Day two began very early. We had breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room, which was super cute, and Chelsea once more got to speak French. I was grateful for the coffee! We ate pretty fast to get to the Louvre early, before it got too crowded, and we definitely succeeded in that goal. The courtyard was nearly empty so we took a ton of pictures, and then went inside. Chelsea talked to the ticket lady, showed her our Edinburgh IDs, and managed to get us in for free, even though we weren't EU residents... she did a good job of talking to the lady, that is for sure. Pleased as punch, we decided to hit up the Mona Lisa first. This was a good choice, as we got to see it, and then like three seconds later a scary hoard of schoolchildren came in yelling and snapping cameraphone pictures. Hooligans. The Mona Lisa is also a little unimpressive. It's way smaller than you think it will be... but it was still cool anyway.
All in all, Chelsea and I spent a little over 6 hours in the Louvre. We saw everrrything. Highlights included Napoleon III's apartments (so swank) and the moat area... where there was a really weird art installation of like, two russian ladies chopping cabbage (what?). Also very cool: giant column things from an Assyrian(?) palace, and Hammurabi's code. And the awesome collection of Roman glass stuff. And erotic pottery. WOOO CNES classes for teaching me about that. We had tasty but overpriced noms in the museum cafe somewhere in the middle of our exploration of the ridiculously large museum.
After that, we went to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where they have 8 very large Monets. You go into the first room and it is just an oval with huuuuuge mural size Monets surrounding you. The second room is the same setup, different landscaping. They were just breathtaking, and beautiful, and gorgeous, and they make me wish I had a better descriptive vocabulary. I could have sat and looked for hours. We then discovered that the basement had a huuuge collection of other art, featuring a ton of Matisses, which was an especially good bonus. When we got done, we waited outside for a bit until my friend Hannah from the U, who was in Paris as part of her grand adventure across Europe, came to meet us. We went to a cafe and sipped on various coffee/tea/hotchocolate products for a bit, until Chelsea and I had to go back to our hotel to change for dinner. It was really fun to see Hannah, but I wish that we could have spent more time with her!
We put on our fancy clothes, and hopped the metro to Odeon, and then walked to the Rue Racine, where Boullion Racine was our final destination. It was a delightful Art Noveau themed restaurant. They pegged us for American quickly though, as they gave us English rather than French menus. Chelsea was upset, but I was okay with this, seeing that I do not speak any French. We took it as a good sign that nobody else in the whole restaurant was speaking English, and it was pretty crowded. We got a bottle of wine, escargot (because we had to try them!), and pumpkin chestnut soup as an appetizer. The escargot were pretty good, actually. I felt brave for trying them, but it was just like eating shellfish. You slather it in butter and garlic until you don't realize how slimy and gross what you are eating actually is. The soup was fantastic, and we both got duck confit, which was divine. I had a creme brulee for dessert, and it was so rich that I couldn't finish it. Chelsea had a very tasty hazelnut cake. We realized that 1) we were a little drunk after polishing off the bottle of wine and 2) we were by no means awake enough to go out on the town after dinner. So, Chelsea got a hold of her friend Sarah who was studying in France for the year, and we decided to meet at a cafe rather than going to a bar or club. I paid the bill (thanks Mom and Dad!), with a little scare when my card was rejected the first time I scanned it... but in the end it worked. Phew.
We found a cute little cafe (it felt sooo Parisian) and I got tea (the second cheapest menu item), while Chelsea got what turned out to literally be hot milk (the cheapest thing on the menu). Sarah was really fun, and we all sat around and talked until we had to go before the Metro stopped running for the night. We got home and pretty much fell asleep straightaway again. In the morning, we went shopping and bought sweater dresses from a boutique where the shop owner spoke not a lick of English. Chelsea was happy as a clam to have somebody who would talk to her in French without trying to switch to English at all. After that, we checked out of the hotel and took the metro to Trocadero, where there was a really nice view of the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures, and then set off to find a reasonably priced cafe to wait for Sarah to meet us after her class was over. We found a tiny crepe place... i cannot remember the name, sadly, but it was wonderful. We should have gotten the house made cider, but we didn't. The crepes were enough! So, so tasty. Also, there was the cutest little boy, who walked in all by himself, and when his grandma came to meet him, they talked over tea? coffee? and then he paid the bill. SO CUTE. He could not have been more than 7.
