Hi all,
It's my last night in St. A., and I'm feeling ever so slightly nostalgic and wanted to write a little bit about the semester as a whole now that it's coming to a close. People keep asking me if I'm sad to leave Scotland, and truthfully, the answer is no. I was ready to come here in January, and now I'm ready to go home. It's time. I've done what I came here to do, and while it may not have surpassed my wildest dreams, it certainly lived up to my expectations. As far as study groups go, I'm quite happy with my choice!
I can definitely say that the highlight of the semester has been my two real classes (sorry, Theology of the Musical--you're not a real class). How is it that classes outrank all the traveling I did on my list of highlights? Well, two reasons: Georgia Frank and Kelly Iverson. They are amazing professors, and I loved both classes and am still slightly in shock about how much I learned from them. Georgia's class on heresy is one of my all-time favorites, partly because the subject is right up my alley (religious dissent! People not getting along! Figuring out ways to make them get along! Yeah, I'm a geek...) and partly because there were some great discussions. Georgia's great at leading discussions, and we had a really good mix of people with differing viewpoints who (mostly...) were willing to express them. Way to go, Gnostic Gnation 2010! Some of the issues raised may have kept me awake at night, but that's the sign of a good class--that the material is challenging enough and interesting enough that I can't stop think about it long after class is over.
Kelly's class was also amazing, in a totally different way. I haven't done any work with the New Testament since freshman year, so taking a class on the Gospel of Matthew here was enlightening, to say the least. Kelly's a brilliant lecturer, and every Tuesday he would lead us through some complicated theory to arrive a one of those "Ah ha!" moments where you realize something you never would even have thought to look for, but it's so simple and brilliant you can't believe you almost missed it. I still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of early Christian studies, but after this semester I have a much better appreciation for how complex the field is, and also why it matters. I'll admit, I've never been very history-oriented when it comes to religion. I care about what's happening right here, right now, and how we can shape it to be better. But the history of Christianity that I studied in both classes this semester DOES matter, and it matters a lot. It's like reading a text in translation if you ignore the earliest years of a religion--you completely miss the most important things because you're looking at the things someone else has highlighted for you. And we all know how much I hate reading things in translation when I have access to the original! It's definitely given me a different perspective on my field, and lots to think about as grad school application time rolls around....
So yes, my classes and the things I've learned from them--and the way they've changed my thinking--are the things I am most grateful for this semester. But I will say that I'm also grateful for all the beautiful places I got to see! I didn't make it everywhere I wanted to go, but I did see some extraordinary places that I wouldn't have seen had I gone abroad to France or somewhere else in mainland Europe. The Scottish highlands are AMAZING--I could spend weeks or months and never get tired of mountains, mists, and lochs. And castles. And coos. And I'm really happy I made it to Dublin, for the sole reason that I happened to be talked into going into the Chester Beatty Library, that amazing collection of religious manuscripts, where I realized yet again how important the study of religion is to me. I'm officially obsessed! And, of course, my epic spring break adventure, though not quite what I expected, was still an incredible opportunity, and hopefully just a preview of far more European adventures to come!
So, before I sit on my suitcase and wrestle it into submission, I wanted to share one last quintessential St. Andrews experience. Tonight (and last Thursday) I went to the Compline service at St. Leonard's Chapel, and enjoyed it so much. The chapel dates back to the 1400's, and it's just a small, rectangular stone room with pews facing each other across the aisle and an organ and altar. For Compline, the evening service, it's lit by candles--so cool! The service starts at 10pm, so it's barely dark by that point, but it's still beautiful. The university choir sings for it, so there's actually (relatively) good music, and the organ makes it that much better. But the liturgy of the service itself is what I really love about it. All the psalms, readings, and prayers are about preparing for the night and sleep. But there's a crescendo to it too--at first the verses are about the physical night, but the metaphors gradually build up until night corresponds to death, and it ends with a line surrendering to God's protection in this night and forevermore. Somehow, it take every uncertainty about tonight and tomorrow and lets each one go. It's an absolutely beautiful ritual, and I would attend every night if I could. It's the perfect way to end the day, and I think a perfect way to end this trip.
I'll keep updating my blog until I get through spring break. Fair warning though, it may take all summer! My next update will come while sitting on the couch, trying to keep the corgi's nose out of my plate of bacon. :) Can't wait to be home!
A bientot, tout le monde, and thanks for reading!
~L
Link to Compline liturgy, if you're interested (my favorite parts are near the end, after the Lord's Prayer) http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/ireland/compline.html
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Back to Spring Break--Nice
Hi all,
In an effort to evade packing, it's back to reminiscing about spring break, specifically one of the best days of the trip, spent in Nice, France. The following is an excerpt from the travel journal I kept, part of which was written on a hill looking over the beautiful beach--I miss it already!
April 2, 2010
After a rocky start (French travel workers are the most unhelpful people in the world), I finally made it to the beach and all was forgiven. I'm completely in love with this city, which should come as no surprise considering it feels like a cross between Athens and Paris. The water is blue and turquoise, and the weather is sunny and warm--does it get any better? Oh, yes, and the flowers are blooming so it's colorful and even smells good. I walked through the famous flower market and it was basically heaven in street market form. There's also a fruit market, where I bought a 1/2 kilo of strawberries, which I'm currently eating as I sit on the hill with the ruins of the chateau, admiring the view of the sea. Earlier, I bought some postcards and wrote them in a cafe on the beach, 20 feet from the waves. It was surprisingly peaceful, with the sound of the drowning out pretty much everything else. Mediocre coffee, but I was really paying for the view.
After I finished, I walked back into the vieux ville and visited a few churches--the one in the flower market was beautiful, the others so-so--and then came the best part of my day. I sat in the cathedral square, in the sun, eating a Nutella crepe and listening to a street musician play some of my favorite pieces: Pie Jesu, The Mission, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Aranjuez, and, ironically, Lascia Ch'io Pianga, which seems to follow me whenever I'm in France for some reason. I was so happy sitting there, I could hardly bring myself to leave. But I did, and found the castle hill and climbed up to enjoy the panoramic views of the Cote d'Azur--the name says it all. You can even see the Alps, covered in snow, to the north. Talk about the best of both worlds. Now I'm just writing and waiting for Brandon to join me so we can grab our last French lunch before getting on the train to Milan...
As you can see, I adored Nice! Brandon did join me eventually (after getting lost several times--he didn't love Nice as much as I did after that...) and we had an epic lunch of mussels and tiramisu. Provencal food is seriously the best in the world. Then it was off to Milan. More on that later!
Back to packing...
~L
Photos from southern France (I already posted these, but here's the link again if you want it): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=203237&id=579896063&l=839c8a707f
In an effort to evade packing, it's back to reminiscing about spring break, specifically one of the best days of the trip, spent in Nice, France. The following is an excerpt from the travel journal I kept, part of which was written on a hill looking over the beautiful beach--I miss it already!
April 2, 2010
After a rocky start (French travel workers are the most unhelpful people in the world), I finally made it to the beach and all was forgiven. I'm completely in love with this city, which should come as no surprise considering it feels like a cross between Athens and Paris. The water is blue and turquoise, and the weather is sunny and warm--does it get any better? Oh, yes, and the flowers are blooming so it's colorful and even smells good. I walked through the famous flower market and it was basically heaven in street market form. There's also a fruit market, where I bought a 1/2 kilo of strawberries, which I'm currently eating as I sit on the hill with the ruins of the chateau, admiring the view of the sea. Earlier, I bought some postcards and wrote them in a cafe on the beach, 20 feet from the waves. It was surprisingly peaceful, with the sound of the drowning out pretty much everything else. Mediocre coffee, but I was really paying for the view.
After I finished, I walked back into the vieux ville and visited a few churches--the one in the flower market was beautiful, the others so-so--and then came the best part of my day. I sat in the cathedral square, in the sun, eating a Nutella crepe and listening to a street musician play some of my favorite pieces: Pie Jesu, The Mission, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Aranjuez, and, ironically, Lascia Ch'io Pianga, which seems to follow me whenever I'm in France for some reason. I was so happy sitting there, I could hardly bring myself to leave. But I did, and found the castle hill and climbed up to enjoy the panoramic views of the Cote d'Azur--the name says it all. You can even see the Alps, covered in snow, to the north. Talk about the best of both worlds. Now I'm just writing and waiting for Brandon to join me so we can grab our last French lunch before getting on the train to Milan...
As you can see, I adored Nice! Brandon did join me eventually (after getting lost several times--he didn't love Nice as much as I did after that...) and we had an epic lunch of mussels and tiramisu. Provencal food is seriously the best in the world. Then it was off to Milan. More on that later!
Back to packing...
~L
Photos from southern France (I already posted these, but here's the link again if you want it): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=203237&id=579896063&l=839c8a707f
Monday, May 24, 2010
Done with Finals!!
Hi all,
I'M DONE!!! Despite the usual end-of-semester burnout, I managed to finish everything and now have an unprecedented three whole days in which to pack my life back into the three suitcases and a backpack to take it back to the US on Friday. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll manage to find better things to do with my time until at least Thursday afternoon...
Any, in celebration, I've been alternating between watching TV and uploading spring break photos, so here are some links to entertain you. Both are albums of photos from Italy, so enjoy! Yes, I'll get back to actual updates at some point, but photos are better than nothing, right?
See (most of) you next week or shortly thereafter!
~L
Milan and Venice:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213633&id=579896063&l=5872d42f6b
Pisa and Florence: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213947&id=579896063&l=5e0a67ea86
I'M DONE!!! Despite the usual end-of-semester burnout, I managed to finish everything and now have an unprecedented three whole days in which to pack my life back into the three suitcases and a backpack to take it back to the US on Friday. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll manage to find better things to do with my time until at least Thursday afternoon...
Any, in celebration, I've been alternating between watching TV and uploading spring break photos, so here are some links to entertain you. Both are albums of photos from Italy, so enjoy! Yes, I'll get back to actual updates at some point, but photos are better than nothing, right?
See (most of) you next week or shortly thereafter!
~L
Milan and Venice:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213633&id=579896063&l=5872d42f6b
Pisa and Florence: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=213947&id=579896063&l=5e0a67ea86
Monday, May 17, 2010
Studying? What Studying?
Hello all,
I know, I know, I'm behind on spring break updates and photos and everything, and I promise I'll get back to them later this week. In the meantime, I just got back from a trip to Skye and figured I should update you all on that before I forget everything! (Spring break memories are safely recorded in a travel journal, don't worry! Those stories aren't going anywhere...)
Anyway, last week was "Reading Week," set aside for studying, which naturally I did exactly none of. Instead, I met Margaret in Edinburgh on Monday, went to Loch Ness with her and Brandon overnight on Tuesday, then headed to Skye on my own for the rest of the week. Highlights are as follows.
Edinburgh--I haven't gotten to spend as much time as I would have liked in Edinburgh this semester, but at least this time it was partially sunny as opposed to the fog of the first trip! Basically we just wandered all over the place, which was not far because for a city, it's reasonably small. We did go to the National Gallery to see their dance exhibit, which was NOT as cool as their advertising promised! I mean seriously, only one Degas in the entire exhibit? Oh well, I guess I'll see more in Paris this summer, so I'll just have to wait until then for my dance-art fix.
We did wander down to Holyrood House, the Queen's residence in Edinburgh, but didn't bother going in. It's a pretty castle though, and there's a big green lawn where the corgis can play. Also, they sell stuff corgis on leashes as souvenirs. Creepy, yet awesome. We then decided to climb the wee hill behind Holyrood for a good view of Edinburgh...it was a long climb! Once we made it back down, we went for tea at a tea shop that looked like Prof. Umbridge's office. Despite the decor, it was pretty good. I love teatime. Definitely the best meal of the day.
And finally, the highlight of Edinburgh: I BOUGHT COO SLIPPERS. For you sad souls who don't know what a coo is, check out my pictures. Basically, a coo (pronounced "cow" in American...) is the cutest thing ever, and I now have coo slippers to remember them by.
On to Loch Ness. Since I'd been before, I wasn't terribly excited for it (and the weather was, surprisingly, better in February...oh well) but it was all worth it because the zoo was open and we got to meet the coos (named Katie and Donald). They were so adorable! However, we had sort of forgotten that they have vicious looking horns, so despite their cuddliness, we didn't pet them...but they were worth the trip.
