CIBER Edinburgh 2009

Week one=a success! I am in LOVE with not only Edinburgh but all of Scotland! Upon arriving, I was a little hesitant, because everything hit me all at once: life in a foreign country on my own for 5 weeks doing everything including grocery shopping, laundry, homework, and, most importantly, exploring! SO much to do, that I got a little overwhelmed and nervous I wouldn’t be able to do it all. However, I feel we’ve all made great strides this week in discovering the land…getting our bearings in Edinburgh and experiencing the “wild and sexy” countryside of Scotland.
The classes are going great so far: both of the professors are brilliant and the school’s decor is not that bad either. Edinburgh’s charm is more than magnetic; everything from getting a warm cup of Americano on the way to class at an independent coffee shop or taking an evening jog in the Meadows Park has a certain magic to it. The city is not overbearing making life on my own (with the company of everyone on the trip, of course) very easy.
The Highlands Tour=an experience I will never forget! Scotland is “absolutely gorgeous”–the land is prettier than a painting and photos certainly do not give the landscapes justice. You have to see it to believe it, and, once you do, you will bask in the DSL (deep scottish love) just as we all did this weekend.
Can’t wait for the upcoming weeks!

The Highlands of Scotland are absolutely gorgeous! I’m ready to buy my vacation home. Our tour guide and bus driver kept us entertained for three days with crazy stories about Scottish history, including some wacky tales involving fairies and giants.

I am a descendant from the Campbell clan. On the tour, I found the Campbell clan name at the Culloden Battlefield and learned why the Campbells are greatly disliked in Glencoe.

I enjoyed touring the Eilean Donan castle, climbing up to the ruins of Saucy Mary’s castle in Kyleakin, and meeting Hamish the hairy “coo’. It was a great weekend, and I am completely exhausted from it.

The Highlands Tour was a once in a lifetime experience. I had such a great time getting to see so much of Scotland and also getting closer with my classmates. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! I used to think I could only find such gorgeous landscapes like that on a postcard, but I have now seen it firsthand. It was amazing to see so much land in its natural state, instead of huge skyscrapers. The air was so fresh and I was even able to drink directly from a stream of water flowing down a mountain without having to worry if it was clean! I also had so much fun at the hostels and hanging out with everyone in the evenings while enjoying some pear cider:-) This tour was a trip of a lifetime and I would like to thank Kyle and Fergie (our tour guides) for showing me how truly WILD and SEXY Scotland is!

I have DSL. Not Diametric Synergy Logistics, but Deep Scottish Love. Whenever I travel, I really enjoy the countryside. I look at maps and think “I wonder what’s over there?” Naturally, having never visited Scotland, most of the unchartered map sparked my interest. I can safely say that north and northwest Scotland is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have been, as it is natural and mostly untouched by humans. The atmosphere in the area is very distinct from the rest of Scotland and represents a unique experience that could not be had in Edinburgh or elsewhere. Though I ended up spending a few more pounds than expected, for various, legal reasons (of course), the memories taken away from the trip will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life. Plus we saw William Wallace’s memorial. Awesome.

The Highlands of Scotland were one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Everything was so lush and green (even though I heard a local remark that ‘things were a little brown this year’). It was so great to get out of the city for a weekend and really see the beauty of Scotland. I think I even convinced my parents that they needed to come explore the Highlands!

I’m also proud to note that I am now the owner of an amazing “Wild & Sexy Scotland” shirt- a proud remembrance of an amazing weekend. We had a chance to interact with our amazing tour guides- Kyle and Fergie- and learn..sometimes a little bit too much about them.

All in all a great weekend! Can’t wait for 4 more weeks of Deep Scottish Love!

Even though I had some bad luck with my camera, I enjoyed every minute of the Highlands tour. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I am definitely going to go back someday, and I think that everyone should visit the Highlands at some point in their lives.

One of the highlights was meeting some Irish people and dancing an Irish jig in a circle with them. Also the fact that they were extremely entertained by Kevin saying, “Yo!”

