I'm here in Edinburgh and it's nearly Christmas day. It's a bit surreal being away from home, in Scotland, and with just the girls. Our apartment is amazing and it took no time making it into our own little home. It's impressive how grown up we can be; making arrangements, finding our way here from all over Europe, grocery shopping, making delicious meals and managing to find space for all 10 girls in a flat designed for six. It hasn't been completely perfect (it never is) but that's what makes the time we spend together so enjoyable. We make plans, change plans, meet new people and try our best to live life in the moment. Most of all it makes me appreciate everyone here and everyone at home so much more. It breaks my heart not to be in my own bed on Christmas Eve and to not spend Christmas day at the Rice's but at the same time I can't imagine a more interesting, unique or special way to spend my 21st Christmas.
Will be updating you shortly with my revised travel plans that will take me up through Italy from Rome and ending in Paris before coming home. But for now all I have to say is Merry Christmas, I love you all and hope that you enjoy the day with the loved ones around you.
24 December 2008
17 December 2008
Mulled Wine and Christmas Cheer
Today I finished my final paper of the term. Wow, what a load off my back! Unfortunately I'm not totally in the clear as I have an exam in Financial Economics and Management in the first week of next term but for now I'm taking a break. It's been a busy few weeks (hence the lack of updates) and it's nice to finally have some time to relax. Some of the stuff I've done: Hiked in the snow, received a research grant, got a surprisingly good mark on an economics essay, visited Bronte country, and made eggnog from scratch!
I was able to go on the last two hikes of the term with outdoor society the past two Sundays. The first one we went to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales, its also the home of Wensleydale cheese, a very well known cheese in England. The hike was made instantaneously more interesting the second we entered the dales as there was a good amount of snow on the ground. Luckily the weather was fairly good meaning it wasn't raining or snowing while we were outside. There weren't many people and it was predominantly guys so we were going at a quicker pace. The first half of the walk we went in a couple circles, braved some icy winding paths and precariously walked over frozen poo, literally. Just to clear up any misconceptions, cow/sheep poo does not lose its smell when frozen and becomes very slippery. After our pub lunch it was a chore going back out into the freezing cold but somehow we did it and ended up having a fun adventure. We walked to an old viaduct and railway line that isn't technically open to the public. We realized this after having to get over a succession of gates that became increasingly difficult until we ended up in someones back yard with their sheep. We then had to hop a rock wall onto the main road to find the actual footpath. I got some good pictures (check flickr) and it was really fun looking back on it.
This Sunday we went to Haworth also known as Bronte Country. It's the town where the Bronte sisters lived, wrote their famous novels, and are buried. The town is also known for its Christmas festivity so we only walked in the morning and got to walk around for an hour in the afternoon. The walk was pretty uneventful besides a lot of fog and even more mud. It was fun walking around the town and I bought a few goodies to bring home. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go to the Bronte museum but made it into the gift shop (grandma should be proud!) and got some postcards. I would love to go back sometime in the spring or summer and hike to the Bronte waterfalls, see the museum and go on the steam railway.
Probably the most excited news of the last couple weeks is my being awarded a research grant from UC for $970. I applied a couple of months ago and finally heard the news last Wednesday. I'm going to be doing research and writing an article on the conservation movement in early 20th century Britain. I'm extremely excited as this is my first shot at being an actual historian and if I do well perhaps I may hear the bells of Oxford calling in the future...maybe. I'll be doing my research starting next term and will travel a bit during spring break to some national trust sites in the south of England.
The holiday spirit is most definitely making its way through York as I feel I'm constantly singing carols, drinking mulled wine and eating loads of sweets (tsk tsk!) Last Thursday I went to the International Student's Association Winter Ball at the Royal York Hotel with some of my french and dutch friends. Then on Saturday I had my concert for Revelation Rock Gospel Choir at Heslington Church. It went very well and we all had a blast rocking out! Finally last night our flat put together a nice little Christmas feast of party food. The most notable part about this was that I succeeded in making eggnog from scratch. And, surprisingly enough, it tastes like eggnog! Also...no salmonella! I heated it a bit (directed by good old dad) and also realized that the eggs i bought came from hens that had been vaccinated against salmonella, brilliant!
So now I'm done with academics, for now, I'm just waiting for Friday morning when Robin comes to York and then we're off to Edinburgh on Monday to meet up with the rest of the girls for our Christmas Extravaganza! Anne and I will then go down to Rome to ring in 2009 and finally I'm planning on spending some time in Florence revising for exams and taking in the culture before flying back to England. I have quite a month ahead of me and hopefully I'll be updating you the whole time! So until next time have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... I love and miss you all :)
I was able to go on the last two hikes of the term with outdoor society the past two Sundays. The first one we went to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales, its also the home of Wensleydale cheese, a very well known cheese in England. The hike was made instantaneously more interesting the second we entered the dales as there was a good amount of snow on the ground. Luckily the weather was fairly good meaning it wasn't raining or snowing while we were outside. There weren't many people and it was predominantly guys so we were going at a quicker pace. The first half of the walk we went in a couple circles, braved some icy winding paths and precariously walked over frozen poo, literally. Just to clear up any misconceptions, cow/sheep poo does not lose its smell when frozen and becomes very slippery. After our pub lunch it was a chore going back out into the freezing cold but somehow we did it and ended up having a fun adventure. We walked to an old viaduct and railway line that isn't technically open to the public. We realized this after having to get over a succession of gates that became increasingly difficult until we ended up in someones back yard with their sheep. We then had to hop a rock wall onto the main road to find the actual footpath. I got some good pictures (check flickr) and it was really fun looking back on it.
