A week of classic Cambridge

As promised, here is your Saturday blog post, detailing all of the awesome things I have done in the past week!!  If "Britishiest" was a word, it would have definitely applied here, because I participated in so many Cambridge traditions in such a short period of time...

To start it off, I went to the Pembroke College Formal Hall last Thursday evening.  In case you don't remember from one of my earlier posts, the formal halls are fancy dinners where everyone gets dressed up, and students and professors dine together at one of the colleges.  It's a really nice way to meet other students as well as get to know your professors better.  Here we are, getting ready to head over to Pembroke, all dressed up in the King's College courtyard:

Dinner was wonderful, and I had a great time.  The food was very good, and we had a lot of fun pretending to be very fancy and pretentious.  Unfortunately, my friend Amy took most of the pictures at the dinner, and she hasn't posted them up on Facebook yet, but there are some very funny photos of Blake "being smug," which has become his new favorite pastime. We did manage to get one nice one, though:

During the dessert course, my history of medicine professor, Dr. Barnett, came over to my table and said that because a large proportion of our class happened to be at the Hall, he was inviting everyone out for a round of drinks after dinner.  Now, I know this sounds quite strange to us as Americans, but I assure you it is quite normal at Cambridge, as well as throughout the United Kingdom.  It's supposed to help students and professors get to know each other better and to develop a dialogue outside of the classroom.  Of course, I accepted the invitation, and we all went out to the River Bar, which is a very nice place right on water.  For some strange reason, I didn't think to get a picture, but such is life.  We stayed for quite a while, and had a wonderful stream of conversation about everything from our studies and our plans for the future to different types of British accents and the book on the history of gin my professor had just finished writing.  Dr. Barnett and I also got on the subject of great British television, because I really love "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" and "Blackadder," and we talked for quite a while about our favorite sketches and episodes.  It really was a great time; I was a bit nervous at first, because I've never hung out with one of my professors before, but I really did enjoy it.  It also helped me to get to know my classmates better, and I've become good friends with a few of them since then.

The next afternoon after classes, Pembroke was holding a cream tea, and I just had to go.  After all, what's a visit to England without afternoon tea?  You can go to tea at almost any restaurant or cafe in Cambridge, but the ones that they hold at Cambridge are free to students on our program if you sign up ahead of time.  It was a very traditional tea, with scones and clotted cream and all the works. 

However, there seems to be some debate as to whether the jam or the cream goes on top... I put the jam on second, but someone told me that was wrong.  However, when I looked it up online later, I found that this is actually a hotly debated issue amongst the Brits... who knows!  Either way, Amy and I were having fun and feeling quite classy, sipping our tea in the Thomas Grey room.

However, that weekend is when the work really set in and I had to begin preparing for finals.  However, I feel that I've said quite enough about my workload that week, so we'll just skip ahead to exams, which were yesterday.  I had two: history of medicine at 9:30 and then neurobiology of addiction at 15:30.  All in all, I was well prepared and I feel that I did well on both of them.  They also weren't terribly difficult; if you had paid attention in lecture, participated in seminars, and done the reading, you were fine.  But once exams were over, the real fun began.

Parties here in Cambridge are called "bops," and there was a post-exam bop last night at the Hidden Rooms, which is an underground bar and club.  It was also a costume party, and the theme was "Cool Britannia," so pretty much anything British was fair game.  Now, I LOVE costume parties, and I was determined to have a great costume, but I really couldn't think of anything.  I thought about maybe buying a bright jacket and dressing it up and going as one of the Beatles from Sgt. Pepper, but I wasn't wild about it.  I had an hour to kill between classes on Wednesday, so I decided to just go to a few stores, shop around, and see if anything inspired me.  And after finding a royal blue wrap-style dress in TK Maxx, I recruited my friend Blake and we concocted a truly awesome costume: 

Prince William and Kate Middleton, who are incidentally also the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (how appropriate!).  I had so much fun putting the costume together, and it also gave Blake an opportunity to act smug, one of his favorite activities.  I mean, could his nose really be any higher up in the air?!  

