Spring Break in Retrospect I: The Burn

Two weeks have slipped by and I find myself again, typing my thoughts in my little parallelogram of a room. It is good to be back were things are quiet, where fresh and pure air blows in from the cold North Sea, where the biggest store in town is the size of a Walgreen's, and where the daffodils and the occasional tree are now in full bloom.
But now for the matter at hand: a review of spring break. I do not think that my afore-planned three posts will do the past two weeks justice, in great part because of the sheer amount of pictures I feel required to share. At any rate, hopefully four or five posts will do the job. We'll see.
First, then, let me recount the events of March 25-27, the first three days of our travels. The entirety of the Baylor in St. Andrews group journeyed by train and hired bus to the Burn, a mansion with an estate some miles north in Scotland where St. Mary's Divinity School (our host at the university) holds its annual college retreat. As it turns out, our group comprised all but three of the retreat attendees. The place is run by Goodenough College in London, an international doctorate-granting college. Mind you, although it sounds like it caters to the lowest common denominator, it is actually named after a person whose portrait we later saw in the Christ Church Great Hall at Oxford University.
The retreat was, in a word, peaceful. We rested, walked, ate, and played games, free of pressure, free of any schedule save mealtimes. It was also quite beautiful, and this you can see for yourself.

A little bridge in the woods near the house.

This river runs on the edge of the Burn Estate. Salmon swim up the river when they make their great migration from the sea.

Here is a shot of the house itself. Our rooms were all in the near half of the mansion.

A parting shot of the mansion

I know that I am not alone in saying that I could have spent an entire week here. But our travels were only just beginning, and we soon left behind the dew-dropped stillness of the Burn Estate for the bustle and classic picturesqueness of London...