From there, I went to the Isle of Skye, which really is one of the most beautiful places ever. Sadly, my photos do NOT do it justice because I was taking a lot of them from a bus, and the weather was dreadful on the day when I was taking most of them. But trust me when I say it's gorgeous and I want to go back for a much longer stay someday!
Even the ride there from Inverness through the Highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh was beautiful. I don't normally take pictures from trains or buses, but I made an exception in this case. I was lucky that my train arrived in Kyle early so I could catch the afternoon bus to Portree, the capital of the island, where I was staying. I arrived just in time for the early bird special at the best seafood restaurant in Skye, the Harbor View in Portree--it was amazing! Highly recommended, and not that expensive if you order before 6pm. I had mussels in cream, white wine, and garlic that were to die for, followed by my new favorite Scottish dessert, crannachan. It's raspberries in whipped cream flavored with honey, toasted oatmeal, and (naturally) whiskey. Clearly a Highland delicacy! It was a great way to start the trip.
Unfortunately, the next day was absolutely hideous weather-wise. It didn't actually rain except for an hour or so when I was inside a castle, but the clouds obscured a lot of the views. Guess I'll just have to go back someday and hope for clear skies! I couldn't do the boat trip I'd wanted because the sea was too rough, so instead I went to Dunvegan Castle, which, until its roof is repaired, is really not worth the trip. The castle has a giant white tent over the middle of it--not exactly photogenic! But I wandered up the mountainside to a standing stone, and then around the end of the loch for more pretty views (at least as far as I could see). I also discovered that sheep can be kind of scary, especially if you think you're alone in a field and suddenly turn a corner and there's one with horns staring at you! But I survived my run-in with the angry ram and made it into Dunvegan town (makes Hamilton look huge) for lunch, and, of course, more tea. Then back to Portree for more wandering around and some time to just sit and read and relax(!).
Friday morning I managed to fit everything in my bag somehow (this was a great trip for gift-shopping!) and caught the bus to Eilan Donan castle, on the mainland just across from Skye. It's actually one of the most beautiful places I've been, and ranks right up there with Loch Ness as a must-see place in Scotland. The castle looks like something out of a fairytale--it's built on an island in the loch and linked to the mainland by a simple but beautiful arched bridge. Reminds me of Chenonceau, actually, but not as frilly. I took SO many pictures of it that I've tried to only put the best ones up, but there are still a lot!
Then it was time for my 6hr train ride back to St A and the reality that I have finals this week...sigh. Oh well, volcano-permitting, I'll be home in under two weeks now and back at Colgate three weeks from today!
See you soon~
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211777&id=579896063&l=d7dac93170
I know, I know, I'm behind on spring break updates and photos and everything, and I promise I'll get back to them later this week. In the meantime, I just got back from a trip to Skye and figured I should update you all on that before I forget everything! (Spring break memories are safely recorded in a travel journal, don't worry! Those stories aren't going anywhere...)
Anyway, last week was "Reading Week," set aside for studying, which naturally I did exactly none of. Instead, I met Margaret in Edinburgh on Monday, went to Loch Ness with her and Brandon overnight on Tuesday, then headed to Skye on my own for the rest of the week. Highlights are as follows.
Edinburgh--I haven't gotten to spend as much time as I would have liked in Edinburgh this semester, but at least this time it was partially sunny as opposed to the fog of the first trip! Basically we just wandered all over the place, which was not far because for a city, it's reasonably small. We did go to the National Gallery to see their dance exhibit, which was NOT as cool as their advertising promised! I mean seriously, only one Degas in the entire exhibit? Oh well, I guess I'll see more in Paris this summer, so I'll just have to wait until then for my dance-art fix.
We did wander down to Holyrood House, the Queen's residence in Edinburgh, but didn't bother going in. It's a pretty castle though, and there's a big green lawn where the corgis can play. Also, they sell stuff corgis on leashes as souvenirs. Creepy, yet awesome. We then decided to climb the wee hill behind Holyrood for a good view of Edinburgh...it was a long climb! Once we made it back down, we went for tea at a tea shop that looked like Prof. Umbridge's office. Despite the decor, it was pretty good. I love teatime. Definitely the best meal of the day.
And finally, the highlight of Edinburgh: I BOUGHT COO SLIPPERS. For you sad souls who don't know what a coo is, check out my pictures. Basically, a coo (pronounced "cow" in American...) is the cutest thing ever, and I now have coo slippers to remember them by.
On to Loch Ness. Since I'd been before, I wasn't terribly excited for it (and the weather was, surprisingly, better in February...oh well) but it was all worth it because the zoo was open and we got to meet the coos (named Katie and Donald). They were so adorable! However, we had sort of forgotten that they have vicious looking horns, so despite their cuddliness, we didn't pet them...but they were worth the trip.
From there, I went to the Isle of Skye, which really is one of the most beautiful places ever. Sadly, my photos do NOT do it justice because I was taking a lot of them from a bus, and the weather was dreadful on the day when I was taking most of them. But trust me when I say it's gorgeous and I want to go back for a much longer stay someday!
Even the ride there from Inverness through the Highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh was beautiful. I don't normally take pictures from trains or buses, but I made an exception in this case. I was lucky that my train arrived in Kyle early so I could catch the afternoon bus to Portree, the capital of the island, where I was staying. I arrived just in time for the early bird special at the best seafood restaurant in Skye, the Harbor View in Portree--it was amazing! Highly recommended, and not that expensive if you order before 6pm. I had mussels in cream, white wine, and garlic that were to die for, followed by my new favorite Scottish dessert, crannachan. It's raspberries in whipped cream flavored with honey, toasted oatmeal, and (naturally) whiskey. Clearly a Highland delicacy! It was a great way to start the trip.
Unfortunately, the next day was absolutely hideous weather-wise. It didn't actually rain except for an hour or so when I was inside a castle, but the clouds obscured a lot of the views. Guess I'll just have to go back someday and hope for clear skies! I couldn't do the boat trip I'd wanted because the sea was too rough, so instead I went to Dunvegan Castle, which, until its roof is repaired, is really not worth the trip. The castle has a giant white tent over the middle of it--not exactly photogenic! But I wandered up the mountainside to a standing stone, and then around the end of the loch for more pretty views (at least as far as I could see). I also discovered that sheep can be kind of scary, especially if you think you're alone in a field and suddenly turn a corner and there's one with horns staring at you! But I survived my run-in with the angry ram and made it into Dunvegan town (makes Hamilton look huge) for lunch, and, of course, more tea. Then back to Portree for more wandering around and some time to just sit and read and relax(!).
Friday morning I managed to fit everything in my bag somehow (this was a great trip for gift-shopping!) and caught the bus to Eilan Donan castle, on the mainland just across from Skye. It's actually one of the most beautiful places I've been, and ranks right up there with Loch Ness as a must-see place in Scotland. The castle looks like something out of a fairytale--it's built on an island in the loch and linked to the mainland by a simple but beautiful arched bridge. Reminds me of Chenonceau, actually, but not as frilly. I took SO many pictures of it that I've tried to only put the best ones up, but there are still a lot!
Then it was time for my 6hr train ride back to St A and the reality that I have finals this week...sigh. Oh well, volcano-permitting, I'll be home in under two weeks now and back at Colgate three weeks from today!
See you soon~
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211777&id=579896063&l=d7dac93170
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Springtime in St Andrews! (Caution: Severe Sarcasm Ahead)
Ah, spring in Scotland. The days are longer, flowers are blooming, classes are almost over....it's a beautiful thing, or so they tell me. Here in the library, it's a balmy 85 degrees, and the gentle breeze wafting past my carrel smells distinctly like sweaty freshmen, stale books, and carpet that hasn't been cleaned since the 1960's. The printer is beeping its frustration at yet another paper jam, and a thud to my right tells me that yet another head has hit the desk. Oh yes, spring is a wonderful time to be a student...
Let's see, what latest adventures can I update you on. Hmm. Well, about an hour ago, I got up from my table, walked over the the reference section, had the fantastic experience of looking up a word in the New Testament Greek lexicon that weighs as much as I do, and walked back to my table. It was really exciting. Yesterday was even better, though, because I was studying on the second floor because of the carrels' proximity to the BF section, and this one time I made it ALL THE WAY to the BR section. It was like a whole new world. I wish you could have been there. It was probably the best trip of the whole semester.
Ok, ok, enough sarcasm. I was bored. There is one thing worth writing about that's happened recently, and that is the May Dip, which occurred today at approximately 5:20am. Let me go back to the beginning of the story where it all started, at the beginning of the semester...
Better yet, let's start in the sixteenth century. A lovely fellow named Patrick Hamilton was condemned for heresy and sentenced to be burned at the stake on a spot generally believed to have been right outside St. Salvator's Chapel in St. Andrews. As they were fanning the flames, the unfortunate martyr uttered (precisely) these words: "I, Patrick Hamilton, do hereby curse any fully matriculated student of the University of St Andrews who steps on the spot where at some point in the future my initials will be arbitrarily placed in the cobblestones, so that said fully matriculated student will fail all of his classes that term." I'm impressed he managed to get out the word "matriculated" with his feet on fired, but hey, that's martyrdom for you. What a charmer, to leave a legacy like that for us.
Anyway, back to the first Friday of February this year: matriculation day. Literally ten minutes after I became a "fully matriculated student," guess where I stepped? Yep. On the PH lurking in the cobblestones on North Street. And thus the curse began. You'd think being born on Friday the 13th would basically negate any curse I ever encountered, but just in case, I decided to take part in the St. Andrews ritual that promises to undo the curse: the May Dip.
And so, at 5:20 this morning, I found myself running into the North Sea at dawn with hundreds of other students begging PH's forgiveness in one of St. Andrews' most absurd and pneumonia-inducing traditions. It was without question the coldest experience of my life, and this is coming from someone who's survived two Hamilton winters and years of figure skating. There was a lot of screaming and cursing (mostly from Jen!) involved, but when I emerged, I was no longer cursed and have no excuse to fail all my classes.
Anyway, after I'd thawed out, showered, and slept for a few more hours, I was up and back to work, enjoying the beautiful view of the reference section. St. Andrews, I will miss you so.
Back to the US of A in 3 weeks, 6 days!
~L
PS: Yes, I know I haven't finished updates about spring break or put any Italy photos up. But really, is it fair to make me look at pictures of the sunny south that make me wish even more that I was there instead of here? Maybe tomorrow...
Let's see, what latest adventures can I update you on. Hmm. Well, about an hour ago, I got up from my table, walked over the the reference section, had the fantastic experience of looking up a word in the New Testament Greek lexicon that weighs as much as I do, and walked back to my table. It was really exciting. Yesterday was even better, though, because I was studying on the second floor because of the carrels' proximity to the BF section, and this one time I made it ALL THE WAY to the BR section. It was like a whole new world. I wish you could have been there. It was probably the best trip of the whole semester.
Ok, ok, enough sarcasm. I was bored. There is one thing worth writing about that's happened recently, and that is the May Dip, which occurred today at approximately 5:20am. Let me go back to the beginning of the story where it all started, at the beginning of the semester...
Better yet, let's start in the sixteenth century. A lovely fellow named Patrick Hamilton was condemned for heresy and sentenced to be burned at the stake on a spot generally believed to have been right outside St. Salvator's Chapel in St. Andrews. As they were fanning the flames, the unfortunate martyr uttered (precisely) these words: "I, Patrick Hamilton, do hereby curse any fully matriculated student of the University of St Andrews who steps on the spot where at some point in the future my initials will be arbitrarily placed in the cobblestones, so that said fully matriculated student will fail all of his classes that term." I'm impressed he managed to get out the word "matriculated" with his feet on fired, but hey, that's martyrdom for you. What a charmer, to leave a legacy like that for us.
Anyway, back to the first Friday of February this year: matriculation day. Literally ten minutes after I became a "fully matriculated student," guess where I stepped? Yep. On the PH lurking in the cobblestones on North Street. And thus the curse began. You'd think being born on Friday the 13th would basically negate any curse I ever encountered, but just in case, I decided to take part in the St. Andrews ritual that promises to undo the curse: the May Dip.
