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A Spring Break Abroad

One of the most vital elements of any study abroad experience is travel; no matter where you study, you'll be sure to find ample opportunities to taste the world in a new and broader way; studying in Scotland proved to be no exception. Having enjoyed some of what Scotland had to offer since September, for spring break I decided to add some new places to my list of travels. Two friends of mine, an Oxford chap named Graeme, and Kyle my fellow American, invited me to tag along on their spring excursion. We picked Poland for several reasons; 1) it’s often overlooked as a tourist destination and therefore would not be crowded with foreigners, and yet has much to offer, 2) food and lodging are cheap in Poland, and we were university students, and 3) Kyle’s family was from Poland. And so, we departed St Andrews for our adventures.

Our first stop was Oxford, where we would see the famed university colleges and stay at Graeme’s house a couple of days. We took the night bus to London (riding a bus from Dundee, Scotland to southern England is at best a one-time experience. Still, it was a very European thing to do) and then hopped on another bus to Graeme’s house outside of Oxford. His home is hundreds of years old and the ideal British professor’s abode (his mom, being an Oxford professor, fit in nicely.) Graeme gave us the tour of the University, taking us throughout the diverse colleges and giving us the history of each. We also stopped at The Eagle and Child Pub, where C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and their fellow Inklings met to discuss their writings while at Oxford. Oxford is quite the nice little city, and Graeme was the perfect tour guide; he’s full of random information.

Afterward, we met up with another friend from St Andrews who was from the area and went punting on the Thames. Punting is not a well-known activity in the States, so check out the picture: it’s basically riding a little boat around, moving by means of a long pole rather than a set of oars. All in all, the few days in and around Oxford were a pleasant, relaxing, and interesting way to start off our travels. After Oxford we hopped on a plane to Krakow, Poland. In Poland we found cheap food and souvenirs, many ornate cathedrals (Poland being one of the most Catholic nations in the world) and pictures of Pope John Paul II (which led to much entertainment because Kyle is an enthusiastic Catholic; he had to point out everything that had the old Pope on it). What produced the most lasting impression, however, was a visit to the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Though a movie like Schindler’s list portrays the reality well, nothing can compare to visiting the location in person; for us, the day was very properly a rainy and dismal gray. It is a piece of history that to Americans as a whole is rather distant, but in which one can find much relevance for today.

Our last stop in Poland was the larger city of Warsaw, site of the Warsaw ghetto represented in many WWII movies. We didn’t stay long, and I said my farewells to Graeme and Kyle and hopped on a train to Cologne, Germany, where I would meet a fellow study abroad student from the States. It’s quite a long trip from Warsaw to Cologne; here I had my first (and so far only) experience with sleeping cars in trains. It was a memorable experience, though some parts I would choose to avoid in the future—like being woken up at 3 in the morning by an East German border guard demanding my passport. However, I arrived in Cologne safe and sound.

Cologne (or Köln in German) is the site of a breathtaking Gothic cathedral, one of the tallest in the world. A German friend of mine—Robert—picked us up in Cologne, and drove us to the city of Bonn, where Robert went to college. He gave us the tour of the university city, and then continued the tour down the Rhine valley past Koblenz to the small town where he lived. The Rhine River area was crammed with old castles and pleasant towns, and we enjoyed the company of Germans and their food. My American friend and I left Robert and headed into the Black Forest, taking in the scenery and culture. We went to small towns like Baden-Baden and Buhl, and better-known destinations like Heidelberg. After looping back to Cologne, we flew back to Scotland…and I prepared for my final section of Spring Break travels.

I met relatively few Scottish people while studying in Scotland; St Andrews University was surprisingly international, and the majority of my friends were German, Italian, English, Irish, and American, with a few Scots sprinkled among them. But one Scottish friend I met the second semester was Angie Funnelle, a genuine Scottish lass from Aberdeenshire. She took it upon herself to give me a tour of the Highlands during Spring Break. We headed to Fort William, on the west coast of Scotland and under the shadow of Ben Nevis, the highest point in Britain. The Highlands were truly beautiful, in a uniquely Scottish way. It was wet and cold and windy, but nevertheless enjoyable. We also went to Glencoe and further north up the Scottish coast. After a few days, we boarded a train back to St Andrews in the more tame eastern part of Scotland, and Spring Break was over.