Life in Edinburgh

Eww...It Looks Like Communism Threw Up Here

2008-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

That was the reaction I had when I saw some of the gross buildings in East Berlin. However, the rest of Berlin was absolutely gorgeous!

I just got back from Berlin yesterday, after having a fabulous weekend there visiting Alex (and please, everyone refer to her as Tour Guide Extraordinaire). We saw so much of the city in like 2 and a half days! I got there late Thursday night, so we didn't really do anything. Then on Friday we started early by going to the Brandenburg Gate area, where I saw Brandenburger Tor (the monument) and the Reichstagge (Parliament building)...see pictures. It was beautiful and sunny and great, even though we had to wait on line...but the building and the view from the top was really cool.

Then we went on to the Holocaust Memorial, which I have to say I was totally disappointed in. It was a kind of a weird artistic interpretation of a "monument to the victims" (they didn't actually call it a memorial) - it was basically a big group of coffin-like boxes, and then there was a pretty typical information center inside (see picture). I don't know, it wasn't bad, I guess I just expected something more from a Holocaust memorial that is in the capital city of Germany.

After that, we tackled communism - i.e. went to see Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. Checkpoint Charlie was fine (and I got to take a picture at the famous spot, see picture) but the real treat was the East Side Gallery (the massive part of the Berlin Wall that artists from all over came and drew graffiti on after the wall came down). It was so cool.

Later that day we went to Berliner Dom, the largest Cathedral in Berlin. It was huge, and had a big dome and looked really pretty, but I was kind of Cathedral-ed out after Rome, Sevilla and Madrid. We also saw the TV Tower (that giant phallic symbol in the middle of the city) and Postdammer Platz, where the Sony Center is. Both were nice, but were only there as tourist sites (i.e. they didn't really offer anything special). Then we went home and I took a long nap to prepare myself for the Berlin nightlife. Jesus - they're worse than Spaniards! We didn't get home until 6am - the sun was literally rising! And it was a totally typical Friday night in the city!

The next morning we went to Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche (I laughed every time I tried to pronounce that), the old church that was bombed during World War II (see picture). They left it destroyed as a reminder of harsh times, etc., and I certainly understand why. Then we went to Postdam, which is right outside Berlin, to see all the pretty palaces. It was nice. Saturday night was an "early" (aka 3am night) since I had to wake up early for my flight...

...and now I am home. It feels weird. I need to get back into the swing of things, but I'm not really sure how. I think it will take a few days. I plan to veg out and watch a lot of TV.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. I might post again if I find any really cool photos I think I should put up, but other than that, I think this will be my last post. Thanks to all who have read it, since I am very grateful to have documented my travels in this way.
xoxo Pam

It's Not Unusual To Be Loved By Anyone

2008-05-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Why did you use a Tom Jones song as your blog title, Pam?"

Good question. I will get to that later in the post.

I spent the last few days in Sevilla, Spain. Sevilla is a great city - it's much smaller than the major European cities like Rome, so it's like Edinburgh in that way. However, the Spanish lifestyle is completely different than the Scottish lifestyle. People wake up late, then siesta in the afternoon, then eat dinner at 10 and go out until 5am. It's crazy. I don't know how Spain has a functioning working population. People in Sevilla are also really friendly, but speak no English. That was fine when I was with Amanda (because her Spanish is awesome now! I hope you're reading this Lillie), but kind of difficult when I was alone.

Sunday night, when I got to Sevilla, Amanda, Becky and I went out for dinner. Seeing Sevilla at night was beautiful. The river runs right through the city and there are amazing views from the bridge. And the Cathedral looks awesome (see picture).

On Monday I went inside the Cathedral in the morning. The Cathedral is massive. Totally massive. It's gorgeous (see pictures), and when you climb to the top of the Bell Tower there are great views of the city. After that I walked around Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish Quarter, and into some of the parks around there.

Then I walked to Plaza de Espana, this massive plaza (see picture). After that I met up with Amanda and we had a drink at a bar on the river. And I realized she has been living in Spring Break mode for the last 4 months...lucky girl. Monday night I had the full Spanish club experience...and I was exhausted (despite my siesta...I don't know how they do it).

Tuesday I went to Alcazar, the old palace in Sevilla. It's amazing, and it has this incredible garden in the back that you can walk around (see pictures). After that I went to the train station to pick up my ticket for Madrid (you can't reserve it online). It was chaos - first of all, I went during lunch time, which was a big mistake since I didn't realize that Spaniards simply leave work for 2 hours for lunch, so there were like 3 tellers trying to handle a mass of people trying to buy train tickets. Finally, it was my turn...and the teller spoke no English. I tried to ask her if anyone else spoke English, but all she said was "espanol y francais" so I was like sweet, I speak French. So, in my broken French, I told her I had made a reservation for the train to Madrid the next day, and gave her my confirmation number, so it was all good. Isn't it ironic that the first place my French was actually useful was in Spain? (Whenever I tried to speak in Paris people just responded in English).

After the train experience I walked around a few other barrios, which were really cute, and then met up with Amanda. We had dinner and went out for a drink, and at the bar this old Spanish guy was chatting up Amanda and started talking about American music, and his love of Tom Jones. Amanda wasn't feeling the Tom Jones love, so of course I stepped in and started singing "It's Not Unusual," hence the blog post title. Good times.

Today I took the train to Madrid and spent the day walking around the Plaza Mayor and Puerto del Sol. Tonight is the Real Madrid/Barcelona soccer match, which should be really intense. It's actually probably safer to be an American tonight than it is to be Spanish.

I'll try to post again before I leave for Berlin tomorrow (since I have free wireless in my hostel! Yay!)
xoxo Pam

All Bernini, All the Time

2008-05-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Another 2 days in Rome have come and gone. We leave tomorrow (Mom is going back to New York and I am off to Seville to visit Amanda and see Becky while she's still there) and I will definitely be missing this city.

Friday was another chock full day. We started at Circo Massimo, a park where they used to have games in Ancient times. It was pretty, but really hot. We started walking north, towards the Pantheon (because Mom wanted to see it again, and I was more than happy to oblige because it was awesome) and on the way we passed the Palazzo Venezia where Mussolini declared war. Also, the Pantheon looked very different on a sunny day, since much more light was shining through the open top. After the Pantheon we had coffee at Tazza D'Oro, this super famous espresso place in the city center. Then we made our way to the Trevi Fountain (where we began what was going to become a two day Bernini-fest). I can see why people don't like the Trevi Fountain during the day - it's extremely busy and touristy and annoying, but it's still a gorgeous fountain (see picture). After that we walked to the Piazza Spagna to see the Spanish Steps, but first we had lunch in Piazza Mignanelli (the restaurant made amazing ravioli). Once fortified with food, we trecked up the the steps - the building was under construction, which kind of ruined the facade, but the steps were still really pretty (see picture).

Later in the day we went to Piazza del Popolo and relaxed in the park for a bit. I liked Piazza del Popolo a lot - it was less crowded than Piazza Navolo, and had more space and fewer annoying men trying to sell you stuff (see picture). After we rested we decided to stop in a cafe for a drink - now, I don't know if you all have seen Fellini films (i.e. La Dolce Vita), but Fellini is a super famous Italian director, and restaurants in Rome fight about which one he preferred/which establishment he frequented the most/blah blah blah. One of the biggest fights is over where he liked to go in Piazza del Popolo (since he lived on Via Margutta, a nice street near Piazzo del Popolo). Some say Rosati, some say Canova - I will settle this right now: he preferred Canova, if for no other reason than the simple fact that Rosati has the worst service ever. Seriously, it was way worse than any other cafe/restaurant we had been to in Rome, so Mom and I just got up and went across the street, where we had lovely service at Canova (we also saw an adorable little homage to Fellini inside Canova).

