A picture of yours truly acting out a witch sentence. Witch, witch!

Today was our last day on this amazing trip and even though our study abroad family will be breaking up soon, we decided to make our last class day exciting. This excitement came from a ghost tour that we attended. It was called The Witchery Ghosts and Gore Tour and it was just that. We met our tour guide named Alexander Clapperton, which required applause for every mention of that name and a couple other ghostly characters throughout the tour. 

It took place on the Royal Mile and added some excitement to a new part of Edinburgh. Being one of the most haunted cities and having so much violent history, there was plenty of gore to discuss. We learned about the witch hunt and the different torture mechanisms society would do to the convicted at that time. A horrific one included putting the “witch” in a barrel and sticking pointed, metal rods into the barrel. From there, the person was rolled down the entire Royal Mile street. They would do this until the person would confess to being a witch. 

Clapperton also covered the plague and any disgusting detail that went along with the epidemic. The tour included humor, history, participation and of course ghosts and gore. Overall, it was a great and haunted way to end the trip. Farewell Edinburgh, it will really be a fright to leave.

The Hub: Where the Edinburgh International planning takes place. (Photo by Sarah Rising, June 22, 2009)

On Wednesday June 24, 2009, our class got a taste of the complex world of public relations.

With the help of Derek Gilchrist, an Edinburgh International Festival marketing manager, we were introduced to the process of PR. Gilchrist focused on how the festival is planned, organized and marketed to the public.

Cafe Picture at The Hub (Photo by Sarah Rising, June 22, 2009)

The festival, which is known for its edgy advertising and innovative ideas, made its debut in 1947. Originally, it was made to offer hope during times of war. Since then, it has transitioned into numerous forms. This year, the focus is the Enlightenment and the effects it had in Scotland.

The event takes place from August 14 to September 6. It includes everything from dance routines to the visual arts. The goal is to not only just detail the history of the Enlightenment, but to present how it has influenced artists in recent years.

The festival mixes traditional in with the new, creating a unique show for all. For these apparent reasons, the festival draws all sorts of people into Edinburgh. In some cases, the average person may find a celebrity sitting in a seat close by.

The festival’s PR team tries to market these qualities in the best way possible to continue the event’s yearly success. A brochure is printed ahead of time for the public to see what acts the festival will be showing each year.

And while this brochure is responsible for the bulk of the festival success, its Web site is steadily growing and may replace this older printed version of marketing down the road.

In any case, our class was certainly intrigued by the upcoming festival. The only regret is that we will not be there to see all these plans come to life.

By Sarah Rising

June 22, 2009 Slideshow

On a beautiful Scottish morning, the Reporting in the British Isles students boarded a bus to Glasgow. The early afternoon would be spent seeing the sights of the United Kingdom’s third-largest city.

Glasgow, a city that has experienced economic turnover similar to Detroit, was baked in sunshine as the group joined a metro bus tour. Some of the sights included the Clyde Auditorium, whose architecture brought to mind an armadillo, and the home of the BBC branch in Scotland.

With a two-hour window between portions of the bus tour, the group decided on going their separate ways to explore. Some went shopping while others visited Glasgow City Hall.

I managed to find my way around the city by cab, visiting the stadiums of bitter soccer rivals Celtic FC and Rangers FC. The Old Firm Rivalry, as it as known, dates back to 1888. My cab driver was a die-hard Celtic fan who filled me in on all the details.

Just after mid-day, we returned back to the coach to drive to St. Andrews. This coastal town is known best for being the place where the sport of golf was invented.

Boasting eight courses, seven of which are public, St. Andrews Links is home to what is believed to be the oldest golf course in the world. The Old Course, as it is called, dates back more than 600 years. The British Open golf tournament has been held at this course 27 times, with Tiger Woods winning it the last two times in 2000 and 2005.   

Besides bunkers and fairways, there are also the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral and St. Andrews Castle in the center of town. The group took in these sights as well as viewing graduates leaving from commencement at the University of St. Andrews. This school is the third-oldest in the UK behind Cambridge and Oxford.

