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Closure

I might still be in a little bit of denial that my semester abroad is over, despite the fact that I'm sitting back in my room at home, in 75 degree weather, staring at my suitcases that (unfortunately) won't magically unpack themselves. Who knew four months could go by so quickly? It didn't feel like it, especially during those long hours writing essays, or reading the 500 page books I was assigned. But suddenly it was December, I was traveling around Europe, and then finals came and went, and now I'm home. During my 24 hour journey (yep, you heard that right, it was almost exactly 24 hours from taking off in Edinburgh to landing in Honolulu) back home, I had time to process the fact that I was leaving Edinburgh. I'm so glad and grateful for all of the experiences I had this semester, the friends I've met, and everything I learned (both in and out of classes). I can't believe I did so much in one short semester.

Edinburgh is an amazing city, and I highly recommend it to anyone, whether they are going on a vacation or looking to study abroad. It has such a rich and intriguing history, a wonderful atmosphere, and everywhere you look is bound to be beautiful. You've got stone buildings from the 1600's, multiple hills to climb for great aerial views of the city, cafés galore for your daily afternoon scone and tea, little bookshops crammed floor to ceiling with worn copies of well-loved books. There's a little something for everyone, and I certainly found so much that I loved. So thank you, Edinburgh, for being a great place to spend a semester. I'm ready to celebrate Christmas at home and head back to Brown, but this semester was everything I hoped it would be and it was totally worth it. I may have gone broke buying one too many scones and cakes, splurging on chocolate in every country I visited, trying to eat all the food at the Christmas Market, and "popping into" Primark one too many times... Edinburgh is an amazing place, and I hope to return again someday. 

Since I've already posted quite a few photos of the city and my explorations, here's a collection of photos from the Edinburgh Christmas Market, which I visited twice in my last few weeks there. It's their version of the famous German Christmas Markets, complete with food stands (selling pretzels and bratwurst of course), chocolate, glühwein, ice skating rinks, a ferris wheel, double decker carousel, and Christmas tree maze. My friends and I had a good time ice skating, riding the ferris wheel to get nighttime views of the city, and of course, eating. It's the epitome of why Edinburgh is one of the best cities in my (biased) opinion. 

Until next time, Edinburgh. <3

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(Another) City of Canals

And with that, I'm done with everything I've planned for this semester. I think returning from Amsterdam this Tuesday really ended everything for me. Now all I have left is to say goodbyes (some of which I've already done), pack, and then fly home. Everything I've looked forward to about my semester abroad has officially ended, though I probably won't get a final sense of closure until my plane is taking off above the Forth Rail Bridge and I get my last glimpses of this city that was home for four months. Amsterdam was a great location to finish off my crazy month of trips; it's such a beautiful city with great food. I'm currently surrounded by vacuum seal space bags and piles of clothes, attempting to fit everything I brought with me plus all the new things I acquired into my suitcases, so this post is going to be a little sparse on detail, but I figured I should write while the trip is still on my mind. And who am I kidding, I don't know how to be concise so it might be a full blog post anyway. 

We spent most of our first day in Amsterdam just exploring the city. Much like Venice (and all of the other cities I've visited for that matter), it's great to just walk down the streets, the little cobblestoned alleyways that connect them, on the pathways along the water, and just absorb the city. We rented bikes from our hostel so that we could get around more easily; Amsterdam is a really bike friendly city and it was a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time. We got to bike all through the neighborhoods and along the canals, stopping for pictures and of course a snack break. We continued the bike exploration the next morning as well, riding into the Jordaan neighborhood to see the Westermarkt (a big open air flea market), riding around the northern side of the city, then finishing up our time with the bikes by doing a lap around Vondelpark. It was a little rainy, but totally still worth it! 

Another great way to see the city was the canal boat trip we took. It was an hour long ride around some of the main canals that divide up the neighborhoods of Amsterdam, and it was unique to see the city from the water. It was something I didn't get to do in Venice because of time (and budget) constraints, so I'm glad we got to do it in Amsterdam. It was really peaceful as we were one of two pairs on the boat, so we weren't surrounded by tons of tourists. 

On that second day of our trip, we went to the Willet-Holthuysen Canal House Museum, which is an old canal house (the giant, iconic homes that line some of the main canals) that has been restored to it's 19th century glory. Its most recent inhabitants were a wealthy couple, and the museum documents their lifestyle and decor. It was a cool look into how the rich of Amsterdam lived in the 1800s, the amount of detailing and opulence that went into what looked like a simple canal house on the outside was quite amazing. They even had a perfectly sculpted garden hiding behind the house. 

We also visited the Anne Frank House, which is a museum and exhibition dedicated to Anne Frank and her family, who went into hiding in this very house during the German invasion of the Netherlands during WWII. Despite the large number of books I've read over the years for literature classes that are set during WWII, I've never actually read The Diary of Anne Frank, so I went in knowing only the basics of her situation. It was incredible to see how her father came up with a plan to hide in a back annexe of his company's warehouse, which wasn't visible to the street or neighbors, or even those working in the warehouse. I didn't realize that she'd gone into hiding with her entire family, as well as another Jewish family who knew her father. I also hadn't known that she was an aspiring writer, and had actually hoped to get her story of their 'Secret Annexe' published after the war. It was inspiring, sad, and thought-provoking to see, especially the videos made by her fathers' business partners who helped hide them, and who survived the war. Her father was the only one who survived, and went on to publish her diary, something I hadn't known either. I especially liked the quote that was presented at the end of the exhibition, said by Emma Thompson in a speech about Anne Frank: "All of her would-haves are our possibilities." It's incredible to see the impact Anne Frank and this exhibition have had on people all over the world.  And I think that message resonates with me especially in light of all the traveling I've been doing and experiences I've been gaining. It's part of the reason I sprung for this additional trip I wasn't planning on making. Because you have to live, when given the opportunity. I don't have any photos to share, as no photography was allowed, but here are a few more pictures of Amsterdam's canals.

We took a half day trip into the countryside of Holland, taking a 40 minute bus ride to the fishing village of Marken. We were hoping to get a change of pace from Amsterdam, and we definitely got it. Grassy pastures, adorable homes, fishing boats perched picturesquely in a harbor: it was a different part of the Netherlands from Amsterdam for sure. The only problem? We were tourists in a tiny fishing village in the middle of December. Literally no other tourists were there (despite the popularity of the town that was claimed in our brochures on Waterland) and the town was pretty much shut down for the winter. So we ended up just wandering around and exploring for an hour or two before returning to Amsterdam. No windmills, but we did walk out to a lighthouse, get into a staring contest with some sheep, and see the North Sea. 

Other highlights included seeing the iconic I Amsterdam sign (and fighting the other picture-takers for the prime photos in front of it), going to the Van Gogh museum (artwork I actually enjoyed looking at for an extended period of time), going to see one of the last working windmills in the city (even though it was a half hour tram ride to get there), and seeing the Royal Palace, the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Centraal (the train station) which are three of the most beautiful buildings in the city. 