Friday night we had dinner in Trastevere with Alex Holmes, which was lovely - he suggested an amazing pasta place called "Sale e Pepe". I highly recommend it for those traveling to Rome any time soon - it's on Viale Trastevere.

Saturday we went to the Villa Borgese in the morning. The parks and gardens are beautiful (see pictures, especially the cute one of me and Mom), and so is the Galleria Borgese (the museum with all the famous Bernini statues)...but they didn't let me take pictures! Lame.

After the Villa Borgese we went to the Piazza Barberini, walking along Via Venutto (the super fancy street featured in "La Dolce Vita"). At the Piazza we saw the Fontana de Tritone (see picture). This is my favorite Bernini fountain (it's the famous one of the guy chugging the jug of water). After that we walked towards the Campidoglio, stopping along the way at the Pallazo Barberini (another Pallazo that will remain in my mind) and the San Carlo Quattro Fontane, a church with a lot of Bernini statues around it. It was also nice to see the Campidoglio again - it's such a nice square (see picture).

Well, tomorrow we leave, and I will certainly be sad to go. I must recommend the hotel we are staying in - it's called Pallazo del Velabro on Via del Velabro (near the Campidoglio and Santa Maria in Cosmedin) and it's gorgeous. Our room has a great view from the balcony (see picture).

Mom also wanted me to mention that I have done ALL the navigating on this trip - now, any of you who have traveled with me recently will not be surprised by that fact, but just so you know: all of my travel neurosis genes come from my mother, so it was a big deal that she let me be the map reader (and thank god she did because she has no sense of direction...her anxiety over getting lost is completely justified).

Anyway, I'll try to post when I'm in Seville/Madrid/Berlin, but if I can't, I'll be back in the States on May 11 and will have plenty of pictures to show you then.
xoxo Pam

Ciao Salvo!

2008-05-01T09:05:00.001-07:00

Roma! This city is great...it is the perfect antidote to my extreme sadness over leaving Edinburgh.

Mom and I have been here for 3 days so far, and I figured I'd better post, since I've already taken like 300 photos.

First of all, I must tell you - our hotel is fabulous. We are staying in a building right next to the Arco di Giani (see picture). It's a famous arch, although I'm not really sure why it's famous (I guess because it's still standing) and it's incredible.

First thing on Tuesday we went to the Roman Forum where the ruins are. It's so cool, you get to walk around the area where an entire empire was based thousands of years ago, and there are still architectural structures that are standing and stable(ish). It's incredible that anything man-made could possibly last this long, but it has and it's beautiful (see pictures). We walked up the Palatine Hill, which is connected to the Forum, and has important things like the House of Augustus and Livia. Oh, p.s., I forgot how CRAZY Livia was...you know how they used to say "behind every great man there had to be a great woman?" well, not so much in this case.

After Palatine Hill we went to the Coloseum, which is amazing. Words really can't describe it - just see the pictures. After that we went to San Giovanni, a really amazing church that had some kind of historical religious significance that I can't remember. After that we went to the Pantheon, which is also incredible (see pictures). I can see how churches and cathedrals and synagogues, no matter how beautiful, might fade from your memory at some point, but the Coloseum and the Pantheon must stay. They're just too incredible to forget.

We also saw some incredible monuments, like the Monument to Vitorio Emannuel and the Campidoglio, which Mom thought were tacky but I liked (see pictures and judge for yourselves). Tuesday night we went to the Trastevere and had a great dinner with Becky. After that Becky and I went for a drink, and she only got us lost for about 15 minutes. I was very impressed (and happy when Alex showed up :)

As if we didn't do enough on Tuesday, Wednesday was even more intense. In the morning we went to Campo di Fiore and Piazzo Navono, stopping at numerous Palazzos along the way. I can see how some things in Rome blend together in your mind - I was going through the pictures later that day and I couldn't tell one Palazzo from the other, but they were all great. Campo di Fiore was kind of like a small Manhattan street fair - tacky shirts, good food and nice flowers (see picture of Mom smelling the lilacs). Piazzo Navono was great because we went when there was hardly anyone there (see pictures). We also stopped in a bread shop recommended by Frank Bruni, and it was very good (Frank Bruni is the New York Times food critic who only gave one star to the newly opened restaurant Perilla, season one of Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle's restaurant...yeah, don't think I forgot about that Bruni).

Later in the day on Wednesday we were planning on having a relaxed time walking around the Trastevere, but then Mom realized it was May Day on Thursday and the Vatican would probably be closed (which it turned out it was), so we needed to do it on Wednesday (so we wouldn't have to do it on a weekend when it would be way too crowded). So we raced to St. Peter's Basilica, and waited on line. Holy crap, it was madness. Seriously, nuns were cutting the line...nuns! at the Vatican! cutting the line! Forget pedophilia, that's the real problem the Catholic Church should be dealing with! Despite the madness, St. Peter's was great (see pictures). After that we waited on line at the Vatican Museum for one hour, had some good Gelatto, and then got in. The Museum was great (see picture), and obviously the Sistene Chapel was beautiful, but it was so crowded. I don't think anyone can appreciate it for its true value when it's in a space that is that packed.

Wednesday night we had a dinner that was amazing. But so expensive...the euro sucks.

Thursday (today) was another packed day. The first thing we did was go to Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the famous Church right near our hotel. It was great to see a church that wasn't unbelievably gaudy (see picture). In the morning we saw the Isola Tiberna, the little village in the island in the Tiber River - it was pretty cool (see picture). We also walked around the Jewish Ghetto and saw the famous Synagogue there. And guess who was also there - a friggin tour group from the Oceanside Jewish Community Center! I'm not kidding! People asked us if we were Jets or Giants fans! In Rome!

After that chilling experience we went to the Trastevere and had a really good lunch. Then we walked up Gianiculo Hill to the Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi. There were really amazing views (see pictures). Then we walked up the Tiber River towards the Castel Saint Angelo, which was closed but still looked cool. Then we walked towards Piazza dei Tribunali which is one Palazzo I will definitely remember - it was massive! I couldn't believe it! And it also had a great view from the river (see pictures). Then we walked to the Piazza Navolo, which vastly more crowded than the last time we were there, and then went home.

And now I am exhausted. I will post again soon to tell you about what we are up to.
xoxo Pam

The Final Countdown

2008-04-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm going to try to do this post without crying.

These past few days have been great, but also bittersweet. On Thursday I had my last day of work. While I was happy to not have to think about certain things, like free hospital car parking, ever again, I was really upset that the internship was ending. I had such a great experience working for Margaret, and I didn't want to leave. On Friday Mom got here, and she got to meet a bunch of my friends. But Friday night the goodbyes began - I was making fun of people for being emotional, but I was actually starting to get emotional myself.

Saturday Mom and I did some touristy stuff - we went to the Castle, which was nice, but once we got to the Parliament I started to get kind of upset, realizing that I wasn't going to be back there on Monday. So I was kind of in a funk for the rest of the day. Then Saturday night we went to Glasgow to have dinner with Margaret and her husband Rab, which was great.

Today (Sunday) was absolutely gorgeous. It was an amazing day - the sun was shining and it was warm (you rarely get both in Edinburgh). We hiked up Arthur's Seat for the amazing views, then we walked around New Town and lay in St. Andrew's Square for a bit.

