Day 9 & 10 // Exploration and Education

I'm a day late on my day 9 post, and if I am being honest I was very tempted to be late on my day 10 post... partially due to exhaustion and partially due to spending my evenings talking about anything and everything with my new best friends. (We are trying not to think about the fact that we only have four full days left together before we go our separate ways.)

Day 9

To start our morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel before loading our luggage back onto the coach bus and driving to Liverpool.

We spent a couple of hours walking around and taking in the city. A group of us found the Museum of Liverpool and spent about 30 minutes walking around.

According to their website, "The Museum of Liverpool reflects the city's global significance through its unique geography, history and culture. Visitors can explore how the port, its people, their creative and sporting history have shaped the city."

We then walked around a few of the shops and found some souvenirs for family and friends back home. We soon realized what time it was (and how little time we had before we had to be back on the bus) and quickly found a place to eat lunch. I kid you not when I say that we scarfed down our lunch in approximately five to seven minutes. We quickly made our way back to the bus and we were soon on our way to Preston.

There we had the opportunity to visit with a few people from the Farmer's Guardian.

Here we talked a lot about public perception specifically relating to agriculture.

We also had the opportunity to speak with their digital marketing specialist about how they have significantly increased their social media interaction over the last two years due to strategic marketing strategies. Soon it was time to get back on the bus and drive to our last stop of the day, Carlisle.

We were able to check into our hotel quickly and had about 30 minutes before we had to be back downstairs for dinner at 7 p.m. It was yet another fancy three course meal with some interesting food choices.

After we finished eating, we took the chance to have a group reflection. We each took turns sharing things we found interesting about similarities or differences between the U.S. and U.K. in terms of both agricultural and cultural things.

We didn't really go exploring, just hung out the rest of the night and enjoyed each other's company and enjoyed living in the moment before getting ready for bed. (Which is why I did not get this blog posted last night oops!)

Day 10

After staying only one night in Carlisle, we ate breakfast (a traditional English breakfast of course. My only complaint: I miss real bacon!! Canadian bacon is their go to here.) before loading back up on the coach (you may be noticing a theme here) and heading to our next destination.

Today was a special day as we crossed from England into Scotland. Our first stop of the day was a visit to Robert Burns' farm, Ellisland.

He was a Scottish poet and lyricist. It was so interesting to see such history preserved and to see the views that inspired some of his best work.

We also ate lunch here and were able to talk to some locals. Scottish accents are definitely thicker, but it was so interesting to hear their responses to why we are here visiting.

It is also interesting because President Donald Trump is currently in London on an official State Visit with the Royal Family. This has been brought up quite a few times in the last couple of days. It is very interesting to hear the various things English and Scottish people have to say, as well as the questions they ask. Their differing opinions seem to be quite similar to the differing opinions of people in the U.S.

After spending some time walking around and chatting, we got back on the road and headed to Glasgow where we visited the Scottish Farmer. On our way to Glasgow, we were able to see some beautiful countryside views. I believe the route we took would be considered the scenic route.

Our visit with the Scottish Farmer was very interesting and informational. Started in 1893, the room we met with several staff in was filled with shelves and shelves of old copies of the publication. This visual allowed for us to visualize the evolution that has occurred for print media, as well as the publication itself.

Soon it was time for us to leave to complete our driving for the day and finally arrive in Edinburgh (aka home for the next five nights). We unloaded our luggage in the rain and checked in to our hotel rooms. We took a couple of minutes to freshen up and a group of us decided we would walk to Portobello Beach, which was only a 10 minute walk away.

While yes the water was absolutely freezing, we still had to take take our shoes off and walk through the edge of the waves.

After all, how many times in your life can you say that you dipped your toes into the North Sea? (This may be one of my favorite experiences of the trip thus far...)

After spending way too much time admiring the sea and pushing our hair out of our faces (thank you chilly wind), we booked it back to the hotel just in time for yet another fancy three course meal. I am afraid that by the time I get used to eating this much food for one meal, it will be time for me to go home!

After eating dinner we changed into comfy clothes and spent more time hanging out talking about anything and everything before getting ready for bed (and writing in my journal and blogging).

Most nights as I write in my journal and type these blog posts, my eyes are so heavy. I always think to myself, "Why in the world do you insist on waiting so long to finish these things? It's not like you don't know you need to do them." But I seem to really enjoy ending my day thinking (and writing) about all of the wonderful things I did that day. I also find it difficult to interrupt good conversation and bonding with 19 people I may or may not see again. (I also always tell myself I should work on my journal or blog post some during the day to make the nights easier, but I also forget so here we are.)

I have noticed that my days have been more laid back since we moved on from London. I am unsure if this is because we were so exhausted and suffering from jet lag while exploring London and trying to fit as much in as possible and that we have now adjusted to the time difference and have settled into a routine. Or maybe it is because London is a bustling city and we are now making our way through the countryside (a place most students on this trip are most familiar with.) I suppose I will be able to test this theory when I go back on Sunday to spend another week in London!

England was wonderful (and I can't wait to go back) but I cannot wait to see what Scotland has in store!

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"To see her is to love her, and love but her forever; for nature made her what she is, and never made another!" -Robert Burns