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.

St. Andrews

Yesterday I spent the day in St. Andrews visiting Cat, a friend from Duke. I ingested more sugar (primarily in the form of pastries) than any human being should eat in a year, maybe two. Worth it.

Thanks to a friend who studied at St. Andrews last year, we had a "bucket list" of things to do and started our morning with this amazing hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, marshmallows, and Maltesers (malt balls):

Start of sugar high

Then we headed over to the ruins. We were hoping to climb St. Rule's Tower, but due to serious "mechanical and electrical faults," St. Rule's Tower is closed indefinitely. We don't know what the actual "faults" are, so we asked the lady in the gift shop and she said she didn't know either. There was no visible work going on around it so they're clearly not too concerned about fixing it...

I can't quite figure out how people ever let this fall into ruins!

After exploring the ruins for a bit, we headed down to the pier and walking all the way out:

I could do with a little more blue sky... but this is pretty nonetheless!

We climbed down off the pier and I thought these rocks were pretty cool:

I guess the consequences of growing up with a father who dubbed himself "Rockman" mean that I take pictures of random rocks.

We headed to the ruins of the castle which were literally just ruins--it's the first castle I've been to that you couldn't actually go inside and see the rooms.

See the castle theme in Scotland yet?

St. Andrews made up for not having actual rooms by having a really cool mine shaft that we ventured down:

Lesson learned: I never want to be a miner

After the castle we grabbed some lunch (haggis+naan=yum) and then got some pastries to eat while we walked over to the Old Course. The bakery we went to was a little overwhelming in terms of selection, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with something called the "Chocolate Tower." Best. Decision. Ever. The bakery also has "fudge doughnuts" which Cat let me try... it was amazing. She is bringing me a fudge doughnut next weekend when she comes to Edinburgh--it was that good.

There is custard inside of that. It was incredible.

Next up was the obligatory visit to the Old Course for my dad and brothers, who all got texts informing them of my location and I received 3 jealous responses (just what I was looking for).

The Clubhouse

Swilcan Bridge

18th Hole

All in all it was a fantastic day trip, although I was miserable on the train ride home because I had a huge sugar crash. I arrived back at my flat in a zombie-like state and couldn't wait to get to bed!

Tomorrow morning I head to Dublin for the weekend... first stop, Guinness Storehouse!

Say "Cheese"

A quick word on cheese here in Scotland... for someone who loves cheese as much as I do, it's been quite a challenge here to figure out what's going on.

First of all, cheese in the grocery store is pretty limited in terms of selection, and sometimes cheese isn't even labeled by type so it's a mystery. Sharp cheddar is way too sharp and mild cheddar is not cutting it. Shredded cheese is way too thick and doesn't seem to have the same melting properties as American shredded cheese. I must have put my pasta with shredded mozzarella cheese in the microwave five times trying to melt the cheese on top, but no luck.

What's more, cheese in restaurants is disturbing at best. I ordered a sandwich down in Berwick-Upon-Tweed a few weekends ago and asked for cheese on it and it came back with cold shredded cheese. I thought it was odd but wrote it off as a restaurant-specific quirk. A few days ago I ordered a sandwich in Edinburgh only to get the same results: cold shredded cheese on a hot sandwich.

I'm not sure what the deal is but it's unacceptable to me. The Scots really don't know what they're missing... warm, melty, gooey processed cheese. MMMM.

On a different note, I've figured out how the UK takes advantage of American tourists/students. The 1-pound (brutally now worth about $1.60) and 2-pound denominations are coins. Coins to me in America are like free money--spending 4 quarters doesn't feel the same as spending a dollar bill. Unfortunately the 1-pound and 2-pound coins kind of weigh down purses and pockets and are practically begging to be spent just to relieve some of the weight. I have to keep repeating "Pounds are not quarters" in my head as I walk by the countless promotions geared towards students advertising 1-pound, 1.50-pound, and 2-pound items. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Conveniently (for the university), drinks in all the student unions typically max out at 2 pounds per drink.

