A Walk in the Park

I apologize for the delay in Barcelona posts, the exams never seem to end! I've already tackled three, but have two more left to battle. I feel like St. George slaying dragons. Do you think I'll get some modernista architecture dedicated to me for finishing my junior year unscathed? Speaking of modernista architecture, this is another post about Gaudi and his famous Park Guell.

I know that the expression "on acid" is overused, but I couldn't help but think of it when I entered the park which looked like, well, Disney World on acid. When you enter the tiled gates you are greeted by a turret that appears to be made out of saltwater taffy with a crucifix stuck to the top of it. The quest has begun and fittingly the next sight is apparently Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house. I should've taken note there to get some breadcrumbs out because little did I know that I would get lost in the park for a few minutes, okay, more than a few if you know my demented directional skills.

[If you look in the distance you can see Gaudi's most famous design, Sagrada Familia]

But it was a delightful place to be lost in as you can see. Loss is part of the history of Park Guell because it was forgotten immediately after it was built. In 1900, Gaudi's patron, Eustebi Guell (hence the name), commissioned him to design a living complex similar in set-up to an English garden. This Anglo- inspiration also inspired the name of "park," not the Catalan spelling"parc." Fourteen years later Park Guell was finished, but no one wanted to live there because it was so decentralized. Even with today's transportation, it takes a ten minute metro ride from Barcelona's center and then a twenty minute uphill walk in the blistering heat. This doesn't seem to keep the tourists away, but it did stave the locals off at the time. In the end, just two houses were built and they weren't even designed by Gaudi, however he did live in one for twenty years.

Today, Gaudi's house (designed by Francesc Berenguer in an alarming shade of cotton candy pink)is a museum in his honor. Barcelona tourism loves to capitalize on anything Gaudi even if the only thing he designed for it were the mosaics.

After no one bought the realestate, Guell donated it to the city of Barcelona for tourists to swarm today. Ironically, it is now one of Barcelona's most popular tourist destinations.

Finally I made my way out sans breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, with the confusion I missed the two most famous attractions of the park, the world's longest bench and the mosaic lizard. Despite the detour, Park Guell is definitely worth a visit to appreciate just how odd Gaudi's designs were.

Hopefully I have time to post a few more Barcelona photos. Remembering my time back there is getting me through exams.

Barcelona! (Not an exciting title, but this post is)

Right now I find myself hunched over a computer or a book for more hours than the sun the is up. I wish I could say I was composing the Great American Novel, but because I'm in Scotland composing my brain for the five week period of exam hell I'm in currently. It's a marathon, not a sprint so I thought I had time to update you on when things were much more exciting. Just a few weeks back I was in Barcelona, Spain for five days to visit my good friend Hilly!

[My lovely hostess, Hilly and I in the Labyrinth Gardens, Barcelona's best kept secret.]

Barcelona was my first big destination vacation since I've been abroad. As a study abroad student shouldn't I be on a cheap Ryan Air flight every weekend so I can tour Europe? Instead I've probably been at a different pub every weekend, but at least I've explored Edinburgh, right? Well, it was time to finally get my passport stamped again and because Hilly stopped by Edinburgh for a weekend, the least I could do was pay her a visit. Also, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that churros were an incentive to visit Spain.

[My churro-stache, can't you tell I'm mature enough to be turning 21 this June? haha They were delicious though and tasted like gourmet kitkat bars.]

After nearly a month of rain in Edinburgh, the constant sun in Spain was an invigorating change of scenery. Perhaps a bit too invigorating because the idea of packing sunscreen eluded me and therefore I got a bit burnt with a hardcore watch-tan to boot! When the sun wasn't illuminating just how pasty I've become since settling in Scotland, it was illuminating the crazy and colorful architecture of Barcelona.

The buildings have a life of their own and helped to promote the Catalan identity even when Franco tried to eradicate it turned his regime because it was too separatist. Even to this day, Catalan (a mixture of French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin meaning that despite the fact that I failed to speak Spanish, I could at least read the signs from my high school French knowledge. This was very important to order delicious "fromtiage" or cheese croissants) is the main language of Barcelona. Although Spanish is understood and spoken, it is disdained and some Catalans would prefer to speak to you in English rather than Spanish. The impressive Catalan pride was both exciting and a little overwhelming and who better to exhibit this than Antoni Gaudi.

Gaudi was Barcelona's most famous Catalan modernist architect. Although the city is currently on the contemporary grid system (even I, the directionally deranged, could navigate it!), his unique buildings punctuate the landscape and culture. Gaudi's designs are heavy in religious symbolism and Catalan culture. For example, the building above represents Spain's patron saint, St. George's victory over a dragon. What appears to be a carnival masque on the balcony actually represents human skulls discarded from the dragon that sits on the roof (note his scales). St. George's defeat of the beast is depicted down the walls of the building making it a truly stunning sight. Gaudi's style culminated in his famous Sagrada Familia church reminiscent of a drip sand castle and still under-construction. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of it because I had camera troubles throughout the trip, but its an awe-inspiring sight.