Sarah, Chelsea and I had a delightful afternoon at the crepe place, until Chelsea and I decided we had better head to the Porte Maillot, where we would get the bus to the airport. We got there plenty early, and got on an earlier bus than we'd anticipated. Unfortunately, there is really nothing to do at the Beauvais airport for however many hours we were there before our flight. We also didn't realize that there wouldn't really be food for purchase past security. I bought a thing of crispy m&m's behind security when we finally got through, and they sealed them and said I couldn't open them 'til we landed. What the hell is the point of that??? I wanted food THEN not LATER. So, Chelsea and I waited and waited for an announcement that our flight was boarding. It was supposed to be leaving in like 3 minutes, when I realized that people were boarding our plane on the tarmac. The gate we were sitting at was not really a gate ,and the gate for our flight was hidden down a hallway through a secret door, so we dashed onto the plane, and like, ten minutes later we took off. Good thing I looked out the window!!
We were so exhausted and hungry that we pretty much slept the whole way back. We decided we'd go to Karen Wong's when we got back, but we had forgotten to account for the hour train from Prestwick into Glasgow to switch onto a train for Edinburgh. So, we made it back to Edinburgh a little too late to get the Karen Wong fix, so we stopped at Tesco and picked up readymade food. I fell asleep like four seconds after I got home and didn't wake up until late the next day, which I think brings us up to speed.
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
City of Lights- Day 1
Paris is so hyped up in literature, movies, music, everything really. I had in my mind Paris was so overhyped and wasn't actually going to be all that great. I hadn't really planned to go to Paris, but when Chelsea and I decided to go, I have to admit, I was pretty damn jazzed about it. Mainly, I was very excited to go to the Louvre... being a huge museum buff/nerd extraordinaire. When we got on the Eurostar, and emerged from the Chunnel (SO EXCITING), catching our first glimpse of France, I was a little breathless. It was our second sunrise in three days, and let me tell you, readers, sunrise over the French countryside is gorgeous. I was so tired, though, that I couldn't really do anything except poke Chelsea and say "look, pretty."
As we pulled into the terminal, I was incredibly worried that my credit card wouldn't work and I wouldn't be able to pay for our hotel, or the hotel would have lost our reservation, or I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the fancy dinner that my mom and dad sent us to eat for my birthday present (because in my head, my credit card would not work in France). I knew I had to get over it, but sometimes it is really hard for me to relieve anxiety or stop all the thoughts that swirl through my mind. We started off our time in Paris by climbing up the hill to Sacre Couer, a basilica that is the highest point in Paris. It was breathtaking. The sun was shining through the clouds and making rays of light all over the city, sprawled beneath us. But you know, even moments like that can be ruined. By gypsies. Now, I hate to be prejudiced here, but these people will stop at nothing to try and hook you. One lady literally tried to block Chelsea from continuing on the stairs.
Inside Sacre Coeur was beautiful as well, and I've been in a lot of basilicas, so I declare myself a fit judge. From there, we decided to go see the Moulin Rouge, just because it was nearby. That is one hell of a sketchy area. Every store pretty much was a really sleazy looking sex shop. So, basically we saw Moulin Rouge, and then we went to the Metro as quickly as possible to find out how to get to Montparnasse, where our hotel was. We got to the metro, and I had a little difficulty getting tickets. My card didn't work in the machine, which scared the crap out of me. In the end, I used cash and got my ten tickets. The Metro is so cute... it has tires. Awww. So we got off near the Montparnasse cemetery, and looked for famous dead people. We only found a few of the ones we were looking for, but it was so weird how packed the cemetery was. I guess that is what you have to do in a city where space is at a premium, but after the sprawling park-like atmosphere of the cemeteries in Sweden and Denmark, it was especially strange.
By then, it was about time to check into our hotel, so we found it and then waited until our room was ready. Chelsea was absolutely chuffed to be able to speak French to somebody, and we got up to our room, which was about the size of a closet. I had some serious claustrophobia issues with the bathroom, but it didn't really matter because we were only using the room for sleeping, and it was clean. After dropping our bags off, we set out again to accomplish the Hardcore Paris Sightseeing Mission™ (HPSM). I had ostensibly been in charge of picking out what we did in London, but we really left that to wandering about. Chelsea, on the other hand, was super organized and had a plan. The HPSM. We started by walking through the Luxembourg gardens, where apparently my father enjoyed playing with boats in a pond when my grandparents took the kids to France back in the day. I imagine they are much more beautiful in the summer. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a secular monument to France's greatest people. There is an extensive crypt, and we saw Marie Curie's tomb... among MANY others. Including Voltaire! Foucault's Pendulum is in the nave of the basilica. Super amazing physics/science geeking out occurred on my part.
