We live in a beautiful world

You know what I'm not thankful for? When Safari crashes and loses my almost finished blog post about the last ten days of my life. Let's try this again.

Last time I posted I was avoiding a paper and feeling incredible excited about Emma's rapidly approaching visit. Thursday the 17th was spent in largely the same way. Except, I finished one of the two papers! We weren't entirely sure what time Emma would arrive on Friday. I have class from 10-12 and we thought it would be somewhere in there. Turns out it was sooner! As I was returning from my morning run who should be standing in the lobby but Emma J. Mayer! So exciting! We freaked out a bit and then I had class and then we had coffee and freaked out some more. We hung out with Jess and Stevie for a while and my two worlds collided in the best way possible. It's nice that my friends from different geographic regions could experience each other.

In the afternoon we went to the Tate Modern and wandered around by St.Paul's and the Thames. This is one of my favorite spots that I've experienced in London and Emma really appreciated it as well. It's always satisfying and nice when you're sharing something with someone and it's well received. We decided that we would make a nice dinner and I would work on my paper. We attempted to find a grocery store in the area and in doing so we stumbled on Occupy London. So many people. So many tents. So many signs. A library! So cool to see. This whole movement is amazing; people coming together, peacefully to bring about change. Emma and I were getting a bit emotional as we often will and then something happened that was really angering. At first glance it seemed that a man had almost tripped over one of the tents. And as he kicked a second tent it was clear that he hadn't tripped. Before I could stop myself I said 'are you kidding me?' He turned around and glared, but stalked off, muttering. It's fine if you don't agree with the Occupy movement, but you don't have to something like that. That man was clearly in his fifties. You're an adult, act like one.

We found a Tesco which had everything we needed. We got back to the flat, made dinner and I 'worked on my paper'. It's hard to get any work done when you're excited and it feels like you're on vacation.

We planned on getting up early because our train for Paris left at 8AM. Fortunately there was no need to set my alarm because the fire alarm went off at 5:30. That is something I will not miss about living in a dorm...among other things. We were up and ready to start our weekend in Paris adventure!

When we got to St.Pancras to catch the train I thought that we would have much more time than we ended up having. There's this whole security process that you have to go through. That was not what happened when I went to Scotland so I wasn't expecting it. Good thing we got there early enough. After security we boarded the train. And it was much too early in the morning for my face to be captured on film.

 I still hadn't finished my paper so I brought my laptop and worked most of the way through the two hour train ride. It's amazing the amount of writing you can get done when the internet can't be accessed. Fortunately, Emma had no school work to finish and was able to catch a bunch of nice shots of the countryside. I really enjoy traveling by train. It's relaxing and it's great to see the country going past your window.

When we got to Paris we took out some Euros which proved to be much more difficult than it should have been. Money in purses, and metro day passes purchased we headed to our hotel. There were people jamming on the metro, which I really appreciated. We got to our hotel, picked up our room key and conversed a bit with a particularly hilarious employee. There was a spiral staircase, which is always picture worthy. We dropped off our stuff and attempted to plan the rest of the day. The only thing thing that I wanted to do for sure was go to the Louvre. We agreed that we would go there and then make our way to the Eiffel Tower and wherever we made it in between and afterward would just be part of the adventure. We had so little time that we wanted to be as spontaneous as possible, just wander and see what we could see.

We stayed right next to this ancient Roman amphitheater. Apparently gladiatorial events took place here in the 1st century! Also, the weather was absolutely perfect for our entire stay. In fact, the weather has been good to me throughout this European adventure and for that I am incredibly thankful.

We got back on the metro and made it to the Louvre area. Here is a bit of an embarrassing, but amusing admission; it took us forever to figure out how to get inside. Until finally we asked someone and he told us that the entrance was in the pyramid. Right! I totally knew that. The Louvre is huge. There really wasn't enough time to se everything it has to offer, but I really enjoyed everything that we did manage to see. Especially this image of two girls on an epic adventure ; )

And finally I can say that I've seen the Mona Lisa. It's always interesting to see something so iconic because I never quite know what my reaction will be. It's ranged from underwhelmed to disbelief to an inability to speak. This time I was just excited. Her face always has always looked, to me, like she's in on a joke that we aren't. It's a bit eerie. I love it. This is the best shot I could get. I was in the front and everyone and their mom was trying to elbow past me. Because, obviously, waiting isn't an option.