Don't let the tone of this post fool you; I'm having a blast here. There's really nothing like Arthur's Seat at twilight. Next up is St. Andrews (tomorrow) and Dublin (this weekend), so there's plenty of excitement ahead. I just wish the Scots would step up their cheese game.

Scotland is really ugly.

Another weekend comes to a close and I'm facing a 2-day gauntlet of classes (insert sarcasm here) before I'm essentially free to continue my adventures. I say "essentially free" because this whole travel alert thing is a little unnerving and I'm having to reconsider a lot of my travel plans. If all else fails, I will be adventuring here in Edinburgh (nothing says "adventure" like trying haggis, which I still have not done despite being here for 3 weeks now). Life is just so hard, right?

Last Sunday I decided to take my brand new FiveFingers (explanation below for those of you not fortunate enough to be acquainted with them) out for a run in Holyrood Park which is about 5 minutes from my flat. I've learned very quickly that I should take my camera with me anywhere/everywhere I go (you know, in case I run into JK Rowling at the grocery store or something... I've heard rumors). I was so glad that I did because it was an absolutely gorgeous day and my FiveFingers and I got to do quite a bit of exploring...

Salisbury Crags

A view of the city

The aforementioned FiveFingers... I am at the top of the Salisbury Crags looking down. This is my second pair of FiveFingers (a different style/color from my heavier-duty pair... I consider these my "casual" pair)

Top left is Arthur's Seat. When I saw this against the clear sky, there was really no question about whether or not I was going to climb it right then and there.

And when I say "climb," I mean that my FiveFingers give me superhuman powers which lead me to believe that I should stray off the beaten path and climb things... like this rock formation. Paths are for losers.

A view from the top!

As gorgeous as Arthur's Seat was that day, I have to say that it was even more so on Thursday evening when a few friends and I hiked up by twilight. We had the place to ourselves and spent almost 4 hours up on the Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat It was a perfectly clear night and I wish I had pictures but something was on my lens so they all came out blurry. I'll post some once I can steal a couple from the friends who were with me. We are already talking about going back up there for a meteor shower... it would be beyond incredible.

The week found me checking off one more thing on my Harry Potter to-do list while abroad this semester:

Cafe where JK Rowling wrote much of the early Harry Potter books (also coincidentally home to excellent and reasonably priced cappuccinos)

On Saturday I spent the day exploring some of the Scottish Highlands:

First stop: Hamish the famous "Heeland Coo" (Highland Cow)

Falls of Dochart

Loch Tay

Castle Menzies

An obligatory stop at Dewars World of Whisky Distillery in Aberfeldy... delicious (and 2 free samples with reduced price admission... not bad)

Waterfall at The Hermitage park

So here I am again trying to avoid the pile of work I have sitting next to me on my desk while trying to sort out my travel plans (I have priorities). I was supposed to go to London this coming weekend but there have been some complications which have snowballed and now I am facing the prospect of traveling alone with the new travel alert in effect warning about terrorist attacks on major European cities targeting tourists. I don't see many alternatives right now other than to just lose the money on my train tickets and try to go to London some other time. At this point I'm not still not entirely sure what I'm going to do but, as you can see, there is plenty in Scotland to keep me occupied and entertained in the meantime!

I am going to St. Andrew's to visit my friend Cat next week on Wednesday because neither of us has class (convenient!). Then 2 of my flatmates and I are heading to Dublin for the weekend, and then the next weekend Cat and I are going to Loch Ness and Skye (!!!). A flatmate and I are also going to Wales for 3 or 4 days in November and staying with her grandparents which will be tons of fun! Until I get a clearer picture of what is going on with this travel alert, I am holding off on making other plans (for Paris, Madrid, Berlin, etc.). I also want to see when my exams are (we don't get the exam schedule until October 25) so that I can work out some travel in December. If I can get 5, 6, 7, or even more free days in December before/after (or between) my exams, that means two things and two things only: Italy and Greece.

Oh, and in between all my explorations I did actually go to class.