CopenHELEN: GlasGO

My next excursion took me to some friends in Scotland! The past few summers I have worked at a summer camp for girls outside St. Louis, Missouri. Each year we get about 10 international staff who come through an organization called Camp America which helps foreigners find summer camps to work at in America and vice versa. This summer I became very close with two beautiful Scottish lasses, Linsey and Nicole, and was lucky enough to have them show me their home outside Glasgow, Scotland!

We had an eventful weekend and it was so nice to have someone else plan my adventures! The first day we went to Loch Lomond which has some of the most beautiful lochs in Scotland. Right on one of the lochs is a an absolutely gorgeous hotel called the Cameron Inn, we went there and had some hot chocolate by all of the cozy fires and tartan carpeted halls. We happened to be there at the same time a famous football player was having some lunch with his girlfriend, (of course I had no idea who he was but Linsey told me!). That evening we went to a Ceilidh! A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish party where you drink and do traditional Scottish dances! Each song would begin, they had a little band with a fiddle, and we would get up and get in lines, they would give you a quick overview of the dance, and you would just have to do it! We were all flung about the room by massive men in kilts and one grandma (who flung us harder than any of the kilted men). We met a really funny pair of British twins and it was a great night! I was forewarned that ceilidhs sometimes result in arm bruises from all of the dancing, but I left unscathed. However right as we left the ceilidh I fell on the pavement and got a bruise on my knee, good nights out in Glasgow J

The next day we kept it casual and just walked around downtown Glasgow, we saw George Square as well as some of the famous shopping streets and landmarks, including the man on the horse outside the modern art museum with a traffic cone on his head! That evening we just relaxed and watched movies. On Sunday before I left Linsey’s mom made me a “proper fry up” with eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, the works and it was delicious.

Such a funny weekend with friends, I swear my abs hurt from laughing so hard. Not to mention it is so fun after you have hosted some friends over the summer to get to go to their home and visit with them--such a rewarding experience! I could also fill up another two pages full of our inside jokes, but I won’t bore you to tears, so much fun with Linsey and Nicole, I know we will see each other again soon J !! xoxoxo