Month: September 2016

Hello again from the beautiful city of Edinburgh! This week I stayed in the lovely city, exploring some local shops and settling into taking classes again. This semester I’m taking three classes– British politics, Scottish politics, and Scottish Society and Culture. Exactly what one would expect to prepare for an internship with the Scottish Parliament, right? I’ll be taking these classes for five weeks before settling into an internship with an member of Scottish Parliament for the remaining ten weeks.

Last Sunday I got to know some of my new flatmates a little better by climbing up Arthur’s Seat at sunset with them. Arthur’s Seat is a small mountain that lies just beyond Holyrood Palace at the foot of the Royal Mile. It’s a dormant volcano that overlooks the city of Edinburgh and the surrounding towns– from the top you can even see all the way to the bridges that span the Firth of Forth to the Kingdom of Fife! It really is a magnificent view for a relatively short hike.

This week has been pretty chill; as I’ve said, I’ve taken to exploring the streets of Edinburgh when I’m not doing school work. Even without visiting major monuments, there’s plenty to see just wandering the streets surrounding my flat. The streets of the Old Town are very picturesque, with buildings that rarely are taller than five stories and cute boutiques and cafes and brightly painted storefronts and pubs that seem reminiscent of the 17 & 1800s.

Edinburgh’s other claim to fame is being the city where JK Rowling wrote the beginning concepts of Harry Potter. Many cafes lay claim to this honor, most notably the Elephant House. Others, however, were so quiet (and nice to write in!) that they closed long before Harry Potter became a global success. Places all around the city are said to have provided her inspiration for her influential novels.

Another highlight of the week included a tour of the Scottish Parliament building where we’ll be having our internship in a couple weeks. The building (it was raining so I didn’t stay outside to take pictures of the outside!) is incredibly unique as far as government buildings go! It’s very new– it opened in 2004. That’s because the Scottish Parliament itself is still relatively young– it was reformed in 1997 with a referendum after being disbanded in 1707. The British Parliament in Westminster still controls many issues concerning all of the United Kingdom, but with the creation of the Scottish Parliament certain issues came under Scottish control, such as sports, art, healthcare, and other domestic issues. Other things, such as law and education, have been under Scottish control since 1707, despite being part of the United Kingdom.

This morning my flatmates and I went out to a couple farmers markets! Vendors come and set up tents and sell local Scottish goods, everything ranging from produce to leatherworks to vinyl albums to cashmere scarves. It’s a great way to sample local food– I had a delicious cup of hot chocolate and an award winning mutton pie all for under 5 pounds.

That’s all for this week! I hope to get out some more and see some more famous sights that Edinburgh has to offer!

-Kim Winter

G’Day Everyone!

It’s week 8 here for me in the Land Down Under and we’re half way through the semester at UNSW, which is crazy to think about.  Since we’re in the middle of midterms, I haven’t done too many travels and have kept my adventures to a lot of local places.  One of my more recent trips was actually for my Marine Environment class.  We got to go on a field trip to the beach and did a lab on wave patterns and rip currents.  It was cool because we were able to learn about the local beaches and could see for ourselves how to relate what we were learning in the classroom to the local environment.  

I’ve also had the opportunity to go on a day trip to a remote beach through my IFSA-Butler program.  They took us to Palm Beach, where we got to explore the local town, do some stand up paddle boarding, and some hiking.  It was great because we got to go on a free trip and see a new area of Sydney.

It’s a little crazy with midterm exams here, but hope you all are doing great back in the ‘burg.  Miss you all!

Allison Mascioli

Buonasera!

I have officially completed my first week of classes here in Florence. Instead of taking four classes like at Bucknell, I am taking five. They include Art History, Italian, Mediterranean Food & Culture, Economics of European Integration, and Sustainable Urbanism in Europe. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have class from 9-6pm and 9-3pm, respectively. However, I only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which allows me to get work done and explore the city. I also don’t have classes on Fridays!

My art history class has already gone on a site visit! This means that instead of sitting in a classroom, we get to go into the city center and learn about the art/architecture as we are standing right in front of it. Yesterday we walked around the Piazza di Signoria and learned about how/why it was formed. In the 12th and 13th centuries, there was a struggle for power between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor. The two factions that emerged in Florence were the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The Guelphs destroyed homes of the Ghibellines and left it as open space to remind people of what would happen if they rebelled against the Papacy. This is the piazza where the Palazzo Vecchio is, which is basically Florence’s town hall and has been a symbol of power for hundreds of years. Today it is a museum (I haven’t been inside yet).

I have some fun and interesting trips coming up so stay tuned.

-Steph Larkin