Glagow

 19/07/2022

Differently than other days, on Tuesday we met at the train station. We went by train to Glasgow and arrived around twelve o'clock.

We had a coffee in Glasgow's Council square and then we tried to visit the Council, but a Bollywood movie was being filmed there.

Afterwards, we went to Glasgow's Modern Arts museum, which was very interesting and beautiful. What we enjoyed the most was an Andy Warhol painting.

Later on, we had a walk around the main streets and went to the underground. It is called the Clockwork Orange, as there is only one circled line and the trains are tiny and orange. We arrived at the other side of the city, and we went to Kelvingrove.

Kelvingrove is a beautiful art museum, the outside looks like a giant palace and has beautiful gardens. while the inside is full of interesting rooms. On the ground floor one room is dedicated to Egyptian art, another one to Scottish art and another one has stuffed animals. But what we enjoyed the most was the first floor: it had big rooms full of well-known paintings of artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, Cezanne or Van Gogh. There was also supposed to be a Dali painting but, sadly, it was in an exposition in New Zealand.

Finally, we went to Glasgow's University. It is a beautiful castle-like building where some of the Harry Potter

Sorry Folks thats it!

Then there was 4

 18/07/2022

On Friday morning we met in Gallery 48 as always, but it was very different than what we were used to because only four of us were left.

We went to DUSA after planning the week and did some writing exercises.

After class was finished, we all went back home to rest because the next day would be very long: we were going to go to Glasgow!

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 16/07/2022

On Saturday we had a fantastic plan: going to support the greatest team in the world based on Gavin's biased opinion: Dundee United. But while we were expecting this unique moment we spent the morning visiting the Verdant Works.

The Mills of Verdant were built in the XIX century for processing jute from India and turn it into textile works. More than five thousand people worked in difficult working conditions. These bold-eyed women made that Dundee gained the nick name of  "She Town".

The Victorian building, after the decay of the jute industries in the XX century was forgotten about. Thankfully, the mill was stunningly restored and opened to the public in 2015.

After a short lunch, we headed to Dundee United's stadium, we were full of hope. But, sadly, we were quickly disappointed. They scored an own goal and Sunderland FC, in the end, won the match 0/2. It doesn't matter, maybe next time!

 

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 15/07/2022

On Friday we went to class and did some long listening exercises. Although they were very boring, we all got good grades so we were very happy.

After class, Marisa went with María and Omy to Saint Andrews to visit the cathedral, the university and the golf course and to have a walk around the main streets. They both loved the small city very much and had a nice time there. They also completed a series of tasks that they had to do around the city, like taking a photo on the Swilken Burn Bridge.

However, the kids had already gone there a few days before, so instead they went to a trampoline park, which was a really fun activity. 

After being in the trampoline park, we went home early that day, so Ana and Javier could do their luggage.

PS: Marisa now wants to live in Saint Andrews.

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 14/07/2022

On Thursday morning all of us met in Gallery 48 like every morning and we went to DUSA. Although we were very tired after the Highlands trip, we had to do some writing exercises. Each of us wrote about different topics: Marisa wrote about the best way to go by train from Dundee to the Highlands, Javier wrote about Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, Ana wrote about what to do in Inverness and Henar wrote about Culloden's battle.

After class we played darts and pool and then we went home.

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 13/07/2022

All of us woke up in the Inverness hotel and had breakfast in Gavin's car while we headed to Loch Ness. When we got there, we went by boat to Urquhart Castle, which is a beautiful Middle Age's castle that has belonged to the Scottish nobility during ages. The trip by boat was also very beautiful, and although during the departure it was very cloudy, when we were arriving was sunny, so we could see the Highlands, the castle and even some fishes.

After that, we went to have lunch a lock of a river, where we could see how they made the tide go high and low for the boats to pass.

Later on, we went to another loch to go canoeing but it was very windy so sadly we decided not to do it. Therefore, we went to another village to have dinner, and we all tried fish and chips.

Finally, we arrived at Dundee exhausted but very happy after the trip.

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 12/07/2022

On Tuesday, at ten in the morning, María and Marisa took the train from Perth to Inverness. At the same time, Gavin, Henar, Javier, Ana and Mangel set off their way to the capital of Highlands by car.

From the windows of the train, María and Marisa could see the nice and "vintage" station of Pitlochry and the posh terminal of Aviemore. The two hour trip was very comfortable and pleasant.

When they got to Inverness, they looked in the Victorian Market, just in front of the main gate of Inverness station.

After a walk by the riverside, they found a small garden for lunch. Out of the blue, María produced a bottle of bubbly that matched perfectly with the strawberries that they both had for dessert! As Victorian ladies!!

Then they went to the hotel, a very nice place at the top of the city. One hour later, Gavin and the kids arrived at the hotel.

While Ana, Henar and Javier were having a walk in the town, Maria, Gavin and Marisa headed to Culloden Battlefield, not more than ten minutes from Inverness.

The battle of Culloden was a terrible confrontation between Jacobite Scottish army and the Red Coat. The wetlands of the moor shallowed the Scottish troops, sadly they couldn't do anything against the better armed English forces. The Scottish army was defeated and the victors took had measures against the defeaters.

Later, we went to a pub and had an enjoyable meal! A very long day.

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 11/07/2022

On Monday we went to Gallery 48 and after a coffee we went to DUSA. There we did a reading exercise to practise a little bit English and we also played pool and darts. After class was finished we went home to pack up our luggage for the trip to the Highlands that we would start the next day.  

