Playing Catch-up

Well, I got back to my blog in under a month, so that's an accomplishment, right? Since last I wrote, things have been somewhat of a whirlwind here--a weekend in Paris, getting stranded in Paris (just my luck), fighting through the streets of Edinburgh after the largest snowfall in 50 years (just my luck), and generally dealing with the ins (none) and outs (many) of life living at the bottom of an uneven cobblestone hill when the snow becomes a solid sheet of ice and subsequently a solid sheet of black ice (just my luck). Oh and finals. And the sudden onslaught of viruses on my computer (because, really, no finals week for me would be complete without my laptop crashing or otherwise complicating my life).

But now the snow has cleared, finals are over, my laptop is virus-free, and, most importantly, the Tesco Bread Shortage of 2010 is now officially over.

The weekend after I went to London, my Scottish flatmate Jess took me along on her trip to visit her grandparents, who live in Wales. Sort of. They live right on the border, and as we were driving over the course of the weekend, her grandfather kept saying "Now we're in England. Now we're in Wales. England, now. Wales." Neither of us could keep track of where we were exactly, so I just relished in the fact that we were staying in the Forest of Dean of Harry Potter lore.

The first day in Wales we spent just relaxing after our early morning flight, grabbing lunch and stopping at Tintern Abbey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintern_Abbey) on the way back from the airport. On Saturday, we headed into Cardiff prepared to brave the rugby (Wales vs. South Africa) crowds. First stop was the castle, which was pretty cool because it has a long history of varied occupation (including Roman). We had a gorgeous day of sightseeing and after taking in some of the rugby match at a local pub, we headed down to Cardiff Bay for dinner.

On Sunday, we drove to nearby Caerleon, an old Roman fortress site. Jess is studying the Ancient Roman World as part of her degree, so it was extra exciting for her! We saw the remains of the baths, the amphitheatre, the barracks, and stopped by the local museum where I impressed myself by being able to actually read and translate the Latin on the old gravestones.

Being in Wales was particularly exciting for me because my dad's family is Welsh. Everywhere we went, the name "Rees" (evidently our ancestors Americanized it) kept popping up. It was great to have Jess's grandparents to take us under their wing and show us Cardiff and Caerleon... as well as giving us a crash course in being red wine connoisseurs.

A natural Welsh dragon growing in soil

Closeup of the Roman wall built around the castle

Cardiff Castle

View of the courtyard from the top

Cardiff Bay at sunset

Jess's grandparents' cottage (I repeat: Forest of Dean)

Roman baths

Roman fingerprints left in the concrete (I thought it was cool)

Amphitheatre

Barracks

Jess's family spent a second consecutive weekend being hospitable to me as she and I headed to her family's farm for a weekend pheasant shoot, which was beyond cool for me. Within an hour of arriving, we were on 4x4s herding sheep into fields for the night and loading up firewood to take back to the house. The next morning, we woke up and dressed in (many, many) layers and headed out for the shoot (no, I did not shoot a gun). We spent the day with the dogs, scaring the pheasants out of the brush for the shooters. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before and definitely a pretty unique cultural immersion experience. I only took 2 pictures (my hands would have fallen off from the cold had I taken more... I'll try to steal some of Jess's pictures later and post them).

Two words: John Deere. AMERICA.

Heading off on assignment

The next week was basically spent looking for a turkey. British people eat turkey for Christmas dinner, so the stores hadn't started stocking them yet. Finally I found one and set about devising a Thanksgiving day cooking schedule (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie). Without going into too much detail and patting myself on the back too much, I will just say that my turkey (which I carved myself) was delicious and I changed several British friends' lives with the pumpkin pie. And because I know my mother is reading this, the answer is no, I will not cook Thanksgiving dinner next year.

First turkey I've cooked, and it was edible. Success.

What it lacked in presentation, it made up for in taste (and yes I made the crust myself)

Proof.