Following that, we walked to Notre Dame. We were so excited when we found out that Notre Dame is free to enter (The Pantheon cost money!), so we went in and walked around. It is exceedingly beautiful. However, this volunteer lady cornered us and kept asking us Bible questions. Chelsea and I didn't really have much ability to answer most of them. Eventually, we managed to make our excuses, thank her, and continue walking through the cathedral. The rose window is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. I have to say that I find it much easier to understand how people follow a religion when their worship takes place in a grand structure. Rather, I guess I understand how the building could inspire so much awe, especially at the time when it was built, as to really add to the whole deity power/mystique thing.
Next on the list was the Champs Elysee. I'm so glad we were there around Christmas, because it was lit up and awesome. The lights were icicle lights, but they were animated so they looked like falling stars. Sublime. The Arc D' Triomphe (did I spell any of that right?) was equally impressive, floodlit and surrounded by about a bazillion lanes of traffic as it was. Behind that, there was another huge Christmas market, and we enjoyed browsing through it on our way to Eiffel Tower. We actually had some trouble getting to the tower, and then from the tower to a metro stop that would help us get home, but first let's talk about the tower. It's actually a little disappointing. Yeah, it was really pretty all lit up at night, but in the day time, it just seems kind of pointless to me. I think the Ferris Wheel was a better World's Fair invention, personally., So, we were trying to get home, and we knew we were walking in the right direction, but we could NOT find the metro anywhere. We were starting to get a little worried, because it seemed like we were in a sketchy area. Eventually, we kept walking and found it, but then walked the wrong way out of the metro station near our hotel and got lost there. After being all turned around, we were SO hungry that we just picked up sandwiches and desserts at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel. They were pretty tasty for being grocery store sandwiches! Yay for French food. We fell asleep FAST.
As we pulled into the terminal, I was incredibly worried that my credit card wouldn't work and I wouldn't be able to pay for our hotel, or the hotel would have lost our reservation, or I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the fancy dinner that my mom and dad sent us to eat for my birthday present (because in my head, my credit card would not work in France). I knew I had to get over it, but sometimes it is really hard for me to relieve anxiety or stop all the thoughts that swirl through my mind. We started off our time in Paris by climbing up the hill to Sacre Couer, a basilica that is the highest point in Paris. It was breathtaking. The sun was shining through the clouds and making rays of light all over the city, sprawled beneath us. But you know, even moments like that can be ruined. By gypsies. Now, I hate to be prejudiced here, but these people will stop at nothing to try and hook you. One lady literally tried to block Chelsea from continuing on the stairs.
Inside Sacre Coeur was beautiful as well, and I've been in a lot of basilicas, so I declare myself a fit judge. From there, we decided to go see the Moulin Rouge, just because it was nearby. That is one hell of a sketchy area. Every store pretty much was a really sleazy looking sex shop. So, basically we saw Moulin Rouge, and then we went to the Metro as quickly as possible to find out how to get to Montparnasse, where our hotel was. We got to the metro, and I had a little difficulty getting tickets. My card didn't work in the machine, which scared the crap out of me. In the end, I used cash and got my ten tickets. The Metro is so cute... it has tires. Awww. So we got off near the Montparnasse cemetery, and looked for famous dead people. We only found a few of the ones we were looking for, but it was so weird how packed the cemetery was. I guess that is what you have to do in a city where space is at a premium, but after the sprawling park-like atmosphere of the cemeteries in Sweden and Denmark, it was especially strange.
By then, it was about time to check into our hotel, so we found it and then waited until our room was ready. Chelsea was absolutely chuffed to be able to speak French to somebody, and we got up to our room, which was about the size of a closet. I had some serious claustrophobia issues with the bathroom, but it didn't really matter because we were only using the room for sleeping, and it was clean. After dropping our bags off, we set out again to accomplish the Hardcore Paris Sightseeing Mission™ (HPSM). I had ostensibly been in charge of picking out what we did in London, but we really left that to wandering about. Chelsea, on the other hand, was super organized and had a plan. The HPSM. We started by walking through the Luxembourg gardens, where apparently my father enjoyed playing with boats in a pond when my grandparents took the kids to France back in the day. I imagine they are much more beautiful in the summer. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a secular monument to France's greatest people. There is an extensive crypt, and we saw Marie Curie's tomb... among MANY others. Including Voltaire! Foucault's Pendulum is in the nave of the basilica. Super amazing physics/science geeking out occurred on my part.
