Vores oplevelse ved Loch Lomond, som er Skotlands største sø. Efter vi havde kørt et par timer i bus sammen med vores Chauffør Billy the Driver, stoppede vi ved den smukke sø Loch Lomond. Inden vi gik ned til søen, købte Clara noget brød som vi kunne fodre ænderne med. Ingen af os havde spist specielt meget til morgenmaden, så vi var alle sultne. Eli var vist ekstra sulten, for hun spiste noget af brødet i smug. Men det skotske højland var fantastisk, deres natur i noget helt for sig selv, og det var klart et af højdepunkterne på vores bus tur med Billy the Driver. Loch Lomond er bare en smuk del af højlandet og naturen i Skotland. Sille og Victoria.

Et sammendrag af billeder taget på studieturen!

https://picasaweb.google.com/100694931226944574957/2cGoesToEdinburgh#

Ovenstående link fortæller over en bred kam, hvad vi elever samt lærere fortog os på 2.c’s studietur til Edinburgh. Rigtig god fornøjelse med billederne!

Forrester High School

Tuesday afternoon our class went to visit Forrester High School which is located a few kilometers from Edinburgh where we stayed. From outside the school looked very big and new. Their outdoor fields were to die for according to most sport interested people. And when we entered the high school, we experienced, that it was enormous inside too and very fashionable. The building was divided into wings which were colored dependent on subject, it was also done to prevent people from getting lost.

A kind-looking woman welcomed us as we entered the school, and she introduced us to the school. She told us, that the teachers and the students just had “moved in” last year, so it was still very new to them, and everybody was still very excited about their new rooms, because the former school was very ramshackle. The kind woman showed us to the ensemble hall, where she introduced us to their school system, which is far from ours back in Denmark. One of the most important things was for instance that the students had to wear school uniforms, and speak politely to the teachers (Mr. and Mrs.). We experienced that ourselves shortly afterwards, as we were divided into small groups to participate in some of the lessons. Some took part in the art class, others in physics and others again in technology class.

If you want to learn more about them you can visit their homepage:

http://www.forrester.edin.sch.uk/index.htm

We were divided in groups of four or five, and went out to different classes. Me and three other girls should visit a first grade art class, so the kids were about 11 years old. We started out by walking around and watching what they were doing and they told us, that they were in the middle of a project about the Celts, and therefore they had to use their imagination and draw a shield, with a lot of beautiful colors and sketches. The kids were very open-minded and kind to us, so we sat down together with some of the girls, and we also began to draw a nice drawing to them, and as you can see on this photograph we also got a drawing from them. They were curious about Denmark and about us, so we told something about ourselves and about Denmark.

It was a nice experience listing to their Scottish accent, and seeing how they acted in school. The 30 minutes went very fast and suddenly we all had to clean up, and the class ended.

I admit, I got a bit jealous when I heard that the students of the high school could have dance as a subject. It seams like a dream to me (who have paid expensively for dance lessons outside of school) that you could actually learn how to dance in school. But when I got to the class finding five young girls jumping not very synchronously around to the sound of Justin Timberlake I got the feeling that maybe dance lessons in school was not that serious.

We started out by watching the five girls performing a dance, they had made. Afterwards we joined them on the dance floor and tried to learn some of the moves ourselves. The girls were apparently to shy to talk to us, so they only did the dancing, while the teacher had to teach us the moves. But after some time the teacher was called out to talk to a woman (most likely some school business), and since the girls didn’t dare to talk to us, we spent a lot of time sitting on the floor. When the teacher returned we were divided into groups to make up our own dance, which was a bit difficult, but we managed to make up some few steps, and we received a kind applause from the girls, when we performed for them in the end of the class.

When there was five minutes back, we thought it could be fun to show the girls some dance, we learned in Denmark, so we taught them the main steps of waltz. There wasn’t really time to teach them very much, but I think they found it fun enough just to try. Afterwards the class ended.

