Sláinte

The Countdown Begins

All of a sudden it was my final week at Parliament! With traveling to St. Andrew’s and Arran it snuck up on me and all of a sudden I realized it would be a lot harder to leave than I had ever expected.

The beginning of the week was spent making lists and minorly freaking out. A paper to finish! A briefing about new media for Anne! And worst of all… PACKING!! Needless to say I have somehow managed to aquire more things during my time here!

I’m very sad to leave the Bat Cave, it has been a wonderful home for me and I couldn’t ask for better Scottish roommates.

Until I started thinking about good-byes I didn’t realize how many I would have to say! But I turned most of them into “see you soons” or “talk to you sooner,” the wonders of Facebook, emails, and a savings account!

Tuesday March 16, 2010 11 Days left

Tuesday night we hosted a belated-Burn’s Supper at the flat. Iain and Jamie whipped up terrific Haggis, neeps, and tatties despite my continuing argument that the root vegetable Iain bought and made neeps from was most definitely not a turnip!

After some extensive Wikiepedia research the results are in:

What the Scots call a “turnip” the Americans call a “rutabaga” and the Brits call it a “Swede.” That’s all that matters and that we need to know.

Another reason why Scots deserved their independence, so they can call their “turnips” turnips without snarky comments.

Here is the whole group reading the “Address to the Haggis”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do-WILAk6vI

Iain even found a bottle of Robert Burns whisky from….the Isle of Arran! Consequently it was on sale as Burn’s Night was about two months ago…oops! Never a bad time to eat, drink, and be Scottish!

Wednesday March 17, 2010 ST. PATTIES! 10 Days left

Wednesday was the long anticipated St. Patricks Day and after a long day of work, I’m afraid I did not do my heritage justice. While the other went out, I fell asleep working on my paper sometime before 10:00! (I only know this because Iain came to see if I wanted to go listen to some folk music and there was no response from the depths of the Bat Cave).

Nonetheless, I feel like I still participated as I heard plenty of revelry from the streets below, despite my deep slumber. It was indeed impressive for a Wednesday night. Gotta love the Irish.

Thursday March 18, 2010 9 Days left

Thursday, the long awaited, Last Day had arrived! Of course, it was another busy Thursday. I showed off my knowledge of new media that morning, typed frantically responding to emails both professional and…less so until FMQs (First Minister Questions) began and to my great luck I managed to snag a ticket! And watch the dynamic dialogue that is the chamber every Thursday for 30 minutes. Salmond did not disappoint and a certain opposition leader’s voice was as grating as ever, even without the TV delay.

Just before FMQs ended I rushed (as fast as one rushes in heels and a pencil skirt) around to where the MSPs enter and exit the chamber to meet Anne. As we had arranged she “spoke with appropriate people” and fanagled me a photo with the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond. After watching, and even more importantly hearing him for so long, I couldn’t leave with out a photo. Yes, I am guilty of being a “celebrity whore.” But anyways here is my precious photo!

We had a final lunch with everybody at the exact same table in the canteen we always sat at…sigh…

Anne was scheduled to speak in at a debate on International Development in Malawi later that afternoon but after lunch she had us all into the office. Stewart had been talking about “going to see a man about a doug” all morning, and completely out of character I chose to ignored him:-). Instead of a lively bit of banter about how to best annoy Anne, the topic turned out to be sweet good-byes! On behalf of the whole gang Stewart and Michael gave me a lovely thistle necklace! I had actually been planning on finding one to declare my Scottish allegiance! Even better a group of true Scots (and one Ohioan) found the perfect one for me. Thank you all :-)

The Scottish theme continued as Anne gave me a lovely gift bag (decorated with all things Scottish) filled with Scottish treats, a Scottish Parliament key chain, and a friendship cup, a quaich. Even more touching were her words, however, despite threats to physically harm me I couldn’t bring myself to tears. I’m not a cute cryer for the record. I was Anne’s first intern and so incredibly lucky to be so well paired with not just my MSP but with the whole staff. I couldn’t imagine a better environment to be a fledgling intern with no clue about the dynamics of Scottish politics or water cooler talk (btw they don’t have a break room, it’s a Tea Room)

Goodbye desk...

After work a bunch of us grabbed drinks in the Member’s Bar one last time.

This is pretty typical of this group. It’ll be so strange to talking to those 4 constantly everyday to nada! Maybe we’ll keep the intern thread up back in the states…

The Interns (yes we are planning our premier as a disco-pop band):

Ian- the lone male, yet he survived.

Lauren- future cider model? I think yes.

