The Bucket List

Well, as promised, here it is! I have made a bucket list compilation of things I want to accomplish whilst abroad in Scotland!

A BUCKET LIST:

noun

informal

1. a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.

   "making this trip is the first thing on my bucket list"

EXCHANGE BUCKET LIST 2015
**the ones with an asterisk besides them are the ones I have completed

* Arrive in Scotland (finally!)
* Hike Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh
* See the Clan MacLean Castle
- See the Clan MacPherson Castle
* Get Lost at Least Once (this has already happened multiple times...)
* Try Real Scottish Haggis
- Get Bottle Service (fireworks shooting from a bottle of alcohol) at Bamboo
- Get Off at Every Stop on the Clockwork Orange (subway) and Have a Drink (sub crawl)
* See the Scottish Highlands
* Go Inside a Castle
- Journal
- Visit the Orkney Islands
- Run Into a YouTuber (Saccone-Joly's I'm waiting for you)
- Find Nessie for 1,000,000 Pounds (2,000,000 skrills)
- Go on the Harry Potter Studio Tour
* Highland Dance in Scotland (weeeee)
* Go to the Elephant House Cafe (where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novels)
* Visit Glasgow's West End (Poshgow)
- Go to the Isle of Skye
- Watch a Football Game (Celtic) and Get MWI (Mad Wae It - aka really intoxicated)
* Visit the Kelpies
* Pet a Hielan Coo (highland cow)
* Buy a Tartan Wool Blanket from Scotland
- Visit Ireland
- Buy an Irish Claddagh Ring
- Go to Dublin for St. Patty's Day (this has been booked, woo ya!)
- Go to London
- Have a Kitchen Crawl in Caledonian Court (drink in every kitchen in res)
- See Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross
- Go to Brighton
- See Shetland Ponies and Make my Own "Making My Way Downtown" Vine
- Have a Date Night at Ubiquitous Chip
- Get a Tattoo (sorry Momma bear)
* Have Proper Scottish Breakfast
* See a Live Show at King Tut's
* Drink Whisky with the Brother's at the MacLean Castle
- Hike King Arthur's Seat in my Kilt
- Go Skinny Dipping in a Loch
- Have the Late Night Workers at Kings Remember my Chips & Cheese Order
- Film a Rap Video with my Glasgow Fam (Ft. Pagad, Adaaaamn, Roosy, Sez, and GeorgieArmani)
- Meet Ed Sheeran (not the fake Sauchiehall Busker)
- Make Canadian Breakfast (bacon, pancakes, maple syrup) for the Eldon Puta's (flatmates)
- Go to Oxford and Cambridge
- Be Finally Admitted into Hogwarts (it's only like 11 years late...come on)
- Meet J.K. Rowling

Here are some bucket list pictures for proof!

The MacLean Castle with my brothers, best day ever.

SO THIS IS HAPPENING ON SUNDAY!!!

 I have my booking confirmation for the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London and will be going with one of my best friends, fellow Harry Potter fangirl, sister, and backpacking partner in crime...I will probably spend the entire tour passed out.

Eating haggis! Fourth time's the charm right? 

You know you're living in Scotland when you text someone and your phone autocorrects "hahah" into haggis...

And finally, a picture of me dancing in Scotland! This picture was snapped during my celebratory Highland Fling at the Duart MacLean Castle with my brothers! I am wearing my Royal Dress Blue MacPherson Kilt and cheesy smile that unfortunately (fortunately?) has been cropped out haha!

Technically I had already danced for a piper in Edinburgh (which was amazing), broken it down multiple times at one of my favourite clubs O2 ABC (this needs to stop), and have jigged and shuffled in my kitchen and dorm room...(which really needs to stop, haha), but this was definitely my favourite!

The one thing that made me cry at the airport (I held it together very well surprisingly) before leaving home was when I hugged my mom and she whispered in my ear;

"I can't believe my little highland dancer is going to Scotland!"

Well I am finally in Scotland, and I hope I continue to 

DREAM BIG, 

EAT WELL, 

and TRAVEL ON.

Amanda and I will soon be "planning" our Backpacking Europe 2015 Adventure. As of right now we have no flight home, nothing booked, two backpacks, and two months to get up to as many shenanigans and see as much of Europe as possible!