And so, at 5:20 this morning, I found myself running into the North Sea at dawn with hundreds of other students begging PH's forgiveness in one of St. Andrews' most absurd and pneumonia-inducing traditions. It was without question the coldest experience of my life, and this is coming from someone who's survived two Hamilton winters and years of figure skating. There was a lot of screaming and cursing (mostly from Jen!) involved, but when I emerged, I was no longer cursed and have no excuse to fail all my classes.
Anyway, after I'd thawed out, showered, and slept for a few more hours, I was up and back to work, enjoying the beautiful view of the reference section. St. Andrews, I will miss you so.
Back to the US of A in 3 weeks, 6 days!
~L
PS: Yes, I know I haven't finished updates about spring break or put any Italy photos up. But really, is it fair to make me look at pictures of the sunny south that make me wish even more that I was there instead of here? Maybe tomorrow...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
More photos!
France photos are up! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=203237&id=579896063&l=839c8a707f
No time to write more, but I'll catch up tomorrow--really!
~L
No time to write more, but I'll catch up tomorrow--really!
~L
Friday, April 16, 2010
Spring Break Part 1--York, London, and Oxford
Hello all!
I survived my whirlwind spring break, and somehow managed to deal with course registration and housing for next year at the same time. It was an incredibly stressful 17 days, but for the most part it was really amazing. Since I still have homework to do, I'm not going to be able to write about everything all at once (much less upload my 2600 photos...) but I'll try to update frequently!
Our first stop on the group trip was York, a cute medieval town (complete with walls!) in the north of England. We saw York Minster, the most structurally unsound cathedral ever constructed. Our tour guide was a retired engineer who pointed out how the arches in the crossing bow out because, as they recently discovered, the builders used the foundation from a previous Norman church--a wood raft in unstable ground--for the main tower. Bad idea! To fix it, they went into the crypt and put thousands of crisscrossing steel rods in strategic places to reinforce the tower and act as an actual foundation. Kind of impressive that it survived 400-odd years on a 1000 year old wooden raft, though! Structural instability aside, the cathedral is gorgeous--very open and airy, with an aisle so wide they had to roof it in wood instead of stone (talk about a fire hazard! It seemed like every ten minutes the tour guide mentioned yet another time when the church had burned down. I think it was five total?). The stained glass is amazing too--the largest collection of medieval glass anywhere. The architecture is similar to Westminster, but FAR less tacky and not cluttered with 600 years' worth of monuments. Overall it was a great visit.
York itself is a lot like Sarlat, a medieval town Mom and I visited in France--it has narrow, winding streets with a flower market and lots of adorable shops, and even in early spring it seemed really busy and full of life. I loved it! On our last night in York, we went to see a really weird play that, since we're taking a class on heresy, we dubbed the Gnostic Sherlock Holmes. I still don't completely understand what it was, but it was this insane two man show that left everyone slightly dazed and confused. It was quite strange, but fun, I suppose.
We went to London from there, and since I was just there with Mom and Dad, I wasn't in a rush to see the big things again. We ended up going to Camden Market and Covent Garden on Sunday afternoon after getting settled in the hotel (if you've never had to deal with checking 17 people into a hotel--don't. It was a nightmare...). Both places were WAY too crowded for my taste, but fun nonetheless. Then we had a group dinner at a French restaurant, where Georgia amused herself by educating Brandon and I about French food (we both fell in love with mussels in garlic and butter, which became a slightly dangerous addiction while in the south of France later in the week)and teaching Brandon to use chopsticks by demonstrating with pencils. It was great food and good company, though I was really happy to go to bed by the time it was over.
On Monday, we had some free time in the morning, so I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum by myself (most of the group went to the Tower, but I'd just been there a week ago). I enjoyed the museum, since it had an excellent Rodin collection and, on a slightly less artistic note, the sparkliest room in the UK--the jewelry collection...so many tiaras!--and it also had a lovely tea room with scones and cream. That's really all it takes to make me happy. Then I met up with the Colgate group for a delicious lunch of steak and venison pie before setting off on a pub crawl, I mean, walking tour of London with none other than Colgate's own Alan Cooper. It ended up not really being a pub crawl at all, which is probably good considering how quickly Prof. Cooper walks and how crazy London traffic is--I feel like we might have lost a few students to traffic if it had been the pub crawl promised by Georgia! The downside of the tour was that it was supposed to be of medieval London. Sounds good, right? Except that medieval London no longer exists, so it was mostly wandering through the financial district with Cooper saying what used to be there, and nothing to see. At least it had mercifully stopped raining by that point, so walking wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was still happy when it finally ended though! The best part, I might add, was the number of times Georgia got left behind or lost. We ended up just keeping our phones on, waiting for her to call to ask where we were. Somehow, none of us were all that surprised whenever it happened...
That night, we had tickets to what proved to be possibly the worst show ever written: Dreamboats and Petticoats. It's similar to Mama Mia, except that the songs were written even further before my time and the plot was even more absurdly cliche. I was not amused, and gave up halfway through and went back to the hotel to go to bed early. That show was ridiculous...
The next morning, we headed out to Oxford, which I did really like. Our tour guides were great (though the guy was such a stereotype of the Oxford PhD candidate that he almost didn't seem like a real person--check out the pictures) and the colleges and the city were so beautiful. It's called the "city of dreaming spires," and the spires really do dominate it. We had lunch at the Turf Tavern (an excellent Oxford institution, and we even ran into the Baylor kids from St. A--the UK is a very small place, apparently!) and then Brandon and I toured the Bodleian Library with Georgia and Halley. The tour itself was dreadful (if you've seen the movie The Producers, you'll know what I mean when I say our tour guide was basically Ulla), but the library was incredible. Incidentally, it was used for scenes in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library--not why I find it amazing, but still kind of cool! It's a beautiful building, and there are so many old books just sitting there! Too bad they don't loan books at all. They said that Charles I was refused the loan of a book he wanted, so that particular snobbery goes back a long way! I think I would be way too intimidated to ever do research there, but it was a fun place to visit.
When we got back to London, it was off to see Wicked--finally! It was everything I had hoped for and more--the singing was fantastic, the sets and costumes were amazing (so colorful and quirky!) and Fiyero was quite attractive. :) All of Elphaba's big solos took my breath away, and Galinda was hilarious as anticipated. And she had the best shoe collection ever--I want it! I even found dance moves to copy... During intermission, Georgia made my night by first buying us ice cream and then saying: "This show is SO Gnostic!" We died laughing, but it's so true...seriously, we're all a little obsessed. Anyway, it was a great final night in London, and we ended it with a walk around Westminster before packing and bed so we could catch our flight to Lyon the next day!
Photos from England: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202115&id=579896063&l=4f798f1645 (If you have trouble viewing the photos, post a comment or email me and I'll try to fix it...hopefully it works though!)
A bientot,
~L
I survived my whirlwind spring break, and somehow managed to deal with course registration and housing for next year at the same time. It was an incredibly stressful 17 days, but for the most part it was really amazing. Since I still have homework to do, I'm not going to be able to write about everything all at once (much less upload my 2600 photos...) but I'll try to update frequently!
Our first stop on the group trip was York, a cute medieval town (complete with walls!) in the north of England. We saw York Minster, the most structurally unsound cathedral ever constructed. Our tour guide was a retired engineer who pointed out how the arches in the crossing bow out because, as they recently discovered, the builders used the foundation from a previous Norman church--a wood raft in unstable ground--for the main tower. Bad idea! To fix it, they went into the crypt and put thousands of crisscrossing steel rods in strategic places to reinforce the tower and act as an actual foundation. Kind of impressive that it survived 400-odd years on a 1000 year old wooden raft, though! Structural instability aside, the cathedral is gorgeous--very open and airy, with an aisle so wide they had to roof it in wood instead of stone (talk about a fire hazard! It seemed like every ten minutes the tour guide mentioned yet another time when the church had burned down. I think it was five total?). The stained glass is amazing too--the largest collection of medieval glass anywhere. The architecture is similar to Westminster, but FAR less tacky and not cluttered with 600 years' worth of monuments. Overall it was a great visit.
York itself is a lot like Sarlat, a medieval town Mom and I visited in France--it has narrow, winding streets with a flower market and lots of adorable shops, and even in early spring it seemed really busy and full of life. I loved it! On our last night in York, we went to see a really weird play that, since we're taking a class on heresy, we dubbed the Gnostic Sherlock Holmes. I still don't completely understand what it was, but it was this insane two man show that left everyone slightly dazed and confused. It was quite strange, but fun, I suppose.
We went to London from there, and since I was just there with Mom and Dad, I wasn't in a rush to see the big things again. We ended up going to Camden Market and Covent Garden on Sunday afternoon after getting settled in the hotel (if you've never had to deal with checking 17 people into a hotel--don't. It was a nightmare...). Both places were WAY too crowded for my taste, but fun nonetheless. Then we had a group dinner at a French restaurant, where Georgia amused herself by educating Brandon and I about French food (we both fell in love with mussels in garlic and butter, which became a slightly dangerous addiction while in the south of France later in the week)and teaching Brandon to use chopsticks by demonstrating with pencils. It was great food and good company, though I was really happy to go to bed by the time it was over.
On Monday, we had some free time in the morning, so I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum by myself (most of the group went to the Tower, but I'd just been there a week ago). I enjoyed the museum, since it had an excellent Rodin collection and, on a slightly less artistic note, the sparkliest room in the UK--the jewelry collection...so many tiaras!--and it also had a lovely tea room with scones and cream. That's really all it takes to make me happy. Then I met up with the Colgate group for a delicious lunch of steak and venison pie before setting off on a pub crawl, I mean, walking tour of London with none other than Colgate's own Alan Cooper. It ended up not really being a pub crawl at all, which is probably good considering how quickly Prof. Cooper walks and how crazy London traffic is--I feel like we might have lost a few students to traffic if it had been the pub crawl promised by Georgia! The downside of the tour was that it was supposed to be of medieval London. Sounds good, right? Except that medieval London no longer exists, so it was mostly wandering through the financial district with Cooper saying what used to be there, and nothing to see. At least it had mercifully stopped raining by that point, so walking wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was still happy when it finally ended though! The best part, I might add, was the number of times Georgia got left behind or lost. We ended up just keeping our phones on, waiting for her to call to ask where we were. Somehow, none of us were all that surprised whenever it happened...
That night, we had tickets to what proved to be possibly the worst show ever written: Dreamboats and Petticoats. It's similar to Mama Mia, except that the songs were written even further before my time and the plot was even more absurdly cliche. I was not amused, and gave up halfway through and went back to the hotel to go to bed early. That show was ridiculous...
The next morning, we headed out to Oxford, which I did really like. Our tour guides were great (though the guy was such a stereotype of the Oxford PhD candidate that he almost didn't seem like a real person--check out the pictures) and the colleges and the city were so beautiful. It's called the "city of dreaming spires," and the spires really do dominate it. We had lunch at the Turf Tavern (an excellent Oxford institution, and we even ran into the Baylor kids from St. A--the UK is a very small place, apparently!) and then Brandon and I toured the Bodleian Library with Georgia and Halley. The tour itself was dreadful (if you've seen the movie The Producers, you'll know what I mean when I say our tour guide was basically Ulla), but the library was incredible. Incidentally, it was used for scenes in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library--not why I find it amazing, but still kind of cool! It's a beautiful building, and there are so many old books just sitting there! Too bad they don't loan books at all. They said that Charles I was refused the loan of a book he wanted, so that particular snobbery goes back a long way! I think I would be way too intimidated to ever do research there, but it was a fun place to visit.
When we got back to London, it was off to see Wicked--finally! It was everything I had hoped for and more--the singing was fantastic, the sets and costumes were amazing (so colorful and quirky!) and Fiyero was quite attractive. :) All of Elphaba's big solos took my breath away, and Galinda was hilarious as anticipated. And she had the best shoe collection ever--I want it! I even found dance moves to copy... During intermission, Georgia made my night by first buying us ice cream and then saying: "This show is SO Gnostic!" We died laughing, but it's so true...seriously, we're all a little obsessed. Anyway, it was a great final night in London, and we ended it with a walk around Westminster before packing and bed so we could catch our flight to Lyon the next day!