I woke up dark and early the morning after Thanksgiving to catch my flight to Paris. After making my way into the city, I headed for the nearest Metro station where I patiently stood in line to buy my ticket, only to have the people in front of me turn around and realize that one of them was a friend from high school, Emily, with her roommate and her roommate's sister! It truly is a small world. We didn't have much time to catch up, but we figured out we'd be on the same flight back, so we went our separate ways for the weekend (little did we know what awaited us....).

I headed to my hotel (splurged for my last trip) and dropped my things off before I went to meet Shuvi, my ZTA grandbig's younger sister, who lived right nearby (she is studying in Paris for the semester). She showed me around the Eiffel Tower and we went to Les Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb and walked through what would have been a cool A/V history tour except for the fact that most of the audio hadn't been translated to English yet! The next morning we met up with one of Shuvi's friends and walked down the Champs-Elysees (and got the most delicious macaroons!) on our way to the Louvre. We passed through a Christmas market and then did a hit-and-run in the Louvre, seeing the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and my personal favorite, the Code of Hammurabi. We went to Notre Dame (no hunchback in sight, only people pretending to be deaf trying to solicit money/signatures for some petition), got amazing Greek food, and then later that night I really got into the Christmas spirit by heading back to the Christmas market and getting some roasted chestnuts and mulled wine. Not bad.

On my last day in Paris, I stopped by an open-air market right near my hotel and bought a few gifts and soaked up the atmosphere. Then I headed to Montmartre and walked around, ate the best pastry I have ever had and will ever have, and did the obligatory sit-at-a-cafe stint. All too soon it was time to head to the airport and go back to Edinburgh.

I ran into Emily and her friends again at the airport and we grabbed some dinner to kill time before our flight. After a while, we headed to the gate and were confused about why we didn't see anyone, before realizing there was probably a gate change, so Emily went to check the flight status screen. Cancelled.

We headed back through passport control to the airline desk, where we realized that we were about the last people to have found out about the cancellation. After we got to the front of the line, we were informed that the next flight to Edinburgh would be leaving Wednesday (it was Sunday night). Cue panic. We had to get back for class, papers, and finals, so that just wouldn't do. Our other alternative was spending the night, flying into Glasgow the following afternoon and finding our way back to Edinburgh. We figured that was our best option, so we got our tickets switched (and literally got the last seats on the flight to Glasgow) and were given instructions on how to find the free shuttle that would take us to our hotel. Our directions were to go outside and take the "black bus." Okay, simple enough, right? No.

An hour and a half later, after wandering all through the terminal, going out assorted exits on both sides of the airport and getting on an airport bus after the driver reassured us that she would take us where we needed to go (she didn't), we finally found the "black bus," which ironically is called the Black Bus Line. Thanks, EasyJet, for the worst directions ever.

Getting on the plane to Glasgow was the best feeling in the world. I was terrified it too would be cancelled (the issue was heavy snow which had paralyzed Edinburgh Airport). We got a bus to the train station and a train to Edinburgh and I fought and slipped my way back to my flat. Here are some pictures from the weekend (I'll spare you the endless photos of touristy places that you've seen a million times and get straight to the good stuff).

Okay, I lied, here is a touristy photo at the Louvre. But no more, I promise.

Open-air market by my hotel

Single greatest pastry ever. This pastry did for me what pumpkin pie did for my British friends.

Art in Montmartre

Par for the course.

The snow, unfortunately, was unrelenting here. It was the largest snowfall in 50 years and I think Edinburgh is worse about dealing with snow than my hometown in America (and that is saying something). The airport kept closing and was closed for several days at a time. The stores ran out of bread and did not have any for weeks... it was unbelievable. It wasn't until this week that the stores have had a full stock of bread. It's been icy and dangerous and living at the bottom of a cobblestone hill has not been fun. To complicate things, snow is predicted this weekend which might delay me coming home... yikes. I head home on Monday, so hopefully they will have sorted things out by then.

Now that I've finished my finals, I'm spending my last few days in Edinburgh crossing things off my Edinburgh "bucket list" and doing some last-minute Christmas shopping! One can never have too many tacky Nessie products... I would know.

