They Gave Us Fire and Told Us to Go Have Fun!

Happy Hogmanay everyone! Having spent St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, I decided to continue the trend and spend New Year’s in Scotland (next year will be Easter at the Vatican!...maybe).  The city was packed and the festivities extended over three days.

Day One, The Torchlight Procession: We picked up our torch on the Royal Mile and were really excited to join the whole city in a massive firelight exodus.  We gathered at St. Giles Cathedral where the whole city and then some were packed into the streets with flaming torches.  Initially it seems like an awful fire hazard, but we got over that worry fast.  The procession started with bagpipes, drums, and marching Vikings, and then we were all heading down the Royal Mile and the Mound.  In the dead of night, surrounded by thousands of people carrying torches, listening to bagpipes…I felt like I was marching into battle.  It was awesome.  (This was aided by my friend’s 300-style shout of “THIS! IS! HOGMANAY!”) 

We marched to the top of Calton Hill where we got a fantastic view of the city.  There we proceeded to watch the most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen.  Not only was it coordinated to epic Scottish music, it came from every direction, in front of us, behind us, above us, and was accompanied by an amazing light show.

When that was done, we marched back down the hill, disposed of our torch (now burnt out), and headed home.  The best view of the night, though: looking out over the city, seeing thousands and thousands of lit torches lining the streets of Edinburgh.  Beautiful.

Day Two, Hogmanay Street Party: We spent the day doing a bit of shopping and eating, then prepped for the night out by having a liquid dinner of “tea”. 

Gucki, of course, joined in.

Then we headed out to dangerous Princes Street, which was so packed, you could hardly move three inches without getting an elbow to the ribs.  We met some interesting characters, including one man who skipped me in line at the Port-a-loo, then proceeded to ask, “Are you going to piss your pants? Cuz I’m going to piss my pants.”  All right then, sir.  Feel free to go ahead of me.  We also ran into a group of young men who couldn’t tell the difference between a crepe and a samosa.  One of these gents is the “nude man” I mentioned earlier.  Though Ange corrected me, saying that he wasn’t really nude, I think peeing into a bottle in the middle of the street involves a certain amount of nudity. 

Still, despite the semi-nudity, the atmosphere was awesome.  Bands were playing loudly, different sounds from every direction.  The air smelled like cooking beef and rain.  The whole of Princes Street was lit up with hanging lanterns and Christmas lights in the trees.  The centerpiece was the Ferris Wheel (which, sadly, we weren't able to go on), which stuck out like a massive, glittering jewel along the skyline.

We made the mistake of trying to wander the streets.  We proceeded to squish through the massive and heavily-packed crowd for twenty-five minutes before we decided to turn around and head back to our spot.  It was terrifying and hilarious; we were linked together in a chain and moving involved a lot of pushing, bodily contortions, and American boldness.  

The fireworks were lovely, though not as good as the night before.  Afterwards, we took part in the World’s Largest “Auld Lang Syne” rendition.  No one seemed to be singing the same words at the same time, but we had a fantastic time.  The practicing we’d been doing for the past two days certainly paid off!

Day Three, Hogmanay Games: Sadly, we didn’t really get to take part in these games.  The lines were way too long.  But we did get to show our support.  We picked teams.  You could either be an Uppie (those from the North, represented by an eagle wearing an aviator helmet and glasses) or a Doonie (those from the South, represented by a stag wearing a monocle and a mustache).  We decided to be Doonies (I’m from southern Wisconsin and now southern England).  We got to wear our badges (which you can’t really see in the picture) around the streets and on our climb up Arthur’s Seat.

And that was Hogmanay!  Oh so much fun and spent with fantastic people.  

Moors, Coos, and Emos...Oh My!

Ah, Scotland. Edinburgh was the first non-US city I ever visited, and it holds a special place in my heart.  I fell in love with Scotland after being there only 8 days and I couldn’t wait to go back.  I got my chance when  my friend, Anna, suggested the Hogmanay Festival for our New Year’s celebration.  As the largest (and possibly only) official New Year’s festival in Europe, it sounded like an excellent idea.  I’m going to save Hogmanay for another blog post; this one will detail our non-Hogmanay adventures in Scotland this time around.