Brittany- Partner-in-crime gurrrl

Emily- classic! haha

Our group headed to Holyrood for our official farewell evening. It was great getting to go to drinks with everybody one last time.

The Ladies

An excellent final day at Parliament, except…I ended up going back in the next day! I had a “few” more emails to forward myself and thought I would get more work done on my paper there. Great in theory until somehow I didn’t save/lost everything I did that day. Oops! Everything happens for a reason, so I figure the version I have now is just that much better.

Whisky- check, Haggis- roger, Golf- affirmative

Weekend Excursions

Since coming back from recess, I’ve gotten to go on several awesome weekend excursions, between all that busy parliamentary business of course!

After returning from Paris I suddenly realized I only had a few weeks left at work and even less time to see more of Scotland! After a low-key weekend in Edinburgh, Brittany and I hit the road for St. Andrew’s. Brittany’s friend Phil met us at the train station and gave us the grand tour some of the highlights were:

The Old Course

The silly "Men Only" Club

Drinks at the Old Course Hotel

Taking a serious leap of faith at the Old Course

St. Andrew's Castle

After Saturday when we ate more than we should, and probably drank more than we should too, we hit the beach before catching the train (which turned out to be a bus, damn construction) back to Edinburgh.

The Beach

The next weekend, while the rest of the interns headed to Glasgow for what sounded like an awesome Blazing Fiddles show I took two trains and a ferry west to the Isle of Arran, a microcosm of all things Scottish from the scenery to the industry!

It was a gorgeous day as I boarded the ferry that would take me from Ardrossan to Brodrick the main port of Arran.

The hostel I was saying at was in Lochranza on the North end of the Island right near the ruins of a 13^th century castle:

Saturday afternoon I walked down the road to the Isle of Arran Distillery and toured their unique whisky-making facilities, the only one on the island.

On my way to dinner I even found a swing set, right next to the shore, such a gorgeous setting. They should put swing sets at scenic places, screw benches.

Sunday morning, before the bus arrived I took a stroll around the eastern side of Lochranza. This small town, like the rest of the island was home to many happy sheep. As a result, I now have more sheep photos than any person would ever need. A small sampling:

Sunday I spent most of the day at the Machrie Moor stone circles which are a short hike inland. It wasn’t quite as nice as Saturday but the showers held off and the valley the stone circles were in was quite serene, and filled with sheep.

I named it "Lone Stone"

Peanut butter sandwich on white bread at the standing stones!

After touring the circles I started walking south where the town of Blackwaterfoot was only three miles away, I ended up taking quite the detour over to the coast and awesome Kings Caves but it was well worth it.

The Stunners

The sun gradually began to set and myself, with two other hiking accomplices caught the bus around the southern end of the island, completing our tour, then back up to Brodrick to catch the ferry and begin the trek back to Edinburgh. It was a fantastic trip and all the sights on Arran were stunning, all-in-all I enjoyed traveling at a different pace than when you visit big cities. No wonder the sheep like it.

Paris is for Mothers

PARIS

I have never visited (except as a student...) any place as long as we stayed in Paris, 5 nights and 6 days, it was fantastic. To get to see so much of the city, from my first taxi ride through Paris at night to my final brunch on Île Saint-Louis was incredible, especially in a place as beloved as Paris. I'm eager to go back and see more of Paris, both glamourous and less so. I am however, most certainly not interested in finding any gold rings...

Tuesday February 16, 2010

We arrived in Paris the evening before, found our flat and grabbed our first Parisian meal. The flat was lovely right on Île Saint-Louis and the heart of Paris, an amazing find through Eve! We started out Tuesday with grand plans to see all the museums until we realized that all the national museums would be closed!

My mom and I set off to see the highlights, which the others had already seen and my mother was grandly award the honor ;-) of showing her daughter Paris! After learning that unlike

Starbucks, the Parisians don't accept "latte" as short for "café latte" and getting a bite to eat we headed up the Left Bank. Crossing over a bridge whose railings were covered with "love locks" I suppose made all the stories about Paris seem to come to life.

We wandered through the Tuileries which although being quite barren in winter were still quite impressive and up the Champs-Élysées stopping for lunch at the well photographed, George IV Café. A bite of lunch, and a couple new pairs of shoes founds us at the Arc de Triomphe with a horrendous line to climb up. Very satisfied with admiring it from the ground, I let my camera take a rest and we jumped on the metro to check out the narrow winding streets of the Latin Quarter. Set fairly close to the Sorbonne one of the main streets the Rue Monge (I believe) was colorful and full of fromageries (aka stinky cheese shops), patisseries (heaven at hand), boucheries (ew.) and many cute boutiques (if possible, heaven again!).

