The Verdict

Well, I did it. For all those who wanted me to try them, I made my way to the corner shop and bravely bought a packet of Prawn Cocktail crisps. They were....drum roll, please....actually amazingly delicious! Not so much prawn-y (thank goodness!) as cocktail sauce-y. So a bit of savoury and a bit of sweet mixed with saltiness and crunchiness. I have to say, "Shrimp crisps, where have you been all my life?" Well, maybe not that, but they are by far my favorite flavour of crisp I've had here in the UK.

So folks the moral of the story is: don't knock it until you try it. I think that may be my theme with the rest of Scottish food and culture while I am here. And, hey, why not the rest of my life?

My post-graduate life

I have three courses this term:

1) My core decorative arts course meets on Mondays. Today, in addition to a lecture, we had a study session at the Burrell Collection. We got to look in-depth at characteristics of 16th and 17th-century oak furniture. Much more fun to do this in person with the object than just seeing slides. This Friday we have a day long field trip to Stirling Castle to learn more about Renaissance stuff.

2) Research Methods is my Tuesday lecture. Here we learn about how to do postgraduate research. Tomorrow the title of the lecture is "Library Skills". Pretty self-explanatory I think.

3) Wednesdays are The Authentic Artwork. This course I think will be really interesting. We are going to be talking about many things from the ethics of conservation to that big question "What is Art?".

Yes, I only have lectures three days of week, but the rest of the time I am reading. And soon I will need to start writing. I have made up color-coded timetables of each week and there is not much unused time. It's quite a change from working life, but I think all the hard work will reap great rewards!

My first (of many, I hope) whisky distillery visit

Auchentoshan is located a few miles outside of Glasgow and is accessible by train. It was a more eventful trip than I had planned, since I got lost on the way from the train station to the distillery. I tried to give myself up to the experience and managed to have a couple of serendipitous moments on my long, roundabout walk to the place. The sound of a piper and the sight of a church alerted me to a wedding! You can barely see the people in the picture, but it was so Scottish and picturesque I couldn't help myself to try to capture it.



I also ended up wandering along the Forth and Clyde Canal, which was very pretty. Especially pretty when the sun peeked from behind the clouds.



After a long walk and a taxi ride, I made it to the distillery. I found the tour really informative.



Auchentoshan is one of three surviving distilleries in the Lowlands. In 1604 a hefty tax was placed on whisky production, so everyone took their operations up into the Highlands to hide from the taxman. And over the years, the number of the few remaining Lowland distilleries dwindled to the three now. I also learned that the regions of Scotland produce different tasting whiskys. (Is the plural of 'whisky', 'whiskies'?) The Lowlands are known for sweeter whisky. The Islands for smoky. The Highlands for floral. And Speyside for a combination of sweet and floral--I think. The Islands are smoky, because they roast their barley over peat fires as there isn't enough wood available there.

Auchentoshan is special overall, because they triple-distill their whisky, which is a technique mostly used for Irish whiskeys. It is supposed to create a smoother flavor.



At the end of the tour, of course, is my favorite part: the tasting! They served us the 12-year-old and then I got a small taste of the Triple Wood. The Triple Wood is so called since they age it in two different bourbon barrels and then a sherry barrel. (Hmmm, I am not sure if in that order.) However the end result is a complex, flavorful whisky that finishes with the taste of bitter chocolate. Wow! Kind of opened my eyes--and tastebuds--to a whole new world of flavor. I had never tasted whisky like it. Can't wait for the next one!

Your Moment of Zen

Crisp Counter

I am fascinated with potato chips (aka crisps) here. They don't simply have potato chips coming in potato flavours...oh, no, in fact they rarely come in potato flavours. So I have been happily experimenting. I wanted to set up a widget so I could keep track of all the types I have tried, but alas, I cannot find one nor figure out how to make my own.

Here is an old-fashioned list with my tasting comments:

1) Bacon strips--these are crisps shaped, colored, and flavored like little strips of bacon. Very strange, but real bacon flavor!
2) Roast beef and onion crisps--at Marks & Spencers there was a choice of this flavor or Wiltshire Ham. I am glad I went with the beef...It was like Sunday roast! Without any of the nutrients.
3) Roast Chicken--a particularly bizarre idea to me, but a Scottish classmate of mine was singing its praises so I took the plunge. And they were very good! Tasted a lot like chicken.
4) Worcester Sauce--these have been my least favorite. They are reminiscent of salt & vinegar, but with an extra sourness I didn't like. But definitely worth the try.

One flavor I see everywhere that I have been afraid of is Scampi or Shrimp flavored. It just sounds too revolting. But in the name of science (and to share with family and friends the experience), I am willing to submit my tastebuds to this possible monstrosity. Look for future crisp updates!

Is it Glasgow Uni or...Hogwarts?

On Monday was my first little campus tour. It took us through the main building of the University of Glasgow. (Folks just call it "uni" here. Trying to get used to that.) This building was built in 1870 in the neo-Gothic style. The original university, called the "Old College", was in the East End of Glasgow since it opened in 1451. (Yep, that's right.) But apparently with all the industrialisation in the 19th-century, that area of the city had become almost uninhabitable...at least for ivory tower folks. So they moved everything to the lovely, green, undeveloped West End. Hence, the new-ish building.




It's a very impressive building and little did I know, until this tour, that it had a couple of courtyards. You step out from the building into a large green courtyard, which was totally unexpected for me and it absolutely, much to my chagrin,--as I was totally excited about this-- reminded me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. To get to the second courtyard, there is an area called "The Cloisters" to be walked through. All very picturesque. Also, inside are several halls - as in large rooms--with lovely timbered, arched ceilings. One in particular, Bute Hall, is very nice and is used for graduations, as well as other events. And it does look just like a particularly fancy dining hall in Hogwarts. But with a real ceiling, of course.

