Amsterdam

It has been a week since Dan and I returned from Amsterdam. Since then I have been working relentlessly on projects, essays, and recruiting. I'd hate to have to do work while travelling so it takes extra effort to get the all the work done while home. You probably want to hear about Amsterdam though.

Before you start making assumptions about what Amsterdam is like, let me tell you differently. Amsterdam is a quaint city. Canals wind through town, bikes and trams roam quietly on every street, and old buildings are crammed into neighborhoods. Our hostel was right next Vondelpark which is basically Amsterdam's "Central Park". We started with the Anne Frank Museum which I found more moving than Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Next we spent some time on hired bikes and cruised around some quiet neighborhoods, some not so quiet neighborhoods, and visited a the city's token Dutch windmill.

Look carefully

I realize the monster known as The Red Light District needs to be addressed. This is what I associated with Amsterdam before I went there. The whole thing is actually hilarious and it's merely tolerated by the Dutch. Yes, there are prostitutes. Yes, there are 'coffee shops'. Yes, there are sketchy Russian drug dealers. And yes, I laugh at everyone who takes the Red Light District seriously. It's part of the experience to gawk and laugh and walk down dark alleys before laughing some more.

Amsterdam

We spent one day travelling outside the city to Haarlem which really isn't that far away. It was much much quieter there. It was also pouring rain that morning. We walked around town to scope things out then walked some more to climb inside a windmill. It turned out to be closed so we got a picture instead.

Haarlem

We then took a train to Zaanse Schans. We are really great with public transportation and took the wrong train. So after trying to fix our error and proceeding to fail miserably, we decided to explore the city we were stranded in, Zaandam. Turns out we found some amazing blueberry muffins at this outdoor market. You could buy six for the price of one airport cafe muffin. Great deal!

Our final day in Amsterdam was spent attempting to be more local. We took an obligatory picture of the 'I amsterdam' sign, with the Texas flag of course. 

Again, look carefully

We spent some time at the Van Gogh exhibit then tracked down the alleged best pancake restaurant in town. To get there, you have to climb the steepest stairs you've ever seen only to find four little tables. The pancakes were really just one giant thick crepe which happened to be delicious. While on the subject of food, the frites were delicious there. They are thick fries that are fried twice and traditionally dipped in mayonnaise. Heineken is Amsterdam's gem so we had a taste. Not surprisingly, it's a lot better in Holland than pretty much anywhere else. In summary, Holland is a quite healthy.

I can't think of much else to report besides establishing our relationship with the customs agent in Edinburgh. After realizing filling up a whole passport will be next to impossible, it has been decided that being best friends with the customs agent (we will call him Freddie) is the next best thing. 

Pannenkoekenhuis

Oh, random thing worth mentioning is this shop in Edinburgh called the Nile Valley. It's an African falafel restaurant that is runner-up to Israeli falafel. Quite the accomplishment by my book. 

Next Friday (15th) begins our first week off of school. (We actually don't have school, we aren't skipping.) Munich. Prague. Skiing the Alps in Austria. 

London

London was our first trip out of Scotland. It took a five hour train ride last week to arrive at King's Cross. Of course, it was freezing and rainy but we are used to it by now. London is an amazing city. I love the hustle n bustle, the old buildings, and the history. 

The first couple days were spent being typical tourists. I think this something that has to be done in a city as humongous as London. We saw the Buckingham Palace, the Tower Bridge, the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the Houses of Parliament, and the Churchill War Rooms. Just before services on both days, we ducked into St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Both churches are absolutely incredibly and have been standing for centuries. Since services are free, we also saved about $40 between the two. 

Friday was spent attempting to be more local. We passed through the posh shopping area near Buckingham Palace to see some famous handmade shotgun makers and then strolled through Hyde Park. The Tube then took us to the London Bridge Station where we spent a few hours at the Borough Market. Sort of like a farmer's market, this food stall area has some of the best food in town. We love food so this ended up being our afternoon entertainment. We tried carrot cake, lots of cheese, handmade ravioli, mulled wine, and a German lamb sandwich. It's definitely a must do if you come to London.

We spent our nights in London doing a mix of things. The first night we saw Wicked. Another was spent in the Camden Market area on the north side of London. Most of the market stalls were closed when we got there but we found Chinese for 2 pounds, stopped into a pub, and then went to a "club". They had a couple live rock bands attempting to "make it". I can assure you they won't. It was comical watching people dance to a bad band, mostly because only one person was dancing. 