Stay tuned for my Backpacking Bucket List!


Cheers,
Meagan

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MacEuro2015 Takes on Scotland

My brothers' came to visit me in Scotland!!!

Get your popcorn ready, this is gonna be a long one.

On the evening of Tuesday February 10th, I stood waiting anxiously for my brother's to arrive at Buchanan Bus Station after their two week whirlwind (worldwin as I say haha) tour of continental Europe! They traveled to Germany, Austria, Italy, and than to the homeland, Scotland. 

Jeremy and Anthony had spent the day in Edinburgh before meeting up with me in Glasgow for just about a week full of MacEuro adventures. Unfortunately they had gotten a wee bit lost/confused and ended up on the third 900 bus from Edinburgh arriving at 8:15pm and not 7:50pm. I was only going a tad bit manic as I paced back and forth in the bus station worrying that they had gotten off at the wrong stop. But they finally arrived, yay!

First things first (I'm the realest - haha just kidding), after they dropped off their bags and shared some crazy adventure stories, we decided to zip down to a Scottish pub for a drink of whisky! As Anthony said, "what do I always like to do when I arrive somewhere?" and we chanted back, "have a drink!"

Jer, Ant, and I headed down to the Pot Still where we met up with Patrick (Australia), Roos (Netherlands), and Georgia (Australia), for some laughs and whisky! We took the long way around so I could show them City Chambers, Royal Exchange Square, and Sauchiehall Street all lit up at night. Then we finally arrived at the whisky bar for a long awaited drink. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as lucky as Roos and Georgia (who got free drinks that night!) but nonetheless, I was super happy my brothers were finally in Scotland!

We all finished off the evening at Kings, eating chicken donor, chips & cheeps, and chips, cheese, & curry, a late night must stop if you ever go out with me in Glasgow! I am determined that the people working at Kings will know my order by the end of this exchange!

The following day we toured all over Glasgow; we went up the Lighthouse (not a real lighthouse, but an art gallery and tower) that overlooked Glasgow, and wandered all along Buchanan Street - which is the shopping district in Glasgow. We ventured to the East End to explore Glasgow Necropolis (a huge graveyard) and the Glasgow Cathedral, which I had never been to before. We then took the Clockwork Orange (subway) to the West End, where we explored Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow University, Bryes Road, and Ashton Lane! Where we had a drink at Vodka Wodka before meeting Sarah (Canada) and Georgia (Australia) for some burgers at a place called Ketchup, which had amazing burgers and shakes! Afterwards we headed back into the city where we had a cheeky drink at Bunker (a really cool bar in town) before heading over to a live show!

Jeremy really wanted to check out a show while here in Glasgow! He decided on Declan Welsh, Memory Man, and Willie Campbell & the Open Day Rotation who were playing at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut for their 25th Anniversary! The show was awesome, the energy great, and the venue perfect! King Tut's has a famous reputation of being the best small live music venue in Glasgow. It's the bar where Oasis got signed in 1993, and has hosted many other famous acts such as Florence & The Machine, Snow Patrol, No Doubt, and The Killers, just to name a few! King Tut's is definitely worth checking out if you love live music! We headed back for an early night as we had our sights set on traveling to Oban, the seafood capital of Scotland the next morning.

We woke up early, had Scottish breakfast and than departed for on a three hour train all through the West Highlands before arriving at our destination! Oban is absolutely stunning. A very cute little town right on the ocean, we hiked up to McCaig's Tower and explored all over Oban that afternoon. For dinner we all ate Indian food, while in the seafood capital of Scotland (not too sure why) but it hit the spot.

TO THE CASTLE.
We had our sights set on traveling to the Isle (island) of Mull, to the Duart MacLean Castle in honour of our maternal side of the family. This day was honestly a dream come true, we all knew we HAD to make it to the Duart Castle. And although getting to the castle was a bit of a hassle (haha) I am so glad we did and that we did it together. We hired a car (as the Scots say - rented a car to the Americans reading) as Jeremy was set on driving while in Scotland, which didn't end up being nearly as scary as I had anticipated. Hey, were still alive right?