Dinner at MUM'S

A good way to celebrate the arrival to Scotland is to visit the great restaurant, MUM’S. This trip was all about meeting another culture than ours and we sure did at MUM’S. We were thirsty so of course we ordered one of the local beers from Edinburgh, Hollyrood. An Ale that won the World Beer Award 2010 for the best pale ale! And now what to eat? Some of the classmates ordered burgers but that is too boring! But what did we order then? Of course Shepherds Pie and Haggis! Two traditional Scottish dishes, that we had to try. Overall, it was a nice way to meet Scotland and its culture!

Billy the Driver

As the name might suggest, Billy was our driver on our trip into the country side of Edinburgh. Not the usual grumpy old man, you’d expect a driver to be, but (to me at least) he was essence of the Scottish national character, which we were met with by the Scottish people. Polite, obliging, ready for a laugh and of course had the lovely Scottish accent.
His humor shined through in his stories about Scotland. Everything was told with a passion and his own personal touch, which made the trip much more enjoyable. His explanation of “hirry coo-o-o-oo-oo-oos” (the last two o’s are silent), his advice about which pubs were good and sing-alongs of the great Scottish bands.
Even when he told more patriotic stories about Scotland, he was ready to make a bit of fun of it, i.e. how every boy and girl, including himself, in his home village are named William or Williamisa (after William Wallace, the greatest hero of Scotland) and how it was a long time since Scotland had won a football- or rugby match.
There is so much more to tell about, but it would end up being too trivial, and I would never be able to give a crystal clear picture of how entertaining and straight out awesome he was. To me, and some of my class mates, Billy was the representative of the Scottish national character – and what a great national character it is!

Kasper BH, 2c

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond er den største sø i Skotland, og har et areal på 71 m2. Søen er lang og smal, den er orienteret nord-syd og har flere småsøer i den sydlige del. Den dybe sø er uddybet af gletsjere under den sidste istid. Den skotske sø giver vand til Loch Lomond whiskydestilleriet, som ligger ved breden. Her bliver der produceret flere forskellige typer at maltwhisky, det er her den mest tørvede whisky biver produceret.

old-vandring

The beautiful architecture in Edinburgh Before we went in our trip in Edinburgh, we had been introduced about the Greek and Roman architecture in the world. Even though we had been study the different Greek and Roman architecture. It’s nothing compared to seeing it with your own eyes. We went a walk to see the buildings which had including the Greek architecture and then we had to tell some short facts/presentations about the different buildings. It gives us new perspectives when we don’t see it so much in Denmark. It was very interesting to see something news. The buildings had a special style. Many of the buildings in Edinburgh were designed with details and that was that made it so special. We walked around the city, to see many building, including The Dome, which used to be a bank. The buildings were very beautiful, and we got at lot of knowledge, on this architecture walk. Sümeyye, Serap og Anders N

Doune Castle, Stirling Castle and hairy coos!

Doune Castle

Actually we weren’t supposed to visit the Monty Python castle, which is really called Doune Castle, but our very dedicated driver just thought we could squeeze in another castle, into our already castle-packet sightseeing schedule. It was a quick visit, we only got about 5 minutes to get out, take pictures and get into the bus again – which didn’t give us the biggest impression of the castle. But the interesting thing about Doune Castle is, that it was one of the major locations in the cult-movie ’Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ The guide Billy told us, that in the summer, fans could be seen running around the castle, clacking coconuts together, so it would sound like they were riding a horse just like they do in the movie. It was a wee castle, nothing like Edinburgh castle, but we think it is nice that it was in a movie!

Hairy Coos / "hiilænd coos"

The highland cows, pronounced  “hiilænd coous” by Billy the driver, are long-haired cows, living up in the Scottish highlands. Amongst other things, highland cows are being associated as the national pride of Scotland. And with good reason if you’re into cute, hairy cows, who are not afraid of a little pat on the cheek – Or at least some of them weren’t! We made a stop in the great Scottish highlands, breathing in the fresh air, and saw the hairy animals. We patted a cow named Kyle, who was fairly calm and didnae mind being patted. But the cutest cow, was a teenage cow – if it was human, it would probably be 12-13 years old, but it kept in the distance – darn it! 