Photos from England: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202115&id=579896063&l=4f798f1645 (If you have trouble viewing the photos, post a comment or email me and I'll try to fix it...hopefully it works though!)
A bientot,
~L
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunny Days in Londontown
Hello all,
I figured I should try to get one last post in before my spring break adventures begin--more about that later. As those of you who know my parents have probably already heard, I spent last week in London with them during my mom's spring break. I may have skipped a few classes, but it was definitely worth it! We did a lot, so I can't talk about everything, but here are the highlights.
Best (and possibly only) free thing to do in London--attend Evensong at Westminster Abbey. It's a beautiful Anglican service of prayer and singing, and the boys'/men's choir is phenomenal. You get into the abbey free (though you don't have much time to look around--it's worth paying for a sightseeing visit too) and you can sit in the beautiful old choir stalls by the main altar--where monks and royalty have been sitting for centuries! We went to the service Saturday afternoon as something low-key that wouldn't be ruined by jet-lag, and it was a really fun experience. Oh, and I forgot to mention my favorite thing--we got to sing the last hymn accompanied by the organ!
The "high" point of any London visit: climbing the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral (pun courtesy of my father...). First of all, St. Paul's is beautiful--it was designed by the only British architect with any sense of taste, Christopher Wren. It makes Westminster Abbey and any other Gothic monstrosity look pretty tacky in comparison. The sheer size of St. Paul's is impressive, and the details of the building are stunning. I love that there isn't much stained glass--the clear windows let so much natural light in. We decided to be brave and climb the 400-something steps to the top of the dome, and were rewarded not just with a spectacular view of London, but the chance to look down through the oculus of the dome to the center of the cathedral floor--it was a long way down! It's an amazing building. Too bad there weren't more like it...
The Museum of Things Stolen from Their Rightful Owners by Self-Important Imperialists Who Should Give Them Back: aka the British Museum. This was a visit I'd been looking forward to for awhile, and it lived up to my expectations. But it also made me do a 180 as far as my opinion on where important pieces like, say, the Elgin Marbles (surviving statues from the Parthenon) should be on display. Walking into a cool, almost clinical marble gallery lined with marble statues after an entire corridor lined with other marble statues, admiring them for a few minutes, and then walking out into the display on Egypt and not giving Greece a second thought is NOT a good way to see some of the most important remnants of THE most iconic Greek building ever constructed. How different would it be if you walked down from the top of the Acropolis itself, through sunny streets that the ancient Greeks once walked themselves, into a museum dedicated exclusively to the amazing finds from the Acropolis, up the stairs and into a glass-walled gallery, aligned with the Parthenon, which can be seen just to the right from every corner of the room, and THERE were the statues that once graced Athena's temple! That's how something with that kind of cultural and historical significance should be displayed, not lined up neatly in a room next to hundreds of other rooms with equally important artifacts. I understand the many ramifications not just for the British Museum but for museums everywhere if they were to start returning artifacts to their homelands, but it's a shame that they can't be returned on loan or something so that they can be appreciated properly in Greece.
So that's my rant about the British Museum...went a little longer than I anticipated! It was pretty cool to see the Rosetta Stone (which, to be consistent, would have more impact in Cairo) and recognize Greek words (yes, I looked at the Greek more than the hieroglyphics. Deal with it). It honestly got kind of bewildering after awhile, being surrounded by so much history, but it was overwhelming in a good way. It's like the Louvre--I need a month to see it properly, and even then I'll feel rushed. But it was cool to see the things we did.
Another highlight was Shakespeare's Globe. I would NOT want to see a show there--the benches were uncomfortable even for ten minutes!--but it was cool to see the reconstruction and hear the spiel about how the Globe worked way back in Shakespeare's day.
Oh, and the shiniest things in London: the Crown Jewels. SO PRETTY. The kind of hilarious part of the exhibit, though, was all the crowns that had just been reduced to skeletons with empty holders for jewels because the jewels had been "recycled" in another crown! It was pretty entertaining. Sadly, no reasonably priced replicas of the real things were anywhere to be found, or I would have come home with nothing but shiny stuff in my suitcase...
The Tower of London itself was pretty amazing too, though creepy as only a former prison and execution ground can be. We found the tower where many prisoners were kept, possibly including Anne Boleyn, and even though I'd read that this was the case, it was still a horrifying realization that the window of that room looked out at the spot where executions took place (now covered by a lovely memorial). That's worse than torture--watching other beheadings take places as you wait for your own. See why I found it creepy? The history of the place was pretty amazing though, so I definitely enjoyed it.
Best food in London: High Tea at the Kensington Palace Orangery. SO GOOD. Mom and I went Tuesday afternoon while Dad was at the Maritime Museum, and it was just this amazing tower of plates of pastries, starting with an assortment of cute little finger sandwiches, then a warm orange scone with a pot of cream and jam, then an eclair, then a tart...it was amazing. Overpriced, naturally, but worth it for the experience. High Tea is now my new favorite meal...
At the other end of the spectrum, my dad discovered a newfound love of fish and chips. It was good, the first time. Even the second time. By the third time, well... ;) At least he found something he liked!
The last ugly building we visited was the British Library. After the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, it was kind of anticlimactic to be honest. No papyri with the gospels on them. Sad. But their collection of Shakespeare (and Marlowe!) was cool, and they had some of Da Vinci's notebooks which were amazing. Unfortunately, there was a "book club" making a nuisance of themselves and standing in front of exhibits without even talking about them, which started to get on my nerves. I wanted to see them! I eventually got to see everything, so it worked out.
Then it was back to good old St. Andrews and lovely Scottish rain. London was sunny, against all odds--apparently my mother decided to make up for the hurricane she brought with her last visit to the British Isles and bring good weather this time! I'm hoping it's still there, since I'm headed back to London this weekend for part of my spring break trip.
My spring break trip is, by the way, the following: York, London, Lyon, Avignon, Nice, Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Pompeii. In 16 days. Any suggestions from those of you who've been to France or Italy would be welcome!
I'll try to post London pictures before leaving on Friday, but no guarantees. I still have this thing called...oh what's it called...right, homework, that's it. I should probably do that sometime. But I'll add pictures when I can.
A bientot!
~L
I figured I should try to get one last post in before my spring break adventures begin--more about that later. As those of you who know my parents have probably already heard, I spent last week in London with them during my mom's spring break. I may have skipped a few classes, but it was definitely worth it! We did a lot, so I can't talk about everything, but here are the highlights.
Best (and possibly only) free thing to do in London--attend Evensong at Westminster Abbey. It's a beautiful Anglican service of prayer and singing, and the boys'/men's choir is phenomenal. You get into the abbey free (though you don't have much time to look around--it's worth paying for a sightseeing visit too) and you can sit in the beautiful old choir stalls by the main altar--where monks and royalty have been sitting for centuries! We went to the service Saturday afternoon as something low-key that wouldn't be ruined by jet-lag, and it was a really fun experience. Oh, and I forgot to mention my favorite thing--we got to sing the last hymn accompanied by the organ!
The "high" point of any London visit: climbing the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral (pun courtesy of my father...). First of all, St. Paul's is beautiful--it was designed by the only British architect with any sense of taste, Christopher Wren. It makes Westminster Abbey and any other Gothic monstrosity look pretty tacky in comparison. The sheer size of St. Paul's is impressive, and the details of the building are stunning. I love that there isn't much stained glass--the clear windows let so much natural light in. We decided to be brave and climb the 400-something steps to the top of the dome, and were rewarded not just with a spectacular view of London, but the chance to look down through the oculus of the dome to the center of the cathedral floor--it was a long way down! It's an amazing building. Too bad there weren't more like it...
The Museum of Things Stolen from Their Rightful Owners by Self-Important Imperialists Who Should Give Them Back: aka the British Museum. This was a visit I'd been looking forward to for awhile, and it lived up to my expectations. But it also made me do a 180 as far as my opinion on where important pieces like, say, the Elgin Marbles (surviving statues from the Parthenon) should be on display. Walking into a cool, almost clinical marble gallery lined with marble statues after an entire corridor lined with other marble statues, admiring them for a few minutes, and then walking out into the display on Egypt and not giving Greece a second thought is NOT a good way to see some of the most important remnants of THE most iconic Greek building ever constructed. How different would it be if you walked down from the top of the Acropolis itself, through sunny streets that the ancient Greeks once walked themselves, into a museum dedicated exclusively to the amazing finds from the Acropolis, up the stairs and into a glass-walled gallery, aligned with the Parthenon, which can be seen just to the right from every corner of the room, and THERE were the statues that once graced Athena's temple! That's how something with that kind of cultural and historical significance should be displayed, not lined up neatly in a room next to hundreds of other rooms with equally important artifacts. I understand the many ramifications not just for the British Museum but for museums everywhere if they were to start returning artifacts to their homelands, but it's a shame that they can't be returned on loan or something so that they can be appreciated properly in Greece.
So that's my rant about the British Museum...went a little longer than I anticipated! It was pretty cool to see the Rosetta Stone (which, to be consistent, would have more impact in Cairo) and recognize Greek words (yes, I looked at the Greek more than the hieroglyphics. Deal with it). It honestly got kind of bewildering after awhile, being surrounded by so much history, but it was overwhelming in a good way. It's like the Louvre--I need a month to see it properly, and even then I'll feel rushed. But it was cool to see the things we did.
Another highlight was Shakespeare's Globe. I would NOT want to see a show there--the benches were uncomfortable even for ten minutes!--but it was cool to see the reconstruction and hear the spiel about how the Globe worked way back in Shakespeare's day.
Oh, and the shiniest things in London: the Crown Jewels. SO PRETTY. The kind of hilarious part of the exhibit, though, was all the crowns that had just been reduced to skeletons with empty holders for jewels because the jewels had been "recycled" in another crown! It was pretty entertaining. Sadly, no reasonably priced replicas of the real things were anywhere to be found, or I would have come home with nothing but shiny stuff in my suitcase...
The Tower of London itself was pretty amazing too, though creepy as only a former prison and execution ground can be. We found the tower where many prisoners were kept, possibly including Anne Boleyn, and even though I'd read that this was the case, it was still a horrifying realization that the window of that room looked out at the spot where executions took place (now covered by a lovely memorial). That's worse than torture--watching other beheadings take places as you wait for your own. See why I found it creepy? The history of the place was pretty amazing though, so I definitely enjoyed it.
Best food in London: High Tea at the Kensington Palace Orangery. SO GOOD. Mom and I went Tuesday afternoon while Dad was at the Maritime Museum, and it was just this amazing tower of plates of pastries, starting with an assortment of cute little finger sandwiches, then a warm orange scone with a pot of cream and jam, then an eclair, then a tart...it was amazing. Overpriced, naturally, but worth it for the experience. High Tea is now my new favorite meal...
At the other end of the spectrum, my dad discovered a newfound love of fish and chips. It was good, the first time. Even the second time. By the third time, well... ;) At least he found something he liked!
The last ugly building we visited was the British Library. After the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, it was kind of anticlimactic to be honest. No papyri with the gospels on them. Sad. But their collection of Shakespeare (and Marlowe!) was cool, and they had some of Da Vinci's notebooks which were amazing. Unfortunately, there was a "book club" making a nuisance of themselves and standing in front of exhibits without even talking about them, which started to get on my nerves. I wanted to see them! I eventually got to see everything, so it worked out.
Then it was back to good old St. Andrews and lovely Scottish rain. London was sunny, against all odds--apparently my mother decided to make up for the hurricane she brought with her last visit to the British Isles and bring good weather this time! I'm hoping it's still there, since I'm headed back to London this weekend for part of my spring break trip.
My spring break trip is, by the way, the following: York, London, Lyon, Avignon, Nice, Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Pompeii. In 16 days. Any suggestions from those of you who've been to France or Italy would be welcome!
I'll try to post London pictures before leaving on Friday, but no guarantees. I still have this thing called...oh what's it called...right, homework, that's it. I should probably do that sometime. But I'll add pictures when I can.
A bientot!
~L
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Drab, dreary Dublin....