Above is Gaudi's "quarry" building. Although he remains one of Barcelona's favorite artists and is a major pull for today's tourists, Gaudi himself died in obscurity. While he was alive he was relatively reclusive so although many knew his designs they did not know him. He died after being hit by a tram and mistaken for a beggar whereas today it would be a mistake to miss his work. Similarly, Barcelona is an under-appreciated tourist destination but it has so much offer: the sea, architecture, delicious food, friendly people, and more. Its a vivacious city, so radically different from Edinburgh that it gave me just the jump start I needed before exams.

Just like the winding streets of Barcelona's Barrio Gottico (the original city) leave a lot to be discovered, this is only my first post of a few on the city. Expect more soon!

[Yes, that is the Spanish Arc de Triumf, but more on it later.]

Gals in Glasgow

Glagow may be the largest city in Scotland and the third most populous in all of the UK, but it is surprisingly underrated in Edinburgh. Yes, it may not conjure up the fantasy of Harry Potter when walking through its industrial architecture, but what it doesn't have to offer in visual aesthetic, it has in cultural aesthetic instead. Glasgow is one the burgeoning centers of music in the UK with bands like Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Franz Ferdinand, Frightened Rabbit, Glasvegas, and the Vaselines originating from it just to name a few. This is the predominant reason why I know Glasgow because every big band I've wanted to see has stopped by the city. I've taken the fifty minute train down to Glasgow many a time to see my favorite bands, but this meant I had never seen the city during the day. I decided to remedy that over my Easter break and met up with my friend Julia, a native Glaswegian, to finally see Glasgow.

Our first stop was the charmingly odd Kelvingrove Museum. Located in the West End, its part natural history museum and part art gallery. One minute you're looking at a Monet painting and the next there's a texidermied giraffe with a spitfire above its head. The museum boasts over 800 objects meaning you can see everything from a stuffed shark to an Egyptian mummy. Sometimes the exhibits seemed a little crowded with medieval armor and the Holocaust all in one room, but overall it was a fun few hours that led to some good discussion.

Even if you aren't that excited about seeing Sir Roger the Elephant, the old Kelvingrove mansion built for the Glasgow International Fair in 1901 is a stunning sight and there's even an organ player for some ambience.

My favorite display at the museum was this absurd testament to Scottish nationalism. Even with the occasional offbeat plaque, the museum is definitely worth a visit.

Next, we wandered around the University of Glasgow campus. Although I claimed Edinburgh's architecture seems more romantic at the beginning of this post, I have to admit that I was jealous of the university here. I expected to run into Professor Flitwick in the medieval courtyard instead of the hideous 1980s monstrosities we have on the University of Edinburgh campus.

After all of this sightseeing we were starving and found half a dozen adorable sandwich shops in the area that it made it hard to choose just where to catch up over coffee. Finally we settled on a little bistro that offered a wrap, a burger, or noodles for a fiver.

Although the weather was expectedly rainy (on average, Glasgow gets more rain than Edinburgh), spending the afternoon in the city was a great diversion from the monotony of exam revision. Glasgow has a lot to offer and I think the only reason those in Edinburgh rant about it is because they're a tad jealous. I would gladly visit it again.

Thanks to Julia for showing me around!

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

I apologize for not having blogged in nearly two months. Things in Edinburgh are going so well that it feels like home and with home comes routine. Unless you wanted me to become one of those self absorbed people who blogs about what type of coffee I order than it wouldn't have been that interesting for you to read. I've also been bogged down by essays and computer troubles, but now that the semester is officially over I have plenty of time to blog and things to blog about again. I say the semester is "over," but really I have a three week Easter break and then five exams. Fun stuff! But for now I'm catching up on sleep and sights I've missed around town like the topic of today's post, Portobello Beach.

No, the beach is not named after a mushroom, portbello translates to beautiful port in Italian. The beach is off of the Firth of Forth sea and located three miles from Edinburgh's city center.This makes for only about a hour walk today, but back in the 19th century the beach used to be quite the destination vacation spot. Wealthy Glaswegians would come up to take advantage of Turkish baths, amusement park, and the beautiful beach itself. However after WWII, Scots traveled to continental Europe to get their seaside fix and the tourism has been steadily declining ever since.

Today, Portobello is just another suburb of Edinburgh, albeit a very quaint one. The seashore still boasts an amusement park, classic fish and chips, and plenty of people and their pups frolicking around the beach. Even though it's far from comfortable swimming weather at this time of year, I can only imagine it would be nice retreat in the summer.

I plan on doing more local travels over break so look forward to more posts.

[It took a lot of willpower to not buy some chips]

Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, And sae let the Lord be thankit.

Would you eat this?