Tomorrow we leave for Rome, and I start my Europe trip. I'm really excited, but I just don't want to be leaving Edinburgh...at all. Ok, I'm going to have to stop now before I start to cry.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post in the next few weeks, but I'll try to do it as much as possible, and hopefully I'll get some pictures in too. I'm going to Rome, then Seville, then Madrid, then Berlin. I'll be back in NYC on May 11.
xoxo Pam

A Tribute to Glasgow

2008-04-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this blog posting to Glasgow - a city I have come to love since I've been in Scotland.

Pretty much every Monday and Friday I have gone to my MSP's constituency office in the East End of Glasgow. Many people who live in Scotland have never been to the East End of Glasgow because they're afraid they'll get knifed. However, every morning I was in Glasgow I took the X19 bus from the city centre to the East End, and I'm still standing - so there you go.

Glasgow and Edinburgh have a long time rivalry (similar to the New York/Boston rivalry), so I assumed that if I loved Edinburgh I wouldn't like Glasgow. I was wrong. Glasgow might not be as picturesque as Edinburgh, but it has some amazing architecture and good people, and any city with those two things should certainly be appreciated. My two favorite buildings in Glasgow are the city chambers building in the middle of George Square (see picture) and the Glasgow Museum of Art (see picture). Queen Street Station is also beautiful, as is Buchanan Street (see pictures).

Another part of the city I now love is Easterhouse. The whole East End of Glasgow has this kind of "survivor" character, but no neighborhood has attitude like Easterhouse. Imagine you are from England, and you come to Brooklyn and hear the Bensonhurst accent. That is what it was like for me in Easterhouse every Monday and Friday...lets just say I did a lot of smiling and nodding.

Basically, the East End is the reason Glasgow is seen as the city bringing Scotland down. The housing, health and general demographic picture of the East End is worse than most of Scotland (see picture). But it is improving, and East Enders are survivors.

So, I salute you, Glasgow. It's been a pleasure knowing you.
[Please forgive the melodrama of this post. I'm getting sentimental as I get ready to leave.]
xoxo Pam

Square Pegs, Round Holes

2008-04-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

That is the metaphor my Highland tour guide used to describe the Jacobite Rebellion and the general hostilities between Catholics and Protestants in Scotland. Glad to have sectarianism sorted out in one simple phrase.

I spent the weekend in the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. It was my last trip in Scotland, and it was incredible. We had fantastic weather (which was really lucky because if you don't have good weather on Skye there's a good chance you won't be able to see anything). It was a very busy weekend, so I'll break it down day by day.

Friday morning we left Edinburgh and traveled through the Highlands. We stopped at Loch Tummel, which was beautiful, but nothing compared to what was about to come. Then we continued through the Highlands via Aviemore (a quaint little town where we had an overpriced lunch) and Culloden Battlefield. The Battle of Culloden was the final stand between the Jacobites (the Catholics in the Highlands who supported King James) and the British Army (who served William of Orange). The Jacobites were massacred (mainly because Culloden is a flat field and the only military prowess the Jacobites had was an ability to run down a hill screaming and freak people out) and it secured William's rule over Britain - the battle also completed changed life in the Highlands, ending clan rule and leading up to the Clearances. Also, the fact that Britain had a secure government allowed the Industrial Revolution to really take hold (since people weren't worried about anarchy taking hold anymore). So yeah, Culloden is a pretty important place in world history. After seeing that, we continued through the Highlands towards Skye, arriving just before a miraculous sunset (see picture). We also hung out with the locals at a bar near our hotel, and some of them were pretty funny (this one guy had completely white hair and virtually no teeth...but that didn't stop him from showing his moves on the dance floor!)

Saturday we traveled around Skye through the Cuillin Mountains, which were gorgeous (see picture). But the best part of the day was hiking up the Old Man of Storr (see pictures). The view was incredible, and it was amazing being smack in the middle of the Highlands on such a clear day. We also visited Dunvegan Castle, which was a little disappointing (it was small and kind of boring), but still very pretty. Saturday night we did karaoke at the bar, and Tom and I did a fantastic rendition of "Proud Mary" and boy did we do Tina proud. And here's something I've learned - no matter where you go in the world, no matter what cultural differences there might be, everyone is able to sit down and enjoy listening to some Ike & Tina tunes. Remember that.

Sunday was also a great day - we left Skye for the Highlands, passing through Eilean Donan Castle (see picture) which was absolutely gorgeous, and then continuing on towards Loch Ness. Loch Ness is nice, but it's not the prettiest loch in Scotland, so I understand why they had to make up some money making scam (i.e. the Monster) to get people to come. Then we went to Glen Coe, which was incredible. The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.

Anyway, I'm having a total panic attack about leaving Edinburgh, but I'm psyched for my Euro trip starting next week! I'll keep you all posted as the last days wind down.
xoxo
Pam

Trying Not to Fall Off the Cliffs...

2008-04-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

...and pretending to be pensive while posing on top of them for pictures. All in a Sunday afternoon.

In case you couldn't tell from the photos (which I assume you can't), I went up to north east Scotland on Sunday, and it is absolutely gorgeous. We went to a town called Stonehaven, which is in Aberdeenshire. The town is a quaint harbor town, and a few miles away there is a castle, Dunnottar Castle, while lays in ruins on top of miraculous cliffs (see pictures).

Alright, enough melodrama. No, seriously, it was beautiful. It was this strange mix between beach and mountains - kind of like Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. The train ride up was also fantastic. It went through Fife (the route you take to go to St. Andrews) and then past Dundee along the east coast towards Aberdeen. It sure beats the New York to Baltimore route, which has about 5 minutes of pretty Maryland countryside and 2 hours of ugly, ugly New Jersey.

The only downside of the trip is the fact that I am INCREDIBLY sore from hiking up all of those cliffs. My legs felt like they were going to fall off today.

Well, that's it for now.
xoxo Pam

Ahoy Praha!

2008-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

I am the best tourist ever.

I just spent the last 3 days in Prague, and I saw everything...and I will now break it down for you all:

Views: There are amazing views in Prague. We went to Petrin Hill and climbed Petrin Tower, which is huge (and a little scary when you're at the top), and got to see the entire city. As you can see from the pictures, it is gorgeous. A river runs through the middle of the city, and there are 3 bridges which go over it (including the famous Charles Bridge - see picture).

The Castle: Prague Castle is incredible. It is massive, and the main attraction there is St. Vitus Cathedral (see picture). It was raining when we went, but that was probably a good thing because if it had been sunny, it would have been packed. The other parts of the castle are St. George's Basilica and Golden Lane (a cute little street that runs through the castle - yes, the castle is so huge that a street actually runs through it).

Churches: Prague has some incredible churches, aside from St. Vitus Cathedral. Some of them (like Tyn Church) are kind of gaudy, but their detail is still striking. The other thing that was kind of odd about them is it is really difficult to tell what sect of Christianity they are for. Most of the Churches turned out to be Catholic, but there is very little religious imagery in them (with the exception of bloody figures of Jesus hanging from the cross...but that doesn't really narrow it down if you're trying to determine which sect of Christianity they represent).

Synagogues: Prague also has a ton of synagogues, most of them located in the Jewish district of Josefov. Since the end of World War II, there are very few Jews living in any part of Prague, including the Josefov area. Most of them were either killed or displaced during the Holocaust, and their families never returned. The oldest functioning synagogue, the Old-New Synagogue, only has about 150 members. The nicest synagogue, oddly enough, wasn't even in the Jewish District.