Hello all,
Well, Dublin really wasn't drab and dreary, at least to those of us who have no objection to our castles being, you know, gray. It seems the Irish have a different take on the subject, but that's getting ahead of my story....let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Brandon and I flew to Dublin last Friday to meet up with a few other friends who are studying abroad. We got in late, basically didn't sleep, and got up bright and early the next morning (after a breakfast that did not, sadly, include proper bacon as we had hoped) to explore Dublin. We started off at Trinity College, where we walked through the main gate, saw a line in front of pretty building, and promptly joined the line. In our defense, there was a sign with an arrow saying "Book of Kells" nearby. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the line was not for said book, but for the Irish version of the MCAT's! I mean, I'm sure they're fun and all, but not really how I want to spend my first day in Ireland...
So we awkwardly left the line, followed the sign's directions, and ended up at the exhibit for the Book of Kells. It was pretty cool, I must admit, though the exhibit had lots of useless fluff that just filled space that could have been better filled by more books, but that's just my opinion. The book itself was quite impressive, though the fact that it was in Latin made me sad. I was hoping for Greek. I did manage to fall in love with one of the illuminated pages though that has the XP (pretend those are the Greek letters for chi and ro, not something to do with Windows...), the first two letters of Christ in Greek, taking up a full decorated page. It's really artistic and awesome, and I bought a poster of it so it will hang on my wall at school. Yep. I'm a geek. I'm aware.
Anyway, we left Trinity College and wandered in search of a bank, then wandered through some gardens, then wandered in search of lunch in Temple Bar. We found pasties, which are pastry shells stuffed with assorted meat fillings. Brandon and I were excited because we'd made pasties with Eugene last summer, but I must say, the Irish version is much better. Sorry Eugene. :)
Then the real adventure/nightmare started. Off we went in search of Dublin Castle, hoping against hope that it would be better than Stirling Castle, which had been the worst castle thus far. Naturally, we got a bit lost on our way, which made us end up approaching the castle from the rear rather than the normal visitors' entrance side. We kept checking the map, and we knew exactly which direction we should be going, but it's a fairly flat part of Dublin, and without a hill, the castle couldn't be seen over the other buildings. So we kept walking toward where we thought it was. And then we saw it.
The first part we saw was a blue turret-like structure. As in, sky blue. Then we saw a green crenelated wall. And then some red and yellow walls thrown in for good measure.
Now, you might think this was a joke. That someone had constructed a fake Lego castle to lure unsuspecting tourists the wrong way. But as we got closer, we realized the horrible truth: the Irish had PAINTED THE CASTLE.
After lots of epic picture-taking to document this horror (see the link at the end of this post), we ventured inside to answer the burning question of WHY anyone would do that to a perfectly good gray castle. And the answer, according to the tour guide who managed to maintain a straight face while speaking with us, was that back in the 1980's (of course) that area behind the castle was just so drab, they decided to liven it up a bit with some paint. Irish logic escapes me.
So that was the Amazing Technicolor Castle. For a moment, I thought that Dublin was the worst city ever to exist, but fortunately, it quickly redeemed itself with our next stop: the Chester Beatty Library. Travelers, take note: this is one Dublin stop you MUST NOT MISS. It helps that I'm a religion geek and most of their collection is sacred texts from around the world, but seriously--it's awesome. Go see it.
Two exhibits were really amazing, in my opinion. The first was on Manichaeism, a sect of early Christianity similar to the Gnostics that died out early on. However, the library has a fantastic papyri collection of Manichaean writings, and their exhibit does a great job of giving the history and what we know about the beliefs and traditions of the Mani. Since we're studying the Gnostics in Georgia's class at St. A., Brandon and I rather enjoyed seeing that exhibit. The only problem is that now I want to study it more....
But the second exhibit is the one that I practically had to be dragged out of: sacred books. I wandered in, took a left, and ended up in the Christian section with a 1000 year old Gospel of Matthew in front of me, open to a passage that we'd just been discussing in my class on said gospel. I made my way to the next corner of that exhibit room, which had a similarly old Gospel of Mark, then to the next corner and Luke. By then, I was suitably impressed and ridiculously excited, but it only got better. As I continued around the room, there was a little alcove in the back wall, in which was suspended a tiny fragment of papyrus--it was a manuscript of the Gospel of John, in Greek, from around 200AD. AND I COULD READ IT. It was an absolutely surreal moment for me, seeing that little piece of papyrus that had survived 1800 years and being able to understand the words written on it. It was unbelievable. And it made it very clear to me that I chose the right major and minor. :)
Anyway, the rest of the exhibit was pretty awesome too, though it was hard to drag myself away from that papyrus. There were Greek papyri of Pauline epistles and other early Christian writings, all kinds of Latin Bibles, lots of Torahs, Qur'ans, commentaries, etc. They didn't have much on eastern religions, but they had a few interesting works and some beautiful art. I'll admit, I went back to the Gospels section one more time before leaving the exhibit--I could have stayed forever. I then proceeded to talk myself out of spending several hundred pounds on the various books and collections of articles on Gnosticism in the museum shop...
That's a lot of Dublin for one post. I think the rest may have to wait for another day when I need to procrastinate, and there should be plenty of those this week. Still to come: adventures in neolithic tombs, proof that God has the coolest floors ever, and Brandon returns to his ancestral seaside village...stay tuned!
~L
Pictures:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=191528&id=579896063&l=e624a423af
Well, Dublin really wasn't drab and dreary, at least to those of us who have no objection to our castles being, you know, gray. It seems the Irish have a different take on the subject, but that's getting ahead of my story....let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Brandon and I flew to Dublin last Friday to meet up with a few other friends who are studying abroad. We got in late, basically didn't sleep, and got up bright and early the next morning (after a breakfast that did not, sadly, include proper bacon as we had hoped) to explore Dublin. We started off at Trinity College, where we walked through the main gate, saw a line in front of pretty building, and promptly joined the line. In our defense, there was a sign with an arrow saying "Book of Kells" nearby. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the line was not for said book, but for the Irish version of the MCAT's! I mean, I'm sure they're fun and all, but not really how I want to spend my first day in Ireland...
So we awkwardly left the line, followed the sign's directions, and ended up at the exhibit for the Book of Kells. It was pretty cool, I must admit, though the exhibit had lots of useless fluff that just filled space that could have been better filled by more books, but that's just my opinion. The book itself was quite impressive, though the fact that it was in Latin made me sad. I was hoping for Greek. I did manage to fall in love with one of the illuminated pages though that has the XP (pretend those are the Greek letters for chi and ro, not something to do with Windows...), the first two letters of Christ in Greek, taking up a full decorated page. It's really artistic and awesome, and I bought a poster of it so it will hang on my wall at school. Yep. I'm a geek. I'm aware.
Anyway, we left Trinity College and wandered in search of a bank, then wandered through some gardens, then wandered in search of lunch in Temple Bar. We found pasties, which are pastry shells stuffed with assorted meat fillings. Brandon and I were excited because we'd made pasties with Eugene last summer, but I must say, the Irish version is much better. Sorry Eugene. :)
Then the real adventure/nightmare started. Off we went in search of Dublin Castle, hoping against hope that it would be better than Stirling Castle, which had been the worst castle thus far. Naturally, we got a bit lost on our way, which made us end up approaching the castle from the rear rather than the normal visitors' entrance side. We kept checking the map, and we knew exactly which direction we should be going, but it's a fairly flat part of Dublin, and without a hill, the castle couldn't be seen over the other buildings. So we kept walking toward where we thought it was. And then we saw it.
The first part we saw was a blue turret-like structure. As in, sky blue. Then we saw a green crenelated wall. And then some red and yellow walls thrown in for good measure.
Now, you might think this was a joke. That someone had constructed a fake Lego castle to lure unsuspecting tourists the wrong way. But as we got closer, we realized the horrible truth: the Irish had PAINTED THE CASTLE.
After lots of epic picture-taking to document this horror (see the link at the end of this post), we ventured inside to answer the burning question of WHY anyone would do that to a perfectly good gray castle. And the answer, according to the tour guide who managed to maintain a straight face while speaking with us, was that back in the 1980's (of course) that area behind the castle was just so drab, they decided to liven it up a bit with some paint. Irish logic escapes me.
So that was the Amazing Technicolor Castle. For a moment, I thought that Dublin was the worst city ever to exist, but fortunately, it quickly redeemed itself with our next stop: the Chester Beatty Library. Travelers, take note: this is one Dublin stop you MUST NOT MISS. It helps that I'm a religion geek and most of their collection is sacred texts from around the world, but seriously--it's awesome. Go see it.
Two exhibits were really amazing, in my opinion. The first was on Manichaeism, a sect of early Christianity similar to the Gnostics that died out early on. However, the library has a fantastic papyri collection of Manichaean writings, and their exhibit does a great job of giving the history and what we know about the beliefs and traditions of the Mani. Since we're studying the Gnostics in Georgia's class at St. A., Brandon and I rather enjoyed seeing that exhibit. The only problem is that now I want to study it more....
But the second exhibit is the one that I practically had to be dragged out of: sacred books. I wandered in, took a left, and ended up in the Christian section with a 1000 year old Gospel of Matthew in front of me, open to a passage that we'd just been discussing in my class on said gospel. I made my way to the next corner of that exhibit room, which had a similarly old Gospel of Mark, then to the next corner and Luke. By then, I was suitably impressed and ridiculously excited, but it only got better. As I continued around the room, there was a little alcove in the back wall, in which was suspended a tiny fragment of papyrus--it was a manuscript of the Gospel of John, in Greek, from around 200AD. AND I COULD READ IT. It was an absolutely surreal moment for me, seeing that little piece of papyrus that had survived 1800 years and being able to understand the words written on it. It was unbelievable. And it made it very clear to me that I chose the right major and minor. :)
Anyway, the rest of the exhibit was pretty awesome too, though it was hard to drag myself away from that papyrus. There were Greek papyri of Pauline epistles and other early Christian writings, all kinds of Latin Bibles, lots of Torahs, Qur'ans, commentaries, etc. They didn't have much on eastern religions, but they had a few interesting works and some beautiful art. I'll admit, I went back to the Gospels section one more time before leaving the exhibit--I could have stayed forever. I then proceeded to talk myself out of spending several hundred pounds on the various books and collections of articles on Gnosticism in the museum shop...
That's a lot of Dublin for one post. I think the rest may have to wait for another day when I need to procrastinate, and there should be plenty of those this week. Still to come: adventures in neolithic tombs, proof that God has the coolest floors ever, and Brandon returns to his ancestral seaside village...stay tuned!
~L
Pictures:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=191528&id=579896063&l=e624a423af
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Loch Ness Photos!
Hello all,
Here's a link to some of my photos from this weekend at Loch Ness: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187686&id=579896063&l=500b8ee72d
I took over 750 photos this weekend, so I've managed to narrow it down to 160 of the best...still lots of photos, but they're gorgeous! It'll make you want to hop on a plane to Scotland tomorrow...
Back to work...
~L
Here's a link to some of my photos from this weekend at Loch Ness: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187686&id=579896063&l=500b8ee72d
I took over 750 photos this weekend, so I've managed to narrow it down to 160 of the best...still lots of photos, but they're gorgeous! It'll make you want to hop on a plane to Scotland tomorrow...
Back to work...
~L
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Best Weekend EVER. No, really.
So...Loch Ness definitely makes the top five in most beautiful places I've ever been. Possibly even the top three. It's right up there with Rocamadour, France, and Sounion, Greece. Absolutely gorgeous...and yes, pictures will be coming soon (probably tomorrow when I'm looking for an excuse not to go back to homework...).
The trip started on Saturday with a study group trip to Stirling Castle, which was anticlimactic to say the least. Not recommended. There are castles and then there are castles. Unfortunately, Stirling wasn't too impressive. The grounds were pretty, and the view was nice, but nothing particularly special, especially after the other castles I've now visited. However, while in Stirling, we also visited the Wallace Monument, courtesy of the Frank Bank, which was definitely worth the trip and the intense climb to the top. It was smoggy, so we couldn't quite see to Edinburgh, but we could see some amazing mountains to the north that I now really want to visit. And the architecture of the monument is gorgeous, even though the base is asymmetrical and it bothers me. That's what monuments should look like, not some silly white obelisk...
