100 Cups of Tea

So I have been without a reliable computer for nearly three weeks and am still trying to correct the problem....just so everyone knows how dedicated I'm being by writing this at a Library computer rather than snug in my room with hot tea (which has just been fixed by my roomate Martin so now I am snug in my room with tea). This is also why I don't have any albums up, Picassa is terrible to upload to if you don't have their software.

Also this is going to be incredibly long.

Week 1 (that I missed posting)
So this was the closest I've gotten to having an adventureless weekend the entire time I've been here. I purposely didn't plan anything so I could get the two term papers due while Lillian was going to be in Scotland finished ahead of time (um...yeah, that worked). Thursday night I get an email from, rather hilariously, the Pakistani club offering a trip to Edinburgh on Sunday for international students. Sarah was in England with Daniela (their reading week was a week before mine) but one of the activities mentioned in the email was a trip to the aquarium so I knew she was in. After a brief text conversation discussing the legitimacy of the email (so we're paranoid) I set up a sketchy meeting with the  president of the Pakistani club at the library to give him twenty pounds for this out of the blue trip to Edinburgh. I fork over the money and my mobile number outside the doors of the library with 6 other international students, all of Asian descent.  The guy there tells us all to be in front of the tower building (the main campus building) at 8:45 sharp because we will be leaving at 9-o'clock sharp. This should have been my first clue.

Sarah and I arrive at 8:45 check our names with the bus bouncer and settle into our seat to wait....and wait....and wait. We don't leave until nearly ten, I skipped breakfast to get there on time. Luckily I had shoved the giant bag of peanut M&M's I stole from dad in Stockholm in my purse...you really don't need more than chocolate and protein. Speaking of Dad I'm only just realizing how much of his trip surliness I've inherited...or maybe it should be called the extreme irritation derived from allowing lesser beings to organize functions and then having to wait hours for their muddled excuse of a plan to come to fruition. So it's possible the president of the Pakistani club got my "We are not amused" face more than once.

But eventually we were on our way.

The establishment with the stately name of the National Aquarium of Scotland is a tourist trap of the highest order, I've come to expect at least lip service to conservation and the responsibilities of zoo's and aquariums to the environment. But no they just had a bunch of animals in cases for people to gawk at, which actually wasn't that irritating, at least they were being honest.  What was irritating was sitting on the bus for another twenty minutes once we got there and once we were finally let of the bus the indignity of actually being asked to form a single file line and quietly follow the treasurer down to the entrance. I was rather incensed by this point and as soon as we got in there Sarah and I ran to the end and did the exhibits backwards to get away from the peace signs and and people taking photos of the polluted stagnant reservoir full of plastic remote control boats and cigarette cartons like it was an awe inspiring pristine landscape (it's possible they were just amused by how trashy it was but I have my suspicions this was not the case). After milking an hour and 10 minutes of amusement out of the place we still had 50 minutes before loading back onto the next bus for our next stop. Being starving we went to the outrageously overpriced cafeteria and split curly fries (no ketchup) and I got a lime slush puppy. I love slush puppies and instantly felt better and more inclined to view the day with amusement rather than seething irritation so it was a good choice after all. And they had some cool sharks, sharks always help.

See? better.

When we go out to board the bus I'm ready to leave however and, finding a huge group picture about to take place, politely hang back. Group pictures for me top out at about 20 people before they start getting dumb and really a waste of time. Apparently my noncompliance is mildly insulting even though there are several others opting out, whatever sarah and I just get on the bus to escape while they turn everyone around for a different background. ten minutes later we are off to Scottish parliament.

The bus driver seems equally irritated and starts playing the Scottish equivalent of Muzak loudly (think the Highlander theme if it was pitched for an elevator). So, awesome.

We take a meandering route to parliament apparently to take in the city but were not in the nice parts yet so it's a bit strange. But the actual parliament building is just as cool as described and I really had wanted to see it ever since my geology professor waxed poetic about the stone facade. We also got a bit of shopping in.

