So Spring Break has just ended. We got back to Stirling finally. There was no time to relax after our stressful Perugia debacle, however. It was time to crank out the essays. So that's what that week was. Essay time. Then, the weekend was free to relax and take a breath.
Thursday, after I turned in my final mid-semester essay, I went to go and pick up my good friend Dylan from back at Redlands, who was to stay for some of the weekend. If you recall, he is currently studying abroad in St. Andrews. So showed him around campus, and then, for the first time since I've been in Stirling, went to the William Wallace monument. I've been here for over 2 months. The monument is literally right next to the school. Dylan was very disappointed in me. He had already seen it, as his homestay happened to be in Stirling. So we quickly remedied that and climbed the 246 steps up to the top. The view was amazing (However, smart me forgot her camera back in the room...) and incredibly windy. After that, it was back down the hill and the steps for what we thought would be a quiet evening of hanging out. Little did we know we would learn something new. A skill so useful, that the days of yore would be proud. That's right. We learned how to make bread. Bread? you ask. Why did you learn to make bread? Because smart Kristy decided she was going to make chicken pesto pizza that night for her friends for dinner. But Tesko did not have the required dough crust. So we needed to make our own. We did not take into account the yeast needing two hours to rise. So instead of pizza, we had pasta, and instead of crust, we made bread. In muffin tins. But did we make muffins? No. We made them in the shape of bread sticks. So they had awkward lumps and looked more like old telephones than bread sticks.
The next day, it was time for Dylan to be on his merry way back to St. Andrews.While Dylan made his way back to school, Dana and I decide we need to climb the hill that we have so cleverly dubbed 'Big Papa.' It's real name is Dumyat Hill, but at this point, we didn't feel worthy to call it that; at least, not until after we had conquered it. So off we went, day packs in hand. We started off by wandering through the school gardens, as there was word that there might be a path in that direction. Though there were few flowers actually growing, the day was warm and beautiful and our spirits were high. We find a road that seems to be headed closer to the hill in the distance, which leads us to a cute churchyard. Past the graveyard by the church, there is a path winding it's way through the trees, getting closer to our destination. So we take it. And it brings us to a sheep pasture, right along some more rolling hills. We decide this is a good place to stop for lunch.
After lunch, we carefully made out way through the sheep pasture, trying not to scare the newly born lambs that were closely following their mothers.
We then found ourselves on the other side of the pasture, facing a house. We were pretty sure we had just unintentionally crossed private property. So we quickly jumped the fence and walked into a very cute little village, with all the houses built extremely close together. The 'village' only went for about 2 blocks, and after that, went back to the hills. Right after the village, there was a small trail that went to the left, towards Big Papa. So we took it. Looking back at it, we're pretty sure that the trail we took had been some sort of sheep path. It was definitely NOT built for people to walk on. But we were determined and took it regardless. It was definitely more scenic than the trail we took on our way back (the ACTUAL trail we should have originally taken), with small streams flowing and created mini waterfalls over rocks.
After about 10 minutes, the trees thinned out and we were walking the hills of Scotland, with the views getting better and better. However, due to the fact that we were not taking the 'people approved' route, we had to stop quite a few times to catch our breath. Big Papa kept on looming closer and closer - but never close enough. We kept on thinking we were there right around the next corner, only to realize we had another hill to cross in order to reach him.
We weren't even at the top of Big Papa and we felt like we could already see for miles across Stirling. The Wallace Monument, in the distance, is where we had come from, as it is right next to our campus:
Once up on the hills, needless to say, there were many Lord of the Rings references. We were just waiting for a helicopter to come out of nowhere and film a sweeping shot of us running towards a battle or something. Unfortunately, it was a simple wish. In true Kristy and Dana form, our hike made sure that we had to work extra hard, making us do a little unintentional rock climbing in order to reach our destination. The hills just became more and more vibrant as we continued up and up.
Finally, after about an hour and a half to two hours of wandering around, we made it to the top of Dumyat Hill! We had finally conquered it! Like at the other hills that we had climbed, there were piles of rocks to show how many people had reached the summit. So we quickly found our own rocks to add and threw them to the top!
However, after this, we looked over and saw that there was another hill to conquer, that was just a hop, skip and a jump away. So after a quick snack and water break, we gathered our things together again and made our way next door - where we also found the actual path that we should have taken on our way up. It was not nearly as pretty as the one we went on. But was much easier to navigate. The hill next door also had a pile of rocks, so we added ones to that, as well, and took another break. The hills were extremely windy, as there was nothing to protect them from such elements.
After quite the hike up, it was time to head back down. On our way, we passed by more pastures, but instead of sheep, they had Highland Coos..... WITH BABIES!! Who were adorable! So fluffy!
So after about 10 minutes of trying to convince the baby highland cattle that they needed to come to us and failing, we went and found our way back to campus.Later that night - Kristy learns about Ceilidhs!
What is a ceilidh, you ask?
Ceilidh: (esp in Scotland and Ireland) an informal social gathering with folk music, singing, dancing, and storytellinghe.White Sergeant
Mostly, though, traditional fold music and dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. Which is fairly fast paced. Good thing before each song they teach you the dance moves! Here is an example of some of the dances:
Strip the Willow - very fast paced with a LOT of spinning
The Dashing White Sergeant
The Flying Scotsman
etc.
According to our scottish friend, true ceilidh form is dancing every dance. Ceilidhs last for about 3 or 4 hours. There are a lot of dances. And after a long day of hiking, I was already exhausted. But I did manage to dance most of them. I think I only missed about 3 or 4. Which, for my first ceilidh, I thought was pretty good. Many of us who had attended the ceilidh had never been to one before, so, needless to say, there was a lot of stepping on each others feet and bumping into each other.
At the end of the ceilidh, everyone gathers on the dance floor, takes hands, and sings Auld Lang Syne. A great way to end a lively night.
So there you have it! Dumyat Hill and Ceilidhs! I will try and continue to update, but for now, it's time to go and get my glasses fixed (really no story behind that one.... they just kind of broke. Sad day.). Until next time!
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