Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Soccer In The United Kingdom, Blogs 1 & 2
May 17, 2009 | Cowgirl Soccer
May 17, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The plane rides were fairly smooth with the exception of the first one where we hit rough turbulence. On the seven-hour flight from New Jersey to Glasgow most people slept a little bit, but we were very tired when we arrived at 7 a.m. Scotland time.
We were told to stay awake after we grabbed our luggage so that we would be able to sleep that night, but all we wanted to do was rest. To keep us awake we went and grabbed lunch at a local restaurant, which one of Colin's friends owns. The food was great, and we were all starving.
After lunch, it was off to a 7 v. 7 practice to get our legs moving after sitting for so long. We all felt a little jet lag, but it was good to run around and move. After practice, we came back for dinner and then it was straight to bed.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. We left our hotel around 10:00 to head out the Rangers Stadium to watch them take on Aberdeen. I attached a pic from our trip to the Rangers' game today. They won 2-1, and we all had a really good time watching. It was definitely an experience being in the stadium with their extremely loud fans and getting to listen to them cheer on their team. The atmosphere is crazy and something none of us will ever forget.
After the game, we headed to Airedale where Colin is from. Some people went to see Colin's house that he grew up in, while others toured the small town. After an hour or so, we headed back to the restaurant Colin's friend owns and had the legendary Fish and Chips that everyone eats here. The food here so far has been great, and it's not too far from American food.
Now it's just time to rest and relax for our big day tomorrow. We're going to watch a professional women's game and tour a castle!
-- Katie Richardson
Sunday May 17, 2009
Hey fans!
We're wrapping up our second full day here in Scotland, and right now everyone's just relaxing and catching up with their families back home. It's definitely different not being able to just pick up our phone and make a call; we're forced to stay in touch through e-mail and Skype.
This morning we made the one-hour trip into Stirling, where we toured the William Wallace Monument. For those of you who don't know, the movie Braveheart was based on William's Wallace's life in his fight for FREEEEEDOMM!! from the English. It was really neat, and the view from the top of the monument was amazing; you could see for miles. To add to the effect, we were able to hear bagpipes playing while in the monument, which was really cool.
A few of us got finished with the tour early and decided to take one of the other trails down the mountain. We ended up getting lost for about an hour until we finally found the main trail, haha. Luckily our team hadn't left us when we got back.
We then drove 15 minutes into town to the Stirling Castle where some ate lunch, visited the gift shop, or toured the castle. A few even walked down into the town where they got to visit the church and the city jail. The town was very picturesque; everything looked as though it was on a movie set. Overall, it was really pretty and a fun experience.
After that, we attended the Rangers vs. Glasgow City Woman's Football Association final where Glasgow City ended up with a 5-0 win. The style of play was definitely different, them tending to be more aggressive but less skillful. It should be interesting playing the Rangers on Wednesday to see how the two styles match up.
We're all excited and anxious to finally get to play against Glasgow Celtic in our first game tomorrow. We'll let you know what happens and wish us luck!!
-- Allyson Leggett