After the Mona Lisa we went where our feet took us and saw a lot of classical, unique, and just cool art. Unfortunately, the Egyptian wing was closed, I'm all about Egyptian art and artifacts. Next time.

I really appreciate museum gift shops. Many of the potential purchases are ridiculously overpriced and insane, but you can also find some true gems. For example, Le Petit Prince for 6 Euros! One of the few books I can successfully read in French. And the exchange rate is better from dollars to euros than dollars to pounds, so I felt a little better about all the purchases that didn't take place in England.

We walked outside and saw the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. The distance from the Louvre is very deceptive. It's a straight shot so it looks like it's a few blocks, but it's really about two miles. Two beautiful, sunset-y miles. The walk took us through the Tuilerie

Garden, and then along the Champs-Elysées.

The Eiffel Tower came into view which, had we not felt like we were in Paris before, made it shockingly evident. There was an outdoor market most of the way between the Louvre and the Arc. It was comforting to see all the people wandering through the streets, going about the their lives. A city alive is one of the most beautiful things.

A crowd was assembled and we were curious. We stopped and got to see these four men break dancing like it was the easiest thing in the world, for about twenty minutes. They were amazing. And clearly having so much fun. They stood on their heads and were up again in one fluid motion. I can't imagine being able to move my body like that.

 After marveling at how triumphant the Arc is, we walked to the Eiffel Tower. Which effected Emma more than she thought it would. It's that thing about icons, you just never know. Sometimes they don't even feel real because you've seen them so many times you can't believe you're finally seeing them in reality. I've seen the Eiffel Tower once before, but it's still really cool. I like it a lot. The Seine and the lights are beautiful.

When you stand where we're standing in this picture, get ready for eight thousand people to ask you to take their picture. Which could be annoying, but isn't because it's cool to take a picture of people that you know will be really special to them. It's like you were a part of that moment.

That night was wonderful. After seeing the sites we got back to our hotel and had a successful conversation in French with the man at the desk about where to find vegetarian options.

We stumbled on this little place a few blocks from our hotel that looked inviting and cosy. It was small and the walls were yellow (and covered with pictures) it's vibe reminded me of Pizza Biga which simultaneously made me happy and miss home. Our waiter was lovely, so personable and friendly.

We had a true French meal (mostly) with wine and that lasted for two hours. We had a first course. I had camembert, walnut, spinach, and tomato salad, and Emma had French onion soup. Then our second course was a delicious four cheese pasta. And upon my admittance that I'd never had a banana split our dessert was decided. Such a tasty meal, but so so filling. Beyond taste, we had deep talks and tons of laughs. It was lovely.

The waiter urged us to come back and to bring our friends if they were nice like us. He was adorable.

We walked out of the restaurant and got a little lost, which was more exciting than it probably should have been. It was nice to be lost in Paris and have to work our way out of it. I kept hoping that a car door would open and I would be ushered in by Ernest Hemingway, alas, no 'Midnight in Paris' moments for me. Side note; if you haven't seen that film, it's wonderful. We made it back to the hotel and fell asleep still talking. The best way.

The next morning we got up and checked out. We had a breakfast of croissants and coffee at a little café a few blocks from our hotel and discovered that many things are closed on Sundays. We decided to soldier on and see what we could find. We walked a few more blocks and saw a spire and stained glass window. 'That looks like a cool church' we said. And then realization dawned on both of us that what we were calling a 'cool church' was in fact, Notre Dame.

Such a beautiful building. Regardless of religious affiliation, the architecture has to be appreciated. We appreciated for a good while, both the church and the sun. Close to Notre Dame there were shelves and shelves of books and other potential gifts ; ) We spent a long time working our way through that area. But, I'm always a fan of looking through books at a leisurely pace.