We reached the Isle of Mull by ferry and headed straight to the Duart Castle with three things on the docket;

1) Meagan - dance in kilt outside of the castle
2) Jeremy - whisky toast to the MacLean Clan with Talisker Whisky from the Isle of Skye
3) Anthony - take a picture in nothing but Scotland Saltire Boxers at the foot of the castle

I danced the Highland Fling at the castle and it was sooooooo cold, I thought my fingers were going to fall off haha. But I am so glad I did! Just after I finished dancing and changed back into pants - I am the master of changing to and from a full kilt outfit in the car by now - was when we saw a car pull up. Two people and two wee Scottie pups got out, opened the door of the castle and walked right in - leaving the door wide open! So we had a chance to peek inside and stand on the threshold of the MacLean Castle, which never usually happens in the winter as the castle is closed for the season!

It was such an amazing day at the castle. I wish the entire MacLean Clan could have been there with us as we made a whisky toast to our Papa MacLean, Uncle Gordie MacLean, and the whole family, because just as we did so the sun broke through the clouds and shone down on the castle below. It was truly magical (maybe it was the faeries), I wish everyone could have been there to see it.

We also managed to snap a photo of Anthony at the castle in his Saltire St. Andrews Cross boxers (he needed another draught of whisky after that) meaning that WE ACCOMPLISHED ALL THREE BUCKET LIST ITEMS!

Following the castle we purchased some well deserved hot beverages and made tracks to a little town called Tobermory. Tobermory is one of my favourite places I have visited in Scotland so far. It was so scenic, the sun was shining, it was this quaint little island town, and I honestly could have spent forever there! It reminded me of Newfoundland with the houses painted all different colours and the boats anchored in the harbour. We walked all around the main strip, purchased some goodies, and had delicious lunch at the bakery there. My Scottish friend told me that a kids TV show he had watched growing up had been filmed at Tobermory and I can totally see why, it is absolutely stunning! But sadly we couldn't stay in too long, as we had to return to Craignure to catch the ferry.

Unfortunately, we only had one tiny mishap during our adventure. In typical Anthony fashion he lost his wallet on the ferry just as we were about to depart the ship he panicked and yelled "guys I don't have my wallet!" I have never seen three people get out of a car so fast or swear so loudly as we ripped that car apart before realizing the wallet wasn't there. In the heat of the moment I yelled "I'll go look for it!" and sprinted up four flights of stairs (Jesus christ) and searched all over the seats of the ferry before the thing took off for the Isle of Mull again! BUT WE FOUND IT! Crisis adverted.

After the wallet mishap we managed to return the rental car, buy tickets to Glasgow, and board the train in all of a twenty minute span so we wouldn't have to wait for the late night bus back into the city. We snoozed and played Scopa (an Italian card game) the whole way back into Glesga.

Haggis to finish off Anthony's trip? Hell ya! The boys wanted to say they had eaten Haggis in Scotland, so after arriving by train to Glasgow at 9:30pm and frantically searching for a place that served Haggis late we happened across a restaurant called City Merchant! The boys suffered through the Haggis, (haha just kidding they really liked it) I ate Cullen Skink -  a chowder dish, and we all enjoyed some muscles and drinks for our last night altogether.

Sadly I saw Anthony off at the bus on Saturday (at 6:15am, agh so early) as he continued on to London and home to Toronto on Sunday. Luckily, I have Jeremy to keep me company for the next few days as we are planning to go explore Aberdeen and the Cluny MacPherson Castle before he too departs for London and than home to Nova Scotia. 

Check out some of the MacEuro2015 Pictures! Also you can look at all of our pictures on Instagram or search the hashtag #maceuro2015 for the boys' backpacking pictures!

Instagram

Jer @jarbage 

Ant @armacpherson

Megs @meamacpher14

Royal Exchange Square at night.

The Necropolis Graveyard in the East End of Glasgow, this old Graveyard is built up onto a cliff. So cool!

Taking sneaky candids of Anthony (left) and Jeremy (right) as we go exploring Necropolis.

This graveyard is one of the most beautiful graveyards I have ever seen, which actually sounds really creepy haha. 

I see dead people? Too soon?

