monkeying around

Today was a rainy day in Edinburgh. I slept in pretty late, and then my flatmates and I went to check out this place called Brass Monkey. It was really cool. It's a bar, they also have soups and sandwiches, and in the "Cinema" room, the walls are basically just lined with mattresses that are lifted to about couch height, and tons of pillows, with tiny little tables scattered about to rest your drink. They play movies daily at 3pm, and when we asked what movie was playing today, we were excited to find out that WE got to pick! (well, any anyone else in the room, but no one else really cared so we picked). We watched Anchorman, and you had to buy a drink because it was for customers only, so I got another Cider & Black (cider mixed with black currant)..definitely becoming my favorite drink.




We then met up with some more girls, who were visiting a friend they knew at University of Edinburgh. It was cool to see the campus, definitely more of an actual campus than Edinburgh Napier, which is scattered throughout the city.

The Library Bar the University Student Center

After leaving there, we all went out to dinner at a Thai & Indian restaurant. It was very yummy, and I'm definitely getting my fill of Indian food! (although i have to admit, i do miss Thali in New Canaan..)it's great because most restaurants give a student discount as well, anywhere from 10-30% off food or drinks (this particular place was 15% off).

The menu from the restaurant

Please keep in touch, everyone! I miss you and want to hear about everything!

XOXO

it's all coming back to me now

last night, our flat and the boys from downstairs played the scottish jeopardy game we made. it was so much fun!


the game board

my category was recreation, as i've been doing a lot of the excursion planning :)

fun fact that i learned from jeopardy: unicorns are the national animal of scotland!

here are some shots from the game:




after that, we went out to a nearby club called Caberet Voltaire. It was so much fun! Here, if you go before 12am there is no cover charge. It's also very interesting because clubs don't get busy till abou't 11/12 and are open until 3am, while pubs are busy around by 9 and later, and close by 12 or 1.



caberet voltaire

today, we went over to princes street to shop for our Ke$ha costumes. We explored H&M and Topshop, and it was very difficult not to buy everything in sight!

We went to leave Princes street and take the bus home, as we have our new unlimited buspasses and like using them..and made a big rookie mistake. We got on the bus at the same stop we got off at, and after a 30 minute ride into the suburbs of Edinburgh, the bus turned off the lights and engine. The four of us paused, nervous and confused, and the bus driver got out of his seat and looked confused as why we were there. Finally Leah asked, "how do we get home?" the driver told us it was a 7 minute wait (his break), and then we would backtrack that whole 30 minutes, pass Princes street, and finally get home. We definitely learned our lesson! Make sure you are on the correct side of the street before getting on the bus!!

Tonight was my Ke$ha themed half birthday party. We had a big gathering at our flat, with our flatmates, the boys from downstairs, girls from down the hall, and the girls from that beautiful building by the castle. We got all dressed up and celebrated ke$ha style - extra messy and dirty and bored looking, and then went out to this local club Espionage. The club was really cool, and had 4 different floors with different things on each floor (dancing, bar, karaoke, etc). We had a "party bowl" aka a fishbowl, which was super yummy but kind of tasted like bubble gum, and then made our way home (after stopping for some Scottish pizza!)

Here are so photos from the night:


the girls

ke$ha & her body guard

let's matriculate

yesterday I signed up and finalized my classes: Scottish Culture & Society on Wednesday, Wine Studies on Thursday, and Critical Debates in Communication Theory on Friday. 2 hours each, once a week..amazing schedule! So much time for traveling.

today was the fresher's fayre & matriculation. we woke up early to get to the fresher's fayre, which was seriously hyped up and supposedly filled with different boothes of different clubs and activities on campus, as well as freebies. turns out..that over-the-top fair was in september, this was fresher's fayre 2 and only had 5 or 6 tables set up. it was still fun, and we learned about some clubs on campus, and even signed up for the WHISKEY CLUB! the club meets bi-weekly for whiskey tastings (of good whiskey's), and then has field-trips to distilleries all over scotland. super cool!

after that, we headed over to the merchiston campus for matriculation (registration). it was this whole process, we had to come in and go to one department of the computer lab - admissions, then immigration, then online, then get our ID's, then a library tutorial..it was very organized but quite the process!

finally, we went on a little exploration to get our bus passes. it's £40 for a student monthly bus pass, which is unlimited use. not too bad, and it's so easy to use! (never thought i'd say that about public busses, as i've never been a fan, but the plaid scottish seating really does it for me).

on our way home, we walked down Princes street and I took a picture of Scott's monument..so pretty!


(this isn't it - this is from google, but way better since mine was at night).

today my flatmates and i also started planning some of our trips! so far, we have amsterdam, wales, malta, london, and CEE-LO concert in Glasgow!!! So excited!!!

last night, my flat mates and I made a Scottish jeopardy game that we are playing. each of us picked a category (there are 7), and have to make up 6 questions about your category (different levels of challenging)..added some color to our wall, and will be educational and fun!

pictures & updates to follow tomorrow!

XOXO

trivia, bingo & other scottish things

yesterday was such a fun day! we woke up and decided to go exploring. we walked through Grassmarket (where most of the bars/pubs/clubs are), then over to the Royal Mile and around there (home of the Whiskey Experience, as well as many touristy places where you can buy KILTS!!).