Neighborhoods: There are 4 main areas of Prague - Mala Strana (Little Quarter), Nove Mesto (New Town), Stare Mesto (Old Town, which contains Josefov) and the area where Prague Castle is. My favorite area was Stare Mesto; it has this gorgeous square in the middle, and these classic little streets which run through it. Mala Strana was great too, and it has the added benefit of being less crowded (outside of Charles Bridge) and having nice parks.

Museums: Yes, the trip was educational as well. I went to 2 museums in Prague - the Kafka Museum and the Museum of Communism. The Kafka Museum was nice, but the Museum of Communism was the real treat. First of all, it is hidden in this side street in Nove Mesto, right under a massive McDonalds (I won't even get into the irony of that). It details the history of Communist rule in Czechslovakia after World War II, and has part of the Berlin Wall in it (see picture). There was also this documentary video playing; the video was basically an account of many many Czech cops beating up protesters in Wenceslas Square (Wenceslas, as in "good King Wenceslas looked about on the feast of Stephen/when the snow came round about, deep and crisp and even..." c'mon, who remembers Brearley Winter Assemblies?).

The trip was fantastic. Prague is beautiful and fun and interesting (especially if you're a history buff, I'm not naming any names) and we had a great time. You should all be really jealous of me, or go to Prague ASAP.
xoxo Pam

Day in Queensferry

2008-04-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

Can I just say I love day trips? The trains in Scotland are amazing - they run so smoothly and getting around is so easy, it's the perfect country for day trips.

Today Tom, Fernando and I went to Queensferry, an area just north of Edinburgh along the Firth of Forth (aka that body of water around Edinburgh). The super famous Forth Road Bridge is there (see picture) - supposedly, it was this really challenging engineering project that ended up really successful, but whatever I just thought it looked cool. In fact, that bridge is only for the train - they have another bridge about half a mile to the left that is for pedestrians and cars (see picture).

The town is cute, but there's really nothing in it. We popped into a pub for a bit, and it was PACKED, in part because there were only like 2 pubs in the town (clearly not enough for Scotsmen) and because there was this crazy horse race on TV. I had NO idea how intense those races are! They had to jump over 30 massive walls of dirt, and all of these horses fell/knocked their jockeys off...it was crazy!

Well, another incredibly enjoyable day in Scotland has come and gone, and I really can't believe the time is flying by so fast...seriously, it's freaking me out. I can't even think about leaving.

Tomorrow I'm off to Prague for a few days (it's recess at the Parliament so I was able to take some days off), so you'll hear about that soon!
xoxo Pam

For All You Braveheart Fans...

2008-03-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I went to Stirling yesterday - Stirling, as in: The Battle of Stirling, Stirling Bridge, Stirling Castle and lots and lots of William Wallace (aka the entire movie of Braveheart).

I will just say for the record that the movie Braveheart is total BS. Robert the Bruce is not nearly as much of a pansy as he seems in the movie, William Wallace never hooks up with the wife of the Prince of England (she was like 4 at the time of Wallace's death), and no one, and I mean NO ONE, in Scotland has hair that is as pretty as Mel Gibson's hair in the movie. Glad I cleared that up.

That being said, Stirling is a pretty cool town. The castle is more awesome (and cheaper) than the Edinburgh Castle, and the town centre is surrounded by massive mountains. The Wallace Monument is also nice, but a pain to get to (it involved a bus, a very steep hike and 200 stairs). Still, the views were pretty incredible (see pictures).

The Old Town is also really nice. There is a really old jail there (see picture), and a really cute church called Church of Holy Rude :) I went in, forgetting that it was Sunday at noon (aka service time), and got really freaked out when I saw everyone and almost ran out, but then this adorable old woman asked me if I wanted any tea or coffee. Relieved that she didn't say "get out Jew" or something like that, I said no thanks and was on my way.

Anyway, all is well. Labour Party conference was this past weekend, so hopefully things will calm down a bit now that it's recess. Miss everyone!
xoxo Pam

Family Time!

2008-03-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yay visitors!

Dad, Nancy and Sloane came to Edinburgh this past weekend. It was great to see them, even though they had the misfortune of visiting on Easter weekend when everything is totally packed. We had to wait over an hour in the freezing cold to get into the Castle...not so fun.

Still, it was a wonderful visit. They got to see the Parliament building, and were very impressed with it. I took them down to the floor of the debating chamber, which I didn't even know I could do! And we had some great meals, so they can attest to the fact that Scottish food is actually quite good! I couldn't convince them to try haggis, though.

Anyway, this post is a short one. Miss everyone!
xoxo Pam

Oh, St. Patty...

2008-03-19T00:35:00.001-07:00

Good ol' St. Patrick... who knew a Catholic saint could create such debauchery?

Just thought I'd drop a quick line about St. Patrick's Day in Edinburgh... it's actually not nearly as big a deal as you would think it would be over here. But fear not, I celebrated it just as well as you would have expected me to (let's not forget that I spent my youth marching with Bridget in the County Cork delegation of the 5th avenue parade) Obviously the pubs are packed all day in Edinburgh, but there's no parade, no people dancing in the streets, and not that much of a celebration.

In fact, St. Patrick's Day can be really problematic. In Easterhouse (a neighborhood that's part of my MSP's Glasgow constituency) the police were ridiculous and decided to allow an Orange Walk on the same weekend as St. Patrick's Day! (Orange Walks are Protestant marches that celebrate William of Orange's victory in England, and they're usually pretty sectarian - they've virtually banned them in Northern Ireland, but they still go on in Glasgow). So, there was a lot of violence that tainted an otherwise celebratory weekend.

On another note - WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN NEW YORK!? I leave for 5 months and it's like the whole state collapses. Prostitutes, affairs, drama...what is this, Days of Our Lives? Oh, no - it's the State Government of New York! But, of course, who cares about silly little things like a recession or a budget when you've got sex, drugs and rock and roll.

You know it wouldn't be a good post without a political rant.
xoxo Pam

How Many Swedes Does This Cost?

2008-03-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, I know it's been a long time since I posted.

First things first - the lovely, wonderful Ms. Alex Schwartz visited me last week! I got Monday off work so we could walk around, and of course that was the day it rained all day. But, always the trooper, Alex walked up Calton Hill anyway. Tuesday and Wednesday I had to work, so Alex walked around by herself and then we hung out at night. Good times...and she scores MAJOR friend points for coming to visit me from New York while SOME PEOPLE WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS are in Europe but still aren't visiting...lame.

Then, after Alex left, I began to mentally prepare myself for the journey to Stockholm. I knew we had to do a TON of traveling (train to Glasgow, train to Prestwick, flight to Skavsta, Sweden, bus to Stockholm Centralstation, subway to hostel), so I was kind of worried about that. Conclusion: SO TOTALLY WORTH IT. The traveling was not that bad - everything was on time, both ways, and we all kind of went with it (I went with 5 other people from my program).

We had a great time. The city is gorgeous - I was dying to see some place in Scandinavia, and I'm so glad I did. The city is surrounded by water, and has this real charm to it. The architecture is also unique; from what I've seen from pictures, it looks kind of like Prague, but much more geometric and colorful. And some of the buildings were breathtaking (see pictures).