And of course, there was the food. Amsterdam has some great food, despite me not knowing what dutch food really was before getting there. While we didn't get our hands on bitterballen (best description for them is probably meatball croquettes), we did try a bunch of other things. We ate dinner in a traditional dutch restaurant the first night, and I had Stamppot, a dish that includes smoked sausage and mashed potatoes with kale. Really tasty! We also tried a lot of Dutch street food, including waffles (possibly technically Belgian), Apple Beignets, and Olieballen (balls of fried dough, I'm telling you, every culture has them). I also got the most delicious Poffertjes (Dutch mini pancakes) ever, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. I'd had them at the street fair in Glasgow a while back, but these were definitely very authentic feeling (obviously) and better because whipped cream makes everything better. We also ended up eating quite a bit of Italian food while there, because it was everywhere. I just can't escape it - every European city I go to, I always end up eating Italian. 

Thanks Amsterdam, for a great weekend. I'm glad my friend Sierra invited me to come along with her and that I was able to go! It was a great way to round out my study abroad experience and to celebrate being done with exams. Now, to cherish my little time left in Edinburgh (by packing...) before I head home for the holidays! 

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All Things Swiss

And so comes the promised post about my Switzerland trip! It was the longest trip I've taken thus far, and the most relaxing, which was really great. I went to go visit my roommate from Brown, who is studying at the University of Fribourg this semester. It was SO NICE to see her again, after almost 6 months of not seeing her, the longest we've been apart since we were assigned as roommates freshman year. I know I make that sound dramatic, but you know me. Fribourg is about an hour and a half train ride Northeast of Geneva, in the French and German speaking part of Switzerland. That meant that I got to take a gorgeous train ride around Lake Geneva (I didn't get to take many pictures though, unfortunately, so my mental images will have to suffice) and practice my French. Fortunately, Sophia speaks about a million languages (exaggeration, but she does speak French and German) so she was able to get me around once I met up with her in Fribourg.

I think by this point in the semester, we were both pretty exhausted, and we both had finals coming up, so we took it easy. Fribourg is a pretty small city, and traveling around Switzerland is pretty expensive (correction: everything in Switzerland is expensive) so we spent a lot of time just hanging out and catching up. We did get out to do some really cool things though! We made a trip to the Cailler Chocolate factory, about an hour's train ride away, one of the highlights of the weekend. How could I say no to the prospect of an unlimited chocolate tasting at the end of the factory tour? Yep, you heard me right. It was heaven. The entire factory smelled like chocolate, and surprisingly, the tour wasn't even that expensive - it might even have been the cheapest thing I did there! We got an interactive experience on the history of chocolate, then got to see how Cailler specifically makes their chocolate, and got to peek into some of the production rooms. Then, at the end, there was the tasting, a long line of tables displaying their most famous chocolates. It was a bit of an overload if I'm being honest, but there was no way I walking away without trying almost every flavor. Cailler was one of the first chocolate companies to produce milk chocolate, dating back to the 1800s. They're now owned by Nestlé, interestingly enough. I can't emphasize how much better Swiss chocolate is than any other chocolate I've had. Especially in comparison to American chocolate. But you probably don't want to hear me go on and on about chocolate forever, so here are a few snapshots of the factory.

I also got to experience a fondue dinner. Sophia's study abroad program dinner had the six people in her program over for dinner, and I was invited along since I was visiting. I got to try homemade fondue from a proper Swiss kitchen, which was an awesomely unique experience. I've never had cheese fondue before--and I learned that chocolate fondue isn't really a Swiss thing--and it is so good. Our meal was garlic themed, which involved garlicky cheese, and dipping garlic bread into it. A traditional fondue meal does not include vegetables, it is just bread and potatoes that you dip into cheese. Carb and dairy overload much? The whole trip was basically just carbs with dairy with some more carbs and the occasional fruit or meat thrown in. I don't know how the Swiss do it. I had to limit my cheese intake, but I thoroughly enjoyed the fondue and company. 

The weekend I was visiting coincided with the Fête de Saint Nicholas in Fribourg. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of the city, (we're still trying to figure out if he's related to St. Nick), and so every December the city has a celebration to honor him. It involves a Marché du Noël (Christmas market), parade in which St. Nicholas rides through the city center on a donkey, and the speech of St. Nicholas from the cathedral in which he does a recap of the year. It was an interesting tradition to witness despite the freezing cold temperatures that night. 

On my final day in the city, we walked around pretty much the entirety of the city. The city is built in a series of small valleys/gorges that were carved out by glaciers and the river that flows through the city, and so there are quite a few bridges that connect the parts of the town. I love bridges, and the cute little Swiss buildings so this was a great photography opportunity for me. I got to see the covered bridge, and Sophia and her friend discovered a walk they'd been wanting to explore - it took us up a hillside on one side of the city, from which we had panoramic views of the whole area. It was beautiful, despite the cloudy sky. We then went for a short walk in the woods along the hillside, popping back out on the other side of the city. There's definitely a lot to be said for just getting to explore a place and get a feel of it - it's not always about hitting the museums and doing guided tours. 

And of course, my post wouldn't be complete without additional food pictures. Sophia took me to a traditional Swiss restaurant one day for lunch, where I tried Saucisson du Porc avec Rösti, basically sausage in an onion brown gravy with rösti, a traditional Swiss food that reminds me a lot of hash browns. The first night I was there, we got gelato from Sophia's favorite shop, and it was delicious! I tried Ovomaltine, which was basically Ovaltine (Chocolate malt) flavored gelato. Yum! On my last night, we went to the hilariously named (and logo-ed) Asian restaurant Mike Wong's. Notice the logo appropriation going on? I would go to Switzerland and end up eating Chinese food... Oh well. 

Another great trip, come and gone. Just one more left before I journey home... time has definitely flown by. Sophia, if you're reading this, thanks for an amazing weekend! I appreciate the hospitality, your generosity, and of course, your company. I'm so glad we even got to watch Love Actually together just in time for the holiday season! <3 See you in January! 

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Now it's Officially Christmas

Well, that’s it, I’m now done for the semester. After a stressful week of cram-studying for my final on Wednesday and then writing two ~10 page essays in four days, I’m finished with all my academics for the semester. I’m sitting in a Starbucks next to campus treating myself to a Honey & Almond Hot Chocolate, a seasonal flavor they don’t have in the States. It’s so strange to think that in one week I’ll be headed back home. This Starbucks is right next to the Marriott where my parents and I stayed when we first got to this city and it almost feels weirdly fitting that I’m closing out my semester in the same place I started. I like that idea of closure. I still have a week left to enjoy in Edinburgh and Europe, so this isn’t going to be my final post, and I still have to blog about Switzerland, as well as how Christmassy this city has gotten in the last month. This is just my I can’t believe I’m done with my work for the semester post. I knew this day was coming, and I knew it was going to feel like this, it’s just always strange to be at that point you’ve been thinking about for a while. It felt a bit anticlimactic just dropping my essays into a box and being done all of a sudden, but I guess finishing a semester is never as monumental as I think it’s going to be. I thought it might feel more different this time around, being in a different country at a different school and all, but it’s pretty much the same. I’m so glad I can finally relax, that’s always a great relief. I think once it starts to really hit me that I’m leaving this city, the friends I’ve made, and this school I’ve just started to get a little used to, I’ll be a bit more sad. But for now, all I feel is one big HOORAY that exams are over. 

This photo seemed fitting to go with a post about finishing essays. It's a mural in the English building with quotes about Scotland by famous Scottish authors. Considering I finished two essays that covered four different Scottish authors (Robert Burns, Thomas Carlyle, Ian Rankin, and Iain Banks), this seemed appropriate. 