One night we also got to meet a family friend of Dan's for dinner. She works at PWC and took us to the after work pub. It was interesting getting to here some of the perspectives of a Londoner, especially when it came to topics like Obama and the economy. 

Saturday we took a train to Oxford. There we basically just walked around the whole city. There are mostly just cool buildings to look at. Harry Potter was filmed in some of the buildings and Oxford University has some cool history to discover. One of the markets there had the best chocolate chip cookie I've had in ages. Hate to say this but it was way better than Tiff's Treats. That night we stopped into the oldest pub in Oxford called the Bear Inn. It dates back to 1242.

Finally, before we spent the day travelling back to Edinburgh, we got to see Hannah and Corie for lunch!

Classes are Monday and Tuesday so tonight we are headed to Amsterdam. 

Cheerio!

PS no one ever says Cheerio. 

If you had the chance to change ya fate, wouldya?

It has been cold and snowing for the past few days. I'm not sure how but it actually snows horizontally here. I've learned to bundle up so it has not been uncomfortable. We spent our weekend seeing Scotland in this weather. 

Saturday morning we took a 45 minute train ride to Glasgow. It is situated on the west side of Scotland and is the largest city in Scotland. The architecture and overall feel of the city was much more harsh than the quiet, inviting city of Edinburgh. Industrial might be a better way to describe Glasgow. Dan and I took some time to see the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. The art was mixed and ranged from a Dali, to Monet's impressionism, to a locally famous stuffed elephant named Kelvin. 

Admittedly we went to the botanical gardens which are known to be good. I liked the tropical plants. We had some time to kill so I did some research on the Kerr Clan here in Scotland. Apparently the name dates back to the 1400's. 

Dan's family friends, Jeff and Liz, generously took us for a beer at the oldest bar in Glasgow called The Scotia Bar. It dates back to 1792! They also took us for tapas at a great Italian restaurant nearby. It was easily the best meal we've had since coming to Scotland. We concluded the night at the Carlos Nunez and the Royal Scottish Orchestra concert. Don't judge, it was awesome. Carlos is a bagpiper who put all the passion he could muster into each song. Let's call it a cultural experience. 

Sunday was a guided tour around the highlands of Scotland, north of Edinburgh. It was a nice way to see the beautiful countryside. Not surprisingly, sheep were everywhere. Apparently sheep outnumber Scots 5 to 1. This would explain the excess of cashmere in this country. We made a stop at the Famous Grouse distillery then spent an hour in a small town visiting a 700 year old cathedral. It was a long slow day but it was nice to see a good chunk of Scotland. 

So I got scammed the other day. The Danish Krone (10 ore coin) looks almost identical to the 1 pound coin. Words of wisdom: check your change very closely. 

London and Oxford are later this week. I'm excited to leave Scotland for the first time this trip. 

PS the accent is way thicker than this... click here

Glenkinchie Distillery

A proper trip to Scotland isn't complete without developing a mature palate for single malt scotch whisky. Dan and I decided to get the ball rolling early by taking the bus to a town about an hour southeast of Edinburgh called Pencaitland. From there we walked two miles to the Glenkinchie Distillery. 

On the walk to the distillery

This particular distillery has been around for decades. We got the chance to tour the working distillery to learn how whisky is made. The process is truly a science. The ratio of ingredients, precise temperatures, and distilling times have been perfected to create an award winning single malt. A single malt comes from just one distillery and is not blended. Only 8% of their production goes toward their named single malt. The other production is used to create blends such as Johnny Walker and J&B. It was a fun first step toward learning all about scotch. As a bonus, our guide Charlie gave us a ride to our bus stop in the smallest car I've ever ridden in.  

Charlie and our taste test

Wednesday and Thursday were occupied by classes and errands. Nothing is notable besides our brief stop at a famous Scottish gun shop called John Dickinson & Son. Here they make beautiful custom shotguns. They don't come cheap either. One of the guns was listed at 46K GBP. 

Bright and early we head to Glasgow for the day. 

I lied, today it snowed for real

So, guys,

We finally moved. It took waking up early, signing some papers, touring the new room, and walking a lot. We walked to and from Siberia to our new dorm to set up the big move. It actually wasn't a huge deal that it started snowing during our walk. Our 1.5 mile cab ride with all of our bags was completely worth it. Our new dorm, Fraser Court, is among lots of "freshers" but it is only about 20 minutes from campus as opposed to around 40. Overall, much better.