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle is located at Castle Hill, Stirling. It is one of the most important castles in Scotland both historically and architecturally.

                      As we arrived our bus driver told us that it was build in the period from the 12^th century up till somewhere in the 1600^th century. He also told us that the Wallace monument, which was close to the castle, was a very important monument, since it was here William Wallace fought for independence in Scotland. He told us that William Wallace was such a big national hero, that a lot of people, including himself, have been named after him (only the first name though).

When we had entered the gate and payed for the ticket we were told that we had about two hours to explore the castle on our own. The castle was in fine condition and the view was amazing! It was a shame that until summer this year the Royal Palace was closed due to renovation – it is part of The Palace Project which will turn into an exhibition this summer with costume players etc.

The only bad thing about the castle was the exhibition dolls. In the jail-section it worked very well, also with the sound from different speakers – it created a very good mood. But all the other places were far too scary to enter since it was dark places filled with creepy, life-size dolls. Scary!

Funny facts:

-          - The oldest surviving football has been found at Stirling Castle

-         -  In 1993 Mel Gibson and the rest of the crew from “Brave Heart”  held a celebration party

If you follow this link to youtube, you'll be able to see a video filmed in Stirling Castle as well as the castle itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0f5GoF6oG8&feature=related

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Castle

http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/home.htm

Written by Helene, Eli, Dilan & Sarah

Edinburgh castle

One of the first and most special things you notice in Edinburgh is the Edinburgh castle, which rules the city on top of a volcanic rock. The castle has been there since at least the 12^th century, but no one knows exactly when the castle was built. The castle has been involved in many battles and

wars during the fight for Scottish independence. The castle was built on top of the rock, to give the Scottish warriors a perfect overview during the battles, which is one of the main attractions today. Many tourists visit the castle just for the amazing view. The castle also contains the Scottish crown

jewels. The crown jewels are known as “Honours of Scotland”.

Another tourist attraction is the One O’Clock Gun that is fired every day at exactly 1 pm. It was originally a time signal to the Scottish ships as the time ball on the Nelson Monument was useless in foggy weather.

Some short facts:

Today the castle has more than 1 million visitors a year.

The castle contains a soldiers’ dog cemetery.

There are 30 cannons placed around the castle.

The Real Mary King's Close (The Ghost Walk)

We had a lot of expectations before visiting Mary King’s Close. What could we expect? Many of us shivered by the thought of walking around in narrow passages, beneath the streets of Edinburgh. Would it be a horrifying experience? Or a cozy street-walk like when one visit The Old Village in Aarhus.

Mary King’s close is located in the heart of Edinburgh, in the part called Old Town by the Old Mile. We arrived and were divided in to two groups. We waited for our guide. He arrived, dressed in what looked like a sack, an attempt to look like he lived back 1600’s. He later told us that he was dressed as a ‘Foul Clenger’, a person hired to clean houses infected by the plague. The other group was guided by a man dressed in more fancy clothes; he was supposed to look like Robert Ferguson, a very well known poet who use to come in the close.

And now our tour began. We moved down some stairs, and walked around. There wasn’t much space. Everything was very well preserved, and you could really imagine how awful it must have been living like that. We saw both the part of the close where the poor people lived and the part where the more wealthy people lived. Like Mary King, who must have been a very important woman, since the close was named after her.

Our guide talked with a thick Scottish accent, and at times he was a bit hard to understand, but very entertaining. He showed us a part of the close were a family of approximately twelve people lived together, and it was much smaller than your average living room. He also showed us a small stable were they used to have cattle. Very impressive.

It was a nice experience, but maybe it is a bit misleading to call it a ‘Ghost Walk’, because there was nothing scary about it.

By Regitze, Sofie and Ida.