The Day to Day

I found a tree!

It has been pointed out to me that ever since my first couple of posts, I’ve just been posting about all of the adventures I’ve been enjoying, and I haven’t really told about everyday life in Edinburgh. I admit that I have quite a bit of down-time here, and I am not in fact spending all of my time gallivanting from Rome to Skye.

As I outlined way back in the beginning of the semester, the Folk Society meets every Tuesday. I’ve attended very regularly, only missing a few of them, and I’ve loved it. Sadly, the last meeting of the year, and for me forever, was last Tuesday. Luckily, I brought my camera, and took many pictures of the wonders that are FolkSoc. Here’s one:


But that still leaves a lot of time, so there’s more. I have taken up reading for pleasure again, which was a strange and alien concept to this Philosophy major. I think the reason for that lies in how many dense philosophical readings I’ve been through, or maybe it was the stress of the American collegiate system. Whatever it was, I decided back in February to start reading more, and I stumbled across the perfect thing: an independent book store that sold only fantasy & science-fiction books. It is called TransReal Fiction, and it is solely and entirely run by one soft-spoken, brilliant man. I fell in love with the store immediately, and I have already made my way through an absolutely incredible trilogy, and have since begun another. One of my favorite things to do, and what will likely be one of my favorite memories, is reading whilst lying in a bed of comfy moss in Holyrood. Sadly, I haven’t been able to do that as much now that I’m done with exams, due to the week of rain I’ve been greeted with. The whole constantly rainy and never above 60°F even in May thing is wearing on me, I must admit.

Oh! I haven’t even told you about exams yet. Well. They were... enlightening. The university system is drastically different in many ways from Connecticut College, and this system was one of the most different. For one, my classes actually stopped meeting back on March 30th. Then there was three weeks of spring break, which seemed a little longer than necessary, but as you know I managed to spend it in an enjoyable fashion. Then, and I’m not kidding here, the exam period stretched from April 20th-May 30th. Over a MONTH of exams. And with only three classes, that being the full course load, I had only three exams, all scheduled by the university. I was relatively lucky with the spacing of my exams, as they were each a week apart, ending on May 15th. Other friends had some in the same day, or none until late May, or all right away. The University is a bit too big to care about how the schedules work out for the individual.

I never thought I would say this, but I prefer the stress. I prefer the crazed and hectic finals week where one teeters very close to insanity and consumes unhealthy food like a bear hibernating for winter than a long drawn-out process. I prefer having a week of hell, followed by watching your immune system crash after it held itself up by confusion at what was happening to you than a drawn out month of exams where stress is like a vagabond uncle who never visits. I studied for each exam the whole week leading up to it, and it was difficult because I always had the exams looming over me, and so I never felt free. I studied well, and felt great about the exams, but I feel as though with five American finals weeks under my belt, I could have done just as well with all three in one week.

The exams themselves were also fascinating. Each took place in some intimidatingly large room filled with desks and proctors. My first one was in some sort of classroom, but the second was on the floor of the main lobby of an enormous building, and my third was in a gymnasium. A full-sized gym. Coming from a college of 2,000 with self-scheduled, un-proctored exams, I was a bit out of my element. But at last they are finished, and I can go back to my honor code college of stress - or rather, purpose.

So that’s my life here. I learn folk songs, read, go for walks, sing folk songs, read some more, and relax. Oh, and I take many trips to my local bakery, and always keep a stash of bread and olive oil, since my dorms don’t serve lunch. All in all, not too bad.

My brother arrives tomorrow! We’ll head out to Northern Ireland for a weekend to visit Giant’s Causeway, arriving back on Monday just in time for my parents to arrive. They then of course abandon us to go to a whisky festival, but we’ll keep busy with day trips until we meet them in Glasgow to drive into the wilds and into adventure. Keep checking back, this trip has a few more stories yet.

The Isle of Skye - The Beauties That Be

The third week of my official spring break was spent in a friend’s flat (the dormitories were being rented out, forcing me to move out for all three weeks) trying to catch up on sleep and feverishly writing my thesis proposal, which was due that Wednesday. I finally sent it off, and then prepared for the second and last IFSA-Butler weekend trip, which was going to the Isle of Skye. Now, I should mention that while it was nice and relaxing to be back in Edinburgh, I was a little depressed at how cold and rainy it was all week long, especially after my time in Rome. But Friday morning came, and it was with sleepy eyes that I walked to our meeting place to leave at 7:45am under dreary skies.