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Writing Essays Means Stress-Eating Chocolate

What happens when you return from a trip to Switzerland and go straight into a week of studying for an exam and writing two take home exam essays? You spend all week staring at a computer screen and scribbling on folder paper while stress eating all the chocolate you bought in Switzerland. That's probably an exaggeration of my current situation, but that gives you the gist of it. I just had my first exam today (didn't go too badly I think, but I really can't judge anything about how they grade here, it's so weird), and have two essays due on Friday. Then I'm done. That's so crazy. It feels like I was just starting my classes and being overwhelmed by the insane amounts of reading on the syllabus. For the record, I'm still overwhelmed by the amount of reading, but 1. it's too late to do anything about that at this point, and 2. I think I did just enough to write my final essays without too much struggle. It's so strange to think that in less than 48 hours I will be done with the academic portion of my semester at the University of Edinburgh. After that, one last trip, then some last minute Christmas shopping here, the gigantic struggle that will be packing, and then I fly home! I will admit that as amazing as this city is, I'm cold and I'm tired of doing work, and I'm so ready for warmth, family, friends, and the beach. Today, it simultaneously rained and snowed, then 30 minutes later, it was sunny. I'm not really sure what kind of game Edinburgh's weather is playing, but I haven't enjoyed it for the past two days. I'm still fighting that battle with my room heater too. It's kind of hard to concentrate on exam essays when you're under four layers on your bed trying to keep warm. I'll be back soon to write about my trip to Switzerland, as this is just a procrastination post as I recover from my wind-chilled walk back to my building. I need to stop avoiding my essays... 

The wall of chocolate bars at the Cailler Chocolate Factory... just a preview of my forthcoming Switzerland post, and to give you an idea of where all my stress-relieving chocolate came from. 

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Canals, Croissants, and Chocolate

Even though it feels like I was just getting back from London and going through my last week of classes, I'm now back from my second trip and preparing for my third. I was probably a bit ambitious about all of these trips, but I think in the end it's definitely worth it. My second trip was to Italy to visit my friend Lauren, who's studying abroad in Florence. We met up in Venice for two days, then I spent one day in Florence with her before heading back to Edinburgh. It was a really fast turnaround because of how the flights and our schedules worked out, but I'm glad I got to go! Italy is an incredible country. It was my first time traveling by myself internationally, and my first time to Italy, and I'm happy it all miraculously worked out. Especially because I didn't even have a direct flight there. But you don't want to hear about the logistics.

Venice is an incredible city, full of mystery and charm stemming from its "floating" nature, twisting streets, and numerous canals. A series of islands separated by small to large canals, it is a city built on wooden posts and platforms, that have been preserved into strong structures by virtue of being underwater. Venice has been on my list of "to-see" places for a long time, and even though I only had about 48 hours there, just being present in a place like that was enough. I'd love to go back some day, but spending so much time traveling has reminded me of the thousands of other places in the world I'd love to see as well. There's just not enough time. Because our visit was so short, Lauren and I spent most of our time wandering, just to explore and experience the city. Thank goodness for mapping software and international phone plans, otherwise it would have been all too easy to get lost. Some alleys ended in nothing, others ended in squares ("campo") that didn't continue on to anything else, and sometimes the walkway would just end at the canal, with no bridge available to cross it. It kept us on our toes (literally - my feet are definitely so tired) and added to our sense of adventure. The thousands of bridges spanning the small canals, the larger canals, and the grand canal, are all gorgeous in their own ways. Wandering was definitely the best place to see so many parts of the city. We'd end up in the smaller neighborhoods to see the less crowded but still impressive sights, but we'd also follow the crowds of tourists and find our way to the Piazza San Marco, the Rialto Bridge, and the Strada Nova. I really enjoyed just experiencing everything and not being in a rush to see museums, do tours, etc. 

We did a lot of eating, as well, because what else are you going to do when in Italy? I love pasta, pizza, bread, pastries, and gelato, and luckily for me, these were all in abundance. Every few blocks there was another gelato shop, and since Lauren has been in Italy for a few months, she knew how to tell which ones were going to be the best. We had gelato both days in Venice, and it was so worth it. I tried Chocolate hazelnut for my first cone, right after we met up at the train station (we definitely didn't waste any time). Then the second day, we went to GROM, a famous gelato shop that actually has stores in the US too. It was incredible!! I got Crema di Grom, which reminded me of Baskin Robbin's gold medal ribbon in flavor, and Cioccolato. It came with a giant dollop of fresh cream as well. Gelato heaven. We also treated ourselves to a fancy pasta dinner our first night, spending way too much money on it, but it was so worth it. The restaurant was called Osteria Ae Sconte, and I had a crab and cherry tomato tagliolini (pasta that looked a lot like linguine). It was the most delicious pasta ever - perfectly warm, with the right combination of flavors. Simple, but amazing. Lauren had a seafood linguine. We had amazing croissants for breakfast the next morning as well, then had some sort of veggie pizza for lunch. All of it was amazing and I could probably eat Italian food forever. 

We took the train to Florence at the end of our second day in Venice, and had the next day for Lauren to show me some of her favorite sights. I finally got my gnocchi that night in Florence, from a restaurant that had amazing bread to dip in a balsamic vinegar-like sauce. It was so tasty! We also got to see the Duomo, Florence's major must-see, lit up at night. The next day, we did a quick tour of all of the sights. We started out with hot chocolate and croissants at Venchi, a famous chocolate shop. I felt like I was drinking liquid chocolate, and though it was a bit rich for breakfast, it was so delicious. It makes up a little for the fact that our original choice of place for hot chocolate, Caffé Rivoire, wasn't open. Lauren then showed me Palazzo Vecchio, one of the Medici palaces, and we walked around briefly inside. Then we walked over to see Ponte Vecchio, a bridge over the river that runs through the city. We then ventured slightly farther, to Piazzale Michelangelo, a hilly point just outside the city center, from which you can get panorama views of the city. It was a great way to see the city - we all know I love some aerial views of cities - and I'm so glad that's what we spent our time doing. We ended with lunch at the Mercato Centrale, a giant market in the center of the city. Then I had to head out for the airport.

Even though it was short, and I didn't do any in depth exploring, it was a great experience to see these two cities. I know that traveling isn't just about ticking off boxes, just seeing the sights and getting pictures of them. I would have loved to spend more time in both places, learning more about the history of Venice and the Venetian community, getting to eat in little authentic places, taking a Gondola ride, venturing to the island of Murano to visit the glass-blowing shops, going up to the top of the Duomo in Florence, seeing the museum in Palazzo Vecchio, and more. But it's hard to manage long trips while studying abroad, and so I'm glad for the time I had. The act of exploration was a great way to immerse myself in the cities, even if I was only doing the traditional touristy things. But, there's a reason those areas are touristy, so there's still value in seeing them. Maybe I will eventually get back to these places and get to really explore, but for now, I'm happy I got to spend time with one of my close friends in two really great cities. A weekend is never enough, but anything is a learning and awe-inspiring experience if you make it one. 

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Hogwarts Will Always Be There to Welcome You Home

Making a trip to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour in London was possibly the best decision I've ever made. It was a magical 3 or 4 hours in which I got to see the incredible work that went into making the Harry Potter movies. It was not cheap, and I do wish I'd had more time to enjoy it (I had to make it back into the city to catch my train back to Edinburgh so I had a time limit), but completely totally worth it. If you don't know what it is, WB has basically turned the studios they used to film the Harry Potter movies into a big exhibition where fans can take a tour of some of the sets used in the films and learn about the production of the 8 movies, from costume designs, set designs, special effects, and more. I'm so happy I got to do it, even if I went alone because of the timing. It meant I had an excuse to get an audio guide and have Tom Felton's voice explain everything to me. 

