Europe Trip: Day 2-3

On day two we finally got the "plane out of our legs" and had the opportunity to venture around Scotland. In addition to the site seeing, we had our first lacrosse match against Team Scotland in the afternoon. Early in the a.m. we had a mandatory hotel breakfast in which the traditional Scottish meal was served...sunny-side up eggs, baked beans, ham, sausage, beef patty, toast, croissants, and juice. Most of the team made egg sandwiches on either toast or a croissant. As soon as breakfast was over we packed our lacrosse bags and backpacks and headed over to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Our tour guides provided a brief history about the city as well as insightful information as we traveled throughout the capital. The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided into two areas: Old Town and New Town. We were given about an hour to tour the castle (http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/). The most popular attraction was the castle dungeons, home to many of the pirates and scallywags that were captured. The hour quickly passed and we were on our way to the fields where we had two matches against Team Scotland. It was evident that Team Scotland needed a couple more practices and experienced players as Team Loyola dominated both games. However, the players of Team Scotland were grateful losers and couldn't help but mock their own performance. After the games were finished, both teams enjoyed a social at Carl's Pub, a local pub in town. Members from each team squared-off in a few drinking competitions. Team Loyola won the two v. two friendly chug while Team Scotland dominated the five v. five drinking battle. Regardless, both teams became more acquainted and enjoyed a great experience. Around 10 p.m. we left the pub and headed back to Stirling. The bars of choice for the night were Outback and Fubar.
After the eventful day/evening, the following morning was not so fun. Hungover and still drunk, we had an early wake-up call and had to be on the coach at 9 a.m. We departed Stirling, Scotland and headed to Manchester, England...the next stop of our ten day expedition. Part of Scotland's Union regulations, coaches were only permitted to travel up to two hours before taking a thirty minute break. We pulled over in Jedburgh, Scotland where we grabbed some food and waters. We were only ten miles from England's border. However, we still had another five hours of traveling until we reached Manchester. Around 8 p.m. we finally arrived at the Willow Bank Hotel and had a mandatory team dinner. Because we had an early day ahead of us, Coach Toomey informed the team of an early curfew. A couple teammates and I walked around the town until curfew. Thankfully the tiring and annoying day of traveling was over.