Scottish extravaganza: a weekend of outdoor frollicking and fun at Firbush Point

Quick summary of last week's happenings:

Halloween turned out to be a fun night. Had a little party at our flat before going out to a club called Frankenstein's (fitting huh?) and later to meet friends at a different club where i fell in love with a "chicken" hat which was later determined to have been a turkey... don't ask. All in all fun halloween, though i must say i missed madison festivities - nothin beats state street on halloween! However, close tie in comparison with the Samhain festival, the celtic pagan celebration (fall version of the more widely known beltane festival) where local embracers of paganism gather to mark the end of the summer season and harvest. There was an awesome parade on the royal mile (just up the road from my flat) that we saw part of. Crazy costumes, these guys reminded me of the monsters in the village!

Then Thursday was my friend Liz's bday. We all are crazy stressed out right now with essays though, so we are postponing the actual party - but we did make a fun dinner. We made homemade macaroni and cheese from liz's rachel ray's cookbook (30 min meals katie ; ) ) and then i even went all out and made an apple crumble! It was delicious if i may say so.

The week pretty much flew by, with me not getting nearly enough work done on my welsh essay (what i had aimed to get done so this week i could focus on my 2 english essays), especially since i was gone all weekend! But it all worked out - i managed to get some work done over the weekend afterall by only being antisocial a couple hrs at the end of each night. The weekend was pretty much AMAZING. We went away to Firbush Point - the university run outdoor centre - which is in the Southern Highlands on Loch Tay. The trip was organized by Arcadia, my study abroad program, which was great cause i got to see a lot of my american friends, like Julie, who i dont see that much during the crazy weeks with school and mountaineering keeping me busy.

Friday night we arrived and just relaxed and were filled in on the logistics of the weekend. Then Saturday morning we headed off for a huge walk up some nearby munroes. We started off on a pretty tame walk - they had to make sure to cater to all levels of hikers - but then at the end we were able to split off and those of us who wanted to got to go up the higher summit, Ben Lawers - which is the 5th highest munro in scotland apparently. It was a great climb up, and when we reached the top it was sooo crazy windy you wouldnt even believe it! Our guide Dennis said it was probably over 40 mph wind conditions. We were practically getting blown over! Well we would have been if not for practically crawling at the top and clutching on to the rocks hahah. It was such a rush though, we were all just screaming (in exhiliration) when we reached the top - it was truly an unforgettable experience = ) After reaching the summit of Ben Lawers we went back down and then up the summit of the lower Ben Glas, which was also extremely windy but not as steep of a walk to easier in that regard. The walk back down was hilarious cause we just kept stopping to mess around in the wind. It was so strong you could literally put all your weight leaning forward or back and the wind would fully support you! Julie joked that the lesson of the day was wind is the cheapest form of entertainment ; )

Saturday night we were all sufficiently knackered from the walk (yes note my british lingo, you know you all love it) and were rewarded with a fun-filled night of scottish heritage. They made us a huge traditional supper - the meat eaters had haggis stuffed chicken breasts, which i was thankfully spared from with a yummy veggie bake, of course paired with tatties and trifle for desert! YUM. Then they had a piper who played for us and a guy who recited some of Burns' poetry. The night was topped off with a great little ceidlidh (scottish dancing) and we even got a kilt demonstration and the traditional scottish sword dance performed for us (robin you'll probably be the only one who knows what that is) for the rest of you, just know it was highly impressive!

Sunday was another early start to jam in as much activity as possible. They gave us a choice of activities, and i decided to go kayaking in the morning and road biking to the local village in the afternoon. Kayaking was great - i think climbing really is building up my arm strength cause my arms were suprisingly unsore considering id never really kayaked before. We had to get all decked out in wetsuits and special waterproofs, note sexy pictures of me and julie haha. Then road biking was equally fun - nice ride through the BEAUTIFUL countryside before reaching the village where we made our way to the remains of Finlarig Castle, an old castle where the parliament used to reside and you can still see the pit where they used to behead people! Sorry, my camera died so i didnt get as many pics as i would have liked = (

Overall, exhausting but completely exhilirating weekend! It was so great, like always, to get outdoors and away from the city for a bit - especially at this time cause the leaves are just changing colors here and you really can smell fall in the air and it's just an amazing time to be out enjoying nature!

One last highlight: Sunday was, obviously, the 5th of November. Which is the infamous Guy Fawkes Day in Britain. There are tons of fireworks and bonfires to celebrate the failure of Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up parliament. On the drive back from Firbush we could see all the fireworks going off in the towns we drove through. I was too tired to go out and see the Edinburgh display after getting back to the flat Sunday night, but i heard stories and have seen pics - apparently some overly avid celebraters managed to set fire to Arthur's Seat!

Now my crazy week has officially begun. Weekend fun is over and it's time to get down to work. I successfully finished my Welsh essay, now am gettin into my feminist fiction essay, and then medieval dream poetry is last in line. Monday night there will be some very enthusiastic celebrating I assure you! (even though i do have my irish essay still, but not due till that next monday - plenty of time to take a well deserved break) For now my breaks consist of this blogging, consuming caffiene, and sleeping (along with the occasional facebook that is always a good source for some healthy procrastination).

Anyways, i'll looking forward to writing my next blog since it will mean the end of essays... until then, rest assured that my lack of communication only signifies my dutiful studies, not lack of dedication to keeping in contact with all of you ; )

~R