Our feet weary, burdened by shopping bags Mom and I returned to the flat and collapsed! With nourishment, sleep, and watching some fascinating Olympic sports such as the Biathlon, we would recover.

Wednesday February 16, 2010

Wednesday we all took a tour of Montmarte with a friend of a friend, Richard who gave us an extraordinary in-depth tour of an area we might've skimmed over. Montmarte was for a long time, where many artists had their studios, now it retains much of its cultural past as well as being home to some of the most up-scale housing around.

Right nearby is the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur which is a Catholic basilica built out of travertine, essentially a self-cleaning stone which is why it stays so white! Mom actually remembered attending mass there when it was still said in Latin.

After our tour we explore Marais, an area on the Right Bank pretty close to our flat. With lovely shops, and a free museum we were throughly entertained for the rest of the day.

Thursday February 17, 2010

Thursday we finally made it to some of Paris' most note-worthy sights. First mother-dearest and I hit up Notre-Dame and enjoyed it inside and out happily standing on the ground as the line to the top, like so many other lines, even on this random weekday in February was horrendous. That's committment people.

After Notre-Dame we walked up to the Lourve, made a plan to see exactly what we wanted to see and set about being lost for several hours. Despite being lost amongst all the corridors and misdirected due to construction we learned about the history of the Lourve itself (what a palace it would've been!) saw the Code of Hammurabi (a prime example of "an eye for a

n eye"), the restored Naploeon III Apartments, the statue garden, Aphrodite, Winged Victory, and of course the Mona Lisa behind her crowds and bullet proof glass.

Someday I'll go back and see the whole thing like my mom did, just me and a gigantic guidebook and a lot of free time. Then I'll magically become artistic! or not.

After the Lourve we wandered up to the Halles District which I read about in the ever handy Lonely Planet and we wandered the main streets, had a bite, and found the perfect french onion soup place to come back to, Au Pied de Cochon meaning "Pig's Foot." Little did we know the wonder that is Au Pied de Cochon.

Friday February 18, 2010

The fierce foursome set out Friday morning for Versailles, we would've gotten there quite promptly had we manage to take the right train and had any of our tickets worked, oh well. We still made it on a gorgeous day with clear blue skies that made the ornate gates seem to shine even more.

On the front of the palace you can clearly see where the restoration has stopped, a drastic change from golden details contrasting black and white roofing to an overwhelming drab gray.

Inside however, the wonders never end. And to think these are unfurnished rooms! Elaborate paintings, statues, and so many details. It completely explains "The Sun King." I loved hearing about how people, those royal ones at least, conducted their daily lives in such a setting with so much pomp and ritual. It would drive me crazy, except maybe for the clothing, but then again corsets, ew.

We took the trolley around part of the grounds and visited the other 2 palaces on the estate. The whole atomsphere, the immenseness of the land, no one person needs all that, well at least as long as that person is not me ;-)

After a wonderful day being wowed by French royalty long dead we had our taste buds wowed by a former French colony, Vietnam. We hunted down a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restuarant at the recommendation of, the one and only LP, and were hardly disappointed. The food was so fresh and delicious, a wonderful contrast to the heavier French cuisine we'd been enjoying.

Saturday February 19, 2010

Saturday was my last full day in Paris and it was absolutely perfect! Spent most of the day shopping on the Left Bank (and making it much harder to pack might I add) then after resting for a bit in the afternoon, Mom and I bundled up to take on Paris, and even more importantly the Eiffel Tower at night!

The lines for once weren't too terrible and soon we were zooming up on level then to the next. While standing in line we somehow became surrounded by couples, far too many which had no issue with PDA, fabulous.

Finally we reached the tippity top fled from the lip-lockers, and WHOOSH almost got blown away on the South side of the tower! Scooting around to the other side we were better protected and could actually take in everything that lay below us.

It was a beautiful night out and I couldn't have picked a better way to see the Eiffel Tower and all that lay beneath it. The canals were beautiful too, just wait until I get my own canal boat...complete with flower beds.

After our chilly tour we got a little lost, found our way as always and took the Metro back to Au Pied de Cochon, the 24 hour brasserie in Les Halles. We order 2 glasses of Pommery, 2 French Onion soups, 1 glorious pastry/ice cream/molten chocolate dessert and had ourselves a fine feast at about midnight! Time meant little to the patrons of this well-known establishment and everyone was lively, the tables busy, and the waiters even busier. It even seemed natural when the pile of coats next to me rolled over to reveal a sleeping child! He'd been out for a while, and his sleeping situation hardly seemed to keep him up.

