It was such a gorgeous day in Arran with temperatures of about 65 degrees. The sun was bright with blue skies and big white fluffy clouds. I keep forgetting that’s its still August with these cool temperatures.

We toured the huge Brodick Castle. It is neat how they decorate it like it would have been back when it was used. I was really disappointed that we couldn’t take pictures inside though.

However, we were allowed to take pictures in the castle’s beautiful gardens.  They really showcased how unique the Isle of Arran really is. The island’s weather and temperatures are susceptible for growing tropical plants such as palm trees as well as colder climate plants like evergreens. I know I didn’t make it through the whole garden, but all I can say is this garden is like no other.

If you ever come to Isle of Arran, Brodick Castle should be on your touring list!
   ~Jody

Scotland reminds me, as a Japanese, of several things: cloudy, rainy, foggy days; sheep, traditional bagpipe music, men in skirts, and Scottish whisky.

Scotland is situated to the northern part of Great Britain and each area has its traditional way of life. Geographically, there are many islands around Scotland. The Isle of Arran is one of them. It is affected by the warm current of the Gulf Stream.

In summer, Scotland may be an ideal place to avoid summer heat. Most of this summer in the world is affected by the global warming, and so it become

very hot summer especially in Japan where people are asked to save 15% of electric power because of nuclear power plant crisis last March.  The temperature has ranged from 55 to 65 F.

Many people from both at home and abroad visit this Isle of Arran as tourists.

The Isle has sightseeing fascinations such as beautiful coastlines and mountains

covered with grasses and woods.

 The Isle of Arran has not been corrupted by the commercialism of tourism. People want to be one with the beautiful nature in this island. They want to watch seals and birds, and to enjoy hiking and cycling.

The weather in Scotland is said to be changeable, and no one knows what the weather will be today and tomorrow. People here including visitors accept nature. Once you visit Scotland, you feel like visiting this place again in the future. - Akira


 

 

     Today we saw a group of about 20 people all in life jackets and river gear as if they were going or had just gotten finished canoeing. I found myself envious of these people; I love floating down river or going rafting! Finally after seeing past my jealousy I realized that I had no clue where they had went to do this awesome activity! As I stood outside our hostel watching them all walk by I finally realized that the bay across from the hostel had filled up.

     Now this morning I had breakfast with Linda and we discussed the bay and how I thought it was funny there was no water in it. In fact there was actually a huge flock of sheep standing and grazing in this bay, there were boats that were completely exposed just on they’re side waiting for the bay to fill. Now suddenly at 5 in the afternoon its completely filled! I’m amazed. This bay is huge and was completely empty now it is full enough for boats and people to enjoy it.  Its an amazing site watching the bay and all its happy occupants.

As a kid my step dad always drank scotch. When we’d have family functions and my uncles, cousins, grandpas; whoever they would always drink scotch. So today when we went to the distillery I was shocked out how much I didn’t know about scotch. For insistence whiskey is only considered a scotch if it is made in Scotland. Also to drink a malt whiskey with ice is wrong and only destroys it. Once I started hearing these facts I realized I didn’t even know how whiskey was made. When we toured the distillery I noticed that everything to make whiskey is super sized. The stills were giant at least 12 feet tall and made of copper. Barrels were about 20 feet around and 4 feet high, all this giant equipment was used for something that ends up being so small in the end.

               After interviewing the head of the visitor’s center and trying the whiskey I couldn’t wait to get my step dad a bottle. I honestly hope hes proud that I could pick him out a good bottle and learn about something he finds fascinating.

Patrons can enjoy festive foods, locally made alcohol, traditional Scottish dress, dancing  all while being serenaded with the traditional music. There also a lot of carnival games, swings, slides, and bounce houses for the children. 

Isle of Arran

We finally arrived at the Glasgow airport at about 11:15am (5:15am STL). It was super cloudy and sprinkling a bit. The airport seemed pretty small compared to the others that I was in today.

I met up with my class in front of the Tesco store in the airport. Everyone was new to me expect for our instructor, Linda Williams, and Jody who sat behind me in Ethics last semester. Everyone in the group seems super nice and I feel like we will mesh pretty well. 

We didn’t have to wait too long for the rental car agency to pick us up at the bus stop outside the airport. Linda picked up a 9 person van. It’s kinda scary to ride in since driving here is opposite from the United States. I keep thinking someone is going to hit us. Linda has driven this way before though, but it’s been about 13 years. Once she got use to it, she did just fine. After getting the van, we left Glasgow but, we still had a total of  2 hours worth of driving and had to take an hour ferry ride to arrive at the Lochranza Youth Hostel in Lochranza, Scotland on the Isle of Arran. I can’t wait to go to bed and snuggle with my cuddle pillow! Especially since I have been up since 8 a.m. (STL) Monday and I am working off of only 4 hours of sleep from Sunday night. I still feel pretty alert and all around ok though! Luckily, I got a good deal of my weepies and nervousness out before leaving Chicago by texting Jake.