The city also has the best cathedrals ever. They're technically Protestant, I think, but they are so different from any other cathedral I've seen - there are all these statues representing mythical figures (e.g. a guy fighting with a dragon) right smack in the middle of the hall next to the altar...very cool. We also went on a boat tour, so we got to see parts of the city we wouldn't have been able to see (keep in mind Stockholm is built on 14 islands). One of the things we saw was this set of cranes...painted like giraffes...for no reason at all. Whatever.

And the museums we went to were awesome - one of them, the Vasa Museum, holds this GIANT ship that was sitting at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for 300 years until some guy figured out where it was and got people to pull it out. Very cool. We also went to the Nobel Prize Museum, which had lots of funky designs.

I highly recommend going to Stockholm. I have no idea why it isn't on the radar of major European travelers...oh wait, maybe I do - it is the most expensive city I've ever been to. The museums and stuff were reasonably priced, and so was the public transportation, and food wasn't too bad, but OH MY GOD the cost of going out was insane.

Also, the currency they use there is SEK - it took us the entire weekend to figure out what to call it (yes, now I know it's kroner), so we just asked each other "how many Swedes does this cost" (hence the title of the post)...and they say Americans are ignorant...

Anyway that's all for now. Check Facebook and Webshots for more photos.
Lots of love,
Pam

Where the Highlands Meet the Lowlands

2008-03-09T13:07:00.001-07:00

Wow - I just had the most intense weekend. Butler (the university I applied to to do the program) arranged for us to do a trip to Loch Lomond (aka "where the highlands meet the lowlands") this weekend - I was so outdoorsy!

Friday night we got there, and watched Braveheart. I'd seen it before, but I forgot how femme Mel Gibson looked! Those long brown locks...his hair looked way better than mine.

Saturday I went mountain biking. I was so crazy - we started biking around the loch (aka lake in America) and then next thing I know we're attempting to go vertically up a mountain...it was as hard as you might think, but also really fun. After mountain biking we walked around this little town and watched the 6 Nations rugby game. Later that night we had a ceilidh dance (interesting dancing to traditional Scottish music), which I was quite bad at.

Sunday we played "traditional Highland games" - um...yeah...it basically involved me throwing a giant stick up into the air and doing my best at archery. Good times.

All in all, a very enjoyable weekend. I have to make this post kind of short because I have to wake up in 5 hours to greet Alex Schwartz at the airport - SO EXCITED!
xoxo Pam

Fife is Pretty!

2008-03-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

Hello hello. So I went to St. Andrews this weekend, and people really aren't lying when they tell you it's beautiful. The university doesn't really have a campus - it's totally integrated into the town, which is a really old, typical Scottish town (i.e. lots of old buildings, small town charm, etc.) The town is also right on the east coast of Fife (a gorgeous area in central/east Scotland...see pictures). The one thing you notice when you go into the Scottish countryside is the Scots are REALLY bad at preserving their castles and cathedrals. You would think someone would say, "hey, this castle is not only beautiful, but it is also historically relevant...maybe we shouldn't just let it erode and disappear!" but apparently no one did that. I also got to see the Old Course, which is a big deal if you like golf, which I don't. But the bridge was very cute.

Also at St. Andrews this weekend was something called "Oktobeerfest" which was supposed to resemble "Octoberfest" (a festival that is actually in October). Well, it wasn't in October, and it wasn't in Germany, but there was beer, so I guess 1 out of 3 isn't too bad. They also had a Buvarian band, and me wearing suspenders. It was a fun time.

The internship is still going really well, and I am officially done with exams/papers, so I can fully concentrate on it now. One thing I am learning is Glaswegians are VERY amusing people but have an odd sense of humor - basically, they like to make fun of whomever they're talking to, so if you're an innocent bystander it's really amusing, but if you're getting made fun of it's not. And I FINALLY understand the accent...you should all be very proud - it's like trying to understand someone who speaks another language. I also planned a trip to Prague during the recess which I am super excited for. So yay, good times.

Lots of love, and keep in touch! I'm not hearing from you all enough (Dad, you are the exception to that statement :)
xoxo Pam

Best. Internship. Ever.

2008-02-29T03:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, I love the Scottish Parliament. Seriously, this internship is awesome. My MSP gives me so much to do, I am so busy - she has me working on a few long term projects related to health, but every other minute she's like, "oh can you write this question for me?" or asks me to find information for a speech...it's great. She's definitely one of the more busy/kind of a big deal MSPs, so that worked out really well for me. This internship is definitely one of the most fulfilling I've had, mainly because I get to do so much (think about how many internships there are where you're photocopy or filing or doing tedious work and only get to do interesting things like half of the time).

I'm in the Parliament from Tuesday-Thursday, but on Mondays and some Fridays I go to the constituency office in Southeast Glasgow. The constituency is interesting - in the northern part, it's really impoverished and there's a lot of gang violence and drugs, and then as you move down south (towards the city center - see picture) the area becomes more well off. My MSP is definitely more concerned with the impoverished area (she's focused on regeneration issues in the city).

On another note, the Parliament Cafeteria is amazing. The food is subsidized, so you can get a huge meal for like 3 pounds, it's great. Also, I took my last final today - thank god that's over with. I'm off to St. Andrew's tomorrow, so I'll write soon and tell you all about it.
xoxo Pam

First Week in Parliament

2008-02-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I just finished my first week of work, and so far so good. My MSP is the shadow Health Secretary for the Labour Party (i.e. she keeps tabs on the Cabinet Secretary for Health), so most of the stuff I'm working on is health related. She's only in the Edinburgh office Tuesday - Thursday, so I'm going to her constituency office in Glasgow on Monday. It should be pretty cool.

Edinburgh is still fantastic, even though the rain has returned after many days of sun. I'm staying here this weekend, but I think I might go to St. Andrews next week. I also have exams to take (p.s. the exams are the most pointless things in the world...they have nothing whatsoever to do with the internship), so I should probably be studying for them. It's also good to be starting a new routine - I had so much time on my hands when I was taking classes, which was great because I could spend a lot of time exploring the city, but now that I've gotten used to living here it's nice to have a 9-5 job to fill the days.

I put up a picture of a fantastic sunset view from the Edinburgh Castle. I love sunset in this city - when it's clear, it's glorious. Anyway, keep me posted on everything going on in the States. Miss you!
Pam

Ireland = Awesome.

2008-02-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a great weekend in Ireland.

I went to Dublin with Cait, Jon and Tom (all people on my program) this weekend. Honestly, we were not that impressed with Dublin - we had a great time, but the city is not nearly as beautiful as Edinburgh. Even on days when it is really cloudy and rainy in Edinburgh, the city is still absolutely gorgeous, and that's not the case in Dublin. Anyway, we did have a really fun time. On Thursday (we got into the city at like 10am) we walked around the Temple Bar area, O'Connell Street, the Liffey and then hit up Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Dublin Castle. (see pictures). Thursday night we went out to a fun pub in Temple Bar, and there was a folk band there that played "What Should We Do With The Drunken Sailor?" (a song I had to sing in Brearley Middle School music class...no joke).

Friday we had a delicious full Irish Breakfast (Bridget used to get Irish Breakfasts for me at this diner on 2nd Avenue...even though it was much better in Ireland, it made me nostalgic). Then we walked around Trinity College, went to the Jameson Distillery and the Guinness Factory (both were really cool) and then walked around St. Stephen's Green. On Friday night we went on a wild goose chase looking for some pub Tom wanted to go to, and I was starving and grumpy, and we ended up at some random pub on Grafton Street (which lucky is not as expensive as Temple Bar).