We stayed at a hotel that was absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately we had to walk up eight flights of stairs to get to our room, but at least it was good exercise.

Because of Hogmanay, Edinburgh was super touristy.  That was okay, though.  My accent didn’t stick out too much and we got to enjoy all of the cute bagpipers out on the streets.

The weather was…typical.  Last time we were in Scotland (in July), it rained every day.  Now, December/January…it rained every day.  Thankfully I brought my new windbreaker jacket, which kept me warm, and my Hunter wellies.  Anna was smart and bought a pair of arm warmers which I stole from her as often as I could.

Anna took us to see her old uni, Edinburgh University, and then we went to Emo Square where she used to watch the emos every day.  They must have migrated for the winter because they were all gone, so Anna and Ange had to fill in the gap they left behind.

We wandered ALL over Edinburgh, exploring fun little closes for which Scotland is known.  We brought Gucki (our traveling gnome) along with us on our adventures.  

Besides Hogmanay, the major highlight of the trip was hiking up Arthur’s Seat, a huge hill right off the Royal Mile.  It was incredibly muddy and windy and FREEZING but we had a ton of fun and laughed the whole way up (when we could catch our breath).  At the top, we planted the Scottish flag, popped open a bottle of Bucks Fizz (the cheapest “champagne” we could get at the store), ate some sugary waffles and cheddar cheese (don’t ask), sang a bit of “Auld Lang Syne”, and welcomed in the New Year.  The view from Arthur’s Seat was stunning; if you ever go to Scotland, you must make this one of your stops.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in some touristy shops where Anna tried on the Highland Coo hat she’s been eyeing up for days.  

We had dinner at The Elephant House, the café where JK Rowling wrote the first HP book, using the great view of Edinburgh Castle as inspiration for Hogwarts.  In the women’s restroom, the walls were covered in notes of thanks to Rowling and quotes from the books.  I couldn’t resist leaving a thank you note of my own.

Last time I was at The Elephant House, I drew a picture of an elephant that the staff posted up on the wall.  The photograph I took of it ended up in an online guidebook to Edinburgh.  This time I drew another picture and…

…they put up this one too!  Huzzah!

Such a lovely end to my trip.  Tomorrow I’m hopping on an early morning train for London and then it’s Paris!  But first, as promised, a Hogmanay blog.  Check back soon for stories of nude men, cups of “tea”, and playing with fire.

A Very Cambridge Christmas

Sorry for the delay on this post, but I got a bit overwhelmed with coming back to the States and seeing everyone and eating all the delicious American food I could get my hands on.  So…this is a bit late, but still before Christmas which is successful in and of itself.

Christmas at Cambridge isn’t just a one day event.  Oh no.  It has multiple parts.  It lasts weeks.  It starts in NOVEMEBER.  Here’s how my Cambridge Christmas broke down:

Advent Hall: After an awesome Carol Service I went and ate amazing food with friends.  This was in the middle of my intense exam week so it was good to relax and enjoy delicious food. I must have had such a great time because I didn’t take any pictures!

Festive Hall: First Hall that’s actually more than just a normal Hall.  We had crackers!  No, no, not those grainy things you eat with cheese.  Party crackers that have awesome paper crowns inside of them and games and such.  Such a British thing—I remember first learning about them from Harry Potter.  Festive Hall also included awesome table decorations, fancy napkins (if you can get fancier than napkins with your College crest on them), and a HUGE TREE.  My friends and I drank too much mulled wine, flaunted our crowns, and took a bunch of hilarious pictures around the Hall.  I was recovering from an awful cold and was swamped with work, but I still had a blast.

SBR Christmas Party: For grads only, this event was one for which everyone was waiting.  I spent all day with my friend decorating the SBR, picking up mince pies and drinks from Sainsbury’s, and basically running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make everything perfect.  (I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I was elected to the Social/Dining committee of the SBR, so this was part of my responsibility.)

Dressed up in a fancy dress I’ve been saving since summer.  Got to Hall, picked up my complimentary glass of mulled wine, and went to find my assigned seat at High Table (as part of the SBR, I get perks like this).  I found various friends, took more pictures, then went back to my seat for the start of dinner. 