The bus ride up to Skye was broken up in several places for different sights, and it was with great joy that we stopped at a place called Queen’s View, because it seemed to stand in stark contrast with the rest of the country in how sunny and beautiful it was. We walked down a lovely hill to see Loch Tummel up close, but unfortunately there was hardly any time at all for the stop, and I nearly stayed there, staring out at the sun’s reflection on the Loch from a rock far past where anyone else had ventured.

After stopping for lunch further along the way, we made our next stop at the Culloden battlefield. This was a place where an incredible number of Scottish clans fought the English (or rather an army of mercenaries for the English) and suffered a catastrophic defeat. This part of Scotland was as overcast as the rest, and it made for a very sad and somber visit. Walking across the field, learning intriguing but bloody history from our tour guide, and seeing all of the headstones that represented so many people made for a very reflective experience.

So when we arrived into Skye, what an amazing contrast and surprise it was to see that it was incredibly sunny! There was hardly a cloud in the sky, which seems hardly possible in Scotland. After settling into my single room in the hotel (yay!) I had dinner with my friends and then walked off to enjoy the sunset. This was the best part of my trip, really. I walked up to the Skye bridge, which our village (Kyleakin or the Gaelic Chaol Acain - many in Skye are native Gaelic speakers) was right next to, and watched the sun set from its initial descent in the sky until its final slow fade of dull red glow. I walked up and down the bridge at the slowest pace I could, stopping several times and just staring at the eternal beauty of sun. I watched until it lowered itself below the mountains and then retired to a bench by the shore to enjoy the final moments of dusk. I was joined there by a stray cat, and we sat happily just watching the color of the sky slowly give way to night’s embrace.
I woke quite early the next day and found the quaint little village shop, and the lovely pier behind it, where I bid the sun good morning, and fully appreciated that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, yet again. Soon enough, we all hopped on the buses and made our way to the Old Man of Storr. Though I have never been there, I am told that there is a similar structure of rock in New Hampshire with a similar name. Regardless, it was breathtaking, and the idea stuck firmly in my mind that Peter Jackson actually did film parts of Lord of the Rings here, and he was covering that up for whatever reason. Even if not, though, I can content myself to think that J.R.R. Tolkien was from England and probably got some inspiration from here. Here’s a picture to justify my ramblings:

Climbing up to the Old Man was no small feat, but I was a little proud to see that the group quickly segmented by level of speed people were climbing, and I was at the very front (thanks dad and Brendan for all those years in the Quetico and the Superior Hiking Trail). As I said before, it was breathtaking, and I appreciated it all the more when our tour guides recounted last year’s experience of not being able to see two feet because of the intense clouds and rain. It was really an amazing experience, and I enjoyed every second of it, especially how good it felt to hike again.

After that, we headed to Dunvegan Castle, which had pretty gardens, albeit with odd concepts:
The castle itself was more of an impressive mansion than anything else, and I for one was put off by the room with its viewing-hole to a basement dungeon in between the dining room and the study. But I really enjoyed the castle’s grounds, even though it was there that my camera’s battery took its last picture for the weekend (forgot to recharge after break). That night brought another lovely sunset, which I decided to watch from the ruins of a castle that was also by the village where I stayed (great village, really). Watching a sunset from the ruins of a castle is a really unique experience, and I duly and immensely appreciated it. I wrote a bit, but it got a bit too chilly, so I just wrapped myself in my coat and enjoyed the evening sky.

The next morning I awoke early once more and headed out to the pier for my last moments on the Isle that weekend. I happily wrote in my journal, feet dangling over the edge of the pier, occasionally stopping to stare out at the water and sigh. We boarded the buses and left very shortly after that, and I sadly bid the Isle (sunny for the third day in a row) farewell. On our way back down to Edinburgh, we stopped in several different places, which I enjoyed, but dare I say it, I was a little overwhelmed with all the beauty, so the stops became a bit much after a while. The stop I enjoyed the most was at Loch Ness, and though I did not see any sign of Nessie, I did see an enormous swan that might as well have been. I took the time to write and eat bread (favorite food basically) as I wrote overlooking the sunny expanse of water. I also read some of the informational signs, and it turns out that Loch Ness is enormously deep, and there actually is a possibility of a monster living there, in a Loch that contains more fresh water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined.

After that quiet break, I reluctantly left and boarded the buses once more for Edinburgh. Finally arriving back and being allowed back into my dorm was great and refreshing, but I was a bit sad that the weekend ever ended. It was a perfect end to my three-week break, and I was blissfully happy at how lovely, quiet, and reflective it was.

