Unlike in Canada the UK has more holidays
throughout the school year, they have these week long breaks in the middle of
each term which means that as a teacher I will get a chance to do a lot of
travelling in the UK.
For my first half term vacation I decided
that I wanted to visit Scotland. This was because the weather is still pretty
nice and I can save vacations to warmer climes when the winter hits London. I
also had the benefit of a travel friend in fellow teacher Bonnie. She had also
wanted to visit the country and it was great to be able to go visit with her.
We decided to make Edinburgh our central
place and from there would go exploring to other parts of the country.
It was a great choice. Edinburgh is a beautiful
if very windy city. Nearly the entire city is preserved with both its Old Town
and New Town being UNESCO world heritage sites. If you ever have the chance to visit the UK
make sure you include a stop up in Edinburgh. You won’t be disappointed.
Scotland also has a very Canadian feel to
it. The people are friendly, if sometimes hard to understand. The landscape
also is reminiscent of Ontario; the stretches of fields (which unlike Ontario
has tonnes of sheep), the mountains that emerge as you go north and of course
the numerous lakes or lochs as they call them in Scotland.
Two things that I did notice that will be
something you notice if you ever visit. One, that there was very little
reference to the referendum. It was of course brought up in the tours to
explain a few things or to give an explanation as to why it lost. However there
were no big signs and people didn’t seem to flaunting their choices.
The second thing is the utter disdain and
mocking for the film Braveheart and Mel Gibson. They point out all the flaws of
the story and portrayal and just rip apart this film.
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