I am seriously missing Rick Grimes and the Walking Dead. I could try to illegally stream it here but I think I will just wait and binge watch it obsessively when I get home, so no spoilers please!!!

The Glasgow Cathedral.

Inside the Glasgow Cathedral, which was absolutely massive. I think J.K. Rowling could have snagged the name St.Mungo from this cathedral as the real St. Mungo Patron of Glasgow, who died in 603AD, is entombed within the Cathedral. "Mungo" means dear friend.

Trying to take sneaky artsy photos and failing miserably haha. This is in the entrance chamber to the Cathedral.

We ventured to the West End afterwards and I took the boys to Glasgow University aka Hogwarts to take a peak around. I really wished I could go to Uni here, I love GCU don't get me wrong but come onnnnnn, doesn't it just look so magical?!

Truly some of the best burgers in Glasgow, but I have been informed Glasgow does have a 5 Guys so I will have to go there before I can pass my verdict. I had the Chicken Katsu Burger with lettuce, tomato, wasabi mayo, roasted garlic, and green onions (my breath smelled fresh after this one), and fat chips! Which are just big chunky fries.

The atmosphere and service was absolutely wonderful, they also played musical soundtracks the entire time we were there, and Sarah (Canada) and Georgia (Australia) joined us for dinner so how could we not have a blast!?

If you're ever in Ashton Lane I recommend you check out Ketchup!

Colonel Parker Hard Milkshake; bourbon whisky, vanilla ice cream, and peanut butter. Holyyyyyyy shit was this thing ever yummy. 

Anthony ordered the Kraken Hard Shake, which apparently was amazing as well! I opted out of this shake as rum and I don't really mix well haha..

Walking down Ashton Lane at night, isn't it just the dreamiest place to go on a date?

King Tut's Wah Wah Hut for the show, such a cool evening of music!

Willie Campbell singing a Gaelic song during his set, how freakin' cool!

Scottish breakfast (pork sausage, beans, grilled tomato, toast, hash brown, bacon, and eggs) before catching the train to Oban!

Walking up to McCaig's Tower in Oban, the seafood capital of Scotland.

The view from the tower!

On the ferry!!! Isle of Mull and MacLean Castle here we come!

Excited (and freezing my butt off) with the Duart Castle in the background.

Jeremy looking sharp at the castle!

Just as we began our toast the skies opened up and bathed the lands with glorious shining sunbeams! The MacLean Clan truly was there!

Captain Tanti needed a warm drink after this picture was taken!

THE DOORS ARE OPEN, THE DOORS ARE OPEN!!

MacPherson kilt, Clan MacLean book, Wiles dance slippers, and my Ace Percussion Tenor mallets made it all the way to the Duart Castle.

My kilt has already traveled to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Quebec, Bermuda, California, and now Scotland!

Standing on the shores of the Isle of Mull. I guess I truly am my mother's daughter because I snagged some shells and driftwood to take home with me, oops!

The little town of Tobermory, Scotland on the Isle of Mull - one of my favourite places I have visited so far!

The cute little bakery where we ate lunch!

Goats cheese and red onion chutney sandwich on whole grain bread, with a side salad, and homemade coleslaw...OH MYYYYY GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD. I was so full afterwards that I had to take my chocolate cake to go, which was also crazy amazing.

If you ever find yourself on the Isle of Mull you have to check out the Tobermory Bakery!

Good bye for now Tobermory! Hope to see you again.

My keepsakes <3.

It has been an absolute pleasure to host my brothers here in Scotland! It was certainly a bucket list item for all of us to visit the MacLean homestead. It was honestly such an amazing day, and I am so pleased I got to experience it with two of my favourite people in the world. I am so happy they had the chance to come visit my new home and explore one of my favourite places in the world with me!


Cheers,
Meagan

Highs and Lows: Hairspray, Peacocks, Freezing Showers, and Convertors

Highs and Lows: Hairspray, Perth, Cold Showers, and Convertors

Here is a blog post about some of the fun, and not so fun things, that have been happening on my exchange to Scotland!

Perth

This was truly an awesome day. One Saturday myself, a fellow Canadian named Adam, and five Australians; Patrick, Emilio, James, Georgia, and Kate all took a day trip to Perth and Scone, Scotland!

