OUR DIARY IN EDINBURGH

WE ARE GRATEFUL

We are grateful for the opportunity that the Department has given us to learn about British culture and visit Edinburgh, a really beautiful city and with a lot of interesting things to do and places to visit. We did our task as best as we could and hope to be at the height of the expectations. We also want to do a special mention to our teachers Fina and Gemma, because without them we couldn't have done it.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!

DIARY:

On Sarturday September 15th at 07:00h our flight to Edinburgh left. David was waiting for us in the airport there and took us to our new homes for the days there.
We went on a tour around the city centre and had some "SUMO" lessons.

 

On Sunday September 16th we went on a tour outsite Edinburgh. We met at the meeting point at 9:00 o’clock to took the coach.

The first stop was at Forth Bridge. It’s red, built with metal and a train runs along it. It is very long. We took some photos:

Then we visited the village, and our friend and guide David bought some typical sweets for us.

Later we went to South Queensferry, but there was a problem with the boats  and we couldn’t take them to the island to visit Loch Leven Castle. What a shame !!!

Then we drove to St. Andrews and we walked to the beach, where we played with a ball and a  frisby.

 

 



After that we went to St. Andrews Cathedral and to the Castle too, a picturesque ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland.

 Finally we spent a pleasant afternoon in Anstruther, a  Fishing Village.   

 During the first week, in the morning we went to a Language school in the centre of Edinburgh. It was the "Wallace College".

There, we worked on a project about Edinburgh. We were separated into two groups, the Nessies (the loch Ness monster) and the Jimmies (the most common name in Edinburgh). The Nessies had to make a video about Edinburgh and every day they recorded a part of it about different topics, such as "the haggis" (the typical dish in Edinburgh) and "irin bru". While the Nessies recorded the videos, the Jimmies were preparing some funny sketches about different topics. And then, we swop tasks and the Jimmies recorded some videos, and the Nessies prepared some sketches.

 

In the afternoon, we did different things, such as activities or some tasks for the project in the  National library. We realized that the Scots speak very low and we had to make an effort not to speak aloud. It was difficult to work in silence. We are Spanish!!!

On Tuesday we went to the "National Museum of Scotland". We had lunch there and enjoyed it.

On Wednesday to "the Royal Botanic Garden". We had a beatiful day there.

In the evenings we had other activities. We met at the meeting point... took bus 26...

 

... and on Monday we enjoyed a "games night" near the school. We played different Scottish games such as the "Beetle Drive" with a dice that David taught us. Here are some photographs:

 

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Arthur's Seat. It was an easy hill walk, where we could even roll down the hill on the way back. It was nice and fun.

 

After the walk, we went to play "skittles" and have dinner in a real Scottish PUB "The Sheep Heid Inn" on the other site of the hill. Nessies against Jimmies.

 

On Thursday afternoon, we went to visit "Edinburgh Castle". It was raining a lot, so we got very wed.

On Friday evening, we went to a church, and presented our sketches and videos in front of the teachers. At the end, they gave us a certificate with some comments in it. It was really fun.

Highlands & Loch Ness Tour

Saturday and Sunday September 22th and 23th

We went to The Highlands and Loch Ness for the weekend, the first day we went to Dunkeld (the name Dunkeld comes from the Gaelic for "the fort in the wood"),  a beautiful landscape, in this village we visited the cathedral and the city centre.

Later on we stopped at the "Falls of Brujar".

The second stop was probably the best thing. It was at "Lealt Farm Sheep Dogs" a show of sheepdogs, we saw sheep and dogs trained to guide the sheep, we could touch them and play with them, and we feet the little sheep and we learned how to shear a sheep.

 

On the way to the hostel, we stopped at "Ruthven Barracks" and walked for a while.

Next stop was in the hostel where we had dinner and slept.

On Sunday we had breakfast and we went to Inverness and Loch Ness and we visited "Urquhart castle" and "the visitor centre" where we watched a video about the history of the castle.

 

After the video, David was waiting for us playing the "pipe" and we walked behind him very quietly amazed with the sound.

 

Next stop was in a place where we took a boat around the lake, looking for Nessy ... and we found her !!!, she was swimming next to us. I think she was hungry !!!

After the boat we saw seven locks for the boats to get up the river, which was interesting for us too.

 And on the way back we stopped in a place where we feet Scottish cows "coos" with carrots. The Scottish cows are very different from ours, they have very long hair and long horns.

 

And finally the last stop was at Glencoe where we hike a very steep small mountain. It was very tiring but we enjoyed a very nice landscape. All Scots and people from around the world love "Glencoe" and go there for a hike.

 

We had a rest. How tiring !

 Then we arrived home. We are very lucky for the beautiful weather, beautiful landscape and beatiful weekend.

During the second week as we didn't have school in the morning, we had to work in our project and on Monday we visited "Seafield Community Recycling Centre" in Edinburgh.

This was transformed into that.

 In the evening we met at "BOBBY Cemetery" for a "GHOST TOUR" walking around Old Edinbugh. It was interesting, but it rained a lot.

On Tuesday we had a very interesting  " Victorian Class Experience" as they used to have it in those days. Boys on one side and  girls on the other. "Chins up", "back straight" and "feet together and flat" !

Gemma and Fina were doing their calligraphy. Fina has a better position with her back straight, but they are both quiet and working hard. They are good students too.

Later in the afternoon, we went to visit the "Community Recycling Centre" whose moto is "Make our city Edenburgh". They were waiting for us and they gave us all sorts of information about what they do.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to the "Camera Obscura" We enjoyed the fascinating Camera Obscura Show, fantastic views of Edinburgh, and the five floors packed full of an amazing range of optical experiences.

 

In the evening we had the "Magic show and workshop"

We learned tricks, acrobats and balloon modeling !



On Thursday we went to "The Edinburgh Dungeon" 500 years of Edinburgh's darkest and most gory history, 11 live actor shows and a scary ride made the Edinburgh Dungeon an educationally chilling experience.  

We attended a judgement of sinners where OUR PAULA was judged guilty of "witchcraft" and saw the torture chamber, the cave of the Cannibals, the labyrinth of Lost Souls, etc.

The drop ride to Doom!!!

On Friday was the "Dynamic Earth". The mother Earth of all adventures.

We were embarked on a journey back in time over 15,000 million years. We flew over glaciers as they carved out the planet's surface. We felt the Earth move as a volcano exploded beneath our feet and experienced the chill of Polar Extremes before embarking on a "4D ADVENTURE".  

And the good news for the environment is that we didn't leave a carbon footprint during our epic trip, since no gas-guzzlers were involved in transporting us through space, time and the many wonders of the natural world.

 

And finally we had a farewell party with some other Austrian students. "Ceilidh" Scottish group dancing and song with David Vivanco".

 

  

THANKS DAVID !!!

 We will always remember these beautiful days in Edinburgh learning new things about your culture and visiting your wonderful country.