When we got back to London, I was going to finish my paper and then we were going to see Breaking Dawn (because you know...). I looked up the times and saw that there was 10:40 showing. Of course it took a bit longer to finish my paper than my optimistic estimate, but I got it done. And was quite satisfied with it in the end. We walked over to the Genesis Cinema all excited to be girly and geek out over Robert Pattinson for a few hours, but the Cinema was closed. It seems I read the time wrong and the movie was at 8:40, not 10:40. Fail. We then tried to go to Wetherspoon's but they were closing. Strike Two. We decided to just come back to my dorm have epic chats and start fresh in the morning. Success!

We got up on Monday and went to Petticoat Market, very near Brick Lane. It wasn't open yet so we decided to traipse through Brick Lane first. We went in and out of a bunch of vintage stores and ended up with some great purchases. I got three dresses and Emma got some awesome, unique pieces as well.

One of the stores we went to had an in-store cat, which I loved. And at another they were playing Bright Eyes, which I also loved. There's also a ton of great graffiti in that area as well.

After clothes shopping, we went over to Baker Street on the Metropolitan Line, which I hadn't taken until Monday! We went to the Beatles Store and the Sherlock Holmes museum which is located at 221B Baker Street. I have to read those books. Especially after being in London for three months.

The Beatles Store was so full of stuff. They had everything from playing cards to autographed photos (which were going for about £1500). It felt good to be there, surrounded up those four familiar faces and lovely music. The Sherlock Holmes museum also had a good vibe, and when I say 'museum,' I mean, gift shop. We didn't actually go in the museum itself, but the gift shop was great. It was just a turn of the century style house and all the items were worked into the house, it didn't look like a gift shop. All the people working there were also dressed like the time. And the toilets flushed by chain.

After this I had hoped to go to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, but the sun was already down and it seemed like they were closed. Disappointment.

We did, however, have dinner at Wetherspoon's and Emma ordered us drinks. Which was exciting for all involved. After dinner we successfully made it to Breaking Dawn and it was the cinematic masterpiece we anticipated.

The next morning we woke up at 5:15 and took the tube to Heathrow. Which is a really easy process, reassuring because I will be making the same journey in three weeks (!!!) I saw Emma safely through security and headed back here. On the way back I couldn't stop thinking about how quickly five days had gone by. It was such a lovely weekend but everything is always too fast. The intensity was amplified because before I came to London there were two things I knew that were absolutely, for sure happening; I was going to see Demitri Martin in October and Emma was coming around Thanksgiving. Both of these things have now passed and I can hardly believe how quickly they came and went.

The rest of the week has flown by as it always does. On Tuesday after class, Kelsey and I went to the Whitechapel Gallery. We were supposed to be observing and responding to this Rothko painting that was really nothing more than colors to me. I don't get Rothko, I'm sorry, I just really don't. The gallery was small, but there were some cool sights and the gift shop was nice.

On Wednesday night the crew went to Wetherspoon's for dinner and had an all around good time. And on Thursday, my lecture was cancelled, I scored big time at the Farmer's Market, and Stevie's mom came to visit!

Yesterday, my pals and I put together an incredibly successful Thanksgiving meal.  Most of us are vegetarian so we made a Portobello pot pie, which turned out perfectly and I was so proud of it. We also made a chicken, for those among us that eat meat. There was wine, incredibly good yams, mashed potatoes and green beans. And for dessert; Cheesecake and Chocolate Tart. It was just so lovely. The meal took a long time to prepare and to cook, it's nice to be in the kitchen with friends, laughing and talking for hours.

This year, and always I am thankful for so much, but mainly, for this incredibly amazing life that allows me to do simple and fantastic things independently and with all the beautiful, wonderful individuals that I am lucky enough to call friends (and family) and to be able to see the world from such varied vantage points. And you, whoever you are, reading this right now, thank you so much for being in my life. Thank you for everything.

I'm the weekend warrior

You know how sometimes you should really be working on a paper, but you 'need' to check everything else on the internet that may have notified you of something, before you get back into writing?

Yeah, that never happens to me either ; ) We're all much more disciplined than that. 