Actual snow

Today was also our first day of Labour Economics. That's how they spell "labor" here. There are lots of alternate spellings like that. Anyways, the overview of the class seemed quite interesting and extremely relevant to today's unemployment rate. About half way through, when the discussion of derivatives began, I almost fell asleep along with the rest of the class. I felt guilty about it but there is no way I can spend the semester in this class. I am working on finding something more immediately relevant such as the history of Scotland. Full disclosure, the new class might be a little easier too.

After marketing, Dan and I paid for our gym membership and lifted weights. You could say we were dropping pounds.

Since there is no class tomorrow, we did some planning then headed out to meet up with some friends at a pub. Drinking is expensive when it is all added up so we searched for the cheapest place possible. A no frills bar called "Bar Salsa" was precisely what we wanted. Fennigans, an Irish bar with live music, was next. We finished the night by walking a ways to a club on Georges Street that was nice but not worth our money.

One thing we noticed is that the club names here embody Stefon on SNL. In Edinburgh, clubs like Rush, Sin, Espionage, and Opium remind me of the weekend updates. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, you have to check out this video: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3b466d2cea/stefon-snl-weekend-update

Tomorrow will be packed full of booking trips for this weekend and next. Things are finally coming together!

First day of school, first day of school

The city was much busier today with all the students back. Our Futures and Options class was two hours long and was quite interesting. It's probably boring to most people but I liked it. It was easy to understand the professor which makes for a nice perk in this town.

The rest of the day was packed full of tedious tasks that occupy the time of visiting students. A couple hours were spent researching courses that open up travel time and meet the prerequisites. We ended up with Labour Economics. I don't imagine this course being particularly fun. School supplies were purchased, the gym was thoroughly explored, and our finance textbook was picked up from the library. That's right, most students get their books for class at the library. And yes, for free indeed.

All in all it was a mentally exhausting day and it called for a beer. We stopped at a place called the Brass Monkey and had their best German pint on draft. The man next to us was older and gave us some tips on golfing and touring around Scotland. It was the quintessential get-to-know-a-local experience. Immediately afterward we ate at Kebab Mahal which supposedly has the best Kebab in town. Turns out they do. Five GBP got us a heaping portion of lamb to stuff into pita bread. Delicious.

The final hours of the day were spent planning trips and we were more productive than ever. This weekend will be a Scotland overview. Glenkinchie Distillery is Friday. Glasgow is Saturday. A one day guided tour of the highlands is Sunday. Also, the itinerary for London/ Oxford next week(end) is really taking shape.

It's almost midnight here and I have a long day tomorrow. Hope everyone's first day of class was less stressful than mine.

Shopping Sunday. Do I pull off the flat cap?

It's snowing

This Sunday morning was our school orientation. Hearing about the tasks we need to do to register with the school and the all differences between Edinburgh and American schools was both important and very, very dull. I think a few people slept off their Saturday night during the presentation. We were excited to get a free lunch afterward thinking it would be a great way to save some money. Lunch was indeed free but it was also the most embarrassing excuse for a sandwich I've ever seen. It was a huge roll with three extremely thin pieces of pastrami. I appreciate the gesture at least. 

So far I have failed to elaborate on the fact that it was snowing most of the day. Nothing was sticking but it made for a pretty cold, gloomy day. We made the best of it after lunch by exploring New Town. It was actually built starting in 1774 so it's not as new as you'd think. Princes Street is the main attraction on this North end of town. It is lined with big name stores like Jenner's, their version of Nieman's. Afterward we spent some time at the Elephant House to warm up and grab some coffee. This cafe is near the campus in Old Town. Actually, it is where J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter. My cappuccino was delicious. 

View of the castle from Princes Street

Dan and I walked around the city center some more until we found a bookstore. We purchased pocket maps of the city because it is hard to navigate with the phone GPS. We also got an enormous map of Western Europe to put on the wall for trip planning. I'm quite proud of my map for some reason. 

To wrap up the day, the UT crew went to a pub called Three Sisters to get dinner and watch the Seahawks/ Falcons game. We left thinking that the game was well over. We couldn't believe the game was so close when we arrived back home at our dorm in Siberia. O, we are likely moving closer to city center tomorrow! 

Our first class, Futures and Options, begins in the morning. It'll be interesting to find out how it compares to McCombs classes. Goodnight