By the way, if anyone ever needs directions regarding Terminal 2E of CDG airport in Paris, make me your first phone call because I know every nook and cranny of that terminal.

Lon-Done

A few weekends ago I visited my friend Eduardo in London. I'll start by saying that I much prefer Edinburgh to London. I'm quite content with my tiny little city that requires no public transportation. The Underground (which I rode, even though I wasn't really supposed to... sorry Mom) was gross--every time I went down there I came back outside feeling like I needed a shower. It wasn't so much that it was dirty... it was just sticky and humid, and those of you who know me at all know how I feel about humidity.

Other than that, London was actually pretty cool. I took the train down and there were some pretty incredible views. (Sidenote here, every single time I have been on a train here I have never failed to be seated in a window seat next to an elderly man. What gives?). Arrival at Kings Cross Station, Harry Potter legend, was the first sign of a guaranteed good trip. Eduardo and I hit most of the hotspots including Harrod's, which has a really very creepy shrine (yes, shrine) to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. I get the whole Princess Diana thing, but the shrine is creepy. Eduardo asked if I wanted a picture next to it. No.

The big highlight of my London trip was Ben's Cookies. I bought a box of seven cookies with the intent of sharing with my flatmates. Oops. The place delivers in the UK so I have bookmarked the site. It's tempting, but it's also a test of my willpower. So far, I'm winning. But the cookies are really good. Really good. We'll see... I'm keeping my options (and my bookmarks) open.

Buckingham Palace--no sign of the queen. Buzzkill.

10 Downing Street--no sign of David Cameron.

Touristy photo, much? Big Ben with a crowd of other photo-taking tourists around?

London Eye, which we definitely would have gone on if we weren't cheap students.

It only seems appropriate to end with this photo given the fact that Harry Potter is coming out tomorrow. Oddly the UK has no midnight showings (excuse me?) so I am seeing it at 10am tomorrow morning.

Wales was fantastic and there is too much to put in one post so I'll do that at the beginning of next week. I'm heading out for the weekend to my Scottish flatmate's farm for a "shoot." As in hunting. Back on Sunday with what I'm sure will be lurid tales of American ignorance when it comes to a.) farming, b.) Scottish culture, c.) hunting, and d.) life in general.

Skye High

I'm done with those silly essays and ready to refocus on what's really important this semester (kidding, parents). Anyway, here's the long-overdue recount of my trip to Skye a few weekends ago.

My friend Cat and I visited Skye, which is an island off of northern Scotland, and on our way back down to Edinburgh we stopped at Loch Ness. We were fortunate enough to have a great group of people on our tour which made it that much more fun.

Skye was probably one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life. At the tops of the hikes, there were spectacular views (pictures below), but not even the pictures do them justice. You kind of had to be there--the silence was incredible. It was absolute nothingness on all sides--you couldn't see any evidence of human presence at all, save for the path I was following. Pretty incredible. I'd love to go back when I have some more time to really explore the hiking in and around Skye (with my FiveFingers). So when I win the lottery and have no responsibilities and never have to work ever again, it'll be my first stop.

Tomorrow I am heading to Wales for 4 days with my Scottish flatmate who has grandparents there. We don't really have plans to do much besides relax and enjoy the company, which I am very much looking forward to doing. My family is from Wales on my dad's side, so I'm looking forward to visiting the homeland and maybe even finding some sort of family connection (long shot, but I have some ancestral info I'll keep with me). I think it was the ancestral info we got at Disney World so I'll take it with a grain of salt.

London was great--post on that coming early next week now that I am done with essays and work until December. I know I keep complaining about the essay thing, and I really shouldn't because I was here for 2 months before I had anything to do. The essays weren't even that long--the kind of stuff I'd be expected to do in a typical week at Duke.

Anyway... enjoy these photos from my weekend in Skye and Loch Ness!