Following that, we walked to Notre Dame. We were so excited when we found out that Notre Dame is free to enter (The Pantheon cost money!), so we went in and walked around. It is exceedingly beautiful. However, this volunteer lady cornered us and kept asking us Bible questions. Chelsea and I didn't really have much ability to answer most of them. Eventually, we managed to make our excuses, thank her, and continue walking through the cathedral. The rose window is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. I have to say that I find it much easier to understand how people follow a religion when their worship takes place in a grand structure. Rather, I guess I understand how the building could inspire so much awe, especially at the time when it was built, as to really add to the whole deity power/mystique thing.
Next on the list was the Champs Elysee. I'm so glad we were there around Christmas, because it was lit up and awesome. The lights were icicle lights, but they were animated so they looked like falling stars. Sublime. The Arc D' Triomphe (did I spell any of that right?) was equally impressive, floodlit and surrounded by about a bazillion lanes of traffic as it was. Behind that, there was another huge Christmas market, and we enjoyed browsing through it on our way to Eiffel Tower. We actually had some trouble getting to the tower, and then from the tower to a metro stop that would help us get home, but first let's talk about the tower. It's actually a little disappointing. Yeah, it was really pretty all lit up at night, but in the day time, it just seems kind of pointless to me. I think the Ferris Wheel was a better World's Fair invention, personally., So, we were trying to get home, and we knew we were walking in the right direction, but we could NOT find the metro anywhere. We were starting to get a little worried, because it seemed like we were in a sketchy area. Eventually, we kept walking and found it, but then walked the wrong way out of the metro station near our hotel and got lost there. After being all turned around, we were SO hungry that we just picked up sandwiches and desserts at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel. They were pretty tasty for being grocery store sandwiches! Yay for French food. We fell asleep FAST.
Friday, November 26, 2010
you can only cover so much territory, of course
Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed by how much goes on in my head. Right now, I'm thinking about storytelling as a mode of cultural presentation and preservation (for my essay), Julia Alvarez's memoir (which I just finished, and which ties in really nicely to the storytelling theme... I might end up using it as a source), how much I need to clean the kitchen (after Thanksgiving dinner, which was so fabulous... I will get to that later!), how nice it was to talk to my family, and how I wish I were with them, how much my grandpa would have loved to hear about my Thanksgiving enterprises, my looming exams and archaeology portfolio, and all of the things I need to do before I leave here (including: booking a hostel in Paris, figuring out when I'll leave Edinburgh for London before I go home, visiting a ton of Historic Scotland sites, going to more ceilidhs, spending as much time as possible with my friends, and probably most dauntingly: cleaning and packing up my room, the mere thought of which sends a shiver down my spine)in less than one month. There is so much that I have planned to do that I probably won't get done, but on the other hand, I have done so many more things that I had never even thought of doing!
I'm so glad to be going home in time for Christmas, okay... well, on Christmas, but I wish that I were going home with the knowledge that I'd be coming back here soon. It took me so long to settle myself and make friends and get involved with anything in Minnesota, but here, I began to feel like I belonged in a circle within four or five weeks of being at the uni. Edinburgh feels like home, except for that one little missing element of family. I know that I will come back sometime, but in my head, something says that it won't be enough to return once or twice on short vacations. Is this the beginning of a dream to move to Scotland? Perhaps it may just be... the whole darkness at 3 pm thing is a little off-putting, though. I think there are enough things to make up for that problem! There is so much to see here, and I feel like I have barely even covered a fourth of the city. I need to get out more often.
When I left home, I was already a little worried about what my first Thanksgiving away from home would be like. Would I have friends with whom I could celebrate? Would I be able to eat a Thanksgiving dinner, or would I be eating a bowl of soup? Well, let me just say that I smashed those fears: last night was the best Thanksgiving that I could possibly have had under the circumstances of the events of last week and being away from my family throughout all of this. I invited a bunch of my friends, both American and non-American, to a Thanksgiving potluck at my flat. I thought about cooking a turkey, but I decided just to go for the turkey breast, because I was pretty sure a turkey would not fit in our tiny oven, plus I have no idea how to cook a turkey. When I talked with them on Skype, Jeff and Matt wouldn't stop making fun of the Vinegar Sauce Incident™, but I assure you all that I made a dry rub for my turkey breast that turned even a non-turkey eater into an eager devourer of poultry (and it contained no vinegar)!