Being a costume designer, I really must point out one of the awesome details of this costume that I thought up (I'm really quite proud of this is you can't tell).  I made a great hat out of a sunhat I found on sale and a Claire's headband:

I really enjoyed that hat... I'm actually starting to feel a classy hat/fascinator phase coming on.  I'm bringing this trend back to the States.  It's just too fun to pass up... I also found a ring at New Look that looked kind of like Kate's actual engagement ring, except about fifty times larger (you can kind of see it on my hand in the first photo).  And in case you're wondering what we're drinking out of, they are our matching Royal Wedding commemoration coffee mugs, of course.  Classy, right?

Blake referred to them as our "smugs" all night.... I really don't understand this obsession with smugness.  Everyone else had really great costumes, too, and all very British; from left to right, we have the Magna Carta (my personal favorite), a punter, a British bro, and Mr. Smee from Peter Pan:

The club was also a great time, but it was so hot in there!!!  We were all so sweaty that we looked like we had just gotten out of the shower!  I mean, my hair was wet all the way down to the tips; I don't even sweat that much when I run!  But all in all, a seriously fun night.  I hope they do another one at the end of the second term, because I'd definitely go again.

So between the Formal Hall, afternoon cream tea, and my first Cambridge bop, it was an awesome, quintessentially British week!  The new term starts on Monday, but I'm only taking one class this term (as opposed to two first term), so I'm going to have a lot more time to do fun things, which can only mean one thing:  more blog posts!!!  I have big plans for the next month, but I won't spoil it; you'll just have to wait and see all the awesome things I'm going to do.  Until then, cheers!!

P.S.  Still no sign of Professor Dumbledore... I'm starting to get a little discouraged, but I still have four more weeks here, so fingers crossed.

   

Dear friends, family, and loved ones...

I know, I know, it's been so long since I last posted!!  It's just that this is finals week, and I've been terribly busy with papers and exams, but it will all be over tomorrow at 17:30.  Therefore, you can look forward to an incredibly awesome post on Saturday, detailing all the wonderful things I've done in the past week (apart from studying), including formal halls and cream tea, as well as the post-exams party tomorrow night.  It's fancy dress, or what we Americans would call a costume party, and the theme is Cool Britannia. For anyone who has ever met me, you will know that I never miss a chance to dress up, and there is an awesome costume in the works.  I won't spoil it, though; you'll have to wait!!!

Unfortunately, that's all for now... I have two exams tomorrow and I must study!  I just thought I'd put everyone's minds at rest and let you know that I am not dead and/or kidnapped (sorry Dad, you can put away your Liam Neeson secret agent gear).  I'll include a picture as photo evidence... one of me and the girls going out last weekend!

Until Saturday.... cheers!

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da....

Well, well, well.... life goes on here in Cambridge.  It's very nice here, and though we have had some nasty weather lately, the sun seems to be settling in.  My classes are going quite well; however, I must set the record straight on something.  My mom tells me that many people have been joking that I'm here in Cambridge under the "guise" of studying and taking classes.  I WISH.  This is so much more work than I had expected!!  Hundreds of pages of assigned reading, ten page papers, three to four hours of class five days a week.... It's really quite a bit!

Regardless of the workload, I am really enjoying my classes.  I'm currently taking two, one on the neurobiology of drug addiction and the other on the history of Western medicine.  The neurobiology class is difficult and quite complicated, but it's very interesting.  It has also helped me learn to read scientific research effectively: at the beginning of the term, it was taking me several hours each night to get through the assigned articles, whereas now it only takes me about an hour.  I'm also really liking my history of medicine class, mostly because I love the professor.  He's INCREDIBLY English, wears horn-rimmed glasses and bright purple socks, and uses phrases like "stamping about on the River Cam" and "botanical pornography."  He told us today in our seminar that as he was walking out of Pembroke this afternoon, an Italian tourist yelled "Harry Potter!!!!" and a huge group of people basically paparazzi-photographed him.  We thought the story was hilarious, but he wasn't quite so amused by it. I personally get more of an adult Neville Longbottom vibe from him, but I wasn't about to say anything (though I mean it in a complimentary way).  Most importantly, though, he has a great sense of humor, gives very interesting lectures, and really knows his stuff.