We started the trip off right with a quick sidetrip to the castle featured in Monty Python

One of the first stops on Skye: grave of Flora MacDonald, who saved Bonnie Prince Charlie

Typical dwelling of an early Scottish family (reconstructed, but cool nonetheless)

At the top of one of our hikes!

Yes, these came with me. At this point, nobody should really be surprised by that

This is where scientists think Ireland and Scotland were joined way-back-when. The theory is that this once linked up with the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

Just a typical view from Skye

On our way hiking up to the vertical rock in the top left corner (can the sky be any bluer?)

Currently the background of my computer--not too bad, huh?

Note my shoes.

Shot of the rock to which we were hiking (there is a myth behind it but it is too long to recount here--google "Old Man of Storr" if you are really interested)

We arrived at Loch Ness in the evening and were treated to a Highland Clan show--we were taught how to properly fold a kilt and even had a weapons demonstration with genuine Scottish weapons.

Finally made it to Loch Ness--everyone kept telling me it is overrated. Evidence that it is not.

Saw Nessie.

We stopped in a small town on the way back and spent a few minutes down by this river

Picking 15 pictures out of 300 was not easy, so I'm not even going to apologize for the picture overload on this post.

Work?

I've been in Scotland for almost two months now (weird), so I guess it was only a matter of time before I actually had work. Last week I had a 20 minute presentation in my Comparing Scottish Devolution class and this week I had a 5 minute presentation in my Contemporary Russian Politics class (I put more effort into one than the other).

Now I'm faced with the prospect of two essays due next Thursday, which ordinarily I wouldn't even be worrying about at this point. The difference is that I'm going to be in London from Friday morning until Sunday evening, and will probably be exhausted by the time I get back Sunday evening. So basically I only have tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday left to get these things done.

2500 and 1500-word essays once a semester would be incredible at Duke, where it feels like I write at least one essay a week, and probably longer ones too. I also really don't like how they give us set topics here--I appreciate the general topic suggestions I get at Duke, but often I'm far more interested in writing about something that has personally grabbed my attention. I usually wait until an idea for a topic strikes me (usually in the middle of the night) and then write it a day or two before it's due.

Right now I'm struggling to find about 2498 more words to "justify my answer" to the question "was the USSR a totalitarian state?" So far I've essentially written: "Yes. Stalin." 2500 words seems a little excessive for a question like that, even for me--someone who tends to have a lot to say about, well, everything.

The good news (for me, at least--you probably don't care) is that my 1500-word essay is on the same topic on which I gave the 20-minute presentation, so I'm leaving that essay for next week after I get back from London.

The even better news is that I'm going back to Chocolate Soup tomorrow, and tomorrow night there is a whisky and cheese tasting event. Scotland: here is your chance to redeem yourself on the cheese issue.

I haven't forgotten about the Skye post, but right now I'm focused on these essays. After these are done, I am going to have a post influx--detailing my trips to Skye, Loch Ness, my day trip to Rosslyn Chapel, London.... I promise I'll get those done before I head to Wales next weekend.

For now I suppose I should stop procrastinating and get back to finding every possible way to reword the phrase "Joseph Stalin was a totalitarian dictator."

Chocolate Soup

So I know that I owe you a Skye/Loch Ness post, but I want to do that when I have time to do it justice. I have 300 pictures to sift through, and I wish I could post every single one here. It was probably the most gorgeous place I have ever been in my life (second only to Duke's West Campus main quad by the light of a certain bonfire last April). So I'll do that hopefully on Sunday evening.

One reason I haven't been on top of things this week is that I was sort of blindsided by academic work. I didn't realize I'd have to do work while I was here. Who thought up that crazy idea? Anyway, that's behind me for now.

Today my friend Eduardo arrived from London for the weekend--he is here this weekend, and then I will be in London next weekend visiting him! The reason for this quick post during his visit is that I really needed to share my experience at the little cafe we went to after he arrived. I had heard of this place recently and had done my due diligence in the way of Google research, but I was really unprepared for the wonderful, wonderful culinary experience that is "Chocolate Soup."