I had a blast wandering around this little riverside town, just an hour away from Glasgow. I felt like part of a camera crew as we had; four GoPros, a Nikon Camera, two Canons, iPhones, Samsungs, a Polaroid Camera, and selfie sticks to snap some sick shots with.

We explored the local market, had some meat pies which were delicious - until I mentioned how it reminded me of Sweeney Todd and I lost my appetite, explored the Scone castle and grounds, got lost and hiked 3 miles back into town, had High Tea at one of the best cafes I have ever been to, attempted to walk across ice, met peacocks, almost ate cows, laughed at the crazy Celtic fans on the bus train ride home, and overall had a lovely time in Perth and Scone!

Later that night we went out to see Dillon Francis at the Arches for Patricks' birthday and I had my first ever mosh pit experience and alleyway rave! What a day!

Hairspray

Georgia (Australia), Sarah (Canada), and myself had a girls night out and went to go see a live theatre performance of Hairspray the Musical at Kings Theatre in Glasgow. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite broadway - not even close - but a really good time nonetheless!

We bought chocolate to chow on beforehand which was one of the best ideas we've had! I am pretty sure I annoyed the hell out of Sarah and Georgia with my singing throughout the show, I'm sorry but I  just couldn't help myself ladies! It brought back childhood nostalgia as myself and my cousin Leah had been completely obsessed with Zac Efron and the Hairspray movie when it came out.

We had quite a few good laughs as the cast members began to lose their American accents half way through the show and began talking fully Glaswegian by intermission and sadly one girl accidentally got kicked in the face, but overall the show was a really fun time! Tracy and Edna Turnblad truly stole the show!

Here is my favourite song from the movie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Dxsmk-EZ8

A bunch of us also hit up Costco last week - which was the best and worst decision ever. SO much food, SO much money, SO much to carry home, ah well we only had one casualty.

Tinkerbell and PeterPan

Sarah, my roommate, and I had a crazy idea that we really wanted to go to a Disney Themed Party at a place called Garage one Thursday night. But there was one hitch in our plan, we didn't want to spend a ton of money out that night...

We did some research and discovered if you arrived to the bar in costume you would receive free entrance, so next thing you know my lime green duvet cover is being cut up into little tiny bits and pieces and we had crafted ourselves PeterPan and Tinkerbell outfits! 

Unfortunately we had started drinking a little too early in the evening and I played the Roxanne drinking game, this totally did me in. It led to me attempting to skate board in our room, followed by Highland dancing, falling over, and breaking Sarah's ceramic travel mug. Boooooooooo. Worst. Roomie. Ever.

But at least we looked cute right? And don't worry I am totally going to purchase her a new mug. 

Rules to the Roxanne Drinking Game:

1) Sit in a circle with your drinking buddies and alcoholic beverages

2) Alternatively take a drink of alcohol every time the word "Roxanne" is mentioned in the song

3) Move in a clockwise fashion

4) Get really intoxicated

Dare to play?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ

Cold Showers, Broken Laundry, and Convertors

Caledonian Court is not quite all it is cracked up to be - the biggest annoyance to date you ask? HAVING TO TURN ON THE HOT WATER IN THE MORNING. The hot water has a timer apparently which I was unaware of as I turned on the shower one morning and go to step in and it feels like freaking Antarctica! I forgot to turn on the hot water...so I ran to the kitchen in my towel and jam the button like a million, trillion times, but to my frustration the water was still cold. Grrrr.

The laundry facility has also recently gotten on my nerves, approximately 12 washers and dryers for 600 students with at least 4 constantly broken, yaaaa nooooo, not my idea of fun. The dryer also gets so hot it feels like you are going to burn or shrink your clothes, and Sarah and I had accidentally flooded one of the washing machines...oops!

Now the whole facility is closed until further notice, lovely. I swear we had nothing to do with it!

My final complaint you ask? Convertors, they are actually the worst things EVER. Nothing makes me more angry than it being 2015 and we still do not have universal plugs. Okay maybe thats being a liiiiiiiittle dramatic, but seriously it just makes noooooo sense. I have already melted and busted two convertors! My luck whomps!

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of my Highs and Lows!


Cheers,
Meagan