The university was established between 1410 and 1413 and is attended by more than 8500 undergraduate and postgraduate students. A research-intensive school, the chances for gaining admittance are very slim. For every student that is accepted, 12 applicants are not.   

While we never got a chance to see the famed Old Course of St. Andrews, we browsed the local golf shops instead. All in all, it was still a beautiful day to be in such a scenic place.

Edinburgh Castle (Photo by Hope Springstead, June 22, 2009)

Monday, June 22 was the group’s first day out and about in lovely Scotland. The day began with a wonderful breakfast buffet provided by the university. We are fortunate enough to all sleep well for the next week here at the University of Edinburgh.

Hope-- Happy Prisoner of War (Photo by Sarah Rising, June 22, 2009)

Our first official day here started with a trip to the Edinburgh Castle. The castle is located just beyond the Royal Mile. Its history began in 1093 by Queen Margaret and Malcolm III. Many buildings on the castle grounds have significant meaning such as the little chapel, which has been preserved in memory of Queen Margaret.

On our tour, we also had the opportunity to see the crown jewels of Scotland and the castle’s prison. There, we learned a bit of history about the various structures on the grounds. The cannons, especially, were interesting. There is one that fires precisely at 1:00 p.m everyday. Part of the castle is used as a military base as well.

Scottish Parliament (Photo by Hope Springstead, June 22, 2009)

After taking a look around the castle for a bit, we headed down the Royal Mile toward the Scottish Parliament. When the group checked in, we found out that there was a mistake made in our booking. Apparently, we weren’t scheduled for a tour, and there was mistake. However, we still had a chance to look around the lobby of Parliament and read over the history of all the displays available.

We learned that the Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are separated from the Member of Parliament (MP) in Westminster Abbey. Another feature we found out was that members can only be MSPs or MPs, not both. That was the educational part of our day. After, we all separated to do our own things such as shopping, eating, or just immersing ourselves in the local culture.

By Hope Springstead

She talked to us about her political career which started on city council, interestingly enough, after she got her degree and practiced as a civil engineer for 10 years. She also spoke to us about her plans for Belfast during her one-year term, which she called Belfast without Borders.  This plan includes not only removing physical barriers like walls, but also making an effort to have full participation of every minority group in Belfast.

The group with the Lord Mayor

She also discussed how she has learned to deal with journalists as a politician.  It was interesting from a journalist’s perspective to hear how she learns to trust and distrust certain journalists, and what information she will and won’t disclose.

After lunch in Victoria Square, a new shopping center in the city, we went to talk with Tom Hartley, former Lord Mayor of Belfast and Counselor for Sinn Féin, which is the republican party in Belfast.  He talked to us about his career in politics and his role during the Troubles.  He was a political activist for the party and was jailed twice for his participation. It was obvious by how easily recognized he was on the streets that he is a very influential player in the community and a strong leader.

Speaking with Tom Hartley

We ended the day on the Titanic Boat Tour. It was interesting to see where the ship and its sister ships were built, but everything was kind of left up to the imagination except for a few pictures that were passed around. The boat tour was an interesting perspective on seeing the site, instead of the typical walking tour.

For more pictures from our day, look at the photo gallery.

-Allison Knopp

Most of our trip has been full of light-hearted history lessons. People from London to Dublin have had many laughs at some of the quirky history in their cities. Throughout our Shamrocker tour from Dublin to Belfast, we heard several stories about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and we received numerous warnings about what we would see here. We arrived in Belfast yesterday evening and settled into our hostel, not really noticing anything different about this city from the other places we’ve been during the last four weeks. None of us were prepared for what we saw today.

Our Black Cab Tour picked us up this morning and took us through Belfast to view the remnants of The Troubles, which is the name given to the conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The tour took us first into Shankill Estate, which is a working-class Protestant area. There were murals painted on several buildings memorializing important historical figures, places, and events relating to The Troubles.