Despite my not-inconsiderable workload, I did get to go to London this weekend, which was simultaneously awesome and disastrous.  The bus dropped us off at about 11 am on the north bank of the Thames, right across from the London Eye.  I personally really dislike the Eye- I think it's a bit tacky and disrupts the architectural tone of Westminster, but it's become somewhat of a symbol of London, so there you go.

By the way, I have no idea who those kids in the picture are.... some kind of tour group.  I just couldn't get a picture from where I was standing without them in it.  From there, we walked into Trafalgar Square for lunch, and then got on the Tube and headed to the British Museum.

I really like the British Museum, partially because of all of the awesome stuff it houses, and partially just because of the architecture.  As you can see above, the front gates are very stereotypically British, made of wrought iron with gold tips, while the exterior of the building itself is designed to look like a Greek temple.

And then the inside is another story entirely.  It's very modern, all in white marble with the leaded glass ceilings.  I just think it's quite neat the way all of the different aesthetics were incorporated together.

Now, the British Museum is enormous, and we only had a short amount of time to spend in London, so we decided to restrict ourselves to the Egyptian and Greek galleries.  We started in the Egypt wing, where the Rosetta Stone is housed.  I would have gotten a picture, but the tourist hoard crowded around the case looked completely impenetrable, so I didn't even bother (I've seen it on previous trips, so I wasn't terribly disappointed).  After Egypt, we headed to Greece.  

The last time I was at the British Museum was 2009, right after I graduated from high school.  Since then, I took a class in ancient art history at UCLA, and I was able to recognize so many works of art in the galleries.  However, my favorite came when we visited the Parthenon gallery, which houses the frieze and the pediments of the temple.  We spent a great deal of time studying the pediments of the Parthenon in my class and I was especially excited to see the sculptures of the East Pediment, depicting the birth of the goddess Athena:

Below is the right hand side of the temple pediment.  Farthest to the right, reclining on the floor, is the god Dionysus.  Next, there are two reclining goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, and the active figure closest to the camera is the goddess Artemis.

The left hand side of the pediment shows three reclining goddesses, Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite.

In between the two sides, there would have been a sculpture of Athena springing fully formed from Zeus's head (an interesting way to be born, right?), but those sculptures are unfortunately lost to the ages.  I found these pieces to be very interesting when we talked about them in class, and even more fascinating to see in person.  The way the artists were able to convey action, fluidity, and drapery in solid stone never ceases to amaze me.

After the Parthenon galley, we went to go see the mummies.  Again, there was an impenetrable cloud of tourists surround the mummy of Cleopatra, but we got to see some other mummies as well as some really beautifully painted sarcophagi.

We started to head out after the mummy gallery, and though we didn't stop to look much, we passed through the Africa and Asia galleries.  I was completely astounded by the size of this statue of the Buddha that we passed... look at the tiny people in the bottom left corner of the photo!  This was one big Buddha!!

Our next order of business was Westminster Abbey.  I've been to London several times, so I've seen most of the major tourist attractions so I was just along for the ride with my friends who had never been, seeing everything they wanted to see.  However, I was pretty excited for Westminster Abbey... I'd only been once, and I remembered it being pretty awesome.

As we walked out of the Westminster tube station, we were greeted by a very familiar sight:

Fun fact about the clock: it's not actually called Big Ben.  It's called the Clock Tower.  Big Ben refers only to the giant bell housed inside the clock that chimes on the hour.  Interesting, huh?

We walked over to the Abbey, and the weather was beautiful.  Nice and warm and sunny, the Abbey gardens were so pretty and green, and it just made for a very beautiful atmosphere.