Right now, I'm lounging in Ground Café finishing a particularly delectable soy latté. I like it here. Contrary to what the fact that I'm writing this blog post and not writing my paper will suggest, it's a good spot for getting work done. It's noisy, but not distracting. I think that's necessary for me to focus. If I'm just sitting in my room and it's relatively quiet my mind wanders way too far away from the task at hand, way too easily. And often if I listen to music while I'm trying to read or write, I get too wrapped up in the music and can't concentrate on what I'm doing. So, this is perfect.

Also, I left Minneapolis two months ago! Can you believe that? I can't. It feels like I've been here for a decent amount of time, but I can hardly concede that it's been two whole months. This also means that I will be back in one month! And there is no shortage of things to do during that time, schoolwork and otherwise, so we all know it will go by way too fast. 

It's gotten the slightest bit more chilly in the past few days. Not cold. Just chilly. But, the all too familiar Winter dread is seeping into my soul. I've given myself the 'Tianna you have SO many things to look forward to this Winter' pep-talk a number of times, I think I've even blogged about it, and I know it's true. I just don't think I will ever be able to like the cold. Ever. It's hardly even cold here, now and even by the time I leave it won't be that cold, not like home. So, sorry in advance if I'm particularly vocal about my Winter woes this year. I'll do my best to keep it to myself and smile, smile, smile. Warmth is totally a state of mind. I'm going to keep telling myself that and hopefully, when I need it to be, it will be true.

The last week has been full of reading. It was, after all, 'Reading Week'. And I didn't completely ignore that. There were a few moments last week where I was a bit, I wouldn't say homesick because that's too extreme, but a bit like 'Hey, Minneapolis, I would be more than okay if you were in my life right now'. Since we didn't have classes last week, following our Scotland trip most of my friends spent some time at home with their families, which meant; A. They weren't here (obviously) & B. I wanted to be home spending time with family, which is not an option for another month. But, I had a really nice conversation with my Dad and a really solid Skype session with my best pal and my spirits were lifted a whole heck of a lot. 

On Saturday Aysha and I went Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. So. Beautiful. Just absolutely gorgeous. I want to be there all the time. It was just so green and lovely. There were so many trees that looked like they were inviting you to climb them. We walked for most of the afternoon. Made a brief detour at the Serpentine Gallery, which had been really talked up for both of us and honestly wasn't really much of anything...but that's okay. It's inevitable that everything will not live up to the hype surrounding. The parks were lovely enough. We also went to Urban Outfitters where I bought myself a nice knit hat. And a birthday gift for my pal, Stevie. The evening was spent among friends as well, celebrating Stevie's birthday and just hanging out. An altogether lovely day.

I'm also registered for Spring semester and am genuinely excited about all of classes! I'm taking American Literature, British Literature, Greek & Roman Mythology, and Poetry Writing. AND both Mythology and Poetry writing are 1000 level classes. Which will be really nice. Plus I'm just really excited about both of them. I've written a decent amount of poetry, but never with any real direction or much critique so, I think this class will be a lot of fun and will hopefully be beneficial for my writing. The only issues I have with this otherwise awesome schedule are; 

1. Monday through Thursday I have class at 8AM. I'm not all too jazzed about biking to the U four days a week before the sun has risen, in the cold.  But, taking this class from 6-8PM two days a week was the only other option and that was not happening.

2. On Thursday I have a four gap between classes. Not that big a deal, and once the weather is warm it will be lovely to sit outside and work for a few hours. I generally like to have a more compact schedule though. 

Altogether good, these are the only issues and they're not even that bad. So, I'm pretty happy.

I saw 'The Rum Diary' on Sunday evening. I'd heard mixed reviews and I suppose I understand. It gets a little slow at times, but I mostly I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh and snort a few times. Anything that does that is good in my book. And it starred Johnny Depp, which is never a bad thing, except in the rare instances of things like 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' because, let's be honest, Gene Wilder is the only Willy Wonka we ever needed. 

Stevie, Jess, and I took a nice Canal walk this afternoon. I really am going to miss that Canal when I leave, not to mention those two wonderful human beings. It just has so much character as does London in general. This is a wonderful place.

