Editor’s note: Summer is vacation time, and it’s fun to vacation vicariously through our contributors. Nayna Shah, who will be a sophomore at Morristown High School this fall, jotted down her impressions during a recent church trip to Europe, and we are delighted to share them with you.
Day 1
Thursday, June 24, 2010
To kick off my summer vacation, I am taking a trip to Europe as part of the Walsh Memorial Bell Choir at the Presbyterian Church of Morris Plains. The Walsh Memorial Bell Choir is a hand bell choir that has been around for 40 years at the church.
The Presbyterian Church has a choir for younger kids called the Mezza Choir, a choir for adults called the Grazio choir, and a choir for teens called Walsh. The Walsh Choir performs at church services once a month on Sundays and in concerts during Christmas and Easter time. The Walsh Choir also goes on a “summer tour” every year, whether it is domestic or international.
On tour, the choir performs in concerts as well as sight-sees. This year is my first year ringing hand bells, and although I am not a member of the church, I can read music and know many people in the choir, and had no trouble joining.
This year’s tour is an international trip to England and Scotland. The last time the choir went abroad for a tour was four years ago, when the ringers traveled to England.
There are two high school seniors in Walsh who were in the choir when they journeyed to Europe. I guess I picked the best year to join because how often does one get a trip to England and Scotland ringing hand bells?
Two of our youngest ringers will be in seventh grade in the fall, so we have five chaperones accompanying us– all parents of ringers, in addition to our two directors. Of course I am extremely excited because although I went to Europe three years ago (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) I’ve never been to England or Scotland!
For anyone who is not a world geography expert, Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and occupies one third of Great Britain. It shares a border with England in the south, and is bounded by the North Sea to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west. Its capital is Edinburgh (actually pronounce Edin-burrow) and its largest city Glasgow.
The Scottish flag is light blue with a white X across it. England is also part of the United Kingdom and occupies the central and southern part of Great Britain. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. To the east is the North Sea, and to the south is the English Channel, separating it from continental Europe.
England also includes over a hundred smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wright. The English flag is white with a red cross across the entire flag. When the Scottish and English flags are combined, the United Kingdom flag is created.
Unfortunately, the trip began in a completely eco-unfriendly manner: All the ringers and chaperones meeting at the church and driving to Newark Airport in the biggest vans we could find (in order to fit all the luggage and bells).
Oh, that’s right. We bring all our cases of bells with us, some of our biggest bells weighing 20 pounds. In addition to bell cases, we bring foam to cover the tables and table cloths to cover the foam. The foam gets vacuum sealed and stuffed into duffel bags with all our binders of music and the tablecloths. This way, everyone has a personal suitcase, a carry-on, and either a bell case or a duffel bag. Together, we are a group of 20 travelers.
As you can imagine, that causes a lot of chaos in the airport. Twenty exhausted people loading suitcases and bell cases at 9 p.m. seemed like the toughest part of the trip. At 10, we took off on our seven-hour, 3,433-mile flight to Edinburgh.
Day 2
Friday, June 25, 2010
When it became Friday, we were still on the plane. Yes, red-eye flights are the only way to go when traveling internationally! I took a look out the window before we landed, and what I saw was incredible: Scotland is full of empty green fields– all over!
Some of the land looked like it was being farmed, but other sections were just empty stretches of grass. When we landed, not one of us could even move. It was 5 in the morning US time, but only 10 AM Scotland time. As we stumbled through the airport, I noticed an immediate difference between Scotland and America: Size. The airport was tiny and white and clean, and for a capital city, barely anyone was there. Compared to Scotland, America just seems overwhelming.
None of the ringers knew that the plan was to start touring as soon as we arrived. But sure enough, the chaperones had a full day planned. The choir had apparently rented a coach bus for the entire trip, and we hopped on for the ride to Edinburgh Castle.
The first pictures I took on my camera were of the streets of Edinburgh. Instead of contemporary skyscrapers, every building was made of dark stone. I saw many cathedrals, cobblestone streets, and Smart Cars along the roads. Except for the Smart Cars, Scotland came across as a country full of history, dedicated to preserving it.