The tour started in the full set of the Great Hall that was used in filming. It was decorated for Christmas (one of the major reasons I wanted to go at this time of year), complete with decked-out Christmas trees, the Christmas feast (with all the resin food and props they used for the feasts in the movies), wreaths, and fires burning in the fireplaces (they used lit up steam to get the effect without the fire hazard). It was amazing to see it in person, and that was the first point at which I realized just how much detail went into these sets. Then came an exhibit on the costume design, featuring a lot of the costumes actually used on set. I walked along in awe as my guide explained how the designers worked from the books and how there were multiples of each outfit. 

After that, it was an hour or two of just wandering around the giant warehouse that was filled with various sets from the movies. There were the Hogwarts gates, the Gryffindor common room (pictured above, decorated for Christmas and featuring some of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's costumes), Dumbledore's office entrance and the office itself (pictured above with one of his outfits), the potions classroom (which was one of the most impressive, in the picture you can see all the bottles lining the walls - there are over 1000 of them in total for the set, and they were all sourced by set designers to be as realistic and creative as possible), the kitchen of the Burrow, a wall of portraits that lined the walls of Hogwarts, one of the staircases, the Deatheater's meeting room from the beginning of the 5th movie, Umbridge's Office, the wall of offices from the Ministry of Magic, and the wall of fireplaces from the Ministry of Magic. There were also collections of props from things like the astronomy tower, various classrooms around Hogwarts, etc. It was INCREDIBLE and words really can't describe my awe at seeing all of these sets. There were so many little details that the designers did not leave behind, and the lengths that they went to get realistic-looking materials were impressive. Godric Gryffindor's sword that's in Dumbledore's office was actually an actual sword that they found at an antique sale (if I remember correctly), to which they added a new handle. The cat plates in Umbridge's office all came from a cat photoshoot they did of cats in different scenes, in order to get realistic looking images for the plates. There's so much more but you get the idea. It must have been an astounding project to work on, and now I need to go back and watch all the movies again to see these details with a new eye for appreciation. 

There was also a special effects section that had the apparatuses for Hagrid's motorcycle, the Gringotts cart, and the broomsticks, placed against a green screen. A video explained how they filmed flying, quidditch, etc. scenes using green screen effects. It also explained what CGI was used for in the movies, and what was actual set/props/action. This was visited again in a later part of the tour, when we got to see all the different animatronic creatures used in the movies. Many of the creatures in the movies were actually animatronic, not CGI, so that the actors had something to respond to, or so that additional CGI could be modeled around the existing creatures. Buckbeak (pictured above), the basilisk had, Hagrid's head, Aragog, some of the dragons, Hedwig, Scabbers, and more were all animatronics - an incredible feat of engineering and design if you ask me. Speaking of creatures, there was a whole board dedicated to all of the animal actors used to portray Crookshanks, Fang, Mrs. Norris, Hedwig, and more. So many aspects they had to plan for! 

On the backlot part of the tour, I got to see the Hogwarts bridge (and walk through it!) featured in many of the movies, take a "ride" on the Knight Bus (which was built from an existing double decker bus with another deck added on top), try some butterbeer (not as good as I thought it would be), see Number Four Privet Drive, and see the Potters' home. There was also a lineup of a bunch of the giant chess pieces from the first movie. 

Walking down the full set of Diagon Alley (pictured above) was one of the best parts of the tour. Again, the amount of detail in this set was just amazing. All of the windows were filled with trinkets and products, all carefully crafted to fit specifications from the books or set designers' guided imaginations. The street was realistically cobbled, they had a little machine on display that they used to make footprints in the fake snow for winter scenes, and the lighting kept changing for ambiance. I felt like I was actually walking down Diagon Alley, doing my shopping for a year at Hogwarts. With sets as realistic as these, I can imagine it must have been so fun and exhilarating to act out the scenes. 

The best part though, was seeing the model of Hogwarts Castle. For Christmas, it was covered in a layer of fake snow, which only made it even more gorgeous. I was in this room for a good half an hour, just circling the model and taking pictures of it because it is so incredible. They made this scaled model in order to film outside aerial shots of the castle for "flyover" scenes or wide angle/background type shots. It was more realistic than using CGI to do the entire castle. You can see how big it is in comparison to me in the last picture. Once again, the sheer amount of detail in the castle just blew me away. Every stone, every window, the trees in the back of the castle, the lake at the bottom of that valley, just everything was so immaculate. I may have gotten a little emotional at this point, just because of how impressive this was. The Harry Potter books were a huge part of my adolescence, and I've been a Harry Potter nerd through and through for a long time. Seeing the amount of love, hard work, and detail that went into these movies, hearing the cast and producers and all the team members talk about how much they poured into their creation, being able to stand on the sets that represented a world that I was immersed in when reading the books - it was all an unforgettable experience. It reminded me of community and love and everything that the Harry Potter books and their legacy stand for. Escaping into the books, appreciating the movies, and seeing what we can learn from everything tied to them, it's something I hope future generations will continue to do. Thank you Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling, for everything I've gotten from the story. 

“No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” -J.K. Rowling

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Weekend in London

The first of my four weekend trips is over and it flew by. It's getting harder and harder to comprehend that I only have 3 1/2 weeks left of my study abroad experience. I feel like I've just settled in, and now i'm leaving every weekend to travel around Europe, and spending most of my time back in Edinburgh catching up on reading. Hopefully I'll find some time to squeeze lots of Christmas celebrating in as well, as Europe is in full on Christmas mode at this point. But that's probably going to be another post entirely. For now, let's talk about my weekend in London! 

I've been to London before, but that was six years ago. This was my first time there with friends and also partially on my own, which definitely made it a different experience. Especially because we were only there for a few days, we pretty much kept going nonstop each day, trying to get in as much sightseeing as possible. It was Kristina's first time visiting London, so we tried to do an overall sampler of all the popular stuff. So much happened that I'll just focus on the highlights, because as much as I'm sure you'd love to read pages and pages of all the little things we did, I don't have the energy to write all of that. 

We started out our Saturday at Borough Market, the must-do on both of our lists, and a recommendation from Taylor. Plus a lot of the English food bloggers I follow mention it all the time, so I had to go and check it out for myself. Who wouldn't want to spend their time wandering around a crazy intense and gigantic farmers/food market that was celebrating its 100th year? The sheer amount of colorful produce, stacked wheels of cheese, piles of bread and pastries, and delectable smells made me wish I had the powers to pick up the market and bring it with me to whatever city I'm living in. If I lived near it, I'd be so well fed. We got breakfast at a British cafe that's in the market, and I got a sausage and bubble breakfast sandwich. Bubble is apparently just mashed potatoes... it felt so British. I wish I could have bought some of the produce, but being a tourist and being out all day is not conducive to proper farmer's market shopping. I did end up buying a chocolate cream-filled doughnut that was incredible and almost reminded me of filled malasadas. I also decided to treat myself to a brownie from a French bakery that was the perfect balance of rich and chocolatey without being overly sugary or filling. I wish I could've bought more, but my bag space and quickly dwindling cash bundle held me back. 