Naturally, I had to skip my afternoon class in order to cook the turkey if we were going to eat at a reasonable hour, so I went to my morning lecture and my morning tutorial- sidenote: this was so sad, because I LOVE the tutorial for Scotland and Orality... our tutor is so much fun, and since there were only four girls in my class, we got the business out of the way and had a generally good time the rest of the tutorial!- and then came home, did a little reading for my essay, and then cleaned and cooked.
Everybody came over, and we somehow managed to all fit around a table. I was sad because a couple of my friends had to bail at the last minute due to essays and sickness, but I felt really good about the whole dinner. I was so happy and so thankful to have so many good friends who could come to celebrate. I even invited a CouchSurfer who was from North Carolina, so I felt especially good that I provided a place for somebody who was traveling alone to come and eat Thanksgiving Dinner! I absolutely love hosting dinner parties, and this was the ultimate in uni halls dinner parties! A few of us had been planning to go to Itchy Feet, which is a once a month club night that features swing, jazz, rockabilly, and ska, and it would have been really fun but nobody was up to it after we stuffed our faces in true Thanksgiving fashion. The meal was wonderful: we had turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, two kinds of rolls, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, stuffing, four pumpkin pies, two apple pies, and one apple crumble... and countless bottles of wine amongst us all. We missed the yams, but it ended up being okay, because there was just SO MUCH FOOD!! I was happy to see friends from different circles getting along (though we noticed the table was almost entirely segregated with one side American and non-American) and everybody having a really good time. We made hand turkeys and wrote things for which we were thankful on the feathers, and then we hung up a bunch of them on the fridge. It was such a good night.
The night before had been the Butler Thanksgiving event, which was at a REALLY swanky restaurant, Ghillie Dhu, which is in New Town, and their banquet hall is pretty much a basilica. It was not Thanksgiving-y food, but there was roasted vegetables, and I had salmon with potato dumplings, and it was fantastic. The dessert was this raspberry shortcake kind of thing. So good. Butler is SO GOOD to us! Next week, we get to go have cupcakes and tea at their offices. mmmmmmm.
Going even further back in time, last weekend, Chelsea and I went to see the Scotland v. South Africa rugby match, on the suggestion of both my friend Emily (who ended up not being able to come, sadly!) and Deirdra and Katherine, two of the Butler program people. I am SO GLAD that we went. It was a really good way to take my mind off of things for a while, plus rugby is way better than American football. They don't really stop playing ever, plus, rugby players are (for the most part) fit beyond belief. We didn't really know what was going on, but we got totally into it and started shouting and stuff. At the beginning, when the team was coming out, they had some serious pyrotechnics, which was fab fab fabbity fab fab! Chelsea and I are pretty sure that we ended up on the stadium cam but we're not entirely sure. The Scots actually, won, which was a totally unexpected outcome, but it was a very good match and so exciting, too! Also, when the Scots got a field goal, they played "Chelsea Dagger," which 1)reminded me of home because of the Blackhawks (woooo) and 2) is Chelsea's theme song, so it was swell. They also played "I'm Gonna Be" so we had to sing along with that as well, and I do love that song!
Anyway, it was really, REALLY cold that day, plus it poured the entire time, so by the time the match was over, we were very ready to go home. I had lost one of my mittens on the bus, which made me really sad for the rest of the day because I love my mittens. I'll have to ask for new ones for Christmas, because the bus company lost and found didn't have my mitten when I asked on Monday. On the way back, we had a little confusion with finding the bus, but eventually we got on, and realized that the fuss with traffic was that a motorcade in which Princess Anne was riding was going past, and guess what? WE TOTALLY SAW HER! Pretty cool!
Moving right back along, two weeks ago, I stayed with my Dad's friend Mark's family for the weekend in Fife. They took me up to Saint Andrews, which was really beautiful (though it made me so glad that I chose Edinburgh... St. Andrews is a pretty small town), and then we went to see Due Date. I hadn't been to the cinema for a while (that's actually a lie; Emily and I had seen The Illusionist, which is a French animated film that takes place in Edinburgh, and was devastatingly gorgeously done) the previous week, but that was an arty film and didn't feel sooo much like going to the cinema, so it was really good to see a funny film. That was the night that I spoke with my grandpa for what turned out to be the last time, and filled him in on the adventures of the day, in addition to speaking to the rest of the family, which was all gathered out there.
