The beginning of the week started in Edinburgh, Scotland. We started by simply exploring and experiencing the culture. We walked up and around seeing street performers. Since we rented an Airbnb this was the perfect time to make some home food. At this point, everyone was missing home and spaghetti night was a hit.
The next day was another super fun day. We went exploring some more and booked a tour to see the underground of Edinburgh. While we waited for the night time we saw the castle from afar. Then, we cooked up some fajitas for the night. After we headed down to the tour and it was a great experience! Our guide told us of all the crazy and spooky tails of Edinburgh. She walks us around and tells of a man named George Mckenzie who would kill and torture people in a prison. People hated Mckenzie for forcing this "Book of Prayer" onto everyone. So, when he died he was buried in Greyfriars Graveyard. The interesting part is he was buried right next to the prison. The very same one that held the people he tortured. Oh and guess what, We were staying right next to the graveyard that housed 40,000 bodies (only 700 identified). Later, she tells us why the underground was built. When the black death made its way into Scotland this was an escape. The one we toured was a home that housed 70 children. These children were staying there to stay safe and had caretakers taking turns for meals. One day, one of the caretakers came in and infected all the children. Those 70 children died. The room was the size of a dorm and the back of the wall was lined with dolls. It was truly sad to see and I can't believe that had to go through that. After the tour was wrapped up we went to the pub where “The Piper” was last seen. It was super cute and had great drinks. We headed home and had a good night's rest since we had our last day in Edinburgh tomorrow. At least that's what we thought.
It's Wednesday and we gather our things and head to the train station to drop our luggage off so we can explore some more before the train. We stop at some shops and sat on the grass to enjoy Edinburgh and its scenery. Then, we get a text from Shelby Riley saying their 5:00 pm train is canceled. I saw an alert saying there was a fire on the tracks. It looks like the electrical wire was destroyed. We got up and went straight to the train station to see if our 5:30 pm train was canceled. We asked an attendant what was going on and what we should do. Looked like all the trains to London were canceled. So we booked another night in Airbnb and another train. So we jammed all 12 of us into the Airbnb. The next day we headed back to London. We had class and rested for the night.
It was crunch time and we had a day lost to do classwork. We had class all day and we weren't all burnt out. The next was the same thing and it was two days of work and work. Sunday I had so much fun. It was one of the only days we had a free day in London. We went down to the London Eye just to see if there were tickets. We got so lucky so to get in right then and there. We rode the eye and went our separate ways. Abby, Hailey, Kyndall, and I went to Camden and shopped around. We decided to go to Abbey Road and take the classic Beatles pictures. We came back and rested. Then, we had dinner and grabbed gelato to enjoy the riverside one last time. The next day we head home and it's bittersweet to be home
Recap
Overall, I loved every moment of the United Kingdom. From the first week, I was in awe of the architecture and cultures London had to offer. Every day was jam-packed with learning and discovery. Making art in that environment was so easy. There was inspiration everywhere you looked. From renaissance to modern. Too radical and conservative. I loved it all. As a group, we got so close and bounced off each other. The creativity was flowing and beautiful art was made in the end. I'm honestly so thankful to end my college career this way. I ended it with great people and awesome professors. I want to end this off with a big thank you to the art department. You all as a collective have made me a better creator. Pushed me more than ever. I know I made the correct choice. Thank you you guys for everything. It's been a great four years creating kickass work. Sol Garced-Ortiz is out and grateful for it all.
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