Now, I must write for academic purposes. I will be relatively busy this weekend as my best pal, Emma is coming to visit! And we are heading to Paris for the weekend. So. Excited. (But, also, no time for schoolwork, hence the end of my post).

We are stardust. We are golden. We are billion year old carbon.

The last couple of days have been nice and relaxed. Just what I needed after an epic Edinburgh weekend and six weeks of school. In usual Tianna fashion I'm finding it challenging to process how fast time goes by. Because usually when I'm in a moment or a day it doesn't feel like it's speeding along. Then when I stop and think that next week I'll have been here for two months, my brain can hardly compute that.

And Emma is coming to visit me, next Friday! I've been looking forward to this since she bought her ticket in July. I can hardly believe that she's going to be here next weekend. I'm so excited to see her. It's really perfect timing on her part as well. The following week is Thanksgiving and although my pals and I are having our own Thanksgiving feast that weekend (which I am so looking forward to), I think this will be the time that I will most want to be home. Luckily, a bit of home is coming to me and my friends are wonderful. Also, Emma and I are going to Paris for the weekend. Just a bit excited for that as well ; ) 

I was looking at the list of things I want to do and/or see before I leave and it hit me that I will probably not be able to do all of them. At first I was not okay with that and thought about devising a schedule to make it all happen. But then I realized that it's okay if I don't see everything. London isn't going anywhere. I know that I will be back here as many times as I can be and the items that remain on my list provide all the more incentive for my return.

Tuesday was gray and dismal looking. Really the first day that I felt epitomized stereotypical London weather. I was feeling kind of lethargic and when the weather is like that it's hard to be motivated to do anything. But, Emmett and I had made plans to take the bus to Asda (a Supermarket with a greater selection). After forcing myself out of bed (I haven't had one of these lazy days in a long time so I was milking it a bit) we walked to the bus stop and of course, got on the wrong bus. This ended up being fine because we were through a part of the city I had yet to see and after about 30 minutes we saw a bus stop for the bus we were supposed to be on. We got on the D6 only to find that it was going back toward Mile End and away from Asda. Oh well. 

Having utterly missed Asda we decided to go to Sainsbury's which is only a 15 minute walk. Following our grocery outing we concluded that it was the perfect weather for a film. So we joined Jess and watched Galaxy Quest. I love this movie. So much. It has great associations for me. Firstly, it's a Pilipovic family favorite. We quote it all the time at home. Secondly, it reminds me of a fun evening spent at Cheapo being way too amused by everything, including but, not limited to a Billy Ray Cyrus VHS for $2.00 and then watching Galaxy Quest at Lizzie's. Many good memories. Made me miss home. Then I talked with my parents, which was nice and alleviated a bit of the missing while slightly increasing it, if that's possible. As amazing as this experience is, it will be nice to be home and see all your beautiful faces in five weeks and the city I love so well.

Yesterday Emmett, Jess, and I walked to Brick Lane. It's about two miles from Queen Mary, literally straight down Mile End Road and then one block right. We had some great vegetable curry and naan for lunch. There's a guy outside each restaurant trying to tell you that their curry and their deal is best. Seriously I think each restaurant had a sign boasting their 'award for best curry'. It was REALLY good so I can't complain. We wandered through, looked in a few different shops, and I spent more than I wanted to on music and books, but is anyone honestly surprised by that?

Last evening Jess, Alice, and I met up to take the tube to Tuffnell Park (a place I hadn't yet been in London!). I'm always excited when I'm taking the tube to a new stop or riding a line I haven't yet been on. We saw Andrew O'Neill (the same Andrew O'Neill who lead the Ripper walk that I went on last month!) at this pub called The Hideaway. The venue was nice and cozy and I got a bit tipsy from cider, only a bit though, I swear I'm not as much of a lightweight as you're now thinking (I probably am). They also had wood-fired pizzas which were delectable and reminded me how much I'd love a Pizza Biga pizza. Soon, very soon.

The stand-up was hilarious and apparently he was recording for his new cd. So if you purchase or listen to Andrew O'Neill's new cd (whenever that comes out) my boisterous laughter will be a part of your listening experience. Good times.