Arriving back at the flat at nearly 1:00 was the fabulous end to a wonderful last day in Paris! I had seen so many things both touristy and less so, I had a much better sense of Paris and was already working on what to see when I go back!

Thank you my fellow traveling companions for a wonderful adventure!

Au revoir

Tales and Photos from London and Paris!

A Parliamentary Recess

During February the Parliament has a week-long recess, since I won't be in the states for the normal spring break this was my chance to travel beyond Scotland's beautiful cold winter, which is very tempting considering how much closer I suddenly am to so many amazing place that are on The List.

Since I was little my mother and I have always talked about a girls trip to London and Paris. We both share a love for history, accents, and shopping so it seemed perfect! Now, finally the pound wasn't double the value of the dollar and I had a week of vacation not during the busiest time of the year for the insurance industry, and so the stars aligned.

Plans were made, my godmother Liz signed up and soon after the always enjoyable Eve was coming as well! A trip with my 3 mothers! Sounds a little silly, often it was but after being away so long they were just who I needed to see!

Additionally, my friend Jeanette who spent last year in Oregon lives in Bristol, not too far from London (relatively) so I took off from Parly a day early and we reunited in Piccadilly Circus! After a festive dinner with the mothers we caught up over a drink, then another drink, then a few more, and maybe a bottle of wine ;-) it was SO GOOD to see her again! Hopefully she finds her way back to Oregon soon or hey, I might just have to visit the UK again!

LONDON

Friday February 12, 2010

Friday we headed to the British Museum and for the giant nerd within, this was a dream come true. Ever since planning my first trip to London I have been dying to see the Rosetta Stone and I didn't get to 3 years ago but I finally did and it was just as cool as I hoped. I could spend hours, days even in there. Another very interesting item they have is a part of the Sphinx's beard which still has some original red paint on it!!! So cool. Its a very strange thing, mentally, to try and imagine all these stone artifacts and wall decorations as having been painted, it completely changes things.

We had lunch at this terrific place called Wagamama, I'd love one at home. Its a chain found throughout the UK but all began with delicious stirfrys and ramen bowls here, right near the British Museum.

That evening Eve had arranged for us to have drinks at the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Little did we know that this yacht club is no where near water, one of the oldest yacht clubs in Great Britain and therefore the world, has the Duke of Edinburgh as their admiral (or commodore?), and is the yacht club partner of TEAMORIGIN the British America's Cup Team. An impressive resume to be sure. We got a grand tour of the facilities, checked out the model room and the many many historical objects throughout the two story building and finished the adventure off with a bottle of champagne in the bar. A very interesting nautical experience right in the middle of London!

After finishing drinks we headed over to the famous Harrods a very impressive department store. The highlights were easy to spot and outshone most of the merchandise:

- The dramatic statue of Diana and Dodi Fayed, son of store owner Mohamed Al-Fayed who were both killed in a car accident in Paris, that Mr. Al-Fayed contended for many years was part of a government conspiracy.

- The Egyptian escalators, with elaborate Egyptian-style decor for 4 levels, and dangerous posts at the tops of the escalators that are meant to prevent strollers from going on but also almost took out my mother.

- The food hall, with meats, cheeses, Asian foods, cakes, pastries, chocolates, tea, and so much more! Just lovely.

We finished up our first full day in London with a French meal, of all things, and a relatively early bedtime.

Saturday February 13, 2010

Saturday morning we headed of to the Portobello Road Market, one of things I was most excited for in London. Dakota and I had been several years ago but it was during a week day and just a fraction of the excitement and diversity Saturday, the main market day, held.

Portobello Road is lined with booths, stores, make shift stands, musicians, eateries, and yet the very determined car can still drive through. We had a marvelous time in an old print shop and even found a print for my dad from a weekly newspaper from the 1860s I believe that showed a sailboat racing with the Royal Thames burgee, very appropriate after our evening before.

We made it all the way through the main throng of the market, making several purchases along the way :-) and reached the hot street food and produce section when lunch became very important. Once again Lonely Planet steered us right, we ate a restaurant called e&o (no relation to E&O trading co. but very similar) with a wonderful, creative drink menu and tons of Pan-Asian small plates. I doubt we could've found a more satisfying meal or better drink even if we tried.