Anyway, from Stirling we took the world's longest and most nausea-inducing train ride to Inverness, where we took the world's longest and most nausea-inducing bus ride to Fort Augustus, a town on the southern tip of Loch Ness. Let's just say I was really, really happy to get off that bus! We checked into our hostel (Morag's Lodge), which not only was really nice (like, hotel level nice) but had some of the best service I've ever encountered anywhere. It was really late when we got there and nowhere in town was still serving food, but the bartender/receptionist/trivia leader offered to fix us "just something from the freezer," which turned out to be homemade chicken curry and rice and garlic bread. It was amazing. They were so helpful with everything, it was unbelievable. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it.
Sunday morning we set out to explore the famous Loch. We found a pier that ran out just far enough to get a good view up and down the lake, and that first look was breath-taking. The sky was completely blue--and that NEVER happens in Scotland!--and the surrounding mountains were covered in snow, and the water was so clear and still that everything was perfectly reflected in it. Absolutely gorgeous. It was the perfect day to see it, and honestly I think winter might be the best time to see it. The snow and cold just adds something to how beautiful it is that I don't think would be the same if everything around it was just green. Maybe I'll have to go back in April and see what I think then. ;-)
We wandered through town for a little while, trying to find another good view of the lake. What we discovered was that the old abbey on the bank of the loch has been turned into apartments--I want one!! I can only imagine how gorgeous both the place and the view must be from there. Someday...
Also, this might be a good time to mention the obsession with Hairy Coos (Highland cows--those shaggy, adorable cows found in Scotland) that Brandon and I seem to have developed. We asked at the hostel if there was anywhere nearby (besides the petting zoo, which was closed for the winter--sadness!) where we could see some coos, and the receptionist told us about this lakeside path that's technically private property but leads to a B&B on the lakefront and passes some fields where a crazy old lady keeps her pet coos. So we followed the path, which was indeed gorgeous, until we rounded a bend and saw a house with dogs that decided to come running toward us. We debated whether this was private or not, but then we saw a sign for parking and figured it was the B&B, so we went towards it. Unfortunately, the Crazy Coo Lady apparently also runs the B&B, and she was not particularly happy to see us. She was really rude, even when we asked about staying there on another trip because it was literally right on the lake (and has coos!) and kind of scary. So we fled the scene, without even seeing a single coo. The walk was beautiful, though, so it was worth the effort.
That afternoon, we took a cruise on the loch that circled the southern third of it. Loch Ness is 23 miles long and holds more water than all the other bodies of water in Britain (or something like that--pretty sure that's right) so it just kind of goes on forever. We looked for Nessie, of course, but no luck. She has plenty of room to hide, that's for sure. But it was a great trip around the lake, and a fun way to spend part of the afternoon.
After that, we wandered up the Caledonian Canal (it connects three lochs using--locks! So clever) which was pretty, but by that time we were all getting pretty tired, so we retreated to the hostel and read for a couple of hours before dinner. I watched the mountains turn pink with the sunset, and I missed the Sandias a little--but just a little! When we got back from dinner, we proceeded to sit in the lobby and horrify the eavesdropping receptionist (well, maybe not eavesdropping--we were kind of loud and hard to miss) with our various stories about Colgate. It was nice to just to hang out and relax after such a busy day.
This morning we discovered that no one in Fort Augustus eats breakfast before 10am, which was unfortunate because we got up at 8:30 and were starving by 9. We finally found a place that literally had just opened today, that was pretty good and very friendly. We then took a bus (ugh) to Urquhart Castle, which I would happily live in, ruined or not, on the banks of the northern half of Loch Ness. Again, it was basically too beautiful for words. The hills were green, the sky and loch were blue, the mountains across the loch were covered in snow, and the castle was destroyed just enough to look artistic. I loved it. I can't decide if it beats Linlithgow as far as best castles in Scotland, but I'm leaning toward saying it does. Certainly the setting is the best ever for a castle, even if the ruins themselves aren't as awesome as Linlithgow.
I took the early bus back to Inverness by myself (relax--it was perfectly safe, Mom) and had a couple of hours to kill before the others joined me. I walked down along the River Ness, which is quite pretty (rivers are so clean here...) and admired the castle, which, though built in the 19th century, is still pretty awesome. If I ever get arrested, I hope it's in Inverness, because the castle is their courthouse and you can't go inside as just a tourist. Just saying.
I also managed to do some shopping and find a Starbucks (naturally) before it was time to head back to St. A. The train ride wasn't terrible, just long, and almost ended in disaster when they didn't announce our stop and we didn't realize we were there until we looked out and saw the station and had approximately thirty seconds to get off the train. Not the best way to end the trip, but we survived and (I think) managed to get all of our belongings.
Overall a great weekend, and a nice way to recover from the nightmare that was last week. I repeat, if you're ever in Scotland, GO TO LOCH NESS. It's not a tourist trap. It's actually amazing and one of the coolest places I've ever been. Don't miss it!
Back to the real world tomorrow...sigh. But I'm headed to Dublin on Friday, so I won't be in the real world for long! :)
A bientot,
~L
The trip started on Saturday with a study group trip to Stirling Castle, which was anticlimactic to say the least. Not recommended. There are castles and then there are castles. Unfortunately, Stirling wasn't too impressive. The grounds were pretty, and the view was nice, but nothing particularly special, especially after the other castles I've now visited. However, while in Stirling, we also visited the Wallace Monument, courtesy of the Frank Bank, which was definitely worth the trip and the intense climb to the top. It was smoggy, so we couldn't quite see to Edinburgh, but we could see some amazing mountains to the north that I now really want to visit. And the architecture of the monument is gorgeous, even though the base is asymmetrical and it bothers me. That's what monuments should look like, not some silly white obelisk...
Anyway, from Stirling we took the world's longest and most nausea-inducing train ride to Inverness, where we took the world's longest and most nausea-inducing bus ride to Fort Augustus, a town on the southern tip of Loch Ness. Let's just say I was really, really happy to get off that bus! We checked into our hostel (Morag's Lodge), which not only was really nice (like, hotel level nice) but had some of the best service I've ever encountered anywhere. It was really late when we got there and nowhere in town was still serving food, but the bartender/receptionist/trivia leader offered to fix us "just something from the freezer," which turned out to be homemade chicken curry and rice and garlic bread. It was amazing. They were so helpful with everything, it was unbelievable. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it.
Sunday morning we set out to explore the famous Loch. We found a pier that ran out just far enough to get a good view up and down the lake, and that first look was breath-taking. The sky was completely blue--and that NEVER happens in Scotland!--and the surrounding mountains were covered in snow, and the water was so clear and still that everything was perfectly reflected in it. Absolutely gorgeous. It was the perfect day to see it, and honestly I think winter might be the best time to see it. The snow and cold just adds something to how beautiful it is that I don't think would be the same if everything around it was just green. Maybe I'll have to go back in April and see what I think then. ;-)
We wandered through town for a little while, trying to find another good view of the lake. What we discovered was that the old abbey on the bank of the loch has been turned into apartments--I want one!! I can only imagine how gorgeous both the place and the view must be from there. Someday...
Also, this might be a good time to mention the obsession with Hairy Coos (Highland cows--those shaggy, adorable cows found in Scotland) that Brandon and I seem to have developed. We asked at the hostel if there was anywhere nearby (besides the petting zoo, which was closed for the winter--sadness!) where we could see some coos, and the receptionist told us about this lakeside path that's technically private property but leads to a B&B on the lakefront and passes some fields where a crazy old lady keeps her pet coos. So we followed the path, which was indeed gorgeous, until we rounded a bend and saw a house with dogs that decided to come running toward us. We debated whether this was private or not, but then we saw a sign for parking and figured it was the B&B, so we went towards it. Unfortunately, the Crazy Coo Lady apparently also runs the B&B, and she was not particularly happy to see us. She was really rude, even when we asked about staying there on another trip because it was literally right on the lake (and has coos!) and kind of scary. So we fled the scene, without even seeing a single coo. The walk was beautiful, though, so it was worth the effort.
That afternoon, we took a cruise on the loch that circled the southern third of it. Loch Ness is 23 miles long and holds more water than all the other bodies of water in Britain (or something like that--pretty sure that's right) so it just kind of goes on forever. We looked for Nessie, of course, but no luck. She has plenty of room to hide, that's for sure. But it was a great trip around the lake, and a fun way to spend part of the afternoon.
After that, we wandered up the Caledonian Canal (it connects three lochs using--locks! So clever) which was pretty, but by that time we were all getting pretty tired, so we retreated to the hostel and read for a couple of hours before dinner. I watched the mountains turn pink with the sunset, and I missed the Sandias a little--but just a little! When we got back from dinner, we proceeded to sit in the lobby and horrify the eavesdropping receptionist (well, maybe not eavesdropping--we were kind of loud and hard to miss) with our various stories about Colgate. It was nice to just to hang out and relax after such a busy day.
This morning we discovered that no one in Fort Augustus eats breakfast before 10am, which was unfortunate because we got up at 8:30 and were starving by 9. We finally found a place that literally had just opened today, that was pretty good and very friendly. We then took a bus (ugh) to Urquhart Castle, which I would happily live in, ruined or not, on the banks of the northern half of Loch Ness. Again, it was basically too beautiful for words. The hills were green, the sky and loch were blue, the mountains across the loch were covered in snow, and the castle was destroyed just enough to look artistic. I loved it. I can't decide if it beats Linlithgow as far as best castles in Scotland, but I'm leaning toward saying it does. Certainly the setting is the best ever for a castle, even if the ruins themselves aren't as awesome as Linlithgow.
I took the early bus back to Inverness by myself (relax--it was perfectly safe, Mom) and had a couple of hours to kill before the others joined me. I walked down along the River Ness, which is quite pretty (rivers are so clean here...) and admired the castle, which, though built in the 19th century, is still pretty awesome. If I ever get arrested, I hope it's in Inverness, because the castle is their courthouse and you can't go inside as just a tourist. Just saying.
I also managed to do some shopping and find a Starbucks (naturally) before it was time to head back to St. A. The train ride wasn't terrible, just long, and almost ended in disaster when they didn't announce our stop and we didn't realize we were there until we looked out and saw the station and had approximately thirty seconds to get off the train. Not the best way to end the trip, but we survived and (I think) managed to get all of our belongings.
Overall a great weekend, and a nice way to recover from the nightmare that was last week. I repeat, if you're ever in Scotland, GO TO LOCH NESS. It's not a tourist trap. It's actually amazing and one of the coolest places I've ever been. Don't miss it!
Back to the real world tomorrow...sigh. But I'm headed to Dublin on Friday, so I won't be in the real world for long! :)
A bientot,
~L
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Longest Weekend Ever...
I probably shouldn't complain, but I must say, a four day weekend with nothing to do but homework (ok, and a castle visit) can be rather dull. Fortunately, the homework was interesting, the castle was beautiful, and I managed to find many other ways to procrastinate (i.e. lots of bad American tv...)! I'll be glad when classes start again tomorrow though.
On Friday, we visited Linlithgow Palace (I promise I'll put up pictures soon! I mean it this time...), which is about an hour and a half away by train. It's right outside a cute little town, and the castle itself is on the banks of a beautiful loch, with absolutely amazing views in every direction. The best part about the castle is that you can basically go everywhere--from the kitchens in the basement, to the royal apartments, to the highest watchtower. It's not terribly touristy--there are plaques that label everything, but there aren't cheesy reconstructions of what it would have looked like, just the remains of the castle itself, which are impressive enough. My favorite part may have been that in one wing, the upper floors had fallen out so you could see up to the next level, which had a fireplace that looked like it was just floating halfway up the wall with no floor. It was kind of amusing. The view from the top of the tower was incredible, and I could see all the way to the mountains to the northwest of us (yes, apparently Scotland has actual mountains--who knew?). It was a sunny day for the most part, so it was really a great time to be there. It's hardly advertised at all, but if you're ever in Scotland, it's well worth a trip!
