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Published: October 12th 2008
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Hello everybody! So It's been a little bit since I last wrote, but there have been plenty of things going on, and I hope everything has been going well for you! There are a few incidents not mentioned below, like doing log graphs in practical (not as confusing as i thought) And losing my keys for the first time in a foreign country... I looked in the cabinets, the, bathroom, the refrigerator, cleaned my ENTIRE room, and they were stuck between the bed-frame and the wall. At least they weren't in my robe this time... Anyways, I hope you enjoy my stories! Love and Slainte!
The Castle
I have Wednsday's off, so sometimes (ok, all the time) it's a given that I can explore this amazing city. Edinburgh Castle is stunning. I'd been once before, but there is nothing that can compare to it's beauty. It is truly a castle and a community. Inhabited for nearly 3000 years it is built on a craggy hill, formed long ago by a volcano and shaped by glaciers during the last ice age. There is no way that JRR Tolkein wrote the Lord of The Rings without seeing this place. It's exactly like
his Minas Tirith, high above a city on a plain with roads that spiral upward through the castle to a magnificent building on the hight. The key though is one of the most beautiful pieces of the crown jewels, the sword of state. Presented by the Pope to one of the kings of Scotland in the 1400s, it is crafted of sterling silver and is only 6 pounds in weight. Such craftsmanship is remarkable, but what is truly remarkable is the story. When Cromwell came to power, the symbols of state "the Honors of Scotland" including the crown and sword were smuggled out of the castle and hidden by two women, who, being
mere women were allowed to pass through the gate to visit friends. The interesting part is that the sword had to be broken in two in order to get it out. You can still see the scar on the metal. Sound familiar? "Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be King" The scots lost both crown and sword, and only regained them recently, in physical aspect at least. They haven't regained control of their military or sovereignty yet, but they have the symbols,
and I personally believe the rest will follow.
The Church
On sunday, Lindsay and I accompanied one of her friends Emily, a theology major, to church. As we were walking there, we did as we usually do when we find ourselves walking through the city: saying things like "look at that! Can you believe we actually LIVE here?!" The city is so beautiful, and so old that it's at times hard to believe. We had originally planned to go to one church, but Emily couldn't find it, (or remember the name) so after wandering up and down the Royal Mile, so we took the next best thing (in retrospect: absolute best) and attended Morning Service at St. Giles Cathedral. I had been there over two years before with Mom, and there was scaffolding everywhere, but it was still stunningly beautiful. Without the scaffolding and tourists, and with the additions of worshippers and music, it became even more stunning. Though it's a presbyterian cathedral, the music was very familiar, although their hymnal had no music notes, only words. It was a gorgeous service, with a stunning choir. We had obviously chosen the right Sunday to go to because there was
baptism, during which the entire congregation was invited to gather around the font to welcome the child. He was remarkably well behaved for a toddler, and only tried to grab the priest's lip once. It was also a special service in that this was the Sunday when they celebrated the Harvest, so as part of the service we processed up the aisle, singing hymns, to receive a piece of fruit or vegetable, which we then carried around the cathedral. In essence: we walked around the church carrying apples and pears. One of the ladies sitting in our pew told us afterward that "we dinna usually do that you know, carrying vegetables around the church"
The Cake
All of us have noticed an increased sweet tooth since we got over. Loads of chocolate have been sacrificed, with the excuse that "we walk a lot"... Not sure how the walking and chocolate eating will balance, but we have had many conversations about that, and the baked goods that we long for, like chocolate chip cookies, and brownies and cakes. We had thought to get a box of cake mix and make a good old fashioned cake, but when Rachel heard this,
the normally shy soft spoken girl surprised us with a vehement "Ye'll do no such thing! If you want a cake we'll make it Proper." So she brought her cake tins and made a double layered white cake, and coffee icing all from scratch. We divided it into five and it was gone soon after.... mmmm... now I want more. In terms of baked goods it seems that unless it's digestives (cookies) or certain kinds of biscuits (also cookies), that baked goods MUST be home made, and shame onto you if you try to get around it. I think I'll be learning some good recipes. Watch out america, it's scones with clotted cream and fresh jam when I get over there. "I'm bringing tea time back".
The Crannog
Yesterday I went on my field trip for Archaeology of Scotland. It was to the Scottish Crannog center, a reconstruction of a water based home built during the Bronze age. It's based on Loch Tay, a gorgeous 14 mile long Loch that has remains of 18 of these water based homes, some occupied as recently as the 17th century, as as long ago as 500 BC. It was built in 1994
by Dr. Nicholas Dickson a professor at Edinburgh University. We got to meet him and he was the one that showed us around, talking to us about the settlement, and giving us an introduction to Underwater Archaeology. It was fascinating listening to him talk about how well preserved everything in the water is, for example they found a 2,000 year old butter dish with butter in it! I got to take pictures, because they encourage this report to be illustrated. We also got a tour of their ancient technology section where people worked at reconstructing the methods used. The fire was awesome, but what I found really cool was the oak drill, that was capable of drilling into stones. They use sand as an abrasive, an oak branch, a bow and could make everything from weights to beads. I'd always wondered how it was possible for ancient cultures to do detail work, and now I know! Experimental archaeology seems to be a really interesting field, though it is looked down on by some who, as Dr. Dickson says "don't believe that fun and archaeology should mix"
Shakespeare
Ok, so which one doesn't belong? Unfortunately there are no
C's in Shakespeare. But I did go to see Macbeth at the Lyceum with a group of friends last week. We had dinner at this awesome pub nearby that was called Shakespeare's. It's the little things that amuse us. The show itself was a great one, brilliant sets, acting, and special effects. I'm a Shakespeare nut, and that's an understatement, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was so cool to be listening to the words of The Bard, written so long ago, and hear mentioned places just down the street, or places that I'd been to. Even more of a coincidence was that yesterday on my field trip we drove through Birnam Wood and passed Dunsinane castle. "I would not be afraid of death and bane/ 'til Birnam forest come to Dunsinane". I have got to get to the Globe... who knows, maybe that's next time!
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Crannog question
Cool stuff MB! Ok a question: Why did they build the Crannogs out over the water ? Seems a bit more trouble than building something on land, so there must have been a good reason. I love the parallels to Tolkien you've come up with in Minis Tirith and the sword that was broken. I would not be at all surprised if these were his influences.... I'll add another...Sir Walter Scott's version of the MacGregors as the "Children of the Mist" , a royal lineage dispersed among the hills, wandering ...sounds a lot like the Dunedain. Great blogs. Keep them coming.