Sunday February 14, 2010

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Normally New Years is suppose to make you think about how much has happened in a year but I couldn't help but think back on Feb da 14th. A year ago I was having a bomb Thai dinner with the sailors in Seattle, very appropriate and now I was in London with my 3 Moms, equally appropriate. My how times flies when you're having fun, or even just staying ridiculously busy ;-)

We started off festivities right with cupcakes (from the Hummingbird Bakery, very popular, still unclear why) on our River Cruise of the Thames. We saw many highlights as we headed downstream including some places I visited on my last trip to London. The London Eye towered over us, with Westminster on the opposite bank. Farther along the Millennium Bridge, the Tate Modern (a very cool use of an old industrial building), the Globe Theater, the very ugly London Bridge, the Tower, and the much cooler Tower Bridge.

My mom and Liz disembarked at the Tower while Eve and I continued on to Greenwich and the Maritime Museum. Our initials wanderings in Greenwich brought us to the Old Royal Naval College with its beautiful chapel that is very light and calming. I liked it far better than many of the medieval cathedrals that I've visited.

We spent about an hour in the Maritime Museum, had a very cool exhibit on Arcitic explorations, I'm intrigued. Then we headed up the hill to the Royal Observatory to stand on the Prime Meridian! Despite being a completely arbitrary line that only exists because some folk in the 19th century agreed on it, standing at 0 degrees longitude was pretty cool.



Then ensued a mad dash through the Underground and its related tram services to reach Kensington Palace. Despite our best efforts, insightful navigation, and almost entirely positive attitude Eve and I did not make it before last admittance primarily because we underestimated the necessary travel time and had the time for last admittance wrong! Oh well! We met Mom and Liz outside the gift shop (very hard to find them...) then went back to our hotel room through Kensington Park for a short respite before our Valentine's Evening officially began.



A few pink drinks, sparkly tiaras, and exquisite luggage tags into the evening we donned our finest red and black attire and headed to the early seating at Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in London. Despite our unconventional ordering method, discrete drink pranks, and menu thievery it was a very "proper" Valentine's Day dinner. There were even rose petals on the table! The food was delicious and I felt fuller than full.



A quick drink in a very pubby pub concluded our London Valentine's day as was only appropriate...or at least until we all started devouring chocolate liquors and chips at 1 in the morning, no one was allowed to sleep haha.

Monday February 15, 2010

Following 3 marvelous days in London there was only really some time in the morning on Monday before we had to catch the train to Paris. I decided I'd like to see the Changing of the Horse Guard as it happens later than the Changing of the Guard (more sleepy time) and was just a walk from our hotel.
We saw the whole shindig, after nearly 20 minutes of waiting while whatever goes on inside goes on and the horses stamp and relieve themselves, the change finally occurs. The red dudes rode in and are staying and the blue dudes ride out. All the horses are matching, or as close as possible and don't seem to really dig this gig. The uniforms were quite a surprise since they look more Austrian or something of that nature than British. Who comes up with these tradition? I guess it's not so much a question of who as HOW.

We had a spot of lunch at The Wolseley, apparently a favorite celebrity haunt, but also the name of a famous cardinal! Who knew? Afterwards we grabbed our bags, fought our way through the Underground just in time to make the train which was actually scheduled a bit earlier than we thought! Once we were on board everything was fine and we were speeding to Paris, France, the city more movies, books, poems, artists, historians mention passionately than anywhere else. Few people can speak about bleak London with the magnetism that Paris seems to inspire, now I was about to learn why.

To be continued...

Trying to do it all

After returning from a wonderful trip to London and Paris with the 3 most amazing women I know (to be further detailed later) I suddenly realized I have only weeks left here in Scotland!

Getting back into the swing of Parliament especially now that I've begun working on my paper (I have to write a 15-20 page report for the International Studies Program so that when I return they'll give me credit, yay!) and have started working on an extensive briefing on New Media for Anne.

However, there are 8 hours in a day and sometimes one just needs a break, like yesterday when I created the above piece of "art" on Paint. It's an interpretive view of the rest of the Parliament complex from my window, I'll take a picture of my actual view to show the contrast ;-)

Now, trying to do it all. Here is my current list of all the things I'd like to do before I go:

- Eat a Scottish Breakfast

- Climb Arthur's Seat

- Go to the waterfront in Leith

- Watch a sunset from Calton Hill

- Have a pie from the pie shop at the end of my street that never seems to be open

- Have fish and chips at The World's End

- Run through the Meadows

- Visit South Queensferry

- Go into a kilt-shop and buy a Ladies' kilt aka a skirt

- Go into St. Mary's Close

- Have a French Martini on George's Street

- Play/buy a Bodhran (Irish Drum)

- See a Pictish Stone

- Go whisky shopping

Now that may seem like quite the list but I believe its all totally doable! Or at least totally tryable!

Until I have tales from London and photos from Paris ready to go,

Cara