Scotland Pt. 1

The second weekend I was in Germany was a long weekend, so I went to Scotland! One of my good friends from high school studies history at St. Andrews University in St. Andrews, Scotland. We had one weekend of overlap on the same continent, and I was very happy that it happened to be a long weekend for me. I flew from Hamburg to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinbruh), then took a tram to the train station, then took a train to Leuchars, then Alice and her flatmate, Avery, picked me up in Avery’s car. I was surprised by the train because it was a diesel train, and not electric. I had just assumed that all of the passenger trains would be electric. It was more effort than I thought it would be to get up to St. Andrews. We first went to their flat, which was very centrally located in the city. Alice said she had some classes that were in the building right down the street from the flat. After I got a little settled, we went and got brunch and watched the Royal Wedding. I had a traditional Scottish breakfast, and it was pretty good. And, yes, I did have the black pudding, and it wasn’t bad. It was spiced and it had a similar texture to the liver I have had at hibachi restaurants. When we were in the restaurant, some other Americans came in and watched the royal wedding. I knew that the waitress was laughing at us, but it was still fun and I loved Megan’s dress. After brunch, Alice gave me a tour of the city. It is a small, old, beautiful town. It was very walkable. I never needed to use any public transportation, so I do not know anything about the public transportation in St. Andrews.  Alice and Avery said that the only reasons to come to St. Andrews are for the university or for golf. It also seems like locals do not really like the students and the students do not really like the golfers, but I do not know what the locals think about the golfers. After Alice’s tour, which I would highly recommend, we went to her friend’s flat for dinner and watched Captain America. My flight that morning was very early, so I was perfectly ok with a more relaxed evening. Even though it was late when we left her flat, it was still light outside because Scotland is so far north. All and all, it was a great day.