 At this point Mr president has apparently cottoned on to my irritation, which is strange because I really have channeled it into mildly exasperated amusement by now, and told us we should smile more and be having lots of loud crazy fun (? what does that even mean). Needless to say we ditched him. Next was the castle, but we don't have enough time to actually go in so Sarah and I do touristy things like buying desk statues of Nessie and have cheese toasties and tea (sarah gets a coffee something or other but she's lame like that...*Sarah edit: sidenote, she actually got a hot chocolate because she is AWESOME*) for lunch since my slushie didn't really count. I'm totally happy with my life.

We clamber onto the bus one more time and head to the botanical gardens. I have to mention at this point that on the way there I had inadvertently dropped a blue M&M in the crack between our seats and we used it the rest of the trip to identify our place. The botanical gardens rock out. there is a mushroom exhibit that makes me want to to re-read Alice in Wonderland and crave fried Morels like nobodies business.And the walks outside are stunning with well maintained ecosystems from all over the worlds that never even occurred to me as being able to survive a Scottish climate outdoors but somehow manage here. I fully plan to go back when my roomies and I move into a hostel in Edinburgh for the last couple days before we all leave (this plan is in its inception stage but we'll hopefully get it together).

Week 2
St. Andrews
So during this week, Friday I have a huge scientific paper due on Comparative Physiology and the following Tuesday a History paper on the origins of The Renaissance (which, fun fact, I discovered is easier to spell if you pronounce it as if you were from The UK, Ren-Ai-ssance, srsly this is the first time in my life I've been able to spell it without pausing to think) and Lillian is due in Saturday night. So I try to get as much of my paper done as possible and then go out anyway on Saturday. For the first time in awhile all of my flatmates have a Saturday night free so we all go out together and take lillian to Droughthy's, our standby pub, and have a pretty great time. Sunday Lillian, Sarah and I get up and go to St. Andrews. Lillian is thoroughly impressed with Scotland and I get to see the cathedral and castle ruins that I missed during our golf adventure. I really think I want to go back one more time. It's a beautiful coastal town and the bus fare is only 5 pound for both ways.

That night is Halloween and I decide to try to do it right. I bought the most vegetables I have in the entire time I've been here, put on my starfleet uniform, and make Stone soup (which turns out more as stew) with the fresh canned tomatoes from Ma and Aunt Sis, pumpkin bread, apple pie&icecream (luckily I had conscripts to peel and slice, thanks guys) and while thats all going my flatmates and Lillian gather and we build the gingerbread haunted house that aunt sis sent and consume ridiculous amounts of candy. sadly we still have no TV and there isn't an internet connection in the living room so there was no monster movie marathon but otherwise we had a great time and gorged. Emanuele told me that when I actually cook i'm very good, I guess he's used to watching me subsist off grilled cheese and tomato soup. I count it a very successful Halloween gorge fest and was sufficiently sick that night while Lillian and I rounded off the evening with an episode of Glee.

I suppose I have to post these to convey my Halloween properly(I just realized how much taller than me Sarah is).

It also didn't hurt that it turns out random chunks of gingerbread haunted house are delicious dipped in tea and lasted me until we left for London as lunch.

Week 3
London

     Day 1
Ohh London where do I even begin. So after Sunday in St Andrews and introducing Lillian to the burgers at Nether Inn on Monday followed by frantic paper writing to finish my history paper by 4pm Tuesday we go on the train to London Wednesday Morning.
Longest Train Ride Ever.
We were completely wiped by the time we got to Waterloo station in London and Lillian realized she needed to recalculate how we were going to get to her flat in Surbiton with the Jubilee line closed. We did manage it eventually and our grand plans of going back to the city that night to scalp some last minute tickets for a west end show were happily discarded in favor of showers and watching Lion king on you-tube in bed while rubbing each others feet. Evening well spent.

     Day 2
We get up early Thursday and head to London, and because we are Lillian&Ana, spend a few minutes admiring parliament and Big Ben from across the river, decide to check it out later and head to the Aquarium. So much better than the Edinburgh one. We had fun listening to the English school children out on feild trips, admiring the sharks, and poking fun at the underwater decor (they had the doorway to an aztec temple in the same tank as giant Easter island heads and a whale skeleton with a tombstone that read "We whale miss you"). A thoroughly entertaining way to start the day.