Dinner was, if I can remember:

First course: split pea soup with vegetable crisps and roll

Second course: turkey, brussel sprouts with chili flakes, turnips with mustard, and potatoes

Third course: Christmas pudding (but I opted for the fruit plate), St. John’s truffles, and coffee/tea

And, of course…more mulled wine, white and red wine, and port

Afterwards we trekked up to the Senior Combination Room to enjoy complimentary wine.  I got to mingle with friends and take more pictures before being shuffled off to the SBR for…port and caroling!  We packed into one tiny room with one tiny piano and belted out various Christmas songs.  It was incredibly fun and really got me energized for the rest of the night.  Best moment: spilling a glass of port down the front of my dress.  Yes, you read correctly.  But let me clarify: it went down the front of my dress…as in, INSIDE my dress.  Here’s what went down: someone asked me to take a picture of them so I held the edge of my port cup between my teeth, leaned back to get the people in the photo, and…well, you can imagine.  The port ran down my neck, down my chest, and kept going down. But it was a Christmas miracle!  I didn’t get a single drop of port on my dress!  On the downside, my white bra is now red.

After that we all ran off to Hall again where it had been transformed into a massive dance floor!  A Scottish ceilidh band was there and we spent the next few hours dancing the night away.  This ceilidh has to be on the most fun things I have done at Cambridge.  The band instructs you in the dance for about five minutes, then you dance for the next five or so minutes before the next dance starts up.  It was hilarious since almost no one knew what they were doing, so you were always smacking into people.  And when I ended up in the back I couldn’t hear, so we were just trying to figure out the dance based on what everyone else was doing.  Hilarity ensued.  Thanks to my great dance partners who dealt with my two left feet and awkward laughter all night long. 

Thanksgiving/Christmas Party: One of my friends threw a vegan-ish Christmas party complete with Secret Santa.  There were so many of us we had to eat on the floor, but it only added to the experience.  I ate sooo much of this delicious food, a really random mish-mash of things that should have made my stomach explode, but only had it asking for more.  We played charades (the highlight of the evening was me trying to act out "Bear Grylls: Born Surivor...I had everyone in stitches they were laughing so hard) and chatted about the most random things, from snakes to sexual dancing.  Yes, just your average Christmas party.

Austrian Christmas: One of my friends from…you guessed it…Austria…threw a small Austrian Christmas party complete with mulled wine and delicious Austrian Christmas cookies.  I ate waaaay too many of these cookies.  But I had a great time just hanging out, relaxing, saying goodbye (for now) to my friends.

Ghost Stories: From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “In the 19^th century, it was a holiday custom in Britain to read mystery or ghost stories aloud by a roaring fire while indulging in tasty, comforting foods of the season…The contrast of a chilling story read amidst the warmth of hearth and family seemed to make the experience that much better.”

I had been looking forward to this all year.  A ton of students got together in the SCR to listen to professors read ghost stories.  We got our glasses of wine, found seats by the fire, and readied ourselves to be creeped out.  The first story was quite good though try as I might I cannot remember the name of it or who wrote it.  The second was part of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the third was one of my favorites: “The Monkey’s Paw.”  Afterwards we had more wine and mince pies.  It was my last night in Cambridge and the perfect way to conclude my Christmas festivities in England.

So that—in a not-very-small-nutshell—was my Cambridge Christmas.  I hope my American Christmas can live up to it, but considering I’ll be spending it with family and friends, I know it’s going to be fabulous.

Christmas Wish List

‘Tis the season of giving and receiving, and though I can’t wait to go home and give (my time at SANC, presents to all my friend and family, etc.), there are a few things I want as well.  Some of these things I won’t probably buy until I’m rich and famous (see #12), but some of these I hope I will be getting under the tree on Christmas day (*winkwink* Mom).

1. The Lab Rat Chronicles by Kelly Lambert 2. Light brown Oxford shoes 3. Adorable mushroom light switch cover 4. Gola bag with St. John’s colors 5. Spot It! 6. Dexter Season 5 7. Laura Veirs’ album, July Flame 8. Polaroid film 9. Earrings from Modcloth 10. Sweater from Modcloth 11. Bare Minerals powder 12. Diana toy camera 13. Lots of knee socks for my Hunters

What are you wishing for this Christmas?

PS: I’m totally distraught I forgot to ask for one of these for Christmas!

And I completely forgot to put this on my Christmas list!

