On the move… #HogsAbroad

Since my last post, I have been constantly on the move. Leaving little time for anything but adventuring and sleep. When  I last posted, I was on my way to Bath (I think). I also went to Bristol, before continuing on to Swansea and Cardiff. From there, I went to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and Inverness.

As a result, I have over 600 photos for this last week, alone. And I am incredibly tired. I am back in Edinburgh for now, and will stay here for a couple days. The plan is to catch up on everything- including sleep! So- for an abbreviated version, here’s what I’ve been up to:

Bath: the best part were the assembly rooms! They were pretty close to how I imagined they would be, but not nearly as large. I can’t imagine having all those people crammed in there- or how they managed to dance in such a crush.

Bristol: the museums! The museums like the Red Lodge and the Georgian House were great. They were very interesting and interactive. I love seeing houses and buildings that have been preserved.


Swansea: Mumbles. Mumbles is a small village on the Gower Peninsula
on Swansea  Bay. It has a Victorian lighthouse and pier, overlooked by Oystermouth Castle. Oystermouth Castle was interesting in that visitors have access to almost every area. The catwalks, the chapel, the quarters and towers, all the way down to the cellars. It was fascinating weaving through the passageways, getting turned around, and figuring out how everything connected.

Cardiff: surprise, surprise, my favorite thing was the castle. The facade is the thing of fairy tales, and it has a history to match. Multiple Roman forts were constructed on the site, followed by the building and remodeling of castles until it reached its present form.


Edinburgh: more on that, later.

Glasgow: sadly, I did not take into account a random bank holiday when planning my trip. So, the majority of attractions were actually closed when I was in Glasgow. However, I still made it to the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens, and many of the parks.
 
Perth: the iconic Scone Palace. Scone Palace is a place where the kings of Scotland were traditionally crowned, and has a fascinating history. The village/city of (old) Scone is steeped in legend and mystery, and the surroundings lend the legends an air of reality.

Inverness: was absolutely amazing. The highlands are beautiful. Besides the bus breaking down in between Perth and Inverness, this was by far the best place. I went to Clava Cairns, an ancient burial site, which is dated between three and four thousands years ago. Each burial mound was ringed by large standing stones. In the afternoon, I went looking for Nessie in the loch, but had no luck sighting her.

Edinburgh: (Again). I was so tired the first night I was here- I slept the whole time. So, I had to make a point to come back and do all of the touristy things. I have many attractions on my to do list ranging from (you guessed it) castles to day trips from the city.
So, I’ll have that to talk about next time. Ta!
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Claire Beach will be traveling to several countries during her International Service Learning Program this summer. Her ultimate destination will be a seven-week stay in Indonesia where she will be observing and conducting research for her project, Community Nature and Conservation, through the Honors College.

Beach is studying economics and international business in Walton College. She is observing and conducting research on the profitability of ecotourism business and environmental preservation in other parts of the globe, particularly developing countries. She will be attending the School of International Training. You can read more from Claire at hogtrailsandtales.wordpress.com.

Find out more about the SIT Indonesia: Community Nature Conservation in Bali (Summer) program at http://studyabroad.sit.edu/programs/summer/summer-2016/abe/