Between the yellow bus with “Wild & Sexy” and “Passionate” painted on the sides and a steady stream of Backstreet Boys music, it was clear very early that this wasn’t an ordinary tour. Kyle and Fergie drove us all around the Highlands, telling us about Scottish history and culture. We saw amazing sights, heard entertaining stories, and overall had a very memorable trip!

What a weekend. I don’t think any of us were prepared for such an incredible weekend of Highland exploration and tourism at its absolute peak (no pun intended). After hearing absolutely absurd legends, stories, and a good number of blatant lies (North Face was NOT founded in Scotland OR named for the North Face of Ben Nevis)…our guides were possibly the funniest guides I’ve ever seen. Kyle did most of the talking and “stand-up” while our driver, Fergie, can be summed up in his name and his love for American Pop music. They took us to the most “wild and sexy” views and attractions. From nature walks to absolutely gorgeous falls and streams, to overlooks of Glencoe and the Sister Peaks of Kintail…we hit all of the hot spots. I’d have to say my favorite stop was the Eilean Donan Castle…mainly because it has been in James Bond movies AND Made of Honor. What more could I ask for? Our nights at the hostels were humorously opposite. The first night was spent in a wee little town at a secluded hostel tucked in the woods, while our second night was quite a bit different. Let’s just say we stayed at a hostel named “Saucy Mary’s”, which boasted one of the most popular pubs in town and the most insane locals to prove it. Priceless memories were made. We made it safely back to Edinburgh with everyone accounted for and all with significant cases of “DSL” or “Deep Scottish Love” as everyone else has noted. Unforgettable weekend.

I am absolutely certain my heaven looks like Scotland. Absolutely everywhere we looked it was breathtaking, ok maybe minus the “harry coo”. But what an fantastic experience the highlands tour was! I am sitting here trying to pick out an aspect of it that I liked best and it is impossible, literally the whole trip was a fantastic adventure. There are so many perfect places to hike in Scotland and seeing how different people live is fascinating. I had never been out of the country before this and the fact that everything is the same but everything is different still blows my mind. I find myself wondering what it would be like to grow up in a little cottage in the highlands, and I am little jealous of Fergie…

Sometimes it takes awhile for the beauty of a country to really make itself known, but I think I speak for a majority of our group when I say that the Highlands was like a smack in the face of HEY I’M SCOTLAND AND I’M FREAKIN GORGEOUS.

Okay, maybe with more subtlety, but really. Every corner you turned here was another picture, and that’s something I could hardly ever say at home. Every moment was a Kodak moment and in all honesty if I could have just been a dork and videoed the tour, like a CIBER documentary, I totally would have. And tried my best not to be creepy about it. Either way, a fantastic weekend and a great start to week two.

Cheers everyone.

The highlands were stunning! It was awesome to go to Loch Ness (which was waaaay bigger than i expected) and the Isle of Skye was incredible. Good guides, good people, and good views made the trip one to remember! I also got toe feed Hamish the Hairy Coo and we are best friends now! Fabulous weekend. Riding on a bus for three days wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated!

An unforgettable experience. What a way to kick off our time here. The food, music, sights, and stories were certainly something to remember.

I’m glad I can say that I have traveled to Loch Ness, eaten haggis, drank real Scottish whiskey, and seen the beautiful Isle of Skye.

The rest of the trip should definitely be a blast.

I’ve never been a person who likes getting on a bus just to see natural beauty, but the highlands tour totally changed me! The highlands were so magnificent. I ended up with hundreds of pictures of hills that don’t look nearly as cool as what they looked like in real life.

One of the things I’ll remember the most is going super fast in our haggis tour bus on these itty bitty roads edging beside cliffs. I buckled my seat belt for sure, especially since Fergie was driving!

The thing I liked the most about the highlands tour was that I got to know everyone in our group better because everyone was able to kick back and relax and forget about the “studying” abroad part of studying abroad, at least for a litte while!