This Sunday we went to Haworth also known as Bronte Country. It's the town where the Bronte sisters lived, wrote their famous novels, and are buried. The town is also known for its Christmas festivity so we only walked in the morning and got to walk around for an hour in the afternoon. The walk was pretty uneventful besides a lot of fog and even more mud. It was fun walking around the town and I bought a few goodies to bring home. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go to the Bronte museum but made it into the gift shop (grandma should be proud!) and got some postcards. I would love to go back sometime in the spring or summer and hike to the Bronte waterfalls, see the museum and go on the steam railway.
Probably the most excited news of the last couple weeks is my being awarded a research grant from UC for $970. I applied a couple of months ago and finally heard the news last Wednesday. I'm going to be doing research and writing an article on the conservation movement in early 20th century Britain. I'm extremely excited as this is my first shot at being an actual historian and if I do well perhaps I may hear the bells of Oxford calling in the future...maybe. I'll be doing my research starting next term and will travel a bit during spring break to some national trust sites in the south of England.
The holiday spirit is most definitely making its way through York as I feel I'm constantly singing carols, drinking mulled wine and eating loads of sweets (tsk tsk!) Last Thursday I went to the International Student's Association Winter Ball at the Royal York Hotel with some of my french and dutch friends. Then on Saturday I had my concert for Revelation Rock Gospel Choir at Heslington Church. It went very well and we all had a blast rocking out! Finally last night our flat put together a nice little Christmas feast of party food. The most notable part about this was that I succeeded in making eggnog from scratch. And, surprisingly enough, it tastes like eggnog! Also...no salmonella! I heated it a bit (directed by good old dad) and also realized that the eggs i bought came from hens that had been vaccinated against salmonella, brilliant!
So now I'm done with academics, for now, I'm just waiting for Friday morning when Robin comes to York and then we're off to Edinburgh on Monday to meet up with the rest of the girls for our Christmas Extravaganza! Anne and I will then go down to Rome to ring in 2009 and finally I'm planning on spending some time in Florence revising for exams and taking in the culture before flying back to England. I have quite a month ahead of me and hopefully I'll be updating you the whole time! So until next time have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... I love and miss you all :)
02 December 2008
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
At this very moment I am looking out my window at the snow covered science buildings and car park while listening to Bing Crosby croon the Christmas Song..."Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, jack frost nipping at your nose, yule tide carols being sung by a choir and folks dressed up like eskimos." Well I think i've had all of these things in the past few days and can Christmas is officially in the air. It's enough to make anyone not want to think about history papers and economics presentations but even with those things hanging over my head I can't help but smile at the view outside my window.
Anne visited York this weekend and we definitely made the most of our time even though the temperature dipped below freezing and there were massive crowds walking the city streets for the annual St. Nicolas Fayre. To avoid the busy bus routes we walked into town everyday in the lovely winter streets and bitter winter cold. Saturday was shrouded in a heavy set of fog, the first I've seen here, that added a Dickensian atmosphere to the medieval streets and gothic cathedral. We sampled all the best the market had to offer including hot cider punch, hot chocolate with brandy, mulled wine, roasted mixed nuts and of course roasted chestnuts. It was so cold that I feel we spent the majority of our time either shivering through the streets or eating in a warm public establishment. We did manage to get in some tourist visits as well, including Jorvik Viking Center which was interesting, climbing the bell tower of the Minster and touring the Treasurer's House on its last day of opening. On Saturday we even braved the night cold on an entertaining ghost tour through the foggy streets. Our guide looked as if he stepped out of 1800's York with his top hat and cane. Very entertaining.
Obviously when it gets cold out food becomes very important and we made sure to keep warm by eating hot pub grub, steaming teas and English breakfasts. I've talked about Bettys Tea Rooms before but you really can't talk about it too much because it's so amazing. We managed to go twice, for breakfast on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday we went to the main Tea Rooms and sat on the ground floor watching the passersby. On Monday we tried Little Bettys just down Stonegate on the 1st floor above their little sweets shop. With three fireplaces and adorable little tables over looking the cute medieval street with bustling shops it was the perfect meal.
Sunday was most definitely church day as we attended three services throughout the day both Catholic and Anglican. First we had mass at 11am at St. Wilfred's. We planned to go to Evensong at the Minster then learned that there wasn't the normal 5:15 service because of Advent so we went to Evening Prayer at 4 and then went back at 6:30 for the Advent Processional. This may be the coolest church service I have been to. It interspersed readings with the minster choir and another choir. At the beginning everyone was given candles and then the lights inside the minster were all turned off as the candles were lit in succession. By the time all the candles were lit the gothic cathedral was illuminated in a soft glow with the haunting beautiful voices of the boys choir. Gorgeous.
Then this morning I woke up to a text from my friend Amanda, "Snow!" Naturally I lept out of bed and tore open the shades of my window to find the landscape covered in a light blanket of snow. Not only that but the sky is a brilliant blue and the sun is shinning on the glittering whiteness. I walked through campus by the nearly frozen over lake on the snow covered paths to Heslington Hall. So here i've been all day drinking hot tea, singing along to Bing and smiling uncontrollably at the snow. But now I really do have to bite the bullet and wander over to the library and be productive.
I know it's been said many times and many ways, Merry Christmas to you all!
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