And then we got our first dose of reality of the day.  It was Sunday.  The Abbey is, first and foremost, a church, and so it is closed to tourists on Sundays.  It totally makes sense, but that didn't make it any less disappointing.  I mean, look how sad we are:

Disappointed but not to be deterred, we decided to cross the bridge to check out the south bank for a bit. Unfortunately, halfway across the bridge, we got reality dose number two: RAIN.  And I don't mean just any rain.  This was a torrential, windy, rain-coming-in-sideways downpour.  By the time we made it to the other side and took shelter in an alleyway, we were soaked.  Plus, I still haven't replaced my Wellies (they're so expensive here!), so I had boots full of water as well.

Luckily, the rain subsided as quickly as it came (England is so weird), so we walked along the bank as planned, though we were quite wet and a little cold.  It was a nice walk, though, and I came across the Udderbelly!!

If you don't know, the Udderbelly is a large, upside-down, inflatable purple cow that is used as a portable performance venue.  When I went to Scotland for Fringe, we saw the Tom Tom Crew at the Udderbelly.... seriously one of the coolest performances of my life.

Our walk along the Thames also provided us a great view of Parliament and the Clock Tower, and I just had to snap the quintessential London photo:

By this point, we were pretty close to Trafalgar Square again, so we just headed back.  

By the time we got there, the rain had picked up again, so we ducked inside a Pret a Manger in order to just sit down for a bit and decide what we were going to do next.  Some people wanted to go see Buckingham Palace, but my friend Liz was supposed to meet up with someone at Holborn Station in order to go to a master lecture for one of her classes.  She is really lost when it comes to navigating the Underground, though, so I told her I'd take her to Holborn Station and then meet the other girls at Buckingham Palace.  Long story short, we got to Holborn but were unable to find the person she was supposed to be meeting, so we got right back on the train and headed for Buckingham (thank goodness for all-day Tube passes).

We made it to Buckingham Palace, but of course my phone wasn't getting any signal, so we were unable to find the others.  We had a nice time walking around, though, and watching people trying to make the guards laugh (all unsuccessful).  The monument in the square is really beautiful...

And so is the palace.  It's so weird to think that someone actually lives there!

 It was starting to get late, so we headed over to Bankside to go to the Globe Theatre.  Everyone in the Cambridge program gets a ticket to a Globe show at some point during the program, and we were seeing "All's Well That Ends Well."  I was pretty excited (even though we had standing seats and our feet were a bit tired from walking all day), partially because I think the Globe is really fun and partially because I've never seen this play (I've only ever read it).

The stage is pretty neat... and exact replica of the original theatre.  For anyone who doesn't know, the real Globe theatre burned down in 1613; the theatre that stands in Bankside today is a just a replica.

The show ended up being really good, though slightly corny (as most of Shakespeare's comedies are), and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'm already making plans to go back to London to see some of the other shows that are playing this summer, such as "As You Like It" and "Anne Boleyn."  As we left the theatre, I saw something that made me quite happy and quite nostalgic at the same time: the Super Soft Ice truck.

This truck is always parked outside of the Globe, and it sells a type of ice cream called Cornish Ice, which is basically really creamy soft serve.  However, the first time we saw this truck on our Fringe trip, my friends and I (and Grace Barry in particular) thought the name Super Soft Ice was really funny and a bit oxymoronic.

Before we got on the bus to head back to Cambridge, I had to take a photo of the Millenium Bridge:

It's not a great picture, but in the sixth Harry Potter film, the Death Eaters destroy the Millenium Bridge and kill a bunch of Muggles.... and all things Harry Potter must be mentioned on this blog.

And that was my day in London!  I know the day sounds like a lot went wrong, but I assure you we had a great time nonetheless.  We are thinking about possibly going back this Saturday, but a friend is going to Bath and I was really hoping to go there..... not to mention that I probably should just stay home and do my schoolwork!!!  Sigh....  I want to be a responsible student, but I also really want to take advantage of my time here in the UK!  When else will I have to opportunity to take day or weekend trips to London, Paris, Dublin, Edinburgh, and so many other places?!?!  

But I am going to try to get a head start on some work so I go on a day trip this weekend... I'll let you know where my travels take me!

