Marc Goes to Scotland

It could very well be that this is the only time I will ever write about something while it happens. In this case, I’m talking about my Scotland trip, which began on Thursday afternoon and is in fact still going on. This is far too punctual to be Marc’s writing, you say. He’s in Scotland right now, you cry. Surely I won’t get a recap of his Scottish adventure until circa Easter weekend, 2010, you scream. Well, friends, it’s true — I am for once being a good blogger.

Scotland has been incredible so far. It’s far and away one of the most interesting places we’ve been, if only because it looks like the convergence of so many different cities. It has the cramped alleys and cobblestone streets of London, the chimneys, bridges and pubs of old school Dublin, the cozy wintry feel of Paris (especially at the Edinburgh Christmas markets), the historical intrigue of Rome, the breathtaking landscapes as in Florence, and of course, the bright lights of Laughlin (not). Everyone has been telling us that Edinburgh is a city on a city, meaning that there are bridges and bridges that pile up on each other (in order to fight the plague, apparently) — but to us, of course, this means that the city is more confusing than rap music to a first-generation immigrant family.

Thursday night, we — the usual trio plus Ashley (from Wales) and Ryan (our resident ginger) — landed in Edinburgh, traveled to the dorm of some friends from the States (at an oh-so-classy location called the Cowgate, only a few yardsticks away from Fleshmarkets’ Close), and were then immediately treated to a MASSIVE Thanksgiving dinner. Back in London on Wednesday night, we attempted our own Thanksgiving dinner, which consisted of sweet potatoes with colored marshmallows, spinach in a frying pan, instant mashed potatoes, cranberry juice, half a chicken and some pepperoni pizza. Our Scottish housewives Laura and Lauren, in comparison, THREW DOWN (if, in this case, wrestling terms can be used for culinary feats).

Thanksgiving was, without missing anything: Mashed potatoes, corn souffle, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin and apple pie, bread and butter, and TWO entire turkeys. As well as wine. And Christmas decorations. And the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. 12 people eating this massive dinner was enough to convince me that Thanksgiving in Europe didn’t have to be pepperoni pizza and instant mashed potatoes. Major thumbs up to L&L for the dinner. Later on Thursday, some generic nightcrawling ensued, followed by my trek back to Emma’s dorm (where I’m staying) for some Christmas playlisting and bedtime, obviously.

Yesterday we tried to get an early 1 pm start to tour the town, and honestly, we could have left even later. There’s a lot to see in Edinburgh, but the great thing is that you can see it all from a few viewpoints all over town. We started at Edinburgh castle, and ended up on the hillside near the Firth of Forth, and from both of these angles we were able to see some of the amazing Scottish green that you hear about. The city is absolutely beautiful and well worth braving the cold. Coming back down from the hilltop, we then spent a good chunk of time around the Edinburgh Christmas market, which had just opened the day before. It’s one thing to say that after-Thanksgiving-season is the real Christmas season, but when you finally SEE the markets like we saw, you’re hit with Christmas spirit like a bitch-slapping angel. It was the only atmosphere I wanted to be in, and I could have stayed at that market for HOURS.

Today we’re off to a rugby match, and then there’s a possibility that I’ll get some culture and go to an orchestra performance with Emma and her flatmates. Tomorrow, it’s a 5-hour trainride through the hills of Scotland (and over the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express bridge, of COURSE) and then back to London.

Once back in London… three weeks until home. Three weeks to do everything I’ve put off doing, classwork included. Uh oh. Here comes that ‘study’ part.