A Spring Journey - Roma II

My last few days in Roma were the best by far, and served as an excellent conclusion to the two long weeks of travel. Friday brought an early wake-up time and a walk down to Piazza Navona, where I arrived quite early, so I proceeded to study and appreciate the fountains as the empty square began to see its vendors slowly arrive and set up shop. Emily came down from her flat and she, Maria, and I all headed to the Villa Borghese to find the Galleria Borghese for a field trip for their class. This was not terribly easy, but the stress was overcome by the beauty of the ever-expansive Borghese gardens, which I had briefly explored the Tuesday before, and where we were determined to have a picnic. We arrived at the Galleria only a little late, and were greeted by their professor, who proceeded to give us a tour of the museum. As I’ve said earlier, museums and monuments aren’t at the top of my interest in foreign cities, but this was quite the experience. We wandered slowly through, stopping to appreciate the spectacular works of art, many of which were depicting ancient mythological stories. My favorite was the sculptures, which were absolutely breathtaking. How the sculptors managed to put such intimate detail into stone to create these intricate masterpieces I am not sure I shall ever comprehend. The Galleria was incredible, and having a tour was excellent, and much needed for my terribly limited experience with those types of art.

On our way back to Piazza Navona, we found a zoo!! We didn’t go in, but it was very grand and we just happened upon it, which made it all the better. After wandering a bit more around the area, we headed back to Emily’s flat to buy groceries to prepare a picnic! I invited Chris Muscatello, a friend and fellow ConnArtist who was also in the SATA program, and he, Emily, Sofia, Kayla, and I all headed happily out to Villa Borghese. We sat amongst some lovely green grass on Emily’s Turkish blankets, and had a wondrous picnic. Here’s a picture from that, featuring Chris and our refreshments, which turned out to be an excellent modeling job:

(buy these things)

That night, Chris and I had a bit to drink, and then decided to fulfill our earlier plan of singing together in a video for the ConnArtists. It was a pretty hilarious venture, needing over three takes due to technical and singing difficulties, but the result was a great one: Chris singing a Creed song as a tribute to the ConnArtists and me jumping in at the first chorus as a surprise. Went back to the hostel that night happily, as it would be my last night there, and the next morning I packed up and headed over to my Bed & Breakfast I had booked for the weekend, which was in an apartment tucked right next to the Vatican.

Saturday was probably my favorite day of my entire stay in Roma. After moving into my lovely B&B where I had my own room for the first time all break, I met up with Emily to go exploring all day long. We went to some of the more notable places I had not yet been, like the Coliseum, and then explored beyond them. The Coliseum was grand and amazing, but I really enjoyed all of the little secret places and alcoves we found around it, which the Forum provided especially well. Whilst walking in the more residential areas surrounding the Forum, we walked down a very local road with lovely restaurants lining it, and then we suddenly happened upon a secret garden!!! It wasn’t entirely secret, but it definitely felt like it, especially given our manner of discovering it. It was full of statues overgrown with foliage, beautiful flowers, and several meandering cats. It was then that I really appreciated the fact that I was in a Mediterranean country, surrounded by such unending beauty. Spring was in its full arrival the entire week I was there, and it provided amazing and stunningly beautiful weather all week long. Here’s a picture from that lovely, wonderful garden:

After that, we meandered through a set of archways and found a convent with orange trees! It was a pretty intimidating convent, though, so we did not investigate. We made our way out of that amazing area and found ourselves by the Circo Massimo, where Romans used to have chariot races and the like. All it was now was a large circular dirt path filled with people cycling, lounging, or being couples (Rome is a city of very affectionate people, often publicly so). We walked along, enjoying the beautiful weather, and gazing out at the enormous ring of parkland. We even saw a small child with blindingly blonde hair riding a bright red bicycle, which made me feel as though I was suddenly in America in the 1950s, and I felt strangely sad that I wasn’t holding an ice-cold Coca-Cola. We then made it back to the river, which we walked along happily, talking all the way, until we found Piazza Navona once more. Exhausted and bewildered at such a great amount of beauty, we ate dinner and retired early to get ready for the next day...