The next day, we had breakfast and then went to Dunkeld, which is a very beautiful little town, which I think is in Perthshire. The autumn colors were in full force, and we had lovely food (mmm haggis) and went to see the Dunkeld Cathedral, which has a big ruined nave, which was pretty cool, though it was chilly. I feel privileged to have been able to see so much of Scotland! When we got home, Mark introduced me to the band Status Quo, which is huge in GB, but virtually unheard of in the USA. They were showing a concert on TV, so we watched that, and it was pretty cool. Straight up rock and roll. Dinner was lovely and wonderful (oh how I love when people cook for me!), and after dinner we watched the adorable Ava (their granddaughter) demonstrate her adorableness, until Mark drove me home in his LOTUS ESPRIT! That is one sleek car... and it goes faaaaaaaast. Katherine heard the engine roaring when Mark dropped me off outside. Pretty sweet!!
I haven't written about our adventures on Arran, but that is really the only terribly exciting thing that hasn't been involved in the catch-up. I'll get around to it later, but now I have to get back to my paper, I just needed a bit of a pleasure-writing break. There will be links to pictures and video as soon as I get them all uploaded.
PS it says I published this at 4:30 in the morning... very untrue: it is currently 1:47 pm
I'm so glad to be going home in time for Christmas, okay... well, on Christmas, but I wish that I were going home with the knowledge that I'd be coming back here soon. It took me so long to settle myself and make friends and get involved with anything in Minnesota, but here, I began to feel like I belonged in a circle within four or five weeks of being at the uni. Edinburgh feels like home, except for that one little missing element of family. I know that I will come back sometime, but in my head, something says that it won't be enough to return once or twice on short vacations. Is this the beginning of a dream to move to Scotland? Perhaps it may just be... the whole darkness at 3 pm thing is a little off-putting, though. I think there are enough things to make up for that problem! There is so much to see here, and I feel like I have barely even covered a fourth of the city. I need to get out more often.
When I left home, I was already a little worried about what my first Thanksgiving away from home would be like. Would I have friends with whom I could celebrate? Would I be able to eat a Thanksgiving dinner, or would I be eating a bowl of soup? Well, let me just say that I smashed those fears: last night was the best Thanksgiving that I could possibly have had under the circumstances of the events of last week and being away from my family throughout all of this. I invited a bunch of my friends, both American and non-American, to a Thanksgiving potluck at my flat. I thought about cooking a turkey, but I decided just to go for the turkey breast, because I was pretty sure a turkey would not fit in our tiny oven, plus I have no idea how to cook a turkey. When I talked with them on Skype, Jeff and Matt wouldn't stop making fun of the Vinegar Sauce Incident™, but I assure you all that I made a dry rub for my turkey breast that turned even a non-turkey eater into an eager devourer of poultry (and it contained no vinegar)!
Naturally, I had to skip my afternoon class in order to cook the turkey if we were going to eat at a reasonable hour, so I went to my morning lecture and my morning tutorial- sidenote: this was so sad, because I LOVE the tutorial for Scotland and Orality... our tutor is so much fun, and since there were only four girls in my class, we got the business out of the way and had a generally good time the rest of the tutorial!- and then came home, did a little reading for my essay, and then cleaned and cooked.
Everybody came over, and we somehow managed to all fit around a table. I was sad because a couple of my friends had to bail at the last minute due to essays and sickness, but I felt really good about the whole dinner. I was so happy and so thankful to have so many good friends who could come to celebrate. I even invited a CouchSurfer who was from North Carolina, so I felt especially good that I provided a place for somebody who was traveling alone to come and eat Thanksgiving Dinner! I absolutely love hosting dinner parties, and this was the ultimate in uni halls dinner parties! A few of us had been planning to go to Itchy Feet, which is a once a month club night that features swing, jazz, rockabilly, and ska, and it would have been really fun but nobody was up to it after we stuffed our faces in true Thanksgiving fashion. The meal was wonderful: we had turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, two kinds of rolls, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, stuffing, four pumpkin pies, two apple pies, and one apple crumble... and countless bottles of wine amongst us all. We missed the yams, but it ended up being okay, because there was just SO MUCH FOOD!! I was happy to see friends from different circles getting along (though we noticed the table was almost entirely segregated with one side American and non-American) and everybody having a really good time. We made hand turkeys and wrote things for which we were thankful on the feathers, and then we hung up a bunch of them on the fridge. It was such a good night.
