Burn's Night

Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sov'reign pow'rs:
From marking wildly scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the lingering hours,
I shelter in they honour'd shade.

-Robert Burns

As some of you know, Monday was Robert Burns' Night, celebrated with poetry, haggis, and whisky the world over. The bit of poetry above is from Burns' Address to Edinburgh
First of all, how funny is it that he refers to Edinburgh as Edina? Let's all take a moment and compare Edina, MN and Edinburgh, UK. Different. But I digress. There were several ceilidhs (pronounced kay-lees) around campus, but we decided to not attend. None of us were feeling like going to a big event and the Whisky Society is hosting a Burns ceilidh this upcoming Sunday, so nothing lost. A friend and I did, however, go to Sandy Bell's to have a dram in the dear poet's honor and to hear some live folk music (be sure to check out the link). This pub has quite the reputation for being an excellent place to hear live sessions, and it certainly lived up to that reputation. The pub itself was pretty small and the session very informal. It seemed like a group of friends who just gathered there several nights a week and played whatever they felt like. Unfortunately my friend and I were seated kind of around the corner from the group, so we didn't really get to watch them, but the sounded great. At one point a man began to sing a ballad type song (reminiscent of Archie Fisher) with little to no accompaniment. As he sang, the whole pub became quiet save a woman seated at the bar who was softly singing harmony. It was like something straight out of a movie, and it was absolutely beautiful.

St Andrews

I was lucky enough (after standing in line for an hour) to get a ticket for the day trip to St. Andrews this past Saturday. We left on a cold, rainy morning for what would turn out to be an even colder, rainier day. Though we wouldn't have minded some sun, my fellow travelers and I agreed it almost seemed more fitting to tour the Scottish countryside in the mist and rain. Regardless of the weather, St. Andrews was beautiful - lots of gorgeous, mossy ruins to explore (though many required payment to explore the inside, which we opted out of), stony beaches, and of course the...ahem...Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews:

We spent the first part of the day wandering the ruins of the cathedral and the kirkyard. True to my upbringing, I took many pictures of interesting gravestones, which you can see in the full album.




After that we headed to take a quick look at the golf course, saw some rich men playing golf, as well as the beaches across the road where the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire was filmed. (It was wrongly credited in the film, but now you know - that beach is in St Andrews) We then moved on to the very quaint city museum, housed in an old estate, and then onto lunch, one of my favorite parts of any trip. After resting our feet and satisfying our grumbling bellies, we continued on to poke around the castle and some more beaches. For the rest of the afternoon we simply walked around the city (which is tiny), ducking into little shops and laughing at all the silly golf clothes for sale.All in all it was really nice to get out the city and see other parts of Scotland. Hopefully I'll get to do much more of that soon, although I think I'm going to have to wait for spring to head up north. You can see the rest of my pictures from the trip here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145423&id=500102627&l=ee3b42518f

Foodstuffs: cont'd

A quick Scottish culinary update - I've checked Smoky Bacon off of my crisps flavors to try. They actually tasted just like bacon, which is both delicious and a little alarming all at the same time. Theoretically I should adore these chips since they combine two of my loves: bacon and potatoes. Still, meat-flavored potato chips are just such a new frontier, it might take some getting used to. When purchasing these, I chose to forgo the Prawn Cocktail flavor. No thank you...The one I want to try next is Worcestershire Sauce, I anticipate great things.

I also had my first sausages and mash this evening. John, they were in fact listed as sausages and mash, not bangers. Whatever you want to call them, they were delicious. Four little links of tender, flavorful sausage atop lots of creamy mashed potatoes with plenty of dark gravy. Yum yum yum. We ate a pub just down the road from our flat tonight. Judging by my meal and the looks of the dishes of my compatriots, we will definitely be returning.

p.s. The beer pictured is Tenets, what seems to be a pretty common Scottish ale. Quite tasty though. One of those glasses was the pint I drank in honor of Dad and John's birthdays. Cheers!

Foodstuffs

The other day while talking to John and Hannah they asked me if I had tried any of the bizarre flavors of crisps here or the digestive biscuits. I had not - until today. Due to the curiosity of those back home and my penchant for snacking/eating in general, I've decided to devote occasional posts to my exploits involving food here.