Another highlight: I finally lived my dream of getting to go on the London Eye. After seeing friends' pictures from their experience at the attraction, and experiencing all the birds eye views in Edinburgh, I just had to do it. Kristina and I split up for a bit because she really wanted to do the Tower of London, which I've already seen. That meant I kept having to ask random people to take my picture in the capsule, which resulted in some out-of-focus photos, but the views were still amazing. It was also raining, which meant raindrops galore on the glass, but I got over it quickly, and could look past them to admire London in its rainy glory. The Eye moves so slowly that it wasn't scary at all, and I didn't even have to wait in the line - I somehow ended up getting ushered into the fast track lane even though I didn't buy the special ticket for it. Perks of being a single rider, like at Disneyland, perhaps? I'll let the views speak for themselves. 

We made a point to see the other famous places around the city as well despite the rain coming down. Saturday was on-again-off-again showers, but Sunday was pretty much a constant downpour. We walked around Trafalgar square, with its giant lions and picturesque National Gallery backdrop. We spent some time in the gallery as well, getting a little bit lost... why are art museums like mazes? We walked around to see Westminster and Big Ben and Buckingham Palace as well. We also went to the British Museum, which had some incredible collections of old books and artifacts from around the world, including a Moai from Easter Island and the Rosetta Stone. 

We also stuck in a quick boat trip on the Thames, to see the sights from the river, which is a great view! With our Oyster Cards, the fare was pretty cheap, so even though it was pouring rain, we went for it anyway. The boat is of course covered, but it was still chilly as we stood on the back deck trying to capture pictures. It was still a fun experience though, so kudos to our Air BnB host for recommending it. 

Saturday night, we went to the Hyde Park Christmas Market, which was another one of the amazing highlights. Europe does Christmas markets right. Dozens of food booths, steam and smoke rising from the burgers, bratwurst, and fish and chips places, people walking around with hot cider, mulled wine, and hot chocolate. There were a crazy amount of carnival rides that would put the Punahou Carnival and 50th State Fair at home to shame. An ice skating rink sat in the middle of it all, and the whole area was done up in fairy lights, glowing stars, and Christmas trees. It was incredible and I'm so excited for Christmas now. Edinburgh has its own version, and I can't wait to get to that one. I'm definitely in the Christmas mood now, all I need is a light dusting of snow to complete it (although maybe not, don't want it interfering with travel plans). 

Then of course, there was probably THE best part of the trip, hands-down: the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. I've been dying to do this ever since I learned about it and saw other people doing it. So I stayed an extra day in London after Kristina left, putting off my return to reading and lectures in order to experience how they made the books that I loved so much growing up into movies. I'm going to do a separate post on it, because I have a lot to say about the incredible experience. Though I was meeting up with a friend in London once Kristina left, I accompanied her to Kings Cross station so that we could get photos with Platform 9 3/4. It's a bit commercialized (as are most of the Harry Potter attractions nowadays) and we had to wait in a ridiculously long line, but now I've at least partially fulfilled my dream of "going to Hogwarts". Thanks London, for a great weekend of eats, sights, wishes being fulfilled, and of course, Harry Potter. I'll be back again someday. 

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Touristing and Tour Guiding

So it's been over two weeks since I last blogged. Why? I spent most of that time with my nose buried in books and eyes glued to my computer screen as I attempted to write three essays (one for each of my courses) in two weeks. I love it when essays are 50% of my grade in a class... If there ever was a time to use the hashtag #studyabroadproblems it was these last two weeks. But I made it through to the other side alive! And now I can enjoy the next four weeks of craziness, as I try to balance finishing reading before exams and traveling every weekend. But that's not the point of this post. (Neither is the photo below, but I just have to share it: it's Old College with the sunset behind it. Almost makes me wish I were a law student so I could have classes here.)

My friend from Brown came to visit me this weekend, so it was finally my chance to play host in this city. Surprisingly, I know far more about Edinburgh that I thought I did, and I think I was a pretty good tour guide, if you measure that by my ability to constantly spew out random facts. (I'm also having Brown admissions tour guide withdrawals, so this helped tide me over until I'm walking backwards through the Main Green again.) I was able to get a lot of great photos of the city as I took Taylor around to the many viewpoints of the city. This city has an unusual number of places to get an aerial view of the city. Since the sun sets so early now (at 4 pm... it's even worse than the East Coast in the dead of winter) we were always still walking around at sunset, and fortunately Edinburgh graced us with some amazing sunsets. Friday night we saw it from North Bridge, then Saturday, from one of the best places to view it, Calton Hill. (Also that ferris wheel in the distance in some of the photos means that they're setting up for the Christmas market!!!!)

Since Taylor and I basically prioritize food over everything else, there was a lot of eating. In showing him some Scottish cuisine, I finally completed my trial of all foods Scottish (that I want to try anyway). I'd already had Haggis and Fish and Chips earlier in the semester. The weekend before Taylor got here, I had brunch at Toast, the 'famous' place to get a full Scottish Breakfast, including black pudding. Definitely not something I'd like to try again. At Mum's Comfort Food for dinner one night, Taylor and I got Bangers and Mash (aka sausages and mashed potatoes). They have an extensive menu of freshly-made sausages and about 15 different kinds of mashed potato, plus 3 choices of gravy. I tried two of the daily special sausages: lamb & mint and pork & apple, along with leek and bacon mashed potatoes and traditional brown gravy. So tasty! We also tried out this artisan coffee shop, Brew Lab, which has really great (if a little pricey) breakfast food! I even got a Lavender Fruit Rooibos tea, complete with glass hourglass for timing the steeping. I also made sure to make a visit to the Chocolate Tree and Lovecrumbs, of course, because I always need excuses to visit my favorite chocolate shop and favorite bakery. We also tried a place I've been meaning to go to, Montpelier's, a great brunch spot in Bruntsfield, where I had the most amazing caramelized banana pancakes. I haven't had pancakes since I've been here, and these were so delicious. Plus, Montpelier's has great decorations and atmosphere, and is only a few minutes from my building. If only I had more time to go back and try more of their food...

And of course, I took Taylor to get afternoon tea at Anteaques, a place I've been dying to go to ever since it was named on Buzzfeed's list of top afternoon tea places to visit before you die. (I've now been to two of the places on that list!!) It's an antique shop that does afternoon tea, and though I was afraid of breaking everything, they have pages and pages of different kinds of tea to try. I got my favorite (which Lovecrumbs sells), a Cinnamon Anise Rooibos. Their scones are some of the best I've had, complete with crystallized sugar on the top. I chose to get rose jam (from the choice of 5 different jams) because the reviews I read online recommended I should try one of their two interesting flavors: rose or violet. It was insanely good, much better than I was expecting, and now I need to track down where to buy it so I can bring some home. 

To offset all the food consumption, we did a lot of walking to explore, because that's what you do in Edinburgh. We hiked up to the top of Arthur's Seat (my third time doing it, and probably my last with the impending winter weather), and the day was surprisingly clear! We went with our friend Kristina, who's also studying here for the semester, since she hadn't done it yet, and it was great to be back with friends from school. We also visited the National Museum of Scotland, which I hadn't been to yet. It's gigantic inside, and a really cool building. We did the Scottish history half (I'm saving the natural history side for another day, hopefully!), and I learned a lot that I haven't yet learned in my classes! There's also great views of the city (again) from the rooftop viewing deck. 