After that I Insisted we find The British Museum. I could wax poetic for pages but I will spare you and leave it at I saw the Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra's Mummy and one of my new life goals is to go back and spend no less then 5 straight days in this Museum.

Lillian's Hilarious candid shot in the Egypt room

I also had the worst street hotdog of my life in front of the gates so be warned. I was expecting a new york street dog but I think the US and England have different definitions of the word "hotdog". This was tasteless sausagey mush with soggy onions that had been cooked so long I'm not sure they could still fairly be classified as onions any longer. After the Museum we found coffee to singe the hodog taste off my tongue (Lillian must be immune) and ask directions to the west end. Then we wandered a bit more determined to find a show that night and stumble across "The Woman in Black". Since we're students and there only a few hours before the show tickets only cost us 20£ and I'm stoked for a scary anything after a scifi channel monster-thon free halloween. We've got about three and a half hours to kill and Lillian wants to work on a paper so I leave her at a Subway (Starbucks was full) and go explore Covent garden. It's stunning all lit up for christmas (I've found the UK starts Christmas even before we do, my theory is that's it stems from their lack of Thanksgiving). I wander the food stalls and scope things out for dinner later and head to the flea market side to pick up some souvenir trinkets for you people then head over to the garden proper (it's sort of an outdoor mall) and run into a guy juggling a chainsaw in pink underwear before I get there, I was understandably sidelined for the end of his act.

Then I buy myself some proper english tea (which I have honestly yet to touch) to bring home and share. I go through a few more shops then head back out to the food stalls and get fresh pressed apple juice and a hot potato filled pastie (it was like a perogi with pastry instead of noodle). This is totally heaven. I notice the London Metro museum off to one side and spend some time in there (I leave with some carefully selected and hilarious propaganda postcards from the 40's). It's honestly magical.

Then I go grab Lillian and we shop a bit more before embarking upon the most terrifying episode of our lives. "The Woman in Black" is a psycho-thriller ghost story of the highest order and the only reason I didn't honest-to-god scream is because I had my bottom lip firmly clamped between my teeth from the interval on (that and there was a really tall guy right in front of me whose head sort of covered up stage left where the womans face appeared a few times, we had great seats though, only four from the front). Scary movies have nothing on scary plays where the ghost can walk down the aisle next to you and they can fill the room with fog.

We had so much fun.

    Day 3
Friday I wake up bright and early (read 9:30) and leave Lillian to get the rest of the paper she was working on together and do some other things she neglected while in Scotland and head out to Hampton Court for the day. I grab coffee and an apple filled pastry for breakfast and hop on the train with no issues, the ticket only costs me a pound and the day is looking up. Not even the dreary drizzle that looks like it might turn in to real rain (there is rarely real rain here mostly wet mist that makes you feel like you were caught in misters at the grocery store) cant put a damper on it. In fact having a perfect English day as I walk across the bridge to Hampton Court makes it even better.

Henry VIII's Banquet Hall

And again I could bore you with an endless tirade of details so lets suffice with it was as stunning and emotional as I'd expected. Tudor England is a part of history that I'm particularly attached to and while I never actually shed tears it was a close thing once or twice. And if I had been able to call Ma or Aunt Sis to share what I'm not going to deny was fan-girly glee I probably would have cried. They had an actor posing as prince Edward's head of household doing tours, she was really good. I couldn't help myself and tossed in some anachronisms when she was introducing herself and getting to know the group and she handled them all flawlessly. They had a woman playing Frances Grey that was hysterically full of herself and their Henry VIII was suitably imposing. The best part about the actors though is that you would just be wandering around and think you were alone then stumble upon two or three random courtiers perfectly in character. It was also cool to realize that there are still apartments in the upper levels that people actually live in.

One of the Small Pond Gardens (yeah...small)

Don't even get me started on the gardens. seriously don't just look at the pictures once I get them up. I was all excited about the hedge maze but then i decided to be logical and beat it in about ten minutes... I was rather disappointed in my victory.

Yup this is my disappointed face.