Then on Wednesday was another treat. After a slide lecture on Glasgow architectural history, my department got to climb the tower. First, there is an elevator up to the sixth floor, then 225 steps of a winding, spiral stone staircase to the top. Many years the weather has been too poor to allow for a trip to the tower, but we have been very fortunate this year. The climb was pretty painful, but was worth the view from the top. Luckily I had my iPhone with me to take some pictures.

Pedal for Scotland (or How I Nearly Died Riding 51 Miles Yesterday)

Okay, I am exaggerating. I did not nearly die or even kind of come close to it. But this 51 mile bike ride between Glasgow and Edinburgh was quite painful at times. It was also exhilarating at other times. Slow, slow painful climbs up hills that seemed to go on forever and swish, swish fast flying descents on the other side. Overall, it was a really lovely ride and I enjoyed myself immensely. But, boy, was it exhausting. And today I have soreness where I didn't even know a person could be sore!


Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the scenery along the way, but it was incredible. Stone houses on hill tops and bare mountains near Glasgow. Then as we got closer to Edinburgh more stone buildings, but on softer rolling hills with trees.

I have an incredible sense of accomplishment by completing this. It was a challenge. I even got a little emotional at the finish line. I chose the photo of Erin and I at the finish that fitted how we felt: a bit run down. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to put on our medals


so we don't really have any proof that we finished, you'll just have to believe us. Oh, I know, I will take a pic of the medal now and include it.

Scotland!

(Okay, I know it is strange to have a cup of coffee as the image for an entry titled "Scotland!" But I just liked it so much--the image and the coffee.)

I have finally arrived. After a bit over 24 hours in Scotland, here are my first impressions.

People: Unbelievably nice and friendly. While shopkeepers are ringing you up, they will ask how your day has been--and really seem to want to know the answer! I've had this happen to me twice already. A mundane transaction becomes a nice chat. Last night I was at a little take-out place and the owner's baby started crying, she asked me to hold her while she prepared my food. (I was already playing with the baby to try to calm her down.) So I did! Then when dad arrived, we had a...nice chat.

Accent: Frequently indecipherable. If two Glaswegians are speaking to each other, it is a totally different language! Consonants disappear and it's all vowels. Otherwise, it can be absolutely charming and disarming.

Weather: Sunny and 68 today with the same forecast for tomorrow. I know this surely can't last so am trying to enjoy every minute of it.

City: Very nice what I have seen of it. Lots of trees! Lots of cool 19th-century buildings! Fairly clean and lots of shopping. I have been concentrating on crossing streets correctly. Since traffic runs on the opposite side to what I am used to, everytime I approach a street I think "look right, left, right". So far I have not been run over. Yay! And I even had my first experience driving on the "wrong side"--I rode my bike home from the rental shop and survived that as well.

And last but not least,

Food: Well, I haven't eaten anything terrible yet. Last night was moussaka at a Mediterranean place. That was good, if a little greasy. This morning was a great cup of decaf coffee, eggs scrambled with cheese and onion and a croissant. Tonight was a frozen shepherd's pie from Tesco's. Oh, and a BLT sandwich at Starbucks for lunch. Okay, not the healthiest, but I have not come across anything deep-fried yet!!

Tomorrow is the big Pedal for Scotland 50-mile ride between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Hopefully I will live to blog another day! (And not be too maimed from the ride.)

50K on the Rondje Haarlem*

So my sister and I are doing this 50-mile bike ride between Glasgow and Edinburgh on Sunday. When I signed up for it I was sure I would be super biker chick having biked to and from work all summer (which I didn't). I also thought "Oh, 50 miles isn't too bad", which I learned on Monday is not the case...at least for me. Oh, sure, it won't kill me, but the 30-mile ride we did on Monday showed me how out of shape I really am.

In spite of the sore bum and sunburn, it was a really lovely ride. We saw windmills and lots and lots of cows and sheep. (The photo is from our ride.) There were some horses and followed canals in wide open fields. We also rode by mansions and through incredibly picturesque villages. We had a nice picnic lunch in a place called Spaarndam. And perhaps the most lovely thing of all: it was not raining!

*The Rondje Haarlem is bicycle route that goes all around the outskirts of the city of Haarlem. http://www.rondjehaarlem.info/index_uk.php

On the fietspad

Today my sister, her fiance and I rode our bikes to the local pancake house called De Oase. Very fitting that a place you can eat Dutch pancakes and drink beer would be "The Oasis"! After lunch, my sister and I went on a hike in the nearby park. The pancake house is actually just outside the entrance. That is one of the wonderful things about Europe (at least I've found it in Northern Europe). One moment you can be doing something outdoorsy and athletic and the next you are setting yourself down for major carbohydrates and beer. Cheers!

My sister and I took a bike path (fietspad) home that goes through some park land which contains many old estates. I thought this would be a good spot to pose for a picture. Nice Dutch bike, nice Dutch architecture.

Saying Goodbye

I was so fortunate to have two going away parties before I left New York! The first was at my work. We had a bbq--with an actual grill in the backyard. Such a luxury in NYC. It was very fun, despite the fact we were stuck inside because of the rain.

The next party was my "surprise" party. It was held at St. Andrew's Restaurant, a Scottish place off of Times Square. It was very good and I liked the theme! Here are some photos: Okay, maybe not. I am trying to work with Flickr, but am having problems. And am still too jet-lagged to deal. So I am attaching one or two photos here. Thanks to David Weitzenhoffer for the photos.

Thanks to everyone for both of my parties! I felt very loved. I promise to be a better blogger soon.