The night before had been the Butler Thanksgiving event, which was at a REALLY swanky restaurant, Ghillie Dhu, which is in New Town, and their banquet hall is pretty much a basilica. It was not Thanksgiving-y food, but there was roasted vegetables, and I had salmon with potato dumplings, and it was fantastic. The dessert was this raspberry shortcake kind of thing. So good. Butler is SO GOOD to us! Next week, we get to go have cupcakes and tea at their offices. mmmmmmm.
Going even further back in time, last weekend, Chelsea and I went to see the Scotland v. South Africa rugby match, on the suggestion of both my friend Emily (who ended up not being able to come, sadly!) and Deirdra and Katherine, two of the Butler program people. I am SO GLAD that we went. It was a really good way to take my mind off of things for a while, plus rugby is way better than American football. They don't really stop playing ever, plus, rugby players are (for the most part) fit beyond belief. We didn't really know what was going on, but we got totally into it and started shouting and stuff. At the beginning, when the team was coming out, they had some serious pyrotechnics, which was fab fab fabbity fab fab! Chelsea and I are pretty sure that we ended up on the stadium cam but we're not entirely sure. The Scots actually, won, which was a totally unexpected outcome, but it was a very good match and so exciting, too! Also, when the Scots got a field goal, they played "Chelsea Dagger," which 1)reminded me of home because of the Blackhawks (woooo) and 2) is Chelsea's theme song, so it was swell. They also played "I'm Gonna Be" so we had to sing along with that as well, and I do love that song!
Anyway, it was really, REALLY cold that day, plus it poured the entire time, so by the time the match was over, we were very ready to go home. I had lost one of my mittens on the bus, which made me really sad for the rest of the day because I love my mittens. I'll have to ask for new ones for Christmas, because the bus company lost and found didn't have my mitten when I asked on Monday. On the way back, we had a little confusion with finding the bus, but eventually we got on, and realized that the fuss with traffic was that a motorcade in which Princess Anne was riding was going past, and guess what? WE TOTALLY SAW HER! Pretty cool!
Moving right back along, two weeks ago, I stayed with my Dad's friend Mark's family for the weekend in Fife. They took me up to Saint Andrews, which was really beautiful (though it made me so glad that I chose Edinburgh... St. Andrews is a pretty small town), and then we went to see Due Date. I hadn't been to the cinema for a while (that's actually a lie; Emily and I had seen The Illusionist, which is a French animated film that takes place in Edinburgh, and was devastatingly gorgeously done) the previous week, but that was an arty film and didn't feel sooo much like going to the cinema, so it was really good to see a funny film. That was the night that I spoke with my grandpa for what turned out to be the last time, and filled him in on the adventures of the day, in addition to speaking to the rest of the family, which was all gathered out there.
The next day, we had breakfast and then went to Dunkeld, which is a very beautiful little town, which I think is in Perthshire. The autumn colors were in full force, and we had lovely food (mmm haggis) and went to see the Dunkeld Cathedral, which has a big ruined nave, which was pretty cool, though it was chilly. I feel privileged to have been able to see so much of Scotland! When we got home, Mark introduced me to the band Status Quo, which is huge in GB, but virtually unheard of in the USA. They were showing a concert on TV, so we watched that, and it was pretty cool. Straight up rock and roll. Dinner was lovely and wonderful (oh how I love when people cook for me!), and after dinner we watched the adorable Ava (their granddaughter) demonstrate her adorableness, until Mark drove me home in his LOTUS ESPRIT! That is one sleek car... and it goes faaaaaaaast. Katherine heard the engine roaring when Mark dropped me off outside. Pretty sweet!!
I haven't written about our adventures on Arran, but that is really the only terribly exciting thing that hasn't been involved in the catch-up. I'll get around to it later, but now I have to get back to my paper, I just needed a bit of a pleasure-writing break. There will be links to pictures and video as soon as I get them all uploaded.
PS it says I published this at 4:30 in the morning... very untrue: it is currently 1:47 pm
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