Pulling up at Edinburgh Castle was the first (of many) times on the trip I had to close my gaping mouth with my hand. Edinburgh Castle was built on a large cliff, otherwise known as a volcano, and was used primarily for military purposes. It was built out of large brown stones, but instead of turrets and mighty flags that maybe Cinderella’s Castle in Disneyworld might have, Edinburgh Castle had towering walls, canons lining the outside, and a black iron door.
We took a two hour audio tour of the castle, the most interesting parts being the cemetery for soldiers’ dogs, the dungeon for prisoners, and the birthplace of King James. In general, Edinburgh Castle has been a royal castle since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and it continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
The most important conflicts the castle was involved in were the Scottish Wars of Independence, in which most of the castle was destroyed except for St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.
The touring made our group hungry, and we ate at a pub-like place on the Royal Mile, the street the castle was located on (the main street of Edinburgh).
One of my main concerns for this trip was the food situation, for I am a vegetarian. In a place like Europe, I knew meals might pose a problem. However, as we searched for restaurants and menus that could accommodate 20 people, I noticed that there were plenty of vegetarian options available. For all the burger connoisseurs out there: I took the word of all the carnivorous ringers who remarked that the Scottish make tasty burgers. I guess Americans don’t always need McDonald’s!
With no time to spare, we drove for an hour straight to Dunbar from Edinburgh, where our first group of host families waited for us. I slept the entire hour, and when I woke up, I saw the ocean! It was almost too beautiful to handle.
We unloaded our bells into their church and met our host families. Mine were Moyra and Robbie, a sweet, older couple, whose grandson James, was staying with them for the summer before he went off to college. Their house followed suit with my previous “size” observations: It was a cute cottage complete with a colorful garden. The whole scene was relaxing for me as I went to sleep.
Day 3
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The twenty of us rode back to Edinburgh to see the National Museum of Scotland. The museum had seven floors full of national history, from the Stone Age to the present. The highest floor was the roof, from which you could see the entire city, including Edinburgh Castle. My favorite exhibit was a replica of the machine used to spin and dye wool for kilts and tartans, the plaid skirts worn by men and women during a traditional dance or to represent a family clan.
Of course, the trip to Scotland wouldn’t be complete without gaining knowledge about the Loch Ness monster. Right outside the museum was a 3-D theatre showing video footage captured, and explaining the legend of the creature lurking in the Loch Ness.
The monster is fondly called “Nessie” or “Ness” by the Scotts and has been “spotted” on many occasions since the 1930s. Personally, I don’t believe in it, but over here, people call you crazy if you don’t believe in it. Guess I better keep my opinions to myself!
We were allowed to split up to do some shopping along the streets of Edinburgh, most of us purchasing wool scarves and tartans, as Scotland is know for it sheep wool and vibrant plaid patterns.
The currency of Great Britain is pounds and pence. It was kind of disappointing when I found out that one of my dollars only equaled about .5 pounds or 50 pence. When shopping, I had to keep reminding myself that ten pounds wasn’t exactly that cheap, because it was equivalent to almost $20.
Perhaps the best part of the day came after we shopped, when we ran into a crowd surrounding a young man, no older than 18 years old. He was a street performer and had captured the attention of an audience of at least 150 people! This was no surprise because after all, he was juggling torches while standing on two men’s shoulders!
We left Edinburgh early, because we had to set up the bells we left at the church the night before. The church was called the Dunbar Parish Church, and tomorrow we would be playing in their Sunday church service as well as in our own afternoon concert. Organizing the bells, tables, and foam was about a 45- minute ordeal, after which we practiced for two hours.
We were rewarded with an Italian dinner at a local restaurant and later returned to our host families’ homes. It seems that life in Europe is not as “go, go, go” as it is in America. When I asked Moyra and Robbie what they did today, they simply replied that they tidied up the house, worked in the garden, and watched some Wimbledon. I wish America could adopt this laid-back lifestyle!
Holy Smokes! Is that Skip?! He’s the musical director for the high school musicals!