Day 1 - Arrival in Stonehaven.

After a long and sleepless flight from Toronto to London (thanks to screaming and smelly children), we took another flight to Aberdeen, Scotland - on which everyone in the group feel asleep. The time change is about 5 hours from Michigan, so its hard to get used to the fact that when it is three in the morning in Michigan it is eight in the morning here. The arrival to London was rough, with many of us thinking that we were crashing to the ground due to a rough landing in thick fog. However, the airport itself is a pretty cool looking place and they really do tell you to 'mind the gap' when getting on and off the trains. :] It was hard trying to stay awake to reset our internal clocks - but I need my sleep (!!!!) and couldn't keep my eyes open long from the flight from London to Aberdeen. I think the entire class was asleep on that flight.



But when I got to Stonehaven, our place to stay for the next few days, I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful and breathtaking place to be. While the others are staying at inns near the harbor, Sam and I are at a lovely bed and breakfast on the beach of the North Sea. The town itself is comparable in size to Alma, but there is nothing similar between the two after that. The buildings are much much older and people drive on the wrong side of the street and way too fast. :]

The view is spectacular - water as far as your eyes can see and the mist from the ocean makes the hills and the cliffs seem eerily monstrous. The air is so crisp and smells of fish (whether it be fresh or fried) and salt. It's a little colder than I expected, but nonetheless, the weather is still more favorable than Michigan's (at least it's more predictable anyway)! It's enough to make me want to stay here forever.

We went to the Station Hotel in Stonehaven for a group dinner. For many of us, we learned that chips are actually french fries and salad and veg is coleslaw. There were a few of us who were unable to make it through dinner without falling asleep (Luke and Chris are classic examples!) so we decided to cancel lecture to settle in for the night. Jet lag is horrible!

Tomorrow: Laurencekirk!