The tour guide explained the history of the Shankill Estate area in West Belfast

Our next stop was at one of 46 sections of peace walls which still separate Catholic and Protestant areas in the city. Dubbed the Berlin Wall of West Belfast, the section we stopped at was covered in graffiti.

These two walls in West Belfast separate the Catholic and Protestant areas

The road between the two walls was completely deserted except for our group of university students and our tour guides. It was an eerie feeling standing between two neighborhoods who have said they rarely have meaningful conversations with each other. Our guides took us through several other stops and explained the significance of areas and the violence that took place there.

Two of the cab drivers were Protestant and two were Catholic. They took turns talking in their various areas, one speaking at a time to our group about a specific stop while the other three talked near the cabs. The tours have been running since 1994, when the first official ceasefire was called.

During our tour we saw the room where The Belfast Telegraph is printed.

After that somber lesson, we went to tour The Belfast Telegraph, which was in the center of The Troubles for years and had to retrain its journalists to find news once the fighting ceased to provide daily content. We watched a video about the history of the Telegraph, then toured through the newsroom and met with  a news editor. He explained the process of retraining journalists to find news and his thoughts on the future of journalism in Ireland and the UK. We also saw the room filled with the large printing presses, which most people only see portrayed in movies.

It was a full day of history and journalism discussions, but we’ve all gained a better understanding of the area and the role media can take in history.

For more photos, watch today’s slideshow.

-by Alisha Green

Dunluce Castle

Leaving our laid back hostel in Derry, the group continued day three of the Shamrocker tour. Although we encountered a little “liquid sunshine,” as our Shamrocker tour guide Seán Mullen would say, the weather didn’t stop us from enjoying all that Ireland had to offer. On our way to our Belfast destination, we hit up one of the most famous medieval castles in all of Northern Ireland. Dunluce castle, built in 1513, literally sits on the edge of a cliff bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was built so close to the cliffs that in 1639 during a storm, the kitchen actually broke off the castle and fell into the ocean…along with several of the kitchen staff still in it.

Hanging out at Giant's Causeway

Climbing the mythical Giant’s Causeway was the next stop on our trip. According to Irish folklore, the causeway was created when an Irish giant (Fionn mac Cumhaill) sought out to fight a Scottish giant (Benandonner). Fionn mac Cumhaill created a causeway that stretched all the way from Ireland to Scotland, so that Benandonner could walk over fight the Irish giant. When Benandonner finally walked over to Ireland, he was defeated in a battle of wits, running back across the causeway and destroying most of it on his way back. Or one could take the dull and less believable explanation of the scientist’s, who believe the causeway was formed by volcanic activity.

Our next stop was the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The bridge connects the main land to Carrick Island which was originally used as a supreme fishing spot. At first, some of us were a little nervous to cross the tiny bridge that swayed 30 meters above the Atlantic. Though in the end, we made the journey across the bridge and back with ease.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

After the bridge, the group arrived at our final destination in Belfast. There we said goodbye to Dave and Sean, our faithful bus driver and tour guide that kept us informed and amused during our great Shamrocker experience. In honor of our fantastic group, our tour guide put our trip into a comment book, appropriately titled “Sean and David’s MSU and ie-ie-ie will all ways love you.” This being a play on words of Whitney Houston’s famous song “I will always love you.” This was the result of the girls on our trip, who were kind enough to sing this song on the bus ride…and most everywhere else.

To see more picture of this trip, please visit our photobucket site.

-Eric Hadden

The Slieve League Cliffs

Today was the second day of our Shamrocker Tour fiontar (Gaelic for adventure). We began at the crack of dawn…9 a.m. with a bit of breakfast and a farewell to the lovely farm we had stayed at nestled in the crook of rolling green hills. The first stop on our day full of fun was the Slieve League Cliffs in Donegal. They were massive! We decided to walk the 2 km on the road that wound up the mountains so as not to miss any of the area’s magic…and they wouldn’t allow the bus up. When we finally reached the top after some very close calls with sheep manure, we were met with a breathtaking, panoramic view. It was definitely worth the walk.