Okay, now I'm just being greedy.

Visitors from Afar!

A couple weeks ago my two friends, Katie and Clay, came to visit me in Cambridge!  It was super exciting since I knew them from Milwaukee and my undergrad, so I felt like I was getting a piece of home when they came by.  And the Wisconsin accent!  I love it.

The first night we ate at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called The Rainbow Café.  It’s down a narrow alleyway off the main street and in a tiny building’s basement.  We all ordered food from completely different ethnicities: spinach lasagne for me, three bean chilli for Clay, and Ethiopian mesir-wat for Katie.  The food was simple and lovely. 

We were a bit rushed, though, because we wanted to get to Newnham College to see a production of “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, which is the play adaptation of one of my favorite novels.  After wandering in the cold and dark for a bit, I finally found the college and a nice lady (actually one of the actresses) led us to the theatre.  Actually, it was more like a tiny house with a medium-sized room where the play was going on.  They had the room divided in threes with the middle section as the stage.  It was a really cool intimate atmosphere with only about forty people tops in the audience. 

The play really was a fantastic adaptation.  All the actors were perfectly cast (and it didn’t hurt that the lead guy looked like Lee Pace *swoonz*).  It was funny and scary and tense and the perfect way to end the night.  After the show we went back to my hostel, ate a ton of candy, chatted, and went to bed.

The next day we threw together a massive breakfast from all the stuff in my kitchen.  I had to go to a lunch at the Master’s lodge, so I dropped Katie and Clay off at the Fitzwilliam art museum.  I think they had a lovely time.  Afterwards we did some shopping in town and I made my friends get pasties for lunch.  Needless to say they devoured them.

Clay was horribly jetlagged, so he went for a nap back home while Katie and I went to Patisserie Valerie for coffee/tea and postcard writing.

That night we had dinner at Bill’s, a delicious restaurant really close to St. John’s.  I got a fantastic burger that really hit the spot.  We stayed there for hours just chatting while the staff cleaned around us. :)

Night: more candy-eating and talking.  We know how to have a good time.

The next morning was another massive breakfast before I had to send Katie and Clay on their way.  I wish they could have stayed longer, but it was beyond fantastic seeing them.  I can’t wait to go back to the States and hang out with them in our homeland.   

  

Happy A&A Thursday!

Awkward

• When you accidentally insult someone by making a comment that sounds bad but isn’t and then they don’t let you explain what you really meant and then they just go on thinking that you think raped women in the Peace Corps had it coming.  Yeah.  It was that bad.
• Accidentally being really grumpy and rude to my supervisor when I bumped into him in the library but I was totally stressed out and did not expect to see him there amidst my stress.  Yeah, it’s been a week of accidentally insulting people.
• Breaking into a five minute long coughing fit in the middle of a conversation with a friend.  And then he just sat there awkwardly waiting for me to compose myself.
• Standing between two people at the Carol Service who clearly know how to sing.  And having to sing carols in their presence with my crappy voice, which was even worse with the cold I’m fighting off.  As if I wasn’t insecure about my singing voice in the first place.
• Running late to compline and bursting into the chapel only to realize…that a concert is going on?  Then asking the porter who tells me compline is in the Music Room.  Then running super late to compline and bursting into the Music Room and having a young man welcome us in only to realize…they’re rehearsing carols?  And the guy grabs sheet music to give us.  “You’re here for rehearsal?”  Nononononono, sir.  I think I may have actually laughed.  No singing in the choir for me.  So then we have to quietly scurry out of the room (the quiet part was a bit useless since we’d clearly already disturbed a rehearsal process).

Awesome

• All the Christmas dinners and parties I had this week.  Advent Hall AND Festive Hall.  And more to come!
• St. John’s truffles.  Yes, we have our own truffles.  Yes, they are out of this world delicious.  No, you can’t buy them; they’re just for us.  *evillaugh*
• Going home to see all my lovelies in only a week!
• Just sitting around and drinking hot chocolate with a friend and chatting.  Simplicity at its finest.
• Being able to read a book. For fun.  That isn’t Shakespeare.  My first choice: Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man.
• Brussell sprouts.  I kid you not.  I had them four times this week.  FOUR TIMES.
• Being done with term.  Lord, you don’t know how awesome that really is.