3:08 am, Cambridge, United Kingdom: PPSD (Post-Potter Stress Disorder) sets in as I contemplate the symbolic end of my adolescence...

I wanted to write this post last night after getting back from the theatre, but I just couldn't do it.  I'm not really sure as to how I'm feeling right now, but there's a definite kind of hollowness to it.  For thirteen years, I spent my time reading these books and watching the movies, speculating as to what would happen and anxiously awaiting the next one.  And now there's no more.

As I sit here, I realize that my friends back at home in California are in the theatre right now, and it's coming to an end for them, too.  I don't know why it makes me so sad to think about it, but it does.

Despite how I'm feeling now, though, yesterday was great.  I had an awesome time with my friends, and it was definitely a worthy ending to an era.

The night began with a Harry Potter pub quiz in the Cambridge Union bar.  We had assembled quite a dream team, and we were so ready to WIN!!!

We also had some lovely cheerleaders who came to support us in our butt-kicking endeavors:

Of course, Linda and I were getting wayyy too into it.... We had our game faces on.  We wanted to win, and we were not about to let ANYTHING stand in our way!!! (By the way, we're trying to make a 4L with our hands, as in Harry Potter 4 Life, but I'm on the wrong side and it just didn't work.)

It started out well... we had all the answers.  The only question that even came close to stumping us was the name of the actress who played Madame Hooch, but we pulled through in the end.  By the end of the first half, Harry and the Quizards (our very clever team name) were tied for first!!  We has 19.5 out of 20 points, and we only lost that half-point on a triviality (grrrr, I don't even want to talk about it).  We were super pumped at this point, and I couldn't help doing my best Hermione impression:

Unfortunately, after the halfway scores were tallied, the people running the quiz informed us that they had run out of Harry Potter questions, and so the second half of the quiz contained questions of everything from modern art and British freedom fighters to nuclear physics and German literature, which was, in my opinion, really quite stupid.  Needless to say, we did not do as well in the second round as in the first, and ended up coming in fourth.  We were a little peeved, but none of us felt as strongly about winning once we realized it wasn't a TRUE Harry Potter pub quiz.

Afterwards, they started a screening of the seventh movie in the pub and we watched most of it, but we had to leave before the end in order to get to the theatre on time.  And once we got there, the excitement really started to set in...

We didn't have too much time to kill before the movie started (we had assigned seating, so we didn't need to get there very early), but I wanted some more pictures.

Here we have the whole gang, anxiously awaiting the start of the film...

And then, of course, me and my future husband:

Finally, it started.... and I was mesmerized.  I don't even think I blinked for those two hours.  It was so fast-paced and action-packed, and I loved every minute of it.  Except that part when Voldemort gave Malfoy a hug.... that was just awkward.  But I cried (and I mean CRIED) though the vast majority of the film, partially because of what was happening on screen and partially because it was finally coming to an end.

After the film, Linda and I just couldn't resist posing with the cardboard cutouts:

And then we headed home.  The whole way, we were all blabbering on and on about what we liked, what we hated, and how much of a BAMF Professor McGonagall is (once you see the movie, you'll understand).

But once I got to my room and was all alone, the sadness set in.  I took off my costume and flung it on the chair in my room without thinking, but when I looked over at it later, it was kind of neatly laid out:

My prefect badge and S.P.E.W. button, which really make it obvious that I was supposed to be Hermione:

Looking at it lying on the chair, I realized I wouldn't really have anywhere to wear it again, and I just felt a little sad.  I was literally feeling nostalgic about something that had happened an hour ago....

And that was my glorious last night of Harry Potter.  I feel a little sad right now, but it's never really over.  I still have my books, and nothing will ever stop me from reading them ad nauseum.  I have so many memories that all began with those first words: "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." It's been a great thirteen years.

Ok, so I may have lied...

I know I said I was going to post days three and four of Scotland a few days ago, but the truth is that I hadn't actually written them!  I've just had an incredible amount of schoolwork to keep up with this week... but I have some time right now, so here we go!!