Getting to show someone around this city reminded me how wonderful this place is. Whenever I get stressed about school, I tend to forget to appreciate my surroundings, even at Brown. That's why I'm a tour guide, because giving tours to prospective students reminds me on a weekly basis why I love my college so much. Being able to be a mock tour guide here, and seeing Edinburgh through a newcomer's eyes reminded me about how I felt that first week here, when everything was a new discovery. Not thinking about work and school for a few days, and just immersing myself in the city made me open my eyes and really pay attention to the gorgeous architecture, the city-but-not feel of the environment, and how amazing it is to have the geology that we do surrounding the city. It also helps that I got to do a lot of food exploration, which always makes me appreciate a place a little more. I'm sad that I only have 5 weeks (well, more like 4 1/2) left to enjoy this city, even though I'm excited to get home to family, warmth, and beaches, and back to everyone & everything I love at Brown. Being away has definitely made me appreciate what I have at my home university, but I know I'll be returning with heaps of experience and memories. 

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Meeting My New Favorite Animal

Hello lovely readers, if you're still with me. Once again, I'm behind on blog posts. But we all knew this was going to happen. I will come back and update about my brief trip to Portobello beach last weekend and the Beltane Fire Festival I went to on Halloween, but my most recent trip is more important to blog about. Why, you ask? Because it includes my new favorite (or should I say favourite?) animal: Highland Cows, or as they're known in Scotland, Hairy Coos. So I'm taking a much needed breath of air from my continual state of drowning in essays and scholarly articles this week to recount my day trip to the "highlands" with Hairy Coo Tours. Writing long-winded blog posts is so much more fun than trying to write a long 2,500 word essay. Funny how that works. 

A group of friends and I were recommended this tour because of one main factor: it is free. That's correct, your reading skills aren't faulty, this full day trip in a nice bus to a bunch of Scottish sights West of Edinburgh was free. Well, on paper it was. We didn't pay anything upfront for the tour when booking it like you would with most tour companies. They operate on a tips-only basis, meaning that attendees can pay only how much they think the tour is worth. Or in our case, being college students studying abroad on a budget, however much we can afford. 

Though we stopped at many historical sites, picturesque lochs, and various tourist attractions in the Western Highlands, let's be real, the hairy coos were the highlight. I guess there's a reason the tour company is called Hairy Coo Tours. But before we can get there, I will talk about all the places we did stop at for memory's sake, and also because they were also pretty awesome. We had a great driver who tried to make the best of the trip for us, and the weather was once again cooperating (what's the catch? I keep getting nice weather for these day trips and I'm afraid of what that might mean). Our first stop was South Queensferry, a town on the Firth of Forth that boasts a great view of the Forth Rail Bridge. It's considered an amazing feat of engineering, and the bright red metal supports of the bridge against the blue of the Forth make for a picturesque sight. It was still fairly early in the morning, and the sun lit up the bridge in a way that made the inner photographer in me happy.

We then continued on to the town of Stirling, about an hour northwest of Edinburgh, to see the William Wallace monument. It commemorates a man who fought many battles for Scotland against the English, one of the most well-known ones being the battle of Stirling Bridge. The monument is on a hill, so there were some great views of the city. I even got my exercise in for the day with the 10 minute walk up the hill! (Sort of kidding.) We then drove through the town to a viewpoint for Stirling Castle, which looks suspiciously similar to the Edinburgh Castle. But this one has pastures of sheep below it. So very Scottish. 

We made our way towards the town of Aberfoyle for lunch, stopping at Lake Menteith on our way there. In the middle of the lake sits an island, Inchmahome, where Mary Queen of Scots was sent during her childhood for protection. The temperature dropped considerably lake-side, so we hurried back onto the bus quite quickly, but not before I took a few minutes to admire the autumn foliage. It's when I'm out in the country that I really appreciate how beautiful the yellow to red ombre leaves are. Driving along the windy roads, approaching the Trossachs National Park, the countryside was slowly fading to orange and it almost made up for missing out on New England Fall this year. We had lunch in a little cafe in Aberfoyle, which is "the Gateway to the Trossachs." I splurged and treated myself to a brie-bacon-cranberry panini (definitely making those for myself in the future, it's such a good combination of flavors, kind of like a fancy twist on Thanksgiving), and a takeaway piece of red velvet cake (because it was the first one I've seen with chocolate frosting, and it was on display right next to our table). 

After lunch, it was on to the main event, the hairy coos! Our bus was painted to look like a hairy coo, and when we pulled up to the pasture where they were, it was almost like they recognized our bus, because they came right towards us. Or perhaps they associated it with food, because we were there to feed them. And take pictures of course. We were warned to avoid their horns, which is why I'm a bit far away from them in the pictures. I can now say I've been slobbered on by a highland cow. They are such ridiculously great creatures. Their facial expressions rival some of my weirdest ones, and it was so entertaining to watch them interact with all of us tourists. I was so glad to finally see them. I was on a mission to get a photo of them for my mom, which I may have failed at in my excitement (there was also a fence in the way). There were even calves, which were so adorable, and didn't have the horns! My friend from North Carolina informed me that there are actually cousins of highland cows in the Appalachians. I know what my next travel destination in the US is...  

After the cows, we stopped at Loch Katrine, which was a repeat visit for a few of my friends and I. It was only a short stop, and we sat in the cafe staying warm while everyone else ventured out for pictures. Our last stop was Doune Castle (which ironically translates to Castle Castle), which is famous because it's been used in many films and TV shows as a castle backdrop. Most notable are probably Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which it was used for all the castle scenes, and Game of Thrones. On our way home, we made another stop on the southern shore of the firth of forth to get photos of the Forth Rail Bridge at night.

Overall, a great taster of some of the sights of the Western side of the lower highlands. Aside from Loch Katrine, getting to see new places was great, for a minimal price. And I finally got to see hairy coos in person, up close. I may have found my new spirit animal. I would 10/10 recommend this tour if you're visiting Edinburgh, if only to see the cows. ;) 

Oh, and this happened on the bus, which was fully loaded with hairy coo props to keep us entertained. Can you tell I was excited? 

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On Doing Things By Myself

I feel like I've taken that step into the true realm of adulthood. Despite being 2 years past the legal point of being an "adult," for some reason going on a day trip by myself in a foreign country yesterday sealed the deal more than my 18th birthday. I spent a long time overthinking whether it was worth the 34 pounds to go on a tour company's day trip on a Tuesday when the rest of my friends here had class or had already been to the place I wanted to go. Spoiler alert: it was definitely worth it. 