Chocolate Soup.

Chocolate. Soup.

Basically rich, thick, creamy hot chocolate in any variation you can imagine. White chocolate, milk chocolate... name your flavor. You want caramel? Done. Maltballs? Done. Anything and everything. I had trouble deciding what I wanted, so I ended up picking the plain pure white chocolate (which my mother would kindly remind me is actually "cocoa butter, not chocolate"). I rationalized this decision by reminding myself that I have 2 more months in which to try every other flavor combination. Twice.

Various family members keep asking me "You are coming home, right?" My answer is always a laughing "yes." But now that Chocolate Soup has entered my life, I may have to reevaluate things.

P.S. A quick plug for my friends Charlie and Andy, who have been documenting their travels throughout Europe with a travel show called "Look Right." Here is the link to their latest production (partially filmed by yours truly)--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QZMeZwnMhU

I highly recommend it as well as their other episodes!

119.5 Seconds to Happiness

My mom asked me if I learned anything while in Dublin. The answer is yes, I learned that it takes 119.5 seconds to make me truly happy. Coincidentally, it also takes 119.5 seconds to pour and serve a Guinness. Note to the audience: I am absolutely sure that is not the answer she wants to hear.

We arrived in Dublin bright and early Friday morning and were greeted by instructions on the roads:

Edinburgh really needs to consider similar road markings. I still look left here.

After a quick breakfast (during which I saw a guy wearing a Duke sweatshirt; a sure sign that I was in the right place), our group of 4 split up according to what we wanted to do that day. My flatmate Jess and I set out to see some major landmarks and, as we're poor college students, we refused to pay the 14-Euro bus tour fare, especially because it was such a beautiful day.

First stop: Christ Church Cathedral

We walked essentially across the entire city (and must have looked lost and confused because an elderly Irishman kindly asked us if we needed help, then gave us shopping advice along with advice on how to not get mugged and pickpocketed).

We finally made it to THE heart of Dublin

Obligatory Guinness-in-the-Gravity-Bar photo

My glass is on the right... my flatmate's is on the left. Don't worry, I didn't let hers go to waste!

After the Guinness Storehouse tour, we headed over to nearby Kilmainham Gaol, which was incredible. Our guide was witty and entertaining despite the pretty gruesome history behind Kilmainham. It was really interesting to hear some of the personal stories behind the violence and bloodshed of the Irish Civil War and actually pretty chilling to see the cells and the writing on some of the cell walls.

View of the main gaol hall

We started off the next day and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture with a giant leprechaun.

One more thing to cross off my bucket list...

Since we had pretty much hit the main tourist attractions and it was another beautiful day, we took some detours through parks

St. Stephen's Green

Eventually we wound our way back to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was unfortunately closed owing to a graduation ceremony that was taking place (that's okay, I'm too cheap to pay the entrance fee anyway).

St. Patrick's Cathedral overlooking the courtyard

We spent some time walking up and down the River Liffey just taking in the sights and the cool bridges across it--we really could not have asked for better weather!

River Liffey

Overall impressions of Dublin: small, gorgeous, expensive, beer, beer, and beer. I really did have a blast in Dublin and can't wait to go back sometime. Ideally I'd like to go back after I have a job/steady income/don't think that 7 Euro is too expensive to go to the Leprechaun Museum, but definitely before I think that the Leprechaun Museum is overrated (but let's be honest, I'll probably never think that) and also before I mature too much to think that going on one of these would be embarrassing: http://www.vikingsplash.ie/. But that will probably never happen either.

Right now I'm packing for a weekend in the Highlands/Isle of Skye with a friend from Duke who is arriving from St. Andrews tonight! We have been talking about this trip since we first decided to come to Scotland so needless to say, we are very excited. Also, the next time I update this blog will be after I have fulfilled a lifelong dream: going to see Nessie. Hoping for great weather like last weekend, but I figure if it's windy/raining, the conditions will be perfect for blurry splotches in photos that I can claim are Nessie herself.