Today I am going to get reading done. I am going to write more letters. I am going to be responsible and on task. And maybe watch an episode of Dexter and House and check my email and facebook way more times than is necessary, as you do.

Every head's a different world

So jazzed about everything.

At this moment, right now, I am in love with life. Not that I'm not at most moments, but right now it's particularly apparent to me. I love it here and I have so much to look forward to when I get home. I know I mention this every time I write, but it hasn't stopped getting to me and it probably won't ever. On Tuesday I hit the halfway point of my time in London! That's incredible. I feel like there's so much I still have to do and so little time. There's never enough time. Speaking of time, Burgess Meredith was in a dream I had last night which reminded me of this episode of 'The Twilight Zone'.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Reading Week, which means I don't have class again until the 15th. A nice break to get caught up on all my reading, relax a bit, and step up tourist mode into high gear. Over the last few weeks I feel like I haven't had much time for touristy outings, which is okay because I've been out and about doing non-touristy things. But, I still have a semi-sizable list of places to go and things to see. To kick the week off my pals and I are going to Edinburgh for the weekend! So exciting.

I started this post and then got interrupted for four days.

Before I tell you about this weekend let's back track a bit farther, it's been more than a week since I last posted. Last I checked in it was Sunday the 30th of October and I was really excited about live music and movies. The music in the park was lovely and the movies were a ton of fun. Ghostbusters is always a classic and The Exorcist is actually laughably bad. I'm not sure how anyone finds it so terrifying. I guess the concept of something like that actually happening is really unsettling, but the film itself just didn't get me.

On Halloween I met up with Kelsey, Aysha, Sumaya, and Jackson for £5 pancakes. Disclaimer; they were definitely crepes and they filled the plates that they came on which were huge. £5 was a good deal. Following that we went to Paranormal Activity 3 which was scary for two reasons; 1. The cinema prices in Leicester Square 2. Toby, silly name, scary demon. I realized that I've seen these films the last three Halloween's, at different theaters, with different people. At the rate they're going maybe the trend will continue next year. Disappointingly, I didn't actually have a costume this year. So I'm already planning for next year.

ALSO big exciting news in my life! Jessica and I have been talking about finding a place together for quite a while now. We've discussed in depth where we want to be and what we're looking for in a place and we found it! Over the past weeks she's been looking for places and sending me links, a few really nice places. But, then I got a link for an apartment in a three story brownstone on the corner of Lagoon Ave. and Knox Ave., this is literally across the street from Lake Calhoun, a block from the Greenway, and pretty much everything in Uptown is within easy walking distance. Perfect. There was a bottom floor and a third floor apartment available. Jessica toured the bottom floor and wasn't too jazzed, but we were so keen on the location that she looked at the third floor as well. We skyped right after she'd toured the third floor and I knew immediately that this was the spot. She was so happy and said how nice it was; hardwood floors, light, open, overlooking the lake. Perfect. She filled out the application on the spot and I returned mine that same night. The next morning we found out that we'd been approved! Jessica's signed the lease and I will when I get home. I can't express how excited I am to live there with my best friend. Just thinking about Spring and Summer across the street from the lake, with friends, swimming, cookouts, biking, rollerblading, running, everything. I can't wait.

Highlights of the rest of the week include;

Epic nostalgia fest with Aysha. We met on Wednesday to work on Shakespeare, which we did do a bit of, but mostly bonded over the shows we watched as children, showed each other hilarious things online (such as this), and watched a ton of movie trailers. This lead into a really involved discussion of how amazing Kevin Spacey. Have you seen 'The Usual Suspects'? So. Good.

We had weekly movie night, which was 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' this week. I really love that film. It's one that I like to leave a good gap between viewings so I can forget it a little bit and then realize how much I appreciate it each time I watch it because it still feels kind of new. I also just really appreciate when Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey are laying on the ice just looking up and being content in that moment. I can hardly stand winter and I think I might be able to deal with it a bit better if I had a special someone to go adventuring with, to lay on the ice and look at the stars with. Who knows what this winter holds.