Saturday was one of the best days I've ever had. We took a train up to Belfast and then went on a coach tour of the Northeast Coast of Northern Ireland. We drove up the Antrim Coast, and the view consisted of the water on one side and the Glens of Antrim (these massive mountains) on the other side. We stopped in Whitepark Bay and a few sea towns, all of which were beautiful. But the really amazing part of the trip was when we got to Giant's Causeway. It was absolutely stunning - we were in the middle of a mountain range but on the coast at the same time. It was great, I can't recommend it enough...just look at the photos (there are more on my Webshots account: http://community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman).

We drove around Belfast at the end of the day, and while I didn't really think it was that great, it is definitely up and coming and is doing really well for a city that was being consistently bombed by its own residents just a few years ago.

Seriously, I can't recommend this tour enough. It was really expensive, but totally worth it. If you are ever in Ireland, or even in the UK, do it.
Lots of love.
Pam

Portobello, Leith and The L Word

2008-02-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

So I had a really fun weekend here in Edinburgh (it's the first weekend I'd been here in over 3 weeks). Most of the people from my program were traveling, so the few of us that were still here decided to go around and explore new parts of the city.

On Thursday we observed our first debate in the Parliament. And I will just say...my MSP is BALLER. She went after the Health Minister so hard (over an issue involving survivors of sexual abuse), and it was awesome. It was a good day to be in Parliament since the budget had just passed the night before, and the Scottish National Party was all excited and Labour was really pissed. Oh, politics. On Thursday night I went to this house party hosted by a friend of a friend. It was fun, but the most memorable part was the cab ride back - I had my first experience with a Edinburgh taxi driver, and people are so right when they say you cannot understand a word the drivers are saying. Seriously, it was the thickest accent...he might as well have been speaking Czech.

On Friday night I had my first "George Street Experience." George Street is where all the snazzy clubs are, and because I am morally opposed to cover charges and don't like to wait on line, I resorted to mooching off my friend's friend's friend (no exaggeration). It was a good time.

Saturday I hiked up to Arthur's Seat the hardcore way, but I got tired in the middle and just kind of walked around the hills (see picture). Then on Sunday we went to Portobello (the little sea town in Edinburgh where the beach is...see picture), and to Leith. Leith is...gross. It's depressing, there's all these Dominos Pizza places and while we were waiting for the bus, this woman was rushing to get her kid's stroller folded up in time to catch the bus, and she asked me to PICK UP HER CHILD AND PUT HER ON THE BUS (well, really she asked Justine but Justine froze and I had to step in). Ok, not that I'm unsympathetic to a mother in distress, but that is WAY too trusting. I could have totally stolen her child! Anyway, the fish and chips was good in the Ocean Terminal in Leith, but it started to get really foggy (thank god, I was worried it was going to say sunny!) so I couldn't really take pictures.

But clearly, the most important event of this weekend was...SUNDAY NIGHT: THE EPISODE OF THE L WORD. HOLY CRAP. Bette and Tina. I have no words. Actually, I have plenty of words, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, so call me and we'll talk about it.
xoxo Pam

It's Been Sunny for 3 Days!

2008-02-08T08:03:00.001-08:00

This is practically unheard of in Scotland - it has been sunny for 3 days now, and they're saying it's going to stay that way for the next couple of days. What is going on here?!?!

Because it's been so sunny, I've been walking around quite a bit, especially in the evenings (Edinburgh is really beautiful on a clear evening - see picture). I've decided that the Sir Walter Scott monument is my favorite monument in Edinburgh (see picture). Also, I got the best latte I've had since I got here (actually, the best latte I've had in a long time) today at Bean Scene, a cute little coffee shop just a few blocks from my flat.

So this picture below is a photo of the Scottish Parliament - I don't know if you all know the story behind the building, but it is super controversial. As you can see, the architectural design doesn't really fit in with the rest of Edinburgh's architecture. Also, the original estimate for the cost of the building was 40 million pounds...and it cost 400 million pounds. The taxpayers were not too happy about that. Either way, that's where I'll be working for the next 10 weeks.

I decided to stay in Edinburgh this weekend, since I've been traveling for the last 3 weekends. Also, I booked 2 more trips - I'm going to Dublin next weekend with a few people from my program...SO EXCITING! And I'm going to Stockholm in mid-March. There are also 2 trips my program has organized (aka they are included in my program fees...which means I'm going) - one going to Loch Lamond (this area of Scotland that kind of borders the Highland line and is supposed to be really beautiful) and one going to the Isle of Skye (that's the one I am really psyched for). On the Skye trip I think we'll get to see a lot of the Highlands, like Glen Coe and Loch Ness.

It's really nice when there's nice weather here, but I've kind of gotten used to it being cloudy...I like it. It's only annoying when it rains hard - otherwise, the clouds are actually really nice, and it's usually warmer on those days (except today it was 50 degrees, so I really shouldn't complain).

Alright, that's it for now. Lots of love.
Pam

MSP Assignment

2008-02-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Exciting news - I got my Member of Scottish Parliament assignment! I'm going to be working with Margaret Curran from the Labour Party. She's a constituency MSP from Glasgow, and she seems to be involved in a lot of the urban issues I'm interested in, so that's good. And I met her today, she seems really nice.

It has been intense for me to be away from the States this week - first the Giants win the Super Bowl, and then today is Super Tuesday. Holy crap! (p.s. can I just say that I feel so bad for those guys who wrote the book "19-0" that documents the Patriots "perfect" season...yeah good luck getting that published). Seriously, I have been frantically checking The New York Times every hour, even though I know no information about the primaries is going to come in until like 6am.

Also, Paul Rusesabagina is speaking at Hopkins tonight for the Foreign Affairs Symposium!!! I'm so freaking excited, I'm going to be texting Katie, Anne and Liz at 4am asking them how it went.

Even as I'm missing the States today, I'm really starting to feel at home in Edinburgh. When I was in Paris, I actually missed it a lot - the city has a certain quality that makes it really easy to love. Also, I've gotten to know a few places pretty well (pubs, grocery stores, etc.) and last night I went to a movie (No Country For Old Men...it was overrated), so I'm doing things that are less "Oh my god I'm in a foreign country" and more like I'm settling in. But funny story - when we were in the movie theater, before the previews started we saw literally 5 commercials protesting the legality of "snares" (those things that catch beavers and other animals), it was so weird.

Anyway, I put the rest of my pictures from Paris up on Webshots (http://community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman) so you all can look at them...they really came out amazing.

Also, I have a new story up on Scoop08, check it out: www.scoop08.com (if it's not on the front page, click the "Issues" button).

Miss you all so much.
Pam

J'aime Paris

2008-02-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, get ready, this post is going to be a long one.

I just spent the weekend in Paris - it was AMAZING. I stayed with Anne in her room in the Cite Universitaire (in the 14th arrondisement) and we did so many things...I think the best thing to do is break it down day by day:

Thursday: I got to Paris on Thursday afternoon. Anne had a conversation session to go to (it's part of her program), so I walked around Porte d'Orleans for a few hours. I stopped in a cafe and took in the sights and felt very Parisian. Then Anne and I went to dinner at a Brasserie in the same area. It was a typical French dinner - I had duck (awesome) and we ate from around 9pm to midnight. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to go along with the evening.