The day trip was run by Timberbush Tours (if you're ever here and interested--they run great day/weekend trips all over the country!) and went to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Bamburgh Castle, and Alnwick Castle, with a stop on the Tweed River at the border of England and Scotland. These places are in the North of England, in Northumberland. The Shakespeare nerd in me got really excited that I was visiting places entrenched in history that I'd read about in Henry IV and Henry V (though the events were slightly fictionalized by Shakespeare). Our tour bus driver was really entertaining, and fortunately the weather was amazing for Scotland, so it was overall a great tour! (Many jokes about the unusually sunny weather aside.) Just like I'd assumed, the tour was mostly middle aged tourists, but there was a group of girls about my age from the Netherlands. Unfortunately they were speaking Dutch and were very much an enclosed group. But I enjoyed exploring by myself. I got to do what I wanted, take a lot of photos, and go at my own pace. The only downfall was that most of the photos of me are selfies. Exhibit A:

The Holy Island/Lindisfarne is one of those tidal islands that you can only access at low tide. Our bus driver was strangely gleeful in informing us that he's one of two drivers who has actually gotten stuck on the island (though it wasn't his fault, his boss gave him the wrong tide times). He assured us he'd checked the tides yesterday, and fortunately, we did not end up like the poor car on these signs: 

It was a beautiful, peaceful place, despite the raging wind that kept blowing my hair in my eyes while I tried to channel my inner photographer to get some nice shots of the scenery. It's always a unique experience for me--having grown up in Hawai`i--to visit the oceans around the world and compare them to one another. I think back to my many visits to the Atlantic Ocean in New England as I was growing up, and how the gray sand and chilly waters never impressed me when compared to the endless turquoise of Oahu's beaches. It's a similar story here, only far colder with more seaweed. But now, I look at these beaches as opportunity to experience what is different. Sure, it may not be 20 shades of blue with sparkling sand and palm trees, but the North Sea has its own beauty. The water sparkles in the sun's bright rays, the boats paint intriguing silhouettes on the horizon, and the sandy dunes of grass sloping down to the shore highlight a myriad of ecosystems. I think the pictures speak for themselves. I didn't see any seals like our driver promised, but the old abbey and castle in the distance made up for it. 

We stopped for a quick photo op at Bamburgh Castle (last photo above), then continued to Alnwick Castle, the main stop. It's the home of the Duke & Duchess of Northumberland, and also where they filmed the quidditch lesson scenes from Harry Potter! They even had broomstick flying lessons on their schedule... (Unfortunately I didn't have time, and it was crowded with school children who were on holiday for the day.) The castle was amazing, with picturesque views of the countryside. I wandered through the staterooms, which were fortunately open yesterday (unfortunately, photos inside weren't allowed). The ornate detail put into all of the furniture, artwork, and rooms themselves was astounding. I can't even imagine the cost, time, and energy spent on this castle. Most of what I saw was added to the castle in the 18th century, though the structure dated back much earlier. Most impressive? The library. Picture a giant room with high ceilings, all of the walls filled with bookshelves, complete with ladders to get to the high shelves, little lights adding to the atmosphere, the kind of armchairs that envelop you in cushiony comfort, etc. I couldn't get a close look at the books but many of them looked like old, possibly first editions of thousands of works. It was amazing. The giant windows looked out on the rolling grassy hills of the estate. I wanted to take the room and put it in my future home. 

Next to Alnwick Castle is a giant treehouse. Did anyone else read The Magic Treehouse series when they were younger? Or The Swiss Family Robinson? I've always been fascinated with tree houses, and let's just say this was like a childhood dream come true. Even better? It is a restaurant & café. Two of my favorite things combined into one-I knew where I was spending my afternoon. This was when I wished I were visiting with my parents or friends, because they had a set price lunch menu that sounded delicious, but I wasn't going to spend the money just for myself. There were other points when I wished I weren't alone, when I wanted to talk about something I saw with a companion, when I thought about how much my parents would've enjoyed the history of Alnwick or the walk out to Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island. But there was something peaceful and mind-clearing about wandering around by myself and absorbing the history of these places. I ate lunch in the cafe next the restaurant in the treehouse, then explored the little rope bridges they'd built in the surrounding trees. 

After that, we made our way home, briefly stopping at a viewpoint/memorial for the Battle of Flodden. It was one of the many battles between England and France--can you tell I'm not a history person?--and Scotland suffered many casualties. It was a great place to view the English countryside. We also stopped at the River Tweed in the town of Coldstream, so we could cross over the border between Scotland and England on foot (and be welcomed back into Scotland by a Robert Burns memorial boat). Pretty cool! (Tweed, the fabric, is indeed named after this area, the river used to play a big role in its manufacturing.) 

All in all, a great day. Being left alone with my thoughts was not nearly as daunting as I thought it would be, and an English couple was nice enough to carry on some conversation with me on the bus. There were also some Texan ladies so I didn't feel singularly American. Doing everything by myself in a tour setting was different from my independence as a university student. It was a nice change to wander around and feel very adult-like. Despite all the high-wind warnings (they weren't kidding though, some of those gusts definitely could have knocked me over) it all turned out great! 

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The Water of Leith

On our way to Stockbridge for the market yesterday, we walked through Dean Village, a 19th century milling village on the water of Leith, the river that flows just north of the city center. It's such a cute Victorian-esque village and it was so nice to find the peace of the river since as students, we spend most of our time on the busy streets of the city. We walked along the path next to the river to get to Stockbridge, which was a great woodsy walk, perfect for a Sunday morning. You can't see it from these photos, but there were a few trees whose leaves were just turning yellow and orange, beginning that characteristic warm ombre of leaves in fall. That, in addition to the crisp air, were definite signals that autumn is here. 

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The Weekend Means Food... And Lots of It

Surprise, another food post. This city and its food get to me every day, from the quaint coffee shops with deliciously simple pastries and nooks to cozy up in, to the farmers markets with their rainbows of fresh food, to the people I've found who love to explore Edinburgh's food offerings as much as I do. I had a food-filled weekend, and since I didn't go on any trips in favor of exploring the city a little bit, I figured why not focus on the thing that's pretty much the most important to me. 

Friday afternoon I had lunch with Kristina since I'd promised I'd take her to Hula, the juice bar/healthy food cafe near Grassmarket. It's my favorite and I'd definitely go more if it were slightly more convenient and slightly less expensive. Friday was the beginning of Restaurant Festival Edinburgh, so they had a special kale salad on their menu, with avocado, plums, grapes, peppers, and a lemon poppyseed vinaigrette. I got it with a chicken and sweet corn noodle soup since it was a chilly day. It was the perfect healthy combo. I often find that finding this kind of delicious yet nutritious food in a city known for pasties, pies, haggis, and chips can be a little difficult. 

Friday night, I got together with some classmates from my Edinburgh in Fiction class and we made crêpes together. They're super simple to make, and delicious. We caramelized apples with cinnamon for apple & brie crêpes, and then had the classic strawberry nutella filling as well. Cheap eats brought to you by your local college students.

I bought some macarons on Saturday from a little truck that sells artisanal cheese and macarons right next to the Meadows. I got salted caramel (the bottom one) which was amazing, and chocolate passion fruit, which was SO GOOD. It had that very distinct passion fruit flavor that reminded me of home, mixed with a rich chocolate buttercream. 

The second row of photos is from my trip to the Stockbridge Farmer's Market today (Sunday). It's a short walk from the city centre and has a lot of food stalls in addition to produce/meat/bread. They were running a special for "food vouchers", where we paid 8 pounds for 3 meal vouchers, getting us an appetizer, main course, and dessert from any of the food stands participating. Definitely worth it. I got Gyoza from Hara Juku Kitchen, which actually has a restaurant really close to my building. It was just like the kind I can get at home, so I was of course insanely happy. For lunch I had Spanish Chicken Paella, and that was super flavorful. They were making it in these ginormous pans; I wish I'd gotten a photo. Really fresh, and it was the kind I like because it was only chicken, no seafood! For dessert, I got a pear and almond tart from a French bakery stand, which I've only eaten a piece of so far. Super flaky and flavorful. (Note: I've since finished it and now I really want the recipe. The flavors were perfect and it wasn't too sweet, which is such a nice change from some American desserts.)