First of all, anyone who went to Scotland with me two years back knows that I developed a serious Fanta addiction while I was here.  It's just so good!! It's not like American Fanta (that gross syrupy orange soda); I guess the closest equivalent I can think of is Orangina.  Delicious.  Well, I had restrained myself from drinking it on this trip thus far, mostly because of the high sugar content... but then I discovered Fanta Zero.

Since this magical discovery, I'm pretty sure I've drank my body weight in the stuff... 

Anyways, we set off at about 11:00 and headed to the Elephant House.  If you don't already know, the Elephant House is the cafe where J.K. Rowling came up with Harry Potter, and it is quite the mecca for Harry Potter fanatics such as myself.

We went into to sit and have some coffee, and it was really quite nice (albeit crowded)... I can see why she liked it so much.  Everything is decorated with elephants!

The view of Edinburgh Castle from J.K.'s table... I know it's her table because my mom asked the waitresses when she visited two years ago.  It's so cool to think that that's where it all began... the greatest literature of our generation!! :)

After coffee, everyone wanted to go on a whisky tour.  I wan't particularly keen on the idea, but I wasn't going to stay behind if everyone else was going.

It actually ended up being pretty interesting... They told us about the different types of scotch whisky, where and how it's made, and the different properties and flavors of the different regions of Scotland.  We also got to taste one kind of scotch, and I chose a lowland Glenlivet, aged 12 years.  I mean, it was cool to try and pick out some of the aromas and flavors they had talked about, but all in all, I've concluded don't really like scotch very much!

Personally, my favorite part was this room, which houses the largest collection of Scotch whisky in the world!

I have never seen so many different kinds of bottles in my life, including some rather unique and interesting ones... Yes, both the Scottie dogs and the bagpipers are actually filled with Scotch!

The photo is kinda dark, but here's me getting ready to taste my Scotch!  We actually got to keep the tasting glasses, which I am now using to hold my toothbrush next to my sink.  Classy, no?

After the whisky tour, I decided I was going to meet up with some other friends, but we were having some cell phone issues, so I was having a hard time figuring out where exactly they were... I ended up wandering around the Royal Mile by myself for a bit, just seeing everything there was to see. There were some city regulars, such as street artists...

...some Scottish standbys, such as the bagpipers...

...and then some people who were just pure awesome, such as this man dressed as William Wallace.

I know it's not a great picture, but I was kinda being pushed and jostled about by the crowd.  I went back later to see if I could get a better picture, but, sadly, he was gone.  Probably had to go beat up on the English or something.... you know, occupational hazards of being a badass.

Finally, they texted me and told me they were at the Elephant House, so I walked down to join them.  Before we left, though, I needed to use the restroom, and this is what I discovered:

A HARRY POTTER TOILET.  And, yes, I actually used it.  I'm a firm believer in incorporating Harry Potter into all aspects of my life whenever possible.

The girls had heard about a place called Chocolate Soup and wanted to go... we weren't exactly sure what they served there, but we did know that it sounded delicious and we wanted some.  So we made our way back to the Royal Mile to check it out.

Turns out, it's a cafe famous for their rich, gourmet hot chocolates.  They were enormous, so we got two for the table, one milk chocolate and one white chocolate. 

They were incredible, but very rich and filling.  You could have one of those for lunch and be totally satisfied!

We decided to putz around for a while after that... we stopped in a few shops, looking at all of the cute tartan wear, and eventually found ourselves in front of Edinburgh Castle.

We opted not to go inside (it cost fifteen pounds!!), but instead just walked around the outside and took pictures.  Unfortunately, about three minutes after this photo was taken, a torrential-yet-characteristically-Scottish downpour began.  We decided we needed an indoor activity, so we walked down to the Scottish National Gallery.  They have some really beautiful work there (no pictures allowed, sorry!), including a nice collection of Monet and other impressionists.  Right now, they also have an installation on the Queen in art that we really wanted to see, but it closed by the time we got there.  Bummer.

At that point, we were already really close to Princes Street, and we walked down to see the famous Scott Monument, often considered the symbol of Edinburgh.