Which was Easter! One of Emily’s professors in her program is involved in some important way with the Vatican, and was able to get us all tickets for Easter Mass, which was amazing luck for me. I wore my Sunday best and met Emily and the other Conn students, and we walked to the Vatican for a very strange experience. It started out rather oddly, with people positively running to get good seats. I tried to capture the frenzy in a picture, but I did not succeed, sadly. We got in (admittedly at a fast-paced walk) and found some good seats in the front section, only to settle down for a two hour wait. We talked and enjoyed the people watching as the crowd filed in. People from all different countries were there, many groups bearing their flags of origin. People were also wearing all different types of outfits. I was wearing the best that I had with me, khakis and a blue button-down, and I had initially feared that I would be underdressed, which was an incorrect assumption. I saw all sorts of outfits, from tourist to all-khaki to model to gangsta (just look at the album, you’ll see). I was so confused. But then, at long last, the processions began. My memory is blurry on who exactly entered when, but there was a band, a group of fake-looking Vatican guards, another more important looking band, and I believe some Swiss guards were even there. It was quite a spectacle, made even more so by the mad cheering that ensued when the Pope himself processed to his golden throne. He passed less than twenty feet away from me, in fact, here he is:

So the ceremony began. It too was very odd. At times it was a religious ceremony, and the entire crowd was hushed as the Pope read prayers or the choir sang (not being able to see them gave a good religious effect), and then at other times it was a crazy political rally, with chants of the Pope’s name and flags waving like mad. This happened especially forcefully during the benediction when the Pope said ‘Christ Be With You’ in about 37 different languages, with the people from each country cheering wildly when their country was named and language spoken. And then it was over. A really spectacular event, and a very strange one, but I was so grateful to experience such a unique opportunity. Also, the ease with which everyone left also amazed me, and made me realize how much Rome was built for big crowds of people.

After going briefly back to my B&B and packing all of my things, I met with Emily again and we spent the afternoon exploring once more, except in a very different setting. We went to a place called Testaccio, which we decided upon because of the large grassy hill on my perspective map, and the pyramid that was in the area. As it turned out, it was a very bizarre, run-down part of town, and the hill we had seen was just a wildly overgrown hill with no access to it. Not only that, but there were bars that looked like they belonged in the American Wild West, including one named ‘Coyote’. And just like in old movies where a man walks past a diner in the middle of nowhere and everyone just stares at him - that happened to Emily and I. We were walking past a gelato place, and we looked in and everyone just stared at us, not talking to each other, as creepy music quietly played in the background. I felt as if I had traveled in space and time, but not entirely for the better. That made the pyramid, when we finally made our way to it, even more disorienting than it would normally have been. But we were grateful for the unique experience and different side to the city, however strange it was.

That night, Emily and I and a few others all watched Singin’ in the Rain while eating some home-made macaroni & cheese, and I was so happy to do so. It was a wonderful end to my time there, just sitting with my friends, watching such a wonderful movie (and finally understanding it as I didn’t entirely as a child). It was a wonderful trip, I learned quite a bit from my experiences, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks for reading! More soon about my final experiences in Scotland - today marks one month until I head back!

A Spring Journey - Roma I

After the lovely train ride from Venice, I arrived in Rome for my first time. In efficient traveler mode, I quickly found the subway system, bought a week-long ticket and set out to find my hostel. It was across the river in the Vatican area from the central part of Rome, and I loved it. It was called Hotel Colors, and it stayed true to its theme with clever interior decorating and a great character in general. My favorite part about it was the wonderful terrace! I had not expected this at all, and I was quite happy. I was there to meet Emily, but as I was settling into my cozy hostel, she was either in a nowhere-town in Germany or en route to Italy from it, as her trip back from Amsterdam was unfortunately riddled with misfortunes. So, I settled in and headed out to explore the city in the afternoon. I ended up getting terribly lost (as usual) and ended up walking around for a good four hours. I found my way to a nice path by a bar on a cliff overlooking the city as the sun set, however, so I wasn’t too unhappy. That night I went back to my hostel and met my new roommates - two from the Midwest (no way!) of the states, and one from Southern Italy, coming up for a few days as he does every week to attend his grad program. His name was Sebastiano, and he was my favorite.