The real winner though was this chocolate mousse and pear cake from Stortebacker, a German bakery stand at the market (the second to last photo is of the other pastries they were selling). I have no words that can describe this cake. I wish I could order an entire one for myself so I could have a piece every day (weight gain consequences be damned), then send one to every single person I know. It was that good. The mousse was rich and really light so it wasn't overly filling, the cake was spongy, and the pear in the middle went surprisingly well with the chocolate. So amazing. I'm glad I was able to transport it home without too much damage. I was so sad when it was gone; I might be making another trip to Stockbridge Market next time they're there to get another piece (or two, or three...). 

Finally, I'm including a photo of my dinner tonight because I was really proud of what I made for myself. It felt so colorful and healthy. I picked up kale at the market, and made myself a kale, cranberry, apple, and feta salad, as well as a pasta salad with some random veggies and bacon. Yum. I guess cooking for myself isn't so bad sometimes. 

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Great food, beautiful views, and incredible New Year's Eve parties. What more could you want?

Everyone go read this list now. Because I'll never be able to take photos of the city that look like this and this lists all the wonderful things the city has to offer in a much better way than I ever could when explaining it to you all. All of these are so true. The food is amazing (all my money is going to cafes here, the local economy should thank me), the views from all the hills are spectacular, we do in fact have a giant castle and a giant volcano crater in the middle of the city, I've been to that farmers market below the castle... it's all great. Buzzfeed lists, always here to explain my life. 

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In Search of Myths

Once again, I bring you this blog post a week after the trip I'm writing about has happened. I'm so good at this. I blame my 500 pages of reading and cooking meals for myself. 

Last Saturday, I went on a trip organized by UoE ResLife to Inverness and Loch Ness. I knew I had to go while I was here, because who comes to Scotland for a semester without going to try and get a glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster? Obviously, nobody is really going to see her--unless you count the fake one sitting in a pond at the exhibition--but it was an experience I really wanted to have. It was a 3+ hour bus ride from Edinburgh, and I won't go in depth on the incredibly poor organization of the trip, but basically the travel time was vastly underestimated and there were some complications with the bus company, so we didn't get to spend as much time at each place as they'd promised us. But overall, it was great to get up into the highlands for a day and spend time with a bunch of the friends I've made here who all went as well.

Inverness is the town a few miles from the Loch, and it sits on the banks of the River Ness. It's a cute city, but with a bit less charm than Edinburgh. It's not quite as old, dating back to the 1800's I believe, but we had a bit of exploration there, mostly just walking around and checking out the castle (which honestly looked like a bit like a sandcastle).

From there we went to the "Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition" which I assumed was going to be lake-side. It turned out be a mile from the actual lake, and was most definitely the tourist trap part of Loch Ness. It was included in our tour though, and it was pretty interesting. We watched a series of films on the geological formation of the lake, which appealed to the science nerd in me, how the myths about Nessie got started, and where we are today in terms of the myth and scientific exploration of the lake. The films tried to remain unbiased in terms of the monster. We finally then went to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, which sits on a hill above the banks of the lake. The sun had finally come out, after pouring rain all morning, and it was a great place to view the lake from. The castle, built sometime way before the 1600s, is in ruins now, but there was s till a lot to explore and it offered up some great photo opportunities. Of course, it started to rain again, just as we got to the top of the castle's turret, the perfect spot for photos, but this is Scotland so I should probably get used to that. It's raining and sunny as I write this. We made a quick stop in Inverness for dinner before making the nice long drive back to Edinburgh. 

Going to a place that is predominantly associated with the myth about it got me thinking about the concept of myths in general, and why humans become so attached to that kind of thing. Perhaps it's because we need something to explain the unexplainable, as we've been discussing in one of my seminars this semester (though more in relation to religion and the supernatural). Perhaps it's because it is fascinating to think that things like monsters could actually exist out there and that humans have so much more to learn about our world. I was talking to one of my friends on the trip as we were leaving the Exhibition about the Loch Ness Monster myth, and ended up relating it to the idea of Santa Claus. I suppose we can say that the Loch Ness Monster exists given that it does exist in the minds of those who believe in it. It exists in the fact that it's a concept in the minds of some, just like Santa Claus can exist if you believe in him/in the spirit of Christmas, just like anything you want to believe in exists because of your act of belief. Maybe I've been spending too much time reading literature about belief...

On a different note, in my Scottish studies class, we've been discussing representations of Scotland; among those representations: tartan, the highlands, the Loch Ness Monster, all things that were in abundance at Loch Ness. These are all definitely things I associated with Scotland before I got here, and though I still associate them with the country, I can see that there is so much more now that I've gotten to explore. The Loch Ness monster isn't just a symbol of Scotland and Inverness, it's a story that has been passed down (albeit a bit caught up in media hysteria) within the community, and that has fostered a lot of early scientific exploration of the lake as humans try to understand the creatures and geographical features of it's depths. Which if you ask me, is just as cool as the idea of a plesiosaur/water dragon/monster swimming around the lake. 

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An Industrial City

Last Sunday a few friends and I took the bus to Glasgow for a little day trip. I have to say, I'm glad I picked Edinburgh for my semester abroad. Glasgow was a nice city and had a very artsy vibe, but Edinburgh is the one with the history and the old town charm. It was a fun day trip and we got to see some cool things! 

We wandered along two of the main pedestrian shopping streets, Sauchiehall St. and Buchanan St. (the first photo). Fortunately I was with people who aren't shopaholics like me (plus we were saving money for food) so I wasn't too tempted. Sauchiehall St. turns into a big street market with all kinds of food on the weekends, which was awesome. We got dutch pancakes (third to last photo) and then came back again later to get some other snacks. I didn't get a photo but I also tried Turkish Delight for the first time! It's odd... but not in a bad way.

We also visited the Museum of Modern Art (GOMA) which had a really awesome display of cardboard churches (such labor-intensive work!). We wandered down to the River Clyde, which was cool despite its industrial feel. Then we made our way up to the Glasgow Necropolis, this giant hilltop graveyard complete with giant cathedral (I think you can guess which photo that is) and views of the city. The gravestones are all elaborate and old, so we explored a bit before heading back down into the city center for afternoon tea! 

The Willow Tea Rooms was on our must-do list because it was on the BuzzFeed list of "Tearooms to go to before you die" and I plan to see as many of those as I can. It was delicious (and extremely filling) as you can probably tell from the last photo. So glad I finally got to experience a proper afternoon tea, and I'm definitely going to do it again (at LEAST once) before I leave the UK. All in all, a good day of new explorations.

I know this post is about a week late, but it was a busy week and I just returned from another trip which I will blog about soon! 

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It's late and my brain doesn't seem to want to shut down yet so I thought I'd do a quick blog post since I've been a little MIA recently. I haven't uploaded my Glasgow photos yet from my day trip there on Sunday but I'll get to it soon! However, I realized I never got around to posting a picture of my mostly decorated room. So here it is! I don't want to go too crazy on the decorations since I only have 3 months left here (!!) so this is good for now :) lots of photos because they make me happy. I'm loving the window seat and it's actually quite a big room. Not bad, aside from the really tiny shower in our flat and the lack of counter space for five of us in the kitchen.