Scotland's 2022 Trip

 09/07/2022

On Saturday we all went to Gallery 48 in the morning. All of us had plans for the afternoon: we were going to watch Elvis and Thor in the evening. Therefore, we had to decide what we were doing before and we ended up going to the McManus and the V and A museums.

We first went to the McManus museum, which was full of Scotland's and Dundee's history objects, pictures and drawings. We all enjoyed the visit very much and we also liked the museum's building, which looked like a palace.

After lunch we went to the V and A museum. Its building is modern and next to it there is a huge whale sculpture, so we thought that we were going to love the inside part as well. However, although it was very interesting, we realized there weren't many things to see for all the room that there was. There was a room dedicated to clothing and building design where you could see some old dresses and suits but also another room dedicated to clothing and building design where you could see some old dresses and suits but also some interactive construction models. In addition, there was also another room dedicated to a Scottish ballet dancer who travelled to London to have dance classes but he finished being the choreographer of a vanguardist and modern dance company that made controversial dance shows as it was very difficult to understand their meaning. In this room there was a projection of a documentary about this dancer and some TVs where you could see some extracts of his dances. Finally, there was another room where you could watch a documentary about a Dundee's postcard business that used to be during the las century. It became a really important business and there even where some examples of the postcards they made during the years and how they evolutionated from black and white postcards to colourful postcards and congratulations cards.

After the two visits, we went to the cinema. While Hugo, Marisa and Javier watched Thor and didn't like it very much; Ana, Mangel and Henar watched Elvis and loved it. Don't worry, we won't tell you any spoilers.

And, sadly, that evening we had to say goodbye to Hugo, who was going back to Madrid the next morning.

Scotland's 2022 trip

 08/07/2022

On Friday morning, at 09:00, Marisa arrived at Edinburgh airport. The new student had a really enjoyable first breakfast in Scotland. Gavin drove her to a pleasant restaurant where she tried for the first time crumpets, a traditional British kind of bread, a cross between a muffin and a pancake. Really delicious!

From Gavin's car, she was astonished by the Kelpies, two 30 metres high horse-head sculptures, built of steel, that portray the mythological Scottish horses that lived in the deepness of lochs and rivers.

After that, she joined us in Stirling, a small town really worth visiting. We looked in the Holy Rude - an ancient Scottish word for cross, a historical place associated with the monarchy and where king James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots was crowned. The church contains many fine stained glass windows.

Besides the Holy Rude it is Stirling's castle. We spent almost two hours walking by the Castle. Very well preserved, and instils in the the visitors echoes at the royal Stuart's court, with lots of servants walking back and forth, cooers roasting big lambs and several gardeners taking care of the colourful Queen Anne Garden.

Also, we are able to imagine hard and bloody fights, at times in which bravery and courage were the lifeblood of this land.

It was a shame, but we couldn't visit William Wallace Monument, but we were against the clock due to the train strikes.

Well, then we have an excuse to come back Stirling!!!

2022 Scotland Trip

07/07/2022

On Thursday morning we all arrived to Gallery 48 expecting to have a normal class day. We were a little bit sad because the day before had been very windy an we had had a trip, whereas on Wednesday it was a fantastic day and we had to spend it indoors. However, when Gavin arrived he told us to take the opportunity and do another trip, and so we went to Saint Andrews!

Saint Andrews is a little city about thirty minutes to Dundee, it has a beautiful beach and one of the oldest universities in United Kingdom, a castle and the oldest golf course in Europe!

We first visited the university and its chapel, which were very beautiful buildings. After that, we went to Saint Andrews's cathedral, that although it is in ruins, was very interesting. Only some towers and tombs remained, but it was possible to imagine how big it was in the past.

A little bit later we visited the castle, but we could not go inside, so we went to the beach. Ana and Henar went inside the water, but it was very cold.

Our next stop was Saint Andrews golf course, which was very pretty as it was full of grass. There we visited a small bridge that is inside the course and that is called the "Swilken Burn Bridge". This is the place where the golf players go after the game and it is tiny.

Finally, we had a walk around the centre of the town and we went back to Dundee.

HUGO FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS <3

2022 Scotland Trip

 06/07/2022

On Wednesday we went to Broughty ferry, a small town near Dundee which has a really nice beach.

We took the bus to get to the town and ,as son as we arrived there, we went to visit the castle and the museum of the city. As it was too windy, we preferred to visit a little bit more of the city centre and its shops than going to the beach. 

                     

Then, after we had seen every charity shop in Broughty ferry (we are really into this kind of shops in this trip) we decided to have lunch near the beach.

Although the weather wasn't the best, Henar and Ana were brave enough to paddle in the sea and took some nice photos.

To end up our trip, we returned home by bus with big smiles on our faces and a bit of sand in our pockets.                   

                                

2022's Scotland Trip

 5/07/2022

Today, as usual, we met in Gallery 48, we had breakfast and we went to DUSA to do some English work and after having lunch, went to play Laser Tag. We had some problems because some people had to go to their houses to change clothes. We took the car to go to the Laser Tag place and we arrived at 16:25, which was the time we had to be there.

We signed up and they taught us how to use the guns. Also, we found Kira and her friends there so we fought against them (we won). We dressed up like soldiers and we were ready to start fighting. We met some Pakistanis mates and we allied with them. We played different games like: Battle between two teams, possession of a checkpoint and get the flag which was similar to the previous one.

We went home by car but two of us went by bus.