Yesterday we went to the Scottish equivalent of the Student Activities Fair, and of course I signed up for the various dance clubs. Hopefully that will be a good way to finally meet some people who aren't from Colgate! Ballroom in particular sounds like it will be a lot of fun, so I can't wait for it to start.
Other than that, I've been buried in Gnostic gospels for most of the day. Confusing, but really cool. I may be the only one who feels that way in class tomorrow though...I also did some more translations for my Greek New Testament course--NT Greek is sooooo much simpler! I love it. I don't miss the optative one bit...
Back to Greek...
~L
On Friday, we visited Linlithgow Palace (I promise I'll put up pictures soon! I mean it this time...), which is about an hour and a half away by train. It's right outside a cute little town, and the castle itself is on the banks of a beautiful loch, with absolutely amazing views in every direction. The best part about the castle is that you can basically go everywhere--from the kitchens in the basement, to the royal apartments, to the highest watchtower. It's not terribly touristy--there are plaques that label everything, but there aren't cheesy reconstructions of what it would have looked like, just the remains of the castle itself, which are impressive enough. My favorite part may have been that in one wing, the upper floors had fallen out so you could see up to the next level, which had a fireplace that looked like it was just floating halfway up the wall with no floor. It was kind of amusing. The view from the top of the tower was incredible, and I could see all the way to the mountains to the northwest of us (yes, apparently Scotland has actual mountains--who knew?). It was a sunny day for the most part, so it was really a great time to be there. It's hardly advertised at all, but if you're ever in Scotland, it's well worth a trip!
Yesterday we went to the Scottish equivalent of the Student Activities Fair, and of course I signed up for the various dance clubs. Hopefully that will be a good way to finally meet some people who aren't from Colgate! Ballroom in particular sounds like it will be a lot of fun, so I can't wait for it to start.
Other than that, I've been buried in Gnostic gospels for most of the day. Confusing, but really cool. I may be the only one who feels that way in class tomorrow though...I also did some more translations for my Greek New Testament course--NT Greek is sooooo much simpler! I love it. I don't miss the optative one bit...
Back to Greek...
~L
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Theology of the Musical, and other Scottish stories....
So classes started yesterday, and contrary to what I had expected, I actually love all of them. A lot. Like, to the point that I'm sad the ones on Thursday and Friday were canceled until next week. Well ok, almost sad. A four day weekend will be nice. :)Anyway, I'll talk a bit about my classes and then a bit about the rest of what I've been up to, since apparently I'm failing at writing regularly...
Anyway, my first class is on the Gospel of Matthew, and it does in fact meet both Tuesday and Friday (glad I figured that out!). My main work for it will be an epic-length paper on a passage of the original Greek text, which should be really cool. Even in the first class, we got to talking about how the grammar and structure of the original text gives us clues to the authorship of the gospel, since of course we don't know who actually wrote it. Basically, I'm really excited to finally do work with both Greek and religion!
My second class is possibly the coolest ever invented: Theology of the Musical. The point is to study how religion can be found in musical theater and also how musical theater can mimic or even replace the religious experience for many people, and why. The professor wrote the book we'll be using, and today we watched a bunch of video clips that featured him as the expert on the subject. It helps that we also spent the last half hour of class in a sing-a-long to songs from various musicals! Weird, but hilarious. And my coursework will be made up of a group presentation on Les Mis (we may film part of it in the cathedral ruins in St Andrews--so cool!) and a "sermon or act of worship" based on any musical (obviously I want to use Wicked). I'm really, really excited! And now I even have an excuse to listen to musical soundtracks all day long...
The third is Georgia's class on heresy, which, despite being a three hour marathon, was quite enjoyable this afternoon. We had a great discussion on what we mean by the term "belief" and how it relates to heresy and orthodoxy. I haven't had a class with Georgia since freshman year, so it's great to be studying with her again. She always pushes the discussion to a level I didn't expect, so I'm really happy she's leading the trip this year!
Anyway, those are my classes for the semester--actually more than a regular St Andrews student would be taking, since the first two are honors courses, and they generally two of those as a full courseload for the semester. Pretty sure I can handle it...
What else...we took a trip to Edinburgh on Saturday (I'll post pictures sometime during my excessively extended weekend...) to explore the castle and part of the town. Except for the fog/mist/rain/variants thereof, it was a really fun day, and the castle is quite impressive. We also had lunch and coffee at The Elephant Cafe, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book! For a die-hard HP fan like myself, that was pretty exciting. The back of the cafe looks out at Edinburgh Castle, so you can only imagine it must have been at least part of the inspiration for Hogwarts. The town itself was overrun with rude Frenchmen there for a rugby match the next day, but we still managed to do a bit of shopping and see the cathedral. I definitely want to go back sometime soon to see the art museum and its collection of Impressionist paintings. It's a beautiful old city, so I would love to spend more time there.
I posted this on facebook, but it's worth sharing again: on the train ride home, I had the great good fortune to be sitting next to an extremely drunk old man who found it hilarious to play air guitar and sing to me. He kept doing it off and on, always followed by an evil cackle as I tried to ignore him. It was mortifying, but pretty amusing too. But I'm definitely never taking the last train home from Edinburgh again!
Also, we were at a local pub for dinner on Sunday night when they started playing Don't Stop Believing--the Glee version!! Scotland is awesome, what can I say.
I'm off to trivia later (for the second time this week!). I'll post pictures soon!
A bientot!
~L
Anyway, my first class is on the Gospel of Matthew, and it does in fact meet both Tuesday and Friday (glad I figured that out!). My main work for it will be an epic-length paper on a passage of the original Greek text, which should be really cool. Even in the first class, we got to talking about how the grammar and structure of the original text gives us clues to the authorship of the gospel, since of course we don't know who actually wrote it. Basically, I'm really excited to finally do work with both Greek and religion!
My second class is possibly the coolest ever invented: Theology of the Musical. The point is to study how religion can be found in musical theater and also how musical theater can mimic or even replace the religious experience for many people, and why. The professor wrote the book we'll be using, and today we watched a bunch of video clips that featured him as the expert on the subject. It helps that we also spent the last half hour of class in a sing-a-long to songs from various musicals! Weird, but hilarious. And my coursework will be made up of a group presentation on Les Mis (we may film part of it in the cathedral ruins in St Andrews--so cool!) and a "sermon or act of worship" based on any musical (obviously I want to use Wicked). I'm really, really excited! And now I even have an excuse to listen to musical soundtracks all day long...
The third is Georgia's class on heresy, which, despite being a three hour marathon, was quite enjoyable this afternoon. We had a great discussion on what we mean by the term "belief" and how it relates to heresy and orthodoxy. I haven't had a class with Georgia since freshman year, so it's great to be studying with her again. She always pushes the discussion to a level I didn't expect, so I'm really happy she's leading the trip this year!
Anyway, those are my classes for the semester--actually more than a regular St Andrews student would be taking, since the first two are honors courses, and they generally two of those as a full courseload for the semester. Pretty sure I can handle it...
What else...we took a trip to Edinburgh on Saturday (I'll post pictures sometime during my excessively extended weekend...) to explore the castle and part of the town. Except for the fog/mist/rain/variants thereof, it was a really fun day, and the castle is quite impressive. We also had lunch and coffee at The Elephant Cafe, which is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book! For a die-hard HP fan like myself, that was pretty exciting. The back of the cafe looks out at Edinburgh Castle, so you can only imagine it must have been at least part of the inspiration for Hogwarts. The town itself was overrun with rude Frenchmen there for a rugby match the next day, but we still managed to do a bit of shopping and see the cathedral. I definitely want to go back sometime soon to see the art museum and its collection of Impressionist paintings. It's a beautiful old city, so I would love to spend more time there.
I posted this on facebook, but it's worth sharing again: on the train ride home, I had the great good fortune to be sitting next to an extremely drunk old man who found it hilarious to play air guitar and sing to me. He kept doing it off and on, always followed by an evil cackle as I tried to ignore him. It was mortifying, but pretty amusing too. But I'm definitely never taking the last train home from Edinburgh again!
Also, we were at a local pub for dinner on Sunday night when they started playing Don't Stop Believing--the Glee version!! Scotland is awesome, what can I say.
I'm off to trivia later (for the second time this week!). I'll post pictures soon!
A bientot!
~L
Friday, February 5, 2010
A very long morning at St Andrews...
I've done it--against all odds, I have found a system more unnecessarily confusing and pointlessly complicated than Colgate housing selection. I was thinking that it might only be a tie, but no, St Andrews matriculation/registration actually beats Colgate ResLife in the ability to make a simple process as painful as possible.
Class registration and matriculation took all morning and then some. We had to go to advising first, which involved chatting with a department member for each subject we wished to register for, so I spent twenty minutes with the Divinity representative trying to convince him that no, I did not want to take Theology in Africa even if it was a great new course with only five people registered and he clearly needed more to sign up. My real question was when my Greek class meets, and while I'm signed up for the class, I still have no answer, so apparently I'm supposed to show up to a seminar on Tuesday that may or may not be included in my course. I'll just find out when I get there! Clearly I'm thrilled. And instead of Theology in Africa, I'm signed up for Theology of the Musical (along with at least half the Colgate study group) even though Georgia may have a conniption and once again try to make me change my mind. My third course is hers, with the rest of the study group, on heresy in early and medieval Christianity. It should be an interesting semester...
So my schedule will as far as I know involve class on Tuesday morning, all day Wednesday, and Friday morning...not bad. And I still don't know if the Tuesday seminar is part of my schedule or not, but I guess I'll find out!
Oh, and I finally figured out my mailing address, in case you want to send me cards or letters or Oreos or all of the above. :) It is:
NH/1004 New Hall
North Haugh
St Andrews
Fife, Scotland, UK KY16 9XW
Anyway, I'm off to wait for my phone interview with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation for an internship in London this summer--wish me luck!
~L
Class registration and matriculation took all morning and then some. We had to go to advising first, which involved chatting with a department member for each subject we wished to register for, so I spent twenty minutes with the Divinity representative trying to convince him that no, I did not want to take Theology in Africa even if it was a great new course with only five people registered and he clearly needed more to sign up. My real question was when my Greek class meets, and while I'm signed up for the class, I still have no answer, so apparently I'm supposed to show up to a seminar on Tuesday that may or may not be included in my course. I'll just find out when I get there! Clearly I'm thrilled. And instead of Theology in Africa, I'm signed up for Theology of the Musical (along with at least half the Colgate study group) even though Georgia may have a conniption and once again try to make me change my mind. My third course is hers, with the rest of the study group, on heresy in early and medieval Christianity. It should be an interesting semester...
So my schedule will as far as I know involve class on Tuesday morning, all day Wednesday, and Friday morning...not bad. And I still don't know if the Tuesday seminar is part of my schedule or not, but I guess I'll find out!
Oh, and I finally figured out my mailing address, in case you want to send me cards or letters or Oreos or all of the above. :) It is:
NH/1004 New Hall
North Haugh
St Andrews
Fife, Scotland, UK KY16 9XW
Anyway, I'm off to wait for my phone interview with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation for an internship in London this summer--wish me luck!
~L
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Chaos that is St Andrews Matriculation...
Hello all,
So much for Scotch efficiency. The matriculation process at St Andrews is one of the most absurd exercises in futility I've ever encountered, including housing selection at Colgate! Part of it is online, part is in person, you have to select your classes but the schedules are nowhere to be found, I can't figure out if the Greek Gospel of Matthew class also meets when the English one does for a combined seminar....it's a nightmare. And my adviser is once again interfering just when I've made up my mind...! It's been quite a frustrating day dealing with all of it. Tomorrow, though, we'll be all registered and ready to go on Monday. And we're taking a day trip to Edinburgh on Saturday, so it's uphill from here. I hope...
I'll write more tomorrow about life at St. Andrews and such, but in the meantime, I've included the next round of photos from Paris. Still not all of them though!
A bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182042&id=579896063&l=24f1def0e5 and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181806&id=579896063&l=92bcec70ca (same album as the one I posted yesterday, but with 119 more photos!)