I think it's a really beautiful piece of architecture, but my path was kinda obstructed by an ENORMOUS group of elderly tourists with umbrellas standing all over the side walk, not moving.  I found it a bit irritating (similar to my dad's opinion of baby strollers).  The hold up gave me a chance to get a pretty good picture, though, so I guess it wasn't all bad.

And then, since we were already on Princes Street, we had to stop by....

TOPSHOP!!! No visit to Edinburgh is complete without a visit to Topshop! (Though I later discovered we have one here in Cambridge...oh well.)  We spent a good chunk of time shopping around, and luckily I didn't and up dropping 150 pounds like I did last time!

After Topshop, I headed back to Pollock Halls to change out of my soaking wet clothes and my rainboots-with-the-holes-in-them (don't even get me started on that one!) while the other girls went on their ghost tour.  No, thanks!  I had just decided to meet them back at the Royal Mile a few hours later, and when I got there, the sun had just started going down, allowing for some really beautiful pictures:

After we all met up, the other girls told me that they had accidentally signed up for a historical tour of the Edinburgh Vaults, rather than a ghost tour.... I was actually a little bummed, because it sounded pretty cool from what they were saying.  We started looking for a pub to celebrate our last night in Edinburgh, and we decided on Deacon Brodie's, which is actually a pretty famous place.

It was pretty crowded inside, but we found a table and ordered a round together.  A few of the girls ordered Scotch (I passed on that one), but I'm actually proud to say that I was able to guess what region they were from by their aromas!  That tour actually came in handy!  Ok, so Scotch identification isn't really a very useful skill, but it might be a good party trick at some point...

Deacon Brodie's was pretty pricey, so after one round, we went back to our old standby- The Filling Station- for the rest of the night.  It was a great last night in Edinburgh... we tried a few new drinks, had lots of laughs, and got into a singing contest with the drunk, middle-aged Scottish ladies at the table next to us.  Success.

And so for day four, I really don't have much to say.... I pretty much sat on the bus all day!  The only good part of the day was our lunch stop at Fountains Abbey, a twelfth century monastery in the English countryside.

It was hard to get a good picture because it's absolutely enormous, but it was a really beautiful place to be.  I spent an hour walking around the ruins and taking more pictures than I can count, but I have a few favorites:

After spending some time in the abbey ruins, I saw on the map something labeled "Anne Boleyn's Seat and Surprise View," which sounded pretty cool, so I set off to find it.  Unfortunately, I took a wrong turning somewhere, and by the time I realized I was going in the opposite direction, I had to start heading back to the bus.  I did get some pretty pictures of the water gardens and the banquet house during my walk, though: 

They had given us a two hour lunch break at the Abbey, and by the time I got back to the bus, I still hadn't eaten!  I wasn't about to spend my time there sitting and eating!  I ended up just eating on the bus, but I got a few weird looks from people (I think they were wondering why I was eating again so soon after lunch!).

And that was the second half of my lovely trip to Scotland!  I'm sorry if this post seems a little rushed, but we're in the center of midterms right now, so I'm quite busy!  Although tonight is quite a monumentous occasion:

HARRY POTTER!!!!  I am so incredibly excited!!  There's a trivia contest in the bar tonight (which my team is going to ROCK), followed by a screening of the seventh film, ending in time for everyone to get to the theatres by midnight!  It's going to be a great night... I ate a full English breakfast this morning in honor of the occasion, I've got my costume ready to go, and I am so excited!!!  Although I must express my discontent with the movie posters.  The tagline is "It all ends."  WHAT?!  WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO ME?!  Everywhere I look, Ron Weasley is telling me it's over, and I just think to myself "No, Ron, it's NEVER over!! As long as I have books and DVDS on my shelf and blood in my veins, IT WILL NEVER BE OVER!!!!"  Even as I sit typing this in the King's library, I'm getting a little heated! :)  Alright, well, I need to finish my essay before tonight, so I ought to get going, but I'll be back with more Harry Potter rantings and ravings quite soon.  And I'll let you know when we win that trivia contest. Not if.... WHEN.

Cheers!