Long time no see, well actually no hear!! I’m sorry for letting you wait for this blog. The last couple of weeks were quite busy. My tutorials started, which means a lot of reading and group work! And last week my parents and little sis were here to visit me for 5 days!
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| Sinterklaas! |
They arrived on Tuesday 25th of October in the afternoon. It was great seeing them again! We got a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The taxi driver asked us from which part in the Netherlands we were. We responded with Roermond in the South. “You’re kiddin’ me!! I go every year to Marina Oolderhuuske on holiday with my family and friends!” (Marina Oolderhuuske is a resort near Roermond.) “You’re the first people I’ve met from Roermond here in Glasgow!” Well, he was the first Glaswegian who even knows about the existing of Roermond! So the first meeting with Glasgow was a great one for my parents and sister. In the evening they gave me lots of presents, early Sinterklaas. The next day we explored Glasgow and I showed them my flat and they met a couple of my roommates. Unfortunately they got to experience Scottish weather! It rained a lot in the afternoon, but when we got to the West End it stopped and I’ve showed them another sunny side of Glasgow.
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| The Fudge Man |
On Thursday we went to Edinburgh with the train. First we had to go to the consulate of the Netherlands to apply for my new Passport. If you’ve read my other blogs you know that I damaged my Identity Card. It was quite expensive, 65 pounds, but at least I can plan a trip to Dublin with my flatmates now! So Koen Leupen, there are coming some girls to visit your city, you’ve been warned! The weather in Edinburgh was great and we wandered down the Royal Mile and tried some lovely fudge in a ‘fudge making shop’. The guy who made it was hilarious and he wanted to be named ‘the fudge man’ when we would mention him on social media.
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| Me and My sis Eline at Loch Lomond |
Friday we planned a tour to the West Highlands, which stretches from the edge of Glasgow to Fort William. We stopped at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park to have a splendid view! Here the gentle Lowlands end abruptly for a magnificent landscape which has fired the imagination of writers and artists for centuries. It embraces the deep waters of Loch Lomond, the wild glens of the Trossachs, Breadelbane’s high mountains and the sheltered sea lochs of the Argyll Forest.
Heading west we reached the fishing town Oban, Gaelic for The Little Bay. Oban was originally a small fishing village and although picturesque was a hard working little place. Oban still has a fishing community and it is well known for some of the very best seafood Scotland has to offer. So we tried some fish and chips in one of the many restaurants Oban has to offer and my dad tasted the local Oban whiskey, distilled next to the restaurant. On our way back to Glasgow we stopped in Invereray to visit the 18th century castle, ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll. There was a 15th century castle on the estate before, but this castle got demolished and nowadays you see a castle from the 18th century. Although there were a lot of clan fights and wars concerning landownership during that century, the castle was never built to be a defense castle. It was just the home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell. And yes, this title remained over the years and now the Duke of Argyll lives there with his wife and children. That’s why it wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside.
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| Rest and be Thankful Pass |
Our last stop was at the Rest and be Thankful pass. This is a nice ending of my blog.
See you next time!
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