Number 1: The crisps. I was aware of the many different flavors of crisps (many of them meat-based) but had not yet sampled them. The grocery store was really crazy today, so I didn't have time to closely examine the offerings and weigh my options. I quickly grabbed two bags that were on sale, Mature Cheddar and Red Onion and Salt and Vinegar. Neither terribly exciting, in fact I'm pretty sure they sell this brand in America. But hey, I've got to start somewhere, right? I've seen quite a few cheddar and onion varieties about, so it seems they're quite popular, and for good reason. I found them to be quite tasty. The flavors subtle, but still interesting. Neither too cheesy nor too onion-y.


Number 2: Nutella. Now obviously we have Nutella at home, but the jar it comes in here struck me as much more aesthetically pleasing. It's also glass, which means it will probably be recycled as a drinking glass once it's delicious contents are emptied. Also, one of the American's who lived here last term left a recipe for Nutella hot chocolate. mmmm...



Number 3: The infamous digestive biscuits. To be honest, I was a bit perplexed by this concept. They always looked tasty enough, but I've never really associated digestion aids with dessert. John and Hannah told me to try this kind specifically. They were very good and, as you can see, full of "wheat & wholemeal goodness". They pretty much tasted like what they are, some kind of oat or wheat cookie with chocolate on top. For those of you interested in texture, they were softer, not mushy but certainly not crunchy.



This last picture is of nothing remarkable food-wise, but I was playing with my new-ish camera while eating a grilled cheese for lunch and thought this one came out quite nice looking. Take it for what you will.

One week and counting

I have survived my first week! Not only that, but I managed to have some fun as well. I must admit, amid all the stress and preparations of getting here and settled, I had sort of forgotten about homework. Alas, that part of my life has begun again, and how. We started translating a speech by Lysias in Greek and have been reading some medieval texts in Literature, parts of which may as well be in Greek since they're written in Old Scots. oof.

To the right is a picture I caught tonight of the moon outside my window. It was a gorgeous sunny day today and rather felt like springtime. Though I fear I've been lulled into a false sense of security weather-wise, it's certainly nicer than being in Minnesota right now. Really anything would be nicer than Minnesota this time of year. It really hasn't rained very much here, and when it has it's been very light. After the shocking cold snap at the beginning of last week, the weather has returned to what seems like normal for Scotland in January. It's been right under 40F the last couple days, which feels quite warm, but then there's the wind. Oh my goodness the wind. I've never experienced anything like it. It just cuts right through to your very bones. And I've given up on my hair looking presentable once I've ventured outside. Luckily the untamed look seems to be in style here.

Here are a couple of other pictures. The first is the Bedlam Theater, where many student productions are put on, and the second is the courtyard in George's Square, the area of campus where my classes are.

The grass is so green here! You can see what I mean about it looking like springtime.

I also got to experience some of the nightlife here during my first weekend and went out to a pub or two with some new friends. Nothing too wild though (don't worry mom). I also got to taste my first fish and chips on the way home Friday night. Scrumptious. This weekend (if I can get a ticket) I'm hoping to go on a day trip with the International Student Centre to St. Andrews. If I do get go, I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share. Also, if the weather's nice, one of my flatmates and I made tentative plans to climb Arthur's Seat. We'll see if that actually happens...

Well I'm off to bed now. I've got my first Greek quiz tomorrow. The first quiz with a new professor is always a little nerve wracking, let alone one in Greek, so wish me luck!

A Castle and Some Chickens

Yesterday evening a couple friends and I walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. I got a few pictures of it lit up at night. We're planning to go back Friday afternoon and explore inside, so hopefully I'll have some picture to put up afterward. It certainly was beautiful and I can't wait to see more of it.

I've been able to settle into my room a little bit more the past few days. It's starting to feel a bit homier. It also helps that I finally did a big grocery shopping trip and now have happy, full cabinets. I made a very exciting discovery the other day when I was looking out onto the courtyard behind my building. There are CHICKENS living there! I made more sense once I looked at the map and realized the buildings behind me are Veterinary Science buildings. There were three of them (all very lovely) trekking about in the snow this afternoon. It was a very grand looking chicken expedition.

Well I'm going to try and get some reading done and scrounge up some supper. A little bit later a friend of mine from Macalester and I are going to check out The Water of Life Society, a student club devoted to learning about and sampling different kinds of whisky (they spell it without the 'e' here) from all over Scotland. After all, when in Rome...

p.s.

The fire alarm went off again tonight. awesome.