So much for Scotch efficiency. The matriculation process at St Andrews is one of the most absurd exercises in futility I've ever encountered, including housing selection at Colgate! Part of it is online, part is in person, you have to select your classes but the schedules are nowhere to be found, I can't figure out if the Greek Gospel of Matthew class also meets when the English one does for a combined seminar....it's a nightmare. And my adviser is once again interfering just when I've made up my mind...! It's been quite a frustrating day dealing with all of it. Tomorrow, though, we'll be all registered and ready to go on Monday. And we're taking a day trip to Edinburgh on Saturday, so it's uphill from here. I hope...
I'll write more tomorrow about life at St. Andrews and such, but in the meantime, I've included the next round of photos from Paris. Still not all of them though!
A bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182042&id=579896063&l=24f1def0e5 and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181806&id=579896063&l=92bcec70ca (same album as the one I posted yesterday, but with 119 more photos!)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The City of Lights!
Bonjour tout le monde!
I made it back to St. Andrews this afternoon after a whirlwind trip to Paris, which, naturally was fantastic. It's hard to go wrong in such a beautiful city, and considering we were only there for three full days, we managed to see quite a lot! Photos are included at the bottom of the entry.
The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing the bell towers of Notre Dame, something I've always wanted to do but never had time to do before. For the record, it's a LOT of stairs. Like, the Persson steps. Seven times. In a circle. But even the stairs are amazing, with the footprints of 600 years' worth of climbers. And it's hands down the best view of Paris from a high point in the city (a close second is L'Arc de Triomphe, with the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre a distant 3rd and 4th). We were there on a beautiful day, so we had blue skies and sunshine over the city. We made friends with a few gargoyles, too, which you can't do on the ground looking up at the cathedral. They're awfully cute. Oh, and the other highlight of the trip to Notre Dame was that it was a Sunday morning and a service was going on--so I got to hear a choir AND the Notre Dame organ(!) play! And the religion major in me was geekily delighted to see all the rituals of Mass take place in this site where they've been being performed (albeit in various manners) for centuries. It was definitely a visit I'll never forget.
Notre Dame was followed by a failed shopping excursion, as everything was closed on Sunday, and then we ascended Montmartre for a very interesting evening. Our waiter at the brasserie was an Irishman, who had plenty to say (much of it inappropriate!) about Scotsmen and just about us in general. I don't believe I've ever laughed so hard at a dinner in my life.
Monday in Paris was quite a special treat: we experienced freezing rain, blizzard levels of snow, and clear blue skies, all before 11am. It makes for very interesting photos of the Eiffel Tower: the ones up close show the Tower in a blizzard, while the distance ones look sunny and beautiful. But they were all taken the same morning! That's Paris weather for you, I suppose.
Other highlights included seeing the Code of Hammurabi at the Louvre (along with the usual other exhibits: my standard favorites are Winged Victory and the Napoleon III apartments), touring the Opera Garnier (basis of the Phantom of the Opera--sadly, Erik didn't join us on the tour), and lots of delicious pastries and crepes (which we consumed in moderation--NOT!).
We started ranking the things we could do for 5 Euros in Paris, so here is my list of favorites:
1. Climb the bell tower of Notre Dame.
2. Drink chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) at Cafe Francais on the Place de la Bastille.
3. Tour Opera Garnier.
4. Collect an assortment of pastries from the patisseries along Rue Faubourg-St. Antoine and eat them on the steps of the Opera de la Bastille.
5. Buy a Nutella crepe (well, two!) and eat it as you walk home through the City of Lights.
Also, for you intrepid adventurers heading the Paris yourselves, here are a couple of restaurant recommendations:
1.Cafe Francais, located on the main circle of Place de la Bastille directly opposite the opera house. Prices are decent, and if something is more expensive, it's because it's well worth it (for instance, their hot chocolate...).
2. Cafe/Restaurant Latin St-Germain, across from the Museum of the Middle Ages on Boulevard St. Germain-de-Pres. Best quiche I've ever had and some of the most reasonable prices I've seen in Paris. Also, they have shark steak--what's not to like?
Paris is still my favorite city in the world, and I am already planning a return journey later this spring to see the Luxembourg Gardens, the Tuileries, Giverny, and the Loire valley when they are most beautiful. Can't wait!
Well, tomorrow it's back to the reality of St. Andrews orientation...more about St. A later! It's bedtime for me.
A bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181806&id=579896063&l=92bcec70ca
PS- More photos will be coming soon! I took 959 on this trip, so sorting through them may take awhile.... :)
I made it back to St. Andrews this afternoon after a whirlwind trip to Paris, which, naturally was fantastic. It's hard to go wrong in such a beautiful city, and considering we were only there for three full days, we managed to see quite a lot! Photos are included at the bottom of the entry.
The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing the bell towers of Notre Dame, something I've always wanted to do but never had time to do before. For the record, it's a LOT of stairs. Like, the Persson steps. Seven times. In a circle. But even the stairs are amazing, with the footprints of 600 years' worth of climbers. And it's hands down the best view of Paris from a high point in the city (a close second is L'Arc de Triomphe, with the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre a distant 3rd and 4th). We were there on a beautiful day, so we had blue skies and sunshine over the city. We made friends with a few gargoyles, too, which you can't do on the ground looking up at the cathedral. They're awfully cute. Oh, and the other highlight of the trip to Notre Dame was that it was a Sunday morning and a service was going on--so I got to hear a choir AND the Notre Dame organ(!) play! And the religion major in me was geekily delighted to see all the rituals of Mass take place in this site where they've been being performed (albeit in various manners) for centuries. It was definitely a visit I'll never forget.
Notre Dame was followed by a failed shopping excursion, as everything was closed on Sunday, and then we ascended Montmartre for a very interesting evening. Our waiter at the brasserie was an Irishman, who had plenty to say (much of it inappropriate!) about Scotsmen and just about us in general. I don't believe I've ever laughed so hard at a dinner in my life.
Monday in Paris was quite a special treat: we experienced freezing rain, blizzard levels of snow, and clear blue skies, all before 11am. It makes for very interesting photos of the Eiffel Tower: the ones up close show the Tower in a blizzard, while the distance ones look sunny and beautiful. But they were all taken the same morning! That's Paris weather for you, I suppose.
Other highlights included seeing the Code of Hammurabi at the Louvre (along with the usual other exhibits: my standard favorites are Winged Victory and the Napoleon III apartments), touring the Opera Garnier (basis of the Phantom of the Opera--sadly, Erik didn't join us on the tour), and lots of delicious pastries and crepes (which we consumed in moderation--NOT!).
We started ranking the things we could do for 5 Euros in Paris, so here is my list of favorites:
1. Climb the bell tower of Notre Dame.
2. Drink chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) at Cafe Francais on the Place de la Bastille.
3. Tour Opera Garnier.
4. Collect an assortment of pastries from the patisseries along Rue Faubourg-St. Antoine and eat them on the steps of the Opera de la Bastille.
5. Buy a Nutella crepe (well, two!) and eat it as you walk home through the City of Lights.
Also, for you intrepid adventurers heading the Paris yourselves, here are a couple of restaurant recommendations:
1.Cafe Francais, located on the main circle of Place de la Bastille directly opposite the opera house. Prices are decent, and if something is more expensive, it's because it's well worth it (for instance, their hot chocolate...).
2. Cafe/Restaurant Latin St-Germain, across from the Museum of the Middle Ages on Boulevard St. Germain-de-Pres. Best quiche I've ever had and some of the most reasonable prices I've seen in Paris. Also, they have shark steak--what's not to like?
Paris is still my favorite city in the world, and I am already planning a return journey later this spring to see the Luxembourg Gardens, the Tuileries, Giverny, and the Loire valley when they are most beautiful. Can't wait!
Well, tomorrow it's back to the reality of St. Andrews orientation...more about St. A later! It's bedtime for me.
A bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181806&id=579896063&l=92bcec70ca
PS- More photos will be coming soon! I took 959 on this trip, so sorting through them may take awhile.... :)
Friday, January 29, 2010
First day in Scotland!
Hello from the beautiful town of St. Andrews!
After a nightmarish day of travel, I arrived in St. Andrews this morning around 9:30am and proceeded to check into my room, unpack, and promptly get lost in my dorm as I tried to find Jen's room. Getting lost seemed to be a theme today...hopefully it doesn't continue! The dorm is nice overall, and I'm randomly in a handicap-accessible room, so I have tons of extra space. Plus I have my own bathroom, so I really can't complain. :) Quite a change from Colgate dorms!
We had planned to meet up as a group around noon, but unfortunately, Jen and I got lost a second time. When we finally ran into our group, we decided to eat lunch and then deal with cell phones. Lunch ended up being gourmet pizza--not exactly Scottish, but we were so hungry we didn't care! And the salesmen at the cell phone store had us all laughing hysterically within a few minutes of walking in. There's just something about a joke delivered in a Scottish brogue that makes it that much funnier...
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town, mostly shopping for the necessities we couldn't bring from home, but we also managed a detour to the ruins of a castle on the beach. It was stunning--massive, crumbling walls surrounded by bright green grass dotted with tombstones of all ages. The sun happened to be at just the right height, so it was that warm afternoon light that makes for great photos (and artistically placed sunspots...). I've included a link to the facebook album with some photos from today.
I'm off to Paris tomorrow...a bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180306&id=579896063&l=b7015fe99b
After a nightmarish day of travel, I arrived in St. Andrews this morning around 9:30am and proceeded to check into my room, unpack, and promptly get lost in my dorm as I tried to find Jen's room. Getting lost seemed to be a theme today...hopefully it doesn't continue! The dorm is nice overall, and I'm randomly in a handicap-accessible room, so I have tons of extra space. Plus I have my own bathroom, so I really can't complain. :) Quite a change from Colgate dorms!
We had planned to meet up as a group around noon, but unfortunately, Jen and I got lost a second time. When we finally ran into our group, we decided to eat lunch and then deal with cell phones. Lunch ended up being gourmet pizza--not exactly Scottish, but we were so hungry we didn't care! And the salesmen at the cell phone store had us all laughing hysterically within a few minutes of walking in. There's just something about a joke delivered in a Scottish brogue that makes it that much funnier...
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town, mostly shopping for the necessities we couldn't bring from home, but we also managed a detour to the ruins of a castle on the beach. It was stunning--massive, crumbling walls surrounded by bright green grass dotted with tombstones of all ages. The sun happened to be at just the right height, so it was that warm afternoon light that makes for great photos (and artistically placed sunspots...). I've included a link to the facebook album with some photos from today.
I'm off to Paris tomorrow...a bientot!
~L
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180306&id=579896063&l=b7015fe99b
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Adventure Begins!
Hello all,
Well, the day has finally arrived (almost, at least). Tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving to spend the next four months in Scotland, studying at the University of St. Andrews, and traveling around the rest of Europe as frequently as my schedule permits. In the interest of keeping my family and friends in the States updated on my adventures, I'm starting this blog! Hopefully I'll manage to write at least once week, or whenever I do something interesting, and I'll post links to photos on facebook that will be accessible to anyone, even if you don't have facebook or aren't friends with me (ahem, Mom). That way you can see all the wonderful castles and churches and castles and statues and shops and paintings and castles....can you tell I like castles? :-)
Anyway, the next week is going to be full of traveling for me, since we arrive in Scotland Friday morning and approximately 36 hours later I will be in Paris (my favorite place on earth!) for a few days before orientation starts next week. I can't wait! I'm sure it will be the first of many amazing experiences this semester.
A bientot!
~L
Well, the day has finally arrived (almost, at least). Tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving to spend the next four months in Scotland, studying at the University of St. Andrews, and traveling around the rest of Europe as frequently as my schedule permits. In the interest of keeping my family and friends in the States updated on my adventures, I'm starting this blog! Hopefully I'll manage to write at least once week, or whenever I do something interesting, and I'll post links to photos on facebook that will be accessible to anyone, even if you don't have facebook or aren't friends with me (ahem, Mom). That way you can see all the wonderful castles and churches and castles and statues and shops and paintings and castles....can you tell I like castles? :-)
Anyway, the next week is going to be full of traveling for me, since we arrive in Scotland Friday morning and approximately 36 hours later I will be in Paris (my favorite place on earth!) for a few days before orientation starts next week. I can't wait! I'm sure it will be the first of many amazing experiences this semester.
A bientot!
~L
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