On Tuesday morning I sat out on the terrace, eating my bread, grapes, and juice, and writing a draft of my thesis proposal, which was due about a week from then. I loved that really, feeling the breeze and the sun on that terrace (I want one sometime) and being so at ease, even when writing a nerve-racking proposal. Eventually I left and headed over to the train station, where I met Emily as she got off her train from her nightmare of travel. So nice of you to visit me in Rome! We headed back to her flat together, which just so happens to be in Piazza Navona (wow!). After climbing up the numerous flights of winding stairs to get to their floor, I was given a tour of their place, and I must say, it was very strange. Emily and about eleven other students from Connecticut College are part of a Study Away Teach Away program through the college, and as such they were staying with about six other non-Conn students and all living on the same floor, with all of their classes only one floor down. This concept truly baffled me, and I had trouble understanding who came up with the idea and why. It was very convenient, yes, but it was drastically different from my University experience, and I was just confused at the concept of being in a big city and living and going to class in one building. Very strange. But, luckily, we were in a very big city, and being in Piazza Navona meant walking out the door brought the city to you.

Thesis Proposals have never been so beautiful.

Emily and I decided to go exploring that afternoon, which we did for most of the week, and it was by far my favorite activity. We walked down to Piazza del Popolo and found the outskirts of the Villa Borghese. I’m not going to try to pretend what that translates to, but what it meant to me was ‘enormous parkland and gardens weaved together by labyrinthine paths’, which seems like a pretty good translation. We explored it in the beautiful endless sun of Roma, and the wondrous lush, green life that burst forth everywhere made me love the city at once. That night, Emily, her friend Maria, and I all went to a place that I believe was called ‘Buffetto’, which I was told translates to ‘Mustache’. It was a pizza place right by Piazza Navona, and it was the BEST PIZZA EVER. We waited in a line out the door, as there reputedly always is at this place, and waited for a good while, which we were very quickly grateful for. It was, in all honesty, the best pizza I have ever had.

Wednesday was relatively slow and relaxing. It was my last morning at Hotel Colors (I booked late, so I ended up booking three different places), so I soaked up the rays on the terrace once more and added substantially to my thesis proposal as Emily attended class. The afternoon found me moving out of Hotel Colors and heading over to my second hostel, which had directions from the nearby Metro station as being ‘three bus stops, or a short walk’. Of course I opted for walking and 30 minutes later I found the damnable place, which I had originally thought was in the Vatican area. To be fair, most of the walking was in the Vatican area, but that area ended after I had to cross four lanes of traffic on a very busy road, pass a Mitsubishi dealership, and walk down a dead-end street to reach the hostel. It was no Hotel Colors, I am afraid. The place was a bit of a mess, and the receptionist declared me lucky when she was able to find a key for me to have, after giving me €5 in petty change when I paid my deposit for it. Tired, sweaty, and unamused, I left at once to meet up with Emily again, which took close to an hour. Deciding at once that I needed a good drink, Emily, her friend Kayla, and I all went to the bar where I had gotten lost on Monday (I had since bought a beautiful map to guide me back there). We enjoyed a lovely aperitivo whilst looking out over the city as the moon rose and the sun slowly set behind us. It was an amazing way to relax, and I wanted then to have aperitivo every day for the rest of my life (a dream that has sadly gone unrealized... I don’t think they even know what a cocktail is in Scotland). We retired to Emily’s flat and enjoyed some lovely ravioli before I had to face running a marathon back to the new hostel. Which reminds me, the public transportation system in Rome is most certainly not the best. I finally figured out some buses to use towards the end of my time there, but walking was usually the method of choice and necessity.

Lovely Aperitivo

On Thursday, Emily went off to chill with the Pope (oh, did I mention the week I was there was Holy Week?) at some Mass or another, so I set out to explore some gardens I had seen on my map. The only advantage to the inconveniently located hostel showed itself that day, as I found a bakery with enormous loaves of bread for incredibly cheap prices. I didn’t even try to speak English either, as it was obviously a local place, and I wanted to respect that as much as possible. After seeing gardens from afar but never managing to reach them (too many walls here! Paranoid Roman Empire...), I gave up and spent the morning reading whilst looking out over them, which seemed just as good. In the early afternoon, I met Emily and enjoyed more pizza at a little café by their flat. The afternoon passed without much avail, and I went to dinner in Trastevere that night at a ridiculously cheap restaurant, which was good, but not the best of my time there (and my papa makes much better bruschetta anyway). Emily, Kayla, their friend Sofia, and I then went off to Piazza Navona where we enjoyed some cocktails and joyous conversation at one of the numerous bars. I had my first Long Island Iced Tea there, which I found ironic noting that I go to school on Long Island Sound...

That’s all for this entry. I didn’t want to make it too long, so I’ll post my stories of Friday-Sunday soon. Oh, and just click here if you want to see all of my pictures from the trip. Thanks for reading!