Scotland

I know this is late, but I wanted to say a little bit about what my trip to Scotland was like. Our whole school of 29 American students and 1 poor somewhat older British teacher went to Edinburgh last week, Wednesday-Friday.
The train ride was beautiful. It took about 4 hours, and I can only imagine how gorgeous it must be when it's not cloudy. Some areas were snowy, making it even more beautiful as patches of white appeared now and again in the middle of green fields and eventually gray rocky cliffs. So stunning.
The hostel was like a combination between camp and a hotel- bunkbeds in a hotel room without the free toiletries. So much nicer than I expected, so great.
We explored Edinburgh castle, which was quite fun. Honestly, I feel like the excitement of a castle kind of dies down after about half an hour of roaming the stone buildings in frigid, rainy weather. It did have a beautiful view of the city, and great hot chocolate at the cafe, though.
We went to an art museum and a history museum. I definitely appreciated the history museum better- Katy and I spent a long time on just 1 of the 5 floors, exploring the history of Scotland. If you ever want to learn about some huge injustices, explore the history of Scotland. It's full of injustice and atrocity, and ended its life as a nation when its bribed government leaders voted it out of existence. It's a fascinating and sad story that is still being played out.
I went to a pub with a few friends. Very low key, which was nice. One of my friends asked if there was such a thing as a Scottish wine since she doesn't like beer. The bartender laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? Have you seen this weather?" That meant no. She ended up with a strawberry beer which was much better than the pale ale that I had (I've decided that I just don't like beer and I can't change that).
We climbed a hill overlooking the city, and in the freezing, windy weather some of us climbed Nelson's Monument, a tower that gives an incredible view of the city. In this picture, if you see a hill to the right, the castle is on top of it.

We went to the Scottish Parliament building. Interesting fact: in 1999 Great Britain allowed Scotland to form its own Parliament for the first time since 1707 I believe. Scotland wanted to build the building on the hill where the Nelson monument is (there is plenty of space). Instead, Great Britain made them build it in the lowest valley in the city. Anyway, it's a very cool building, and this is a picture of the room where they vote and debate and such.

I wish I could tell more about my trip, but I am simply too tired to write it all now. I will say, however, that this is an incredible nation originally designed to endure hardship with amazing joy. I want to go back to Scotland. I don't know how to describe how I feel about it, but there's so much more that I want to see and discover about the land, I don't think I'm done there.
Here's a poem that I wrote last week to describe the city. It's rough, but hopefully it will give you at least something of a picture of what is really a beautiful land.

Edinburgh
Gray stone layered on gray stone,
Elegant in its blank, bare beauty.
It had a life once, did it not,
When the gray was as silver fresh off
The forge? But smoke soon smothered
In the name of progress, and builders
Demolished in the name of development.
What's left stands bravely, lovely, darkly,
Defying any who would think it dull, yet
Whispering silently, longing for something
More. In the sound of cars, buses, and rain
I can barely hear the prayer: give me life!