describe it is very, very cheesy. Given the choice between that and an open top bus tour, which I've also done, I'd do the bus tour. Plus, the bus tour will help you get to know parts of the city quickly.

 

In Edinburgh, I'd recommend the botanical gardens, if the weather is fine. The gardens are free, if you don't go into the glasshouses. Edinburgh also has museums and art galleries, if you are into that kind of thing. The National Museum of Scotland is interesting, and covers a whole range of subject areas. To be honest, I don't think you will have a problem finding things to fill your time with!

 

I see you are getting to go to parts of the Highlands and Orkney, so you will get a taste of Scotland beyond the capital. But there are also plenty of cool places outside your route. To be honest, Scotland spoils you for choice!

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definitely take a walk up Arthur's Seat The views, on a clear day, are wonderful. And as likely as not it will be bracing, with a 'bit of a breeze'. There is bags of history in Edinburgh and the local TIC will help. The science museum is a fun half day, too, if you are in to that sort of thing.

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PhycBookGardenWorm

I always love museums so those are on my list. Walking around is not a problem for me so that is what I will probably end up doing most of the time. It is just going to be overwhelming and I hope that I do not spend a lot of time in "culture shock" so I can get the most out of my trip.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Scotland is full of museums, big and small . My favorite is the Kelvingrove in Glasgow. 2000 years of history, and art under one roof. Sterling castle is great (Braveheart). Just pack for rain.

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9 hours ago, seneca said:

Just pack for rain.

So true if you want to see all 4 seasons in a day, Scotland is definatly the place for it. We even had snow in March this year, which confussed English colleagues of mine. 

 

scots.jpg

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2 hours ago, Scott1989 said:

So true if you want to see all 4 seasons in a day, Scotland is definatly the place for it. We even had snow in March this year, which confussed English colleagues of mine. 

 

 

March? We had hail and snow flurries just two days ago! A week earlier, I was walking around in shirtsleeves, day dreaming about summer.

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5 minutes ago, Tystie said:

March? We had hail and snow flurries just two days ago! A week earlier, I was walking around in shirtsleeves, day dreaming about summer.

Missed that. But yeah, thanks for also proving my point.

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Mori-no-Majou

Seconding the Science Museum, the Botanical Gardens, Deep Sea World, and especially the National Museum; the artefacts on display there include the Declaration of Arbroath, various mummies, and Dolly the sheep. The zoo's pretty good as well (I think the pandas are still there?). Edinburgh Castle and St Giles' Cathedral are nice if you want to look at some gothicky medievally architecture, and the Dungeon and Ghost Tours are just awesome generally.

For a more offbeat example, if you like cats, you could go get some cake at Maison du Moggy; it's a cat cafe on the Grassmarket (a short walk from the Royal Mile). The cats are super chill and extremely friendly (they will try to steal your cake if you leave it unattended though!).

I'm trying to keep my recommendations to things in the Edinburgh area for convenience's sake, but the train service is pretty good (and Scotland is a lot smaller than Texas!), so visiting places further north or south for day trips shouldn't be too difficult either. Someone else suggested Stirling Castle, and I'm seconding AND thirding that. If you're interested in ruins at all, there are some stone circles up north (and then you've got Orkney), and the Roman fort Trimontium down in the Borders. You've also got places like the Seabird Centre in North Berwick, and various places to spot dolphins and birds of prey, if you're into wildlife.

(s-sorry, this turned into an essay ^^; I'm not working in the Scottish tourism industry, I swear XD)

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Forget everything you ever learned about pronounciation :D

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Scott1989
7 minutes ago, kellyon said:

The Scottish people are quite friendly.

Fun fact, Scotland was a knife crime capital and friendliest place in europe at the same time. Scottish comedians would joke that we would stab you but then call an ambulance and cared foor you while waiting for it :lol: we have since lost the knife crime capital title.

2 minutes ago, Homer said:

Forget everything you ever learned about pronounciation :D

A favourite story of mine was when an Italian footballer went to play for a Scottish team. He could speak English well so was confident he could adapt to the UK. On his first flight to Scotland he was shoved into a press confefance. He was asked a question, which lead the player to say to his agent "I thought they spoke English here!" :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
PhycBookGardenWorm

Lol these are all great ideas. I will have to make a list and tick off as many as I can before I got back to the heat of Texas in August. 

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  • 1 month later...
PhycBookGardenWorm

Holy cow. I fly out later this week. Cannot believe it is so close. So excited but also nervous because it is my fisrt overseas trip! Ahhh lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hope you are enjoying Scotland so far. In case you missed it, the July meetup (which is near Edinburgh) details can be found here:

 

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I'm actually going there from mid-August to mid-January with my school too so I'll make good use of the list of activities given above ... Thanks... Kind of sad to miss the July meet as I looooove trampolines <3

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