Family Reunion in Edinburgh

Hello all,
You'll have to forgive me for this slightly belated blog post, I have been insanely busy over here.  Friday February 18th, Sam, my brother, arrived from Canada to enjoy his study break in Britain.  It was so great having him here! Oddly enough, underneath my bed, is stacked an identical bed with a mattress and everything! So, despite cramped living quarter, Samwise and I each had a bed and were ready to take on Edinburgh.
Later that night, our cousins, who live in London, arrived with two of their friends from home.  We Canadians came, we saw, we conquered.  All the way. It was great to get to show off my city.  We saw some of the nightlife, including my personal favorite: the big cheese.  Its run in the student center on campus every Saturday night and it essentially plays really cheesy pop music from the past couple of decades.  Its all pop ballads and all that.  It is such a good time!
During the day on Saturday, we climbed up to the peak of Arthur's Seat, the small mountain steps from my residence, we went to the oldest pub in Edinburgh, the Sheep's Head, that is nestled at the bottom of the mountain.
For dinner, Samwise impressively cooked gluten-free pizza for our 12 dinner guests.  He's a dream.

 Sam and I at the base of Arthur's seat

 View of the city centre mid-way up the hike

 

Yah, the path may have been technically closed for the winter... Oops

Almost at the top, the rocks were a little slippery, but we made it alright!

 The cousins were successful! Sam, Lisa, Scott and I at the peak!

 Our whole gang, including a university friend of Scott's and two of Lisa's friends from crescent beach

 Lisa at the absolute highest point

 Celebration in the Sheep's Head after our arduous journey

 Going into the Big Cheese, my friend Sarah had joined us at this point.

 Superfluous shot of me, outside Holyrood Palace

 Sam rubbing David Hume's toe for good luck. Ironically, Hume did not believe in luck...?

 View of Old Town from Calton Hill

The light was peaking through the clouds over Edinburgh Castle. So beautiful

Two Weeks in Edinburgh

To my darling readers,
It has been a great couple of weeks in Edinburgh.  I really do love this city! There seems to be an unlimited supply of amazing cafes hidden away in the nooks and crannies of these old streets.  One of my favorite things to do is to find a small, authentic place with delicious, steamy lattes where I can sit for hours as I pour over the latest novel I have been assigned in class.   I spend so many hours in all these different cafes, yet I doubt I have even tried half the places within walking distance of my campus.

My classes are still going well.  The english literature classes all have these groups called ALGs (autonomous learning groups) where you subdivide into groups of around 4-5 to meet up and discuss the books before class.  It is a great way to fight against the recent dehumanizing trend of universities these days.  It really helps to create a sense of community within the students of the english department, separate from the professors.  As a result, it is so much easier to meet people in your classes.  Although I think in many ways the McGill English department is superior (especially when it comes to improving their student's writing abilities) I will miss the coziness of my Edinburgh classes.  Last semester, one of our professors even provided the students with tea and biscuits! My kind of place.

I unfortunately missed out on the Robbie Burn's festivities on the actual day dedicated to the bard (note: when you are in Scotland Shakespeare's title is usurped in favor of Mr. Burns), but luckily one group had a big dinner a week later so I got to experience the traditional Burns day supper.  It was really fun, we all got 3 course meal (including haggis, neeps and tatties of course), whiskey and half a bottle of wine.  And due to my charming, gregarious personality (or more likely people never suspect someone with an innocent-looking face, fools) I managed to secure for our table an extra couple of bottles. So it turned into a very good night.  We got to hear the Burn's ode to the haggis (practically incomprehensible, and I am an English major! I blame the scottish accent) and the really amusing ode to lassies followed by the ladies rebuttal, the ode to the laddies.  Its supposed to be a gently teasing response that really complements the other sex, but the girl who said the ode to the laddies misunderstood and just ripped into the general male sex.  It was much more hilarious that way.

This week is going to be a tough one to get through as I have two presentations and an essay to write, but its all going to be worth it once my brother Sam, and my cousins Scott and Lisa show up for the weekend! It is going to be absolutely fabulous!
Love,
The Sheepish Traveller