France (11/5 - 11/7)

My apologies for not updating the past month. Things have been busy working in the Parliament and I keep forgetting to upload all of these pictures when I get back to the flat.

I went to Paris with two other interns in my program and met up with two Ole Miss students (who study French). We had a great time and saw a lot of cool places. We visited the Louvre, the l'Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and Sacre Coeur.

apologies

I promise to try to update the blog soon with all of the pictures I've taken.

Week 3: Sterling, Ghosts, and Loch Lomond

Week 3 has been a blast in Edinburgh. On Monday I went to the city Sterling with my some of the people in my program and we saw Sterling Castle. Part of the castle was closed for renovation but the parts we did see were very cool. Unfortunately Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week I came down with a nasty sinus infection and stayed inside and in bed mostly.

On Thursday we got to meet the Member of UK Parliament for the Edinburgh region and I also met with my MSP, Rob Gibson, a member of the SNP party. He represents the Highlands and Islands and seems like a really great and knowledgeable guy. I'm really looking forward to working with him.

Here is his info from the Scottish Parliament website: Rob Gibson

Then Friday night I went on a ghost/historical tour of the vaults under the South Bridge. It was very interesting to be able to go under Edinburgh to see everything. That was until the guy dressed as a werewolf/vampire jumped out at us.

On Saturday I took a train to Loch Lomand (The one that the "You take the high road" song is written after, the song is in the youtube video above). The Loch is the largest in the UK and we spent the afternoon canoeing around and visiting the smaller islands on it. We had a chance to walk up to the top of the central island to get a good view of Ben Lomand and the surrounding countryside.

I've put some pictures upon Flickr from Sterling Castle and Loch Lomond:

Week 2

I have almost finished my second week in Edinburgh. I just turned in a paper comparing UK Political parties with the US system. Overall, I had a very good week and saw some really amazing things. We went to the National Museum of Scotland on Tuesday, took a full tour of the Parliament building on Wednesday and went to the National Gallery on Thursday.

Here is a picture of Robert the Bruce's sword.

Last night I found out I will be working with Rob Gibson (click for his info). He is a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP). The SNP is currently in power within the Scottish Parliament and I'm really looking forward to my internship starting.

Overall, everything is going well. I'll be in Edinburgh for the weekend and I'll probably try to visit Edinburgh castle.

Nikon Photos

Here are some photos I took with the Nikon last weekend. It helps to make it full screen in the bottom right corner.

Arthur's Seat

I just climbed to the highest point in Edinburgh, called Arthur's Seat. I had a great view of the entire city. I took some better pictures than this with the Nikon camera and will try to get those up soon.

First Week

I walked by a man playing a bagpipe on the street playing this song the other day.

Well, I am almost finished with my first week in Edinburgh. I spent the first part of my week sleeping a lot and trying to get over jetlag. I've had a chance to meet everyone in the program and all of my professors. Here is what my schedule looks like for the next three weeks:
Mondays - 10 to 12 - British Politics with Dr. Charlie Jeffrey
Tuesdays - 10 to 12 - Scottish Politics with Dr. David McCrone and afternoon activities
Wednesday - 10 to 12 - Scottish Society with Paddy Bort and afternoon activities
Thursdays - Afternoon Activity and Video at 6pm
Fridays - Free

I've had a great time just walking around the city looking at all of the stores and buildings. I am six blocks away from Edinburgh Castle and seven blocks from the beach. And then I'm only one street over from the Royal Mile.

I've been studying and reading a lot recently and working on a few papers due next week. I'll be sure to post some more when I have some more time.

Here are some pictures from the last week:

St. Giles Cathedral, about a block from my dorm.

This is the cobblestone road I walk every day to get to class.


This is the Scottish Parliament building. It has "interesting" architecture.

And finally, we toured John Knox's house the other day. It is very difficult being tall even in Scotland.


For anyone interested, here is my address in Scotland:

Matthew Henry
11/8 Robertson's Close

Cowgate, Edinburgh
Scotland, UK
EH1 1LY