On Friday I bought a rail card so that the discounted ticket to Edinburgh would be legitimate. I feel so British having a little pouch with my Oyster and my rail card. It's exciting. In usual Tianna fashion I was up a bit later than I wanted to be finishing an assignment. But I got it done and was actually satisfied with the finished product.

And then on Saturday the Scooby Gang got it together and met at 7:45 to take the train to Scotland. From King's Cross to Edinburgh was about four and half hours. Honestly, I would've been okay if it had gone on longer, the ride was beautiful. Although once we started walking around Edinburgh I realized that there was no lack of beauty there.

I was so excited and ready to go!

Some views from the train.

Stevie found the place where the sea meets the sky.

Stevie wins at photography.

This is actually the first thing I saw in Scotland outside of the train station.

These are my friends.

This is the most exciting sweater I've ever purchased. Confession; I'm wearing it right now.

Just on the way to the hostel.

After getting to our hostel and setting our stuff down we were right back out and ready to explore. It was the the 5th of November which means bonfire night and fireworks. The place we were going to watch from had no tickets left and in the end that was great. Before bonfires, we walked around the city a bit more and stopped at a store where I purchased the most comfortable sweater ever...that I should probably stop raving about. For fireworks we hiked part of the way up Arthur's Seat, which was slightly terrifying, but mostly a lot of fun. It was dark and from our prime location we had a panoramic view of the entire city and all the firework displays. It was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those times that will be with me always. Where I was with people I love in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been just feeling it all. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that night. On the other hand, I don't think any picture could ever adequately convey the beauty of that night. So, I guess it's okay.

The next day we had lunch on the Royal Mile and then saw a bunch of sites on a three hour walking tour.

Sites like Edinburgh Castle

And the café where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter

The tour was pretty good and if you're ever in Edinburgh you should take the three hour tour. It's advertised as free and essentially it is, but they ask for whatever tip you feel they deserve at the end.


After the tour we had dinner at The Elephant House. There are a bunch of messages to J.K. Rowling in the bathroom and list of people who have 'joined Dumbledore's army'. I suppose it's a kind of fitting place to express those sentiments, but I highly doubt J.K. Rowling will ever see them. The café itself was really nice. It was cozy and full of all kinds of elephants. They even had a board where you could draw your own elephant and have it displayed, which some of us did!

We then migrated to the Frankenstein themed pub next door. Sometimes places with a theme can be obnoxious, but this place really went for it and we loved it. It was nice and cozy (are you thinking, 'Wow, Tianna, find another adjective!' Because I am. But, I can't think of anything more apt).

Having not had our fill of hills and beautiful sights we decided climb a hill that is advertised as the portal to the fairy realm. Sounded like fun. It took a while to find the way up, but once we did it was well worth it. Edinburgh is really hilly and my legs loved it as did the rest of me. We got to the top of the hill and again had a perfect panoramic view of the whole city. I alternated between laying down on the ground for a while just looking at the stars and appreciating my own insignificance, sitting close to the edge and seeing the whole city, and talking about what you talk about when you're on a hill looking at the stars. Beautiful.

The view from Edinburgh Castle

The next day was spent largely at Edinburgh Castle. A few weeks ago when we were shopping around the idea of going to Edinburgh, Alex was talking about being sick of castles. How his whole childhood was 'Castle, castle, castle'. To which I responded that I had never been to a castle, which was baffling because of it's commonplace nature in every British childhood. I've been trying to think of an American equivalent without much luck, any ideas?

It was exciting to finally wander around a castle though. The views were incredible and there was a lot to see. Something that I really appreciated was the crown jewels. Not really the jewels themselves, but outside of the exhibit there was a mold of each piece and a description in Braille. How cool is that? So even if you can't see something you can feel exactly what it's like. I've never seen something like that before and it's highly possible that that happens in the US but I wish it happened everywhere.

The train ride home was spent reading and sleeping, which was a nice relaxed way to wind down an incredibly lovely weekend. Edinburgh is an obnoxiously beautiful city and I hope to be back there.

Also, my Minneapolitan friends, I miss you, lots. And I'm really excited to see you in five and a half weeks.