Marathon weekend = marathon post

On Friday morning I left Glasgow on a coach bus and headed to Inverness. The trip was organized through my study abroad agency, so it was jammed packed with every tourist activity you could possibly imagine. The day started with a visit to Scone Palace - pronounced "Scoon" (because you eat scones, not palaces...hahahahhaha!!!...). We lined up for a really interesting falconry display on the palace grounds. Falconry, or pleasure hunting with trained birds of prey, has been a hobby of English/Scottish aristocracy for centuries. The coolest part of the whole display was when the falconer brought out the largest owl I've ever seen in my life, and threw a piece of meat up in the air for the owl to catch. It swooped in with both its feet, wings spread, and snatched the meal right out of the air, and then flew off into a tree to eat it. By landing in the tree, the owl disrupted a family of crows, who started attacking the owl - then the crows called for reinforcements so the owl eventually was forced out of the tree by about 50 swarming crows... it was like the Hitchcock film Birds...

We took a tour of the palace, and the decoration theme tended to center around the importance of the visit of Queen Victoria in the late 19th century. The furniture, dishes, silk wall dressings and various other decorations were bought and designed especially for her one night stay at Scone. Forty-two scottish kings were also crowned there - and a large monument marks the place where the 'Stone of Destiny' used to lie. Unfortunately the English stole the stone, then the Scots stole it back, and so on, until the stone ended up in Edinburgh Castle, where it is today.

And by far the coolest part of the day was when we visited a working sheep-dog farm. The discipline that the master has over his dogs was amazing. A certain pitch and pattern of whistle issued from the master to the dog told the dog where to go and what do to. So the master whistled twice, and the dog disappeared into the hills to round up the sheep. Soon, the dog was back, moving the sheep along in formation. The master whistled a certain pattern so that the dog would slow down. He whistled some more and the dog stopped. He did some more whistling and the dog knew to herd the animals to the left, but while walking slowly so that the sheep didn't become scared. And when the master whistled, the dog's response was instantaneous. He showed us how the dogs could separate 2 sheep from the entire bunch and keep the rest of the group intact... and on and on. Then the shepherd picked one of the sheep from the group and started shearing it. I got to help shear the sheep!!! Freaking cool!!!

We stayed the night in Inverness, a small town in northern Scotland. The next morning we took the bus to the Cairngorm Mountain Ski Center and got to enjoy the scenery. One thing that is really interesting about being at outdoor centers in Scotland is that they actually acknowledge global warming as fact. The debate that centers around it in America is nonexistent here - and it's refreshing to be in an environment where its existence isn't fought. The guides told us that they are having problems with new species of animals, particularly hares, living at altitudes that they previously were unable to inhabit. The hares are consequently messing up a little ecosystem niche and will probably wipe out some plant species that reside in the area. They also told us that in the winter the winds can get up to 170 mph at the summit. Yikes!

We then rushed on to take a tour of a distillery, where I tried some Scotch whiskey and learned a whole bunch about alcohol and whiskey's history in Scotland.

Then today I went to a battlefield, took a cruise on Loch Ness, but didn't see any monsters (not enough whiskey I suppose) visited another castle, and drove through the Western highlands again through Glencoe. Uff da.

I've been in Scotland for 6 weeks already, and the time seems to be flying by. I know that in another 8 weeks school will be over, and my time in Europe will also be drawing to a close. This next week I start printmaking at school, which I will be working on for the next two weeks. Then I'm flying to Germany and possibly venturing into the Czech Republic while I'm there... or I could go to Luxembourg, Belgium or the Netherlands. I'll take votes...

Peace!!!
Steph