Friday: It was raining in the morning, but we were brave and walked around Le Marais. It's a very fun/funky/gay area, so they have lots of cute cafes and a ton of stores selling fitted mens shirts (see picture of the cafe). Then it stopped raining (yay!) and we went to the 1st arrondisement to have noodles at a Japanese restaurant, which really hit the spot. After that, Anne took me to this lecture her professor was hosting...I'll just say this: it was really fun for everyone who had an in depth understanding of Czech literature. Friday night we went to La Fleche d'Or, which is a super hipster French club and we saw this Brooklyn band Levy (they played music kind of like Broken Social Scene on 3 cans of Red Bull...see picture).

After that, we met my friend Tiago (who lives in Paris) for a drink in Odeon (the nightlife area right in the center of Paris).

Saturday: Saturday was an absolutely glorious day. We walked around Saint Michel, the Seine, Notre Dame Cathedral and Saint Germain des Pres (where we went into Les Deux Magots cafe where Hemingway and Fitzgerald used to hang out). Then Anne went to do work and I went to do super touristy things, like the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomph and the Louvre (see pictures). Then on Saturday night we went to Bar a Soupes (a really good soup restaurant) and Le Motel, another hipster club that Anne frequents (is anybody else sensing a pattern?)

Sunday: We went back to Saint Michel, had brunch (consisting of eggs and crepes), and then walked around the park near Anne's apartment. Then I got on the train to go to Charles de Gaulle airport, and took in the sights of all of the Banlieues (the suburbs of Paris where all of the poor immigrants live...see picture).

That's when the trip went downhill...so I got to the airport, waited on the super long line to get my boarding pass, and then went to the line for security. At the security checkpoint, there was this woman sitting down fighting with the security agent. She was saying something like "I want to wait for the wheelchair..." and then I realized she had multiple sclerosis and had completely lost the use of her legs (keep in mind this woman could not have been older than 40). So everyone in line waits and watches as the security agents force this woman to stand up, then hold her up while other agents take off her legs braces to make sure that they were plastic (even though she told them they were plastic) and then give her the "scan and pat down" as a replacement for going through the metal detector. The woman is sobbing the entire time, obviously totally degraded and embarrassed, and I have to tell you, I have never been that uncomfortable and angry and not spoken up. I was really mad at myself, but I guess the fear of being branded a terrorist in a country where I barely speak the language took over. Then I went through security, went to the gate, and boarded the plane. I was listening to my iPod when I realized that we were running about 30 minutes late, and soon enough I saw an airport guard wheel the same woman onto the plane (so it must have taken them about 1 1/2 hours to get the damn wheelchair). I was mad, and the easyJet flight attendants were mad, and everyone on the plane was mad...so the moral of the story is NEVER fly through Charles de Gualle airport.

So, to recap: I ate amazing food, saw the most beautiful sights, went to hipster French clubs, and hate airports.
Miss you all.
xoxo Pam

Still Alive...

2008-02-01T10:37:00.001-08:00

I know it's been more than a few days since my last post, and I wanted to tell you all that I'm still alive, so fret not.

Everything has been going really well, except this week was the first week I had to do actual work :( I had two papers due, and then another one to do next week, so that kind of sucks. I should find out which MSP I'm going to be placed with soon. I requested someone from an urban area (i.e. Glasgow or Edinburgh) who is interested in various urban policy issues, like education and the criminal justice system (p.s. cops don't carry guns in Scotland, unless they are in tactical response units - how different is that from the US!). Obviously, urban policy issues are the issues I care more about than say, transportation, so it would be a good way to compare the Scotland situation to the US.

Sorry this post had to be short, but I'm in Paris for the weeekend! I'll tell you all how it is.
xoxo Pam

London, Baby!

2008-01-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

As you all can see from the picture, it was warm enough to eat ice cream this weekend! Seriously, it was about 55 degrees in London - I could not have been happier.

I had an excellent trip visiting Alex and Mark (and Brad on Friday night, which was a lovely surprise). The sun was shining on both days, so we just walked around and saw pretty much everything. On Saturday we walked around Piccadilly Circus, then Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square (the last time I was in London they were doing construction on the lions so this was the first time I could see them), St. James Square and Sloane Street. Then, on Sunday we went to Hyde Park where we saw all these cute dogs and kids playing and it was adorable, then we walked around Kensington (very swanky), and stopped in to see Alex's sister A-Bel, who goes to Imperial College and has a way nicer flat :( And, Alex's mom Erica is the best cook EVER. They live in Fulham (right near Chelsea) which is a really great neighborhood.

The only negative thing about the weekend was that Alex made me watch Ally McBeal (p.s. isn't that a show that pretty much everyone forgot about?) and I got that damn Vonda Shepard song "Searchin My Soul" stuck in my head, and I can't get it out...which is really annoying. The other thing we saw on TV was this Ross Kemp Special - Ross Kemp is a British actor who went to Afghanistan with the British Army on a six month tour, and took a camera crew with him. He did months of training to prepare himself, and he had to pass numerous tests before they would let him go (because he really is embedded with the army unit). The special is just starting to air now (it's done in a few parts that are shown over a number of weeks), but it made me realize that there really isn't anything like that in the States. There are definitely journalists who are reporting from war zones and risking their lives, and there are also fictionalized movies made about the war, but the idea of a famous American actor training and risking his lifee and going over with the U.S. Army to Iraq or Afghanistan for six months...I don't know, it just seems kind of unlikely to me. Thoughts, anyone?

Everything else is going well in Edinburgh...I'm excited for my internship to start (it starts in about 2 1/2 weeks), but I still don't know who I'm going to be placed with (I found out in a week or so). I miss everyone - please e-mail/call/skype etc.
Pam

I Tried Haggis!

2008-01-24T07:05:00.001-08:00

Yes, that's right, last night I tried haggis. And you know what? It was really good! Seriously, it just tasted like spicy ground beef.

For those of you who don't know, haggis is ground up "sheep parts" (I won't tell you which parts). I had to try it because we were at a Robert Burns Celebration (as you can see from the photos). Friday is Robert Burns day (you've never seen a country more obsessed with a poet), and all week long there are dinners in his honor. Paddy, my Scottish Culture and Society professor, arranged for all of us to go to this super traditional Burns celebration. We had haggis, taters, nips, single malt, the works. It was really fun for about two hours, and then the toasts started...all of these people got up to toast Robert Burns by reading or singing something he had written or "would have liked" (aka whatever they wanted). It got pretty boring after a while.

Here is the list of things I learned last night:
1. Haggis is good, especially when mixed with mashed potatoes and mashed nips (nips taste kind of like squash).
2. The proper way to drink whiskey is "however the fuck you like it" (quote from a Scotsman in a kilt).
3. Old musicians play the violin pretty badly and discriminate against viola players.
4. Most older Scots smell bad...some of them smell REALLY bad.
5. Robert Burns was super sexist.
6. Most of the people who go to a Robert Burns celebration are also sexist.
7. It's really easy to pretend you know the words to old Scottish folk songs.
8. When you order an "Alabama Slammer" in Edinburgh, say it in a really bad southern accent, and you get it at a discount. Good to know.

What else is going on...I went to St. Giles Cathedral yesterday (see picture). I finally did my laundry, and it was ridiculously expensive (like 3 pounds)! I also went back to this sandwich shop I found in New Town one of my first days here, and I had really good pumpkin soup. The weather was so weird today - it was kind of cold, but really sunny and nice, and then all of a sudden it started snowing! Crazy.