After the cliffs we traveled into the town of Kerry for a bite to eat. We all got lunch at a little mom and pop restaurant in the middle of the town which is so small if you blinked you would miss it. Next it was on to waterfalls and sandy beaches. After a wrong turn or two we arrived at Assarancagh waterfall

, another of Ireland’s spectacular features. It wasn’t a large waterfall but the impromptu Irish sun and the green splashed on each side made it gorgeous. What made this waterfall even better was that it was right next to Maghera beach where we went to soak up the sun, play a little football, and for me, go swimming. The water was a tropic aqua blue and although it was pretty windy, the beach was thoroughly enjoyable, and the water wasn’t too cold either.

The next stretch of the journey was a bit longer. We all had a nice nap after our beach workout and arrived in Derry about an hour and a half later. Derry (or Doire Cholmchille) is a large town with lots of violent and gruesome history. The city was split in two by the Protestants and Catholics until only a few years earlier. We learned this and more on our walking tour of the city which led us over and around the wall which surrounds the town and by the murals which remind locals to keep the peace. Today gave us a large dose of Irish history, scenery, and culture, and tomorrow we continue. No surrender!

Shawntina Phillips

Link to more photos

We went  to Trim Castle, which was basically an old castle that we briefly walked around. The history in the area was great and the stones left from the castle were great picture opportunities. Our bus driver is named Sean and he will be guiding us through this 3-day tour. Throughout the day he discussed some of the history of Ireland and gave us a brief introduction of our future plans on the tour. Some of the topics involved St.Patrick, the vikings and some geographical history.

Trim Castle

We ended our tour in Derrylahan in Kilcar where we are all staying in a hostel. It is on a farm with the most gorgeous views we have ever seen. After getting settled, some of our group went to the beach and Tina decided to take a shot at swimming. The whole experience was amazing and this area of Ireland is beautiful, with rolling moutains, animals, fields and fresh air. It feels completely surreal and were grateful that we can have this experience.

A beautiful view outside Kilcar

-Paige LaBarge

From the first day we arrived in Dublin, every cab driver and local we’ve met has recommended  one thing: touring the Guinness Storehouse. Saturday was our first free day in the capital of Ireland, so we took the suggestions and made our way to the most popular tourist attraction in Dublin. When we walked in we found ourselves in the bottom of a 7-story glass building shaped like a pint of Guinness. If filled, it would hold 14.3 million pints! We also got to see the 9,000 year contract for the land on which the storehouse is located.

The 7 Story Pint Glass at the Guinness Storehouse (Photo by Allison Knopp)

After a brief introduction from a Guinness representative, we made our way up the seven levels of the self-guided tour, learning about the process of making Guinness, discovering the history of the company, looking at advertising through the eras, and finally stopping for taste-testing. The best was definitely last though.

Outside of the Guiness Storehouse

Above the main body of the pint of Guinness building is the Gravity Bar, representing the frothy head of the famous drink. The bar’s walls are entirely made out of windows, giving us a stunning 360-degree view of Dublin and the countryside beyond. We were lucky to be there on a sunny, clear day, and had a fantastic view. It was amazing to finally see the scope of the city we have spent a few days touring. As we looked out we spotted many of the places we had been and saw other famous landmarks, including Trinity College, Phoenix Park, the Spire, and the Wicklow Mountains in the distance. It was a view none of us will forget.

Up to the Gravity Bar (Photo by Allison Knopp)

View of Dublin from the Gravity Bar (Photo by Allison Knopp)

That night we decided to experience the other authentic Irish experience that has been highly recommended: live Irish folk music and dancing at the Knightsbridge Bar in the Arlington Hotel. Tucked in the basement we found just what we had hoped for: a group of Irish playing a blend of classic, slow ballads and foot-tapping dances followed by world-champion dancers. People clapped along and tapped their feet to the beat, adding to the great atmosphere in the candle-lit room. It was the perfect end to a memorable day, and now  when people ask us for recommendations about what to do in Dublin, we definitely know what we’ll say.

To see more pictures of our trip to the storehouse click here.

-by Allison Knopp and Alisha Green