Grassmarket

We continued on to the Edinburgh Castle, and the views were unbelievable!


The Edinburgh Castle


The View


And passed this pub/restaurant, that I took a picture of for Barry!

Afterwards, we came back to the flat and made dinner. My flatmates and I are in the process of scoping out different places in the area with fun things to do each night. Last night landed us at Electric Circus, this bright bar that you can rent private karaoke/party rooms (we didn't, but kareoke's a must-do here.) We went for their Tuesday night popquiz and musical bingo night.

First we played Pop Quiz, (team name: Charming Chalmers - it's the street we live on.) They asked us trivia questions about everything from TV, Film, Music, General, Who am I (it was a whole packet!) By the second to last round, our team was in 2nd place! The announcers kept making fun of us a little because one of us would get so excited and yell the answer too loud and then everyone would get it, or because we didn't understand the accent so they'd repeat it in "american" for us. They were very funny.

After that, we played musical bingo. We were given a bingo card with different musical artists on it, and they'd play about 15 seconds of a song and we'd have to recognize who it was and mark if we had them (some people i'd never even heard of!) Needless to say, we didn't win...


We're definitely making it a Tuesday night tradition though!

Afterwards, we stopped at one more place on the way home that we passed, called Finnigan's Wake. It was really cool inside, and we all had this bright colored test-tube shot called the "Wild Shot". I'm surprised by the prices here and how they are so low (1-3 pounds for a drink, unless you get something totally fancy)! And how there is always something going on, it's great!!

Then we came back to the flat, and picked a theme out of a pot for...FRIDAY!! We're celebrating my half birthday and having a big bash! So we had to pick a theme.




We started with picking 1, then 3...then may have opened all 30 or so. Instead, we decided on a theme that wasn't in the pot at all. We're having a KE$HA party..unless we change our minds again. So excited!!

Will write again tomorrow, hope you all are enjoying the snow! We are getting nothing but non-stop rain here for the next week..boo!

Look for more photos on facebook soon!

XOXO

first day!

today, i woke up at 7am for a program induction. we had to be there by 9am, and the campus is about a 20-25 minute bus ride, plus getting to/from the bus stop and waiting for it, so really we left at 8. that meeting was at what is called the Craiglockhart Campus (pictured below)




after that finished, the girls and i took the bus over towards our next meeting, at the Merchiston campus of Edinburgh Napier, and stopped in a cute area called Morningside to kill time and eat. We went to this adorable tea/coffee /cafe, see pictures below!! I had a yummy cappuccino, the place was so cutely decorated too!! fun prints, bright colors, and the ceiling was painted with clouds and butterflies. an interesting thing we learned there (as well as with our lunch later) was that they are very unhappy about the concept of separate checks. trying to pay for a bill between a big group takes SO LONG! especially working out all of the change, which isn't broken down very far, and the cafe ran out of single pounds! It was quite the process.






after that, we had lunch at a great Napalese restaurant, also in Morningside, and just walked around the area.




we then went to a very, very long monotonous meeting where they explained to us how to sign up for classes, and we're also informed about AMAZING benefits on campus these next 2 weeks! including free gym membership, massages, make-up application sessions, and manicures.


Merchiston Campus




View from the lecture hall!

after that, my roommates and i took the bus to this place called Asda, which is essentially (and owned by) Walmart. We got a bunch of the cheap basics (towels, sheets, food, etc)


At Asda. For you Scott! Everything here has your name on it!

After, we took the bus back and got ready for an international student gathering at a local pub called The Golf Tavern. It was so interesting and fun and different to have these events (paid for and sponsored by the school) at local pubs! UNH would be very unhappy. It was so much fun, and we met a lot of people! I tried this drink we were recommended called the Snakebite, also known as Cider & black. It's cider mixed with blackcurrant beer. It was soo yummy, tasted like a jolly rancher!




Finally, we all came back to the flat with friends and hung out for a while longer. Tomorrow we get to sleep in and explore more!

Now I get a night to catch up on sleep! Yay! And tomorrow a much needed purchase of an UMBRELLA! So much rain!

XOXO

edinburgh

after some goodbyes at Newark...


mom & i


mom, me & barry


scott & me

i'm here!!

after a redeye into edinburgh and then a pick-up service from there to my apartment, i'm finally here! also on my flight were 3 people i met as well, a girl from Branford (she knows kelsey!!) and a boy and girl from U-Maine Orno. the drive from the airport to edinburgh looks alot like london, or a more charming version of a route-1 type place (with a subway and dominos, no less!)

here at my apartment, there are 4 bedrooms, one is the girl from U-Maine, one is from North Carolina, and we are waiting on our last roommate! I have my own bedroom (double bed!) and my own bathroom, and we share a kitchen/common area. it's very nice, small (similar to that of a cruise-ship room) but rather new and a lovely view.


my bedroom




my bedroom door to the left, bathroom door to the right


the view from my window

kitchen/common area

hallway

XOXO

packing

So, I have put it off until today to pack away 4 months of my life into two [hopefully] less than 50 pound suitcases.

I've made my lists and gone through my clothes and haven't yet attempted to see how much will ACTUALLY fit...but here is my progress thus far.


I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow!! I'm nervous, excited, and a bit in denial. And to think next time I blog will be from Scotland...I'm going to miss you all!!