It still feels surreal to me that I am here. I have to keep reminding myself that I am in Scotland. I usually end up saying it in a Scottish, and sometimes British, accent in my head. I don’t know why I keep narrating in accents, but it’s pretty funny.

The weather here is cold. I had gotten to use to STL being around 100 degrees and super humid. Here it has been in the mid-60’s during the day and in the 50’s or upper 40’s at night. Brrrrr!

Once we got off the ferry and had a chance to warm up in the van, the first thing we did was stop at the grocery store. The hostel here has a communal kitchen where we can make our own food. Breakfast and Lunch are the only meals they offer and you have to pay 3 and 5 pounds for them. The only grocery store on the island is a chain called Co-Operative. They have the at least 3 of them and the main store, it’s the biggest, is in Brodick where the ferry that we rode comes in. The store was packed so, everything was really low or gone. It was also freezing because they don’t have doors on any of the refrigerated stuff. Everything in the store is expensive because all there stock must be brought in on the ferry from the main land. They kind of remind me of Aldi because they always have long lines, you have to put a coin in the cart to use it and buy grocery bags and bag them yourself. There card readers are really strange too. You don’t swipe your card, you insert it into a slot at the top where you let it sit there to be read. Most of the cards here have a chip in them and that’s why they do it that way. There cashiers also sit while they check you out. Someone had mentioned that to one of them and they gave a look of terror at the very thought of standing all day at work.

The hostel is a very beautiful, 3 story, white building with black trim. It has a circle driveway with very few options for parking, so people park wherever. Once you come inside the iron gate, there is a gravel courtyard with a picnic table and a palm tree. When you walk in you immediately see the office.

The night we arrived, there was a young Scottish woman with bleach blonde dreadlocks working the desk. She is super nice and works four nights a week here. The hostel manager, Steve, spends a lot of time here too and is extremely helpful, especially if you have a Mac. I’ve had problems logging into the internet and stuff and he has helped me. Both of them have really thick Scottish accents, so it is sometimes difficult to understand what they are saying. However, it is so awesome to listen to them talk!

Down the hall from the office, is a community kitchen where all the supplies for making food are provided. Everyone is really good about cleaning up after themselves and not stealing food. There are two dining rooms. One is in the same room as the kitchen and then there is another that it off to the side and has doors to allow for a little privacy. They also have a lounge that guests can sit in to talk, read or use there computers. A lounge with a T.V. is just across the way. In between them is a computer room with two computers. There is also a laundry room somewhere too but, I haven’t found it yet. All the bedrooms are upstairs. In our group, the 4 other girls share a room with me. It has 3 bunk beds, 2 sets of cabinets and a sink. Akira, the only man in our group, has a separate room in the dorms and Linda has her own room upstairs. The communal bathrooms and showers are just down the hall. There are 2 showers and they have privacy doors.

For our first meal in Scotland, we went to a podunk bar/restaurant called Catacol in a hotel down the road. We sat there for about 30min. having light conversation and drifting off into space while wondering how much longer we would have to wait for service. There were only 2 other couples there, so there was no way they couldn’t see our group of 7. We then were finally told by the lady behind us that we had to order at the bar. Apparently, there restaurant service is a little more relaxed here. I ordered a 9” pepperoni pizza because I didn’t trust anything else on the menu. It was a lot of fish and haggis. Gross.

We got back from the Catacol and finally got to get ready for bed. It was 9:30pm when I finally got to go to bed. I had been up for 31 hours! The strangest thing about going to bed then was that there was still light out! It doesn’t get dark, dark until 10pm.

The day was all around good. I felt a little dizzy when we got to Arran. I think it was just from all the traveling. The roads here are really bumpy and I don’t think boat rides like me. The homesickness got to me a little too. I miss Jake, Strubels, Mom and everyone else that I talk to all the time. Five months is a long time and I’am scared and nervous and already missing things from home. Having to pay for internet and having a bad connection is making it really difficult to talk to anyone at home and that is making the transition more difficult.

As a side note about my day of travel…When I was flying into London, I got to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and that giant ferris wheel by the water! Just found out it is called either the London Eye or the Millennium Wheel.

What started off as a hiking trip turned out to be something so much more.  When we had to climb a fence into a field of sheep I knew this was going to be something I’d never experienced before.  Something…amazing.  It was during this hike that I had my very first conversation with a sheep.  He said something to me.  I said something back…bah, bah, bah, yada, yada, yada. 

At first, it was hard to see the beautiful landscape we were upon.  It’s hard to focus when you’re holding you head down trying to walk a path that the sheep so kindly used as their personal loo.  The further we got along the trail, it seems the sheep somehow knew that they should take it easy as we were amongst sacred ground. 

The Circle of Stones that is Machrie Moor became a point of rest, or so I thought.  What appeared to at first be rest was really peace and tranquility.  My mind was completely free of distractions, while the natural beauty that is Arran took my breath away.  -Dameena

The good news:  we've had great weather since we arrived on the Isle of Arran.  The bad news,  we've had no time to finish and upload blogs, etc.  But we will get something