So, that's it for now. I'm off to London tomorrow to see Alex and Mark...I'm so excited!
Xoxo Pam

Weekend in Cumbria, England

2008-01-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Hello, all. I spent the past weekend in the county of Cumbria, England on my homestay. It was great - the family was really nice (they had a very cute 10 year old boy and made me really good food) and they took us around the area. These pictures are of me with the family and some people on my program in the Lakeland Region, which is absolutely gorgeous, the town of Keswick (a cute little market town) and the village of Shap (where the family lived...lots of sheep, not much else). You can see more pictures on Webshots (community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman).

The weekend was fun - five of the people from the Parliamentary Internship program went on a homestay with a bunch of different families in the area, and I was by myself in the house. John and Tom (two guys on my program) had a more intense experience - their homestay mom was diabetic, and became really low on blood sugar while driving them around the middle of nowhere (they had to flag down a guy on a tractor to get her a Coke) and then took them out clubbing at night. My family wasn't quite so exciting (although they did introduce me to a fabulous television program called "Jam and Jerusalem").

Anyway, classes are still going well (I have to give a presentation of Scottish voting behavior tomorrow...woohoo). Today is a very "dreicht" day in Edinburgh (dreicht means really rainy and generally crappy and cold), which kind of sucks. The weather usually isn't so bad - it rains in the morning, is cloudy around noon, and then clears up for a couple of hours at the end of the day. And it's DEFINITELY not that cold (it's like 40 degrees every day).

Last night a few of us went to watch the Football Playoff games - it was so pathetic, we were walking around all of these pubs asking "do you know where they are playing the American football game?" and watching the bartenders look at us like, "um, no, but fancy some rugby?" We finally found a sports bar playing the Patriots/Chargers game, and we got there just in time to see the Patriots win :( And then the bar closed before the Giants/Packers game was finished, so we were generally unsuccessful. Oh well.

Alright, miss everyone tons! Keep me posted on what's going on with you all (e-mail, call, skype, whatever).
Pam

(P.S. I tried peanut butter - it's really not that bad, thank god.)

The Pubs

2008-01-18T05:06:00.000-08:00

So, I think you're all probably interested in the pub scene in Edinburgh. It's pretty great - there are a lot of authentic Scottish pubs with names like Greyfriars Bobby Bar and Maggie Dickson's. Actually, there's a crazy story about Maggie Dickson. She was this woman who lived in Edinburgh in the 1700s. She got knocked up and concealed her pregnancy, which was apparantly a crime back then...so they hung her. Well, the Scots were not very good at hanging people, because after they buried her someone heard banging coming from her grave. At that point, people realized she was a pretty cool lady and not only let her live, but named a pub after her! And then about 250 years later, there I sit, having a pint in her honor.

There are also a lot of Irish pubs in Edinburgh, and they are super fun. They have live music on most nights, which is great - just imagine: a fiddler and a guy playing an accoustic guitar and singing "Play That Funky Music White Boy." I kid you not. So far, I've been hanging out with Americans for the most part (some of them are in the Parliamentary Internship program with me, and others are attending the University), but we've met a few Scottish people as well.

This morning I went to see the Castle, which was fun. There are really nice views from the top (although not the best views in Edinburgh). The odd thing was the sleeping quarters for the prisoners of war were nicer than the sleeping quarters for the soldiers! Way to take care of your own, Scotland.

I also stopped in The Elephant House for a baked potato and chili (a Scottish dish that I actually like). For those of you who are not Harry Potter fans, The Elephant House is the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. It's actually a really cute place, and they let you read and hang out there for as long as you want.

Well that's about it for now. I think I successfully uploaded a few photos to this post, and I put some more up on Facebook. This evening I'm off to Shap, in Northern England, for my homestay. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Anything crazy going on in the States? FYI, the Super Tuesday primaries are on Feb 5 (New York holds its primary on that day). If you're not going to be in the state where you're registered to vote on the day of your primary, send in an absentee ballot request ASAP. Don't think that just because I'm in Scotland you can escape my political rantings :)

Miss everyone.
Pam

How Hard Is It To Post Pictures?!

2008-01-15T04:47:00.000-08:00

Alright, because I couldn't figure out how to post pictures on this blog, I uploaded them onto my Webshots account. You should be able to access them by going to this URL: http://community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman

Here is a description of the photos (because I couldn't figure out how to write in captions as I downloaded them...see what I mean about technologically inept?): Pictures 1-6 I took while walking around New Town (the area that has a lot of the museums/monuments and shops). Pictures 7-12 are of the view from Calton Hill. Pictures 12-14 are random - one of them is a picture of the band I saw playing at Dropkick Murphys (that's the name of the pub, not the band). The fiddler was amazing. Pictures 14-23 are of Arthur's Seat and the view from the top of it. Pictures 24-26 are also random pictures I took while walking around the city in the evening (p.s. evening in Edinburgh is around 4pm).

I hope you all look at the photos...especially the ones of Arthur's Seat. Here's a little trivia for all of you interested in British History (i.e. Julie): during the Scottish Enlightenment, Adam Smith and a number of other thinkers would walk up Arthur's Seat and discuss their various controversial views/writings (since they couldn't really discuss them anywhere else). The path they walked up is the path I walked up on Sunday.

Anyway, I'm pretty settled at this point. I met everyone else in my program yesterday when classes started. I've had two classes so far - I have to say, it is much harder to get bored in these classes because I love listening to the Professors' English/Scottish accents! Unfortunately, I found out it's going to be a bit harder than I anticipated to travel in the next five weeks. We have all of these activities to do on Thursday and Friday afternoons, so it will be difficult to take long weekends. Also, we have to stay in Edinburgh for two weeks before the internship starts in order to meet with our potential MSPs (and that was the time period I planned to travel a lot). Still, I'll work it out.

A couple of negatives: so far, Scottish food is really bad. Everything tastes different (and not in a good way). And someone told me even peanut butter tastes bad! How can peanut butter possibly taste bad?! I'm too scared to try it, for fear that I will be turned off PB&J forever. Also, I have no water pressure in my shower (but on the plus side, I'm saving water...shout out to Mark!)

I think that's it for now. Let me know what you think of the pictures, and please post comments so I can hear what you think of the blog - does anyone have any suggestions for improving it? Shall I start writing haikus like Rosie O'Donnell? :) Also, did anyone watch The L-Word on Sunday night? Mom and Lillie, I'm depending on you two.

Lots of love,
Pam

The First Few Days

2008-01-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I'm trying to start a blog to keep everyone updated on my life in Edinburgh. It seems simple enough, but I'm somewhat technologically inept, so we'll see.

The first few days have been kind of chaotic - I was in a hotel for the first few days for orientation, which sucked, and then I moved into my flat on Friday. It's kind of a wierd setup. I have three flatmates, and we all have different rooms and share a common kitchen and bathroom. It's not really like suites at Hopkins, because the common area is kind of off to the side and the doors close automatically (i.e. it's hard to be social). But whatever, I'll get a doorstop. My room is fine, but it looks out onto the loudest street ever, so I need earplugs to sleep at night. And now I have internet access - yay!

I spent yesterday and today walking around the city. I can't even describe how beautiful it is. Wherever you look, there is an amazing view of some incredible architecture or scenery. Yesterday I walked up to Calton Hill, and at the top you have a fantastic view of the whole city and mountains in the background. I'll post pictures soon. Today I hiked (yes, hiked) up Arthur's Seat, which was really intense but beautiful. I'm definitely going to do that again. Other than that, I've just been walking around the city and going out at night, trying to get a sense of everything and meet new people. My classes start tomorrow, so I'll have more news in the days to come.

I miss everyone. Xoxo.
Pam