I head back to Surbiton and remember on the train that it's Guy Fawkes day ;) and have a moment to regret that I won't be Watching "V for Vendetta" with Alison this year before Lillian says we are meeting her friends for sparklers that night....sorry V you have been outbid. We also have spagghetti for dinner so that's another plus. So we meet up with Lillian's friends spend about half an hour trying to light sparklers in the drizzle and watch other people's fireworks from the field by her building. The sparklers eventually work and I have fun with a super long shutter speed on my camera. Then it is discovered that one of them has V and we ARE going to watch it. Perfect fifth of November.

I'm magic!

    Day 4
Lillian and I wake up early one more time to go museum hopping. We start out at the Victoria&Albert which I honestly may have liked more than The British museum. It was originally commissioned as a design school that just sort of accumulated a classical collection and expanded from there, you can tell every room was designed by artists and designers rather than historians. That was kind of what I didn't like about it too, I liked the dim, musty, carpet filled halls of The British museum that were layed out with the practicality of research accessibility, as much as the tourists that would come, in mind. At the V&A every room itself is a work of art in itself. Every display is dramatic and jaw dropping, which is no less than history deserves, but it still felt a bit more like a show room floor than the comfortable, dusty museums I'm used to. It was stunning and bigger than I first thought so it's another I definitely need to go back and finish perusing.

After we left we were both wasting away with hunger and I needed to fill my beer and pizza quota so we found a hole in the wall Italian place right next to the South Kensington station. Naturally it was the best pizza I've had out of Italy because crap places are always good.  I ended up with iced tea though instead of beer. I was just so thirsty and dehydrated at this point that just the though of a Guinness was too much...so I cheated slightly. The tea was really good it was sweet (but not southern sweet) and tangy.

Next was the natural history museum which was full of Dinosaur bones and creepy crawlies. They have this cool program/actual physical giant cocoon that houses and preserves botanical and insect specimens for researchers all over the world to use. It was supercool.

After the natural history museum Lilian went back to figure out a B&B for her mom and sister to stay in when they come for Christmas and I did my favorite thing to do in foreign cities. I wandered around. Completely aimlessly. Well knot completely I suppose i wanted to walk the Thames. It was stunning at night and so were all the lights on the Parliament and Big Ben and the London Eye. It gets dark so quick you forget how early it is, usually once cities get that dark its a little iffy to go out (at least at home) but there were little kids and families and everyone was just out having a great time.

    Day 5
The next morning I said good bye to Lillian in Surbiton and made promises for all the things we're going to do this summer and made my way to the tower of London before my train left from Euston. And it really deserves a long section but these have been getting shorter and shorter as I go on. There was a yeoman tour guide that was very knowledgeable but he did tells us that he's live there in the Tower for years and never seen Anne Boleyn's ghost, so that was rather disappointing.

The crown jewels, on the other hand, were not. They were stunning. Although there was one display of a crown that had haad all the jewels removed for other things that made me laugh. There were two piles of crystals on either side of it to represent the diamonds that it once held, or so I thought. there was an asterisk at the bottom of the information that said they were diamonds on loan from Dubiers and Dad went off on a little tirade in my head about artificially inflated proces and cheating the free market... I'm sure everyone around me wondered what I found so funny.

And just to for stall being asked again, yes, Ma I saw Henry VIII Armour in the white tower. Yes the codpiece was hilariously huge and obviously compensation for something ;) It's weird that you keep bringing it up.

The tower was amazing and I spent several hours there and had a wonderful lunch at the cafe in the old armory (I had treacle pudding, which I never really knew what that consisted of before).

I didn't see any of the Ravens.

Week 4
So instead of taking the weekend off Sarah and I made a side trip to Arbroath. I justify the lack of studing this causes by explaining the geological formations to her as review. Day=success. I got to see the cliffs again and explore the town that I missed on the field trip. We went to a red sandstone abbey that I'm positive Brian Jacques based his description of Redwall off of. And it was amazingly intact and we were there practically alone so we had fun wandering around and being silly in a creepy, beautiful old building. We also went to a lovely little tea shop. Good thing too, I'd just run out of the 100 bags I bought the third week here.

Better go help with dinner, Kristine is making reindeer.

See...Reindeer