To save memory space on this blog, I am just going to post the link to the blog I’m keeping for my family and friends. My aim with it is to allow everyone back home to live vicariously and hopefully get a laugh out of my adventures. Because I update it nightly, I’ve been getting it confused with this blog, so I’ve decided to combine the two and just stick to one website.
Category Lauren Zuck
William Burns’ Grave
While today’s expedition was all about Robert Burns, I was most intrigued by his father William’s tombstone in the old Alloway kirk. I wondered why he chose to be buried there; the church was a ruin even in Burns’ time and had a reputation for being the gathering place of witches and ghosts. I also was interested in the epitaph written on the tombstone:
The structure of the poem is similar to that found on Roman gravestones, in that it first addresses the passerby and then lists various virtues of the deceased. I’m curious if this remnant of the Classical tradition was a practice that had continued since Roman times or if it was merely a result of the Neo-classical era.
10 Things I’ve Learned In Scotland
1. It takes a looong time to get used to seeing cars come at you from the wrong side of the road.
2. Haggis isn’t as bad as it sounds (depending on where you get it).
3. Daisies make lovely weeds.
4. Dr. Khwaja likes to walk fast!
5. Abbey ruins are something that you should always visit and need to be a thing in the US.
6. Hotel rooms come equipped with awesome tea trays and electric kettles, rather than the ubiquitous Mr. Coffee machines back home.
7. Never underestimate the number of tartans there are and how small the variations can be; there are at least 200 different plaids!
8. Scones and clotted cream. Enough said.
9. When not among people, you are among sheep (which look decidedly bedraggled up close).
10. Be prepared for rain, even if it’s sunny out!
Edinburgh and Melrose
I was disappointed that we weren’t able to spend much time in Edinburgh because of the flight delays on the way here, but I still enjoyed my (somewhat rushed) time there.
Thankfully, we were able to be a bit more leisurely while touring Melrose Abbey earlier today. I was amazed at how beautiful it was, even in ruins!
We didn’t read anything about this abbey in class, but I do know that Sir Walter Scott talked about it in his poem, “The Lay of the Last Minstrel.” That got me wondering if Melrose Abbey is famous merely because of the poem, or if there is another reason. The signs posted around the abbey said that it was famous throughout Europe for the wool the monks produced back in its heyday. What amazed me was how these monks apparently only wore a single robe (no matter what the weather was like); that must have been freezing in the winter! I was chilly inside the abbey and it’s May! I can’t decide if I should admire the monks for their hardiness or shake my head at their foolhardiness.
Conflicting Marriage Examples in Pride and Prejudice
To save you all from having to deal with the horrible formatting of copy/paste, I am simply attaching my paper.
ENG 201 Conflicting Marriage Examples in Pride and Prejudice
Global Awareness: Romantic Britain 