This delicious looking dish is the infamous haggis. Its made up of sheep's offal (look that word up if you dare) mixed with oatmeal and spices cooked in a bag, a bag made up of sheep's stomach. Although I did know a Scot who used to joke that he tricked tourists into thinking haggis was an animal. "Oh yes, we have to chase the haggis around the Highlands."As if that wasn't appetizing enough its served with a healthy heaping of mashed neeps and tatties. For those who don't speak Scottish slang, that's turnips and potatoes. The result looks like, well, meatloaf, it tastes like a slightly off sausage, and has an odd texture of refried beans. Edible, but not something I'd order again.

[Almost cleaned my plate.]

Somehow I made it through most of it. Surprisingly, I was more offended by the neeps which tasted like a lamer carrot. Why would anyone willingly eat this? Well, it was Burns Night of course! A celebration of the Scottish makar (or laureate) Robert Burns. He's most famous for Auld Lang Syne, but on this particular night another poem is recited, Address to a Haggis. So find an obliging Scotsman to recite, have a shot of whisky, and dig in! One of my goals this year was to avoid haggis (see the tagline of this blog, which I should perhaps take down now), but when you're a member of the Literature Society celebrating this event is mandatory and I didn't want to made fun of for wimping out and ordering a vegetarian version, even if it does look and taste better.

[Veggie haggis, makes for a good fry up on a weekend.]

Obviously, I'm back in Edinburgh. Bracing the wind, sarcastic Scots, and haggis with good humor. I'm three weeks into my second semester and things couldn't be better! I'm in all third year English literature courses and attending enough Literature Society events (pub quizzes, pub crawls, and poetry slams) that I should join the committee already.

[Our winnings]

To wash all those authors down I've finally found a Scottish beer I like! Belhaven Best, a pale ale from the oldest independent brewery in Scotland. It tastes a bit like honey in the beginning and finishes strong, the perfect accompaniment to any pub quiz (your standard bar trivia). I've been to four already this term in various teams and pubs, but we're nearly dominating everywhere we go. My team came in second at a student pub quiz, we came in third at the Literature Society pub quiz (quite the achievement considering the second place team was made up of postgrads and the first place went to the professors team), and we even won one at a local pub! Our winnings were the entry fee, roughly 40 pounds split between our six teammates so about 6 pounds each, but the honor was worth more. What a good way to start off the semester!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Back in Minnesnowtah for a few weeks to play with the pup, eat some homecooked meals, and see if I remember how to drive a car again. Happy holidays and see you in January!

"What are Men Compared to Rocks and Mountains." Jane Austen

When I went to Edinburgh I expected to drink pints at haunted pubs, hear bagpipes on my walk to class, and maybe run into J.K. Rowling when I got a latte, but climbing a defunct volcano in the snow wasn't on my agenda. However last week I found myself climbing Edinburgh's most famous tourist attraction, Arthur's Seat.

Arthur's Seat looms 823 feet above the city of Edinburgh and when you are all the way on top you can barely contextualize your surroundings because the view is so vast. The origins of Arthur's Seat are a little dubious too. The hill itself was formed by a now extinct volcano about 350 million years ago, so the only thing tumbling down it won't be lava, but probably me. The geological origins of the hill may be evident, but the human interaction with it isn't. There are said to be defensive forts around the hill that date all the way back to the 600s and potentially carry a connotation to King Arthur (maybe the inspiration for its name?). An even bigger mystery are the seventeen coffins found in the 19th century that are either ascribed to a pagan ritual or the victims of Edinburgh's infamous bodysnatchers, Burke and Hare. All I know for certain is the vista is awesome in all sense of the word.

With its imposing gaze over the city, Arthur's Seat has been a guilt-trip for me all semester. It was the thing to do during Freshers Week, but between setting up bank accounts and catching a cold I didn't really have the energy to hike up a mountain too. Soon enough the weather got cold and I was convinced I wouldn't know its grandeur until the spring. However after a plan to go sledding (or sledging as they call it in Britain) with friends went awry, I found us walking toward to Holyrood Park and knew my fate was set. It was time to meet the mountain.

So I climbed Arthur's Seat. Although climbing may be the wrong word because the path was so slippery from the recent blizzards that I practically crawled up and had terrifying visions of accidentally downhill skiing if I made one false step (yes, maybe we picked the wrong season for this). I may not have had the right shoes on, but I had the right attitude and somehow found myself at the summit an hour later.

[The treacherous climb. One of the rare moments I wasn't on my butt.]

The view was stunning, but there was still more peril to be faced, the wind! We decided to slide down the other half of the mountain after we could no longer feel our faces at the top. The way down was a lot easier especially knowing we had a cup of hot cocoa in our future.

[At the Summit, wind-tousled hair and all]

With that cup of cocoa in hand I could finally start to feel my fingers again and a sense of satisfaction of having made it up a hill I normally would've strapped on skis for. Arthur's Seat is one of the rare tourist activities that's actually worth it! I look forward to taking a few more hikes in my future, but hopefully when the snow has melted.