(Almost) Total Eclipse

20  March 2015

I was a little late for work, but getting to see the eclipse was worth it! Nico and I watched from the top garden terrace of Waverley Gate (where he works). The 93% total eclipse wasn't enough for complete darkness, but certainly enough to see a difference. It was a bit cloudy, but it meant that we didn't need to use a filter/special glasses for most of it. Here are some photos from Edinburgh and some from Svalbard (Thanks, Penny!) for comparison. Enjoy!

The beginning of the eclipse.

Through my fancy camera filter (I held the eclipse glasses up in front of my camera).

Can you hear the music? It's not quite a total eclipse, but close enough!

Peak eclipse - a twilight feel.

Looking over to the busy Calton Hill. 

The other side of the eclipse.

Eclipse over Arthur's Seat.

Series of photos showing the progressing eclipse in Svalbard. No post-processing or special camera equipment.
(Photos by Penelope How)

My seventh continent!

23 April 2015

Written at approximately age 16:

"Life goals: Learn to drive a manual transmission, become fluent in a foreign language, visit all 7 continents"

Who knew I'd need to start a new list so early in life? The trip to Morocco represents my seventh continent and a big life goal checked off my list.

Look at my new passport stamp!!!

My amazing friends created a certificate for me:  a Doctorate from the University of the World. My committee consisted of one signature per continent from someone who was on the trip with me. Nico managed to do this all without raising any suspicion :)  I love my 'honorary doctorate of exploration' and I can't wait to frame it! (Although I don't even have the real PhD framed).

Signatures from my 'committee': Leanne Walker/Shultz (Australia, Asia), Beth Fernandez (Africa), Bram Van der Geest (North America), Caroline Wilson (Europe), Andy Hein (Antarctica), and JJ Thorne (South America), 

There was a fancy 'commencement' ceremony held on the rooftop terrace of the riad our first evening in town. 

Another celebration of 7 Continents in the desert.
These are all the passport stamps - 1 from each continent!

But this wasn't the only milestone celebrated on this trip:

Nico: 1 year at Amazon!

We each have our own milestones, but we've also been together for 10 years!
Can't think of anyone else I'd rather share my last continent with :)

 I guess it's time to start thinking about adding some new life goals to my list...

Rosslyn Chapel

27 September 2014

My cousin, Vickie, visited in September and gave us another chance to try out our tour guiding skills...

A new place we visited just south of town was the Rosslyn Chapel of Da Vinci Code fame. It was originally built in 1456, but has had a troubled past (closed in 1571 when assets were seized during the Reformation, sacked in 1650, restored and services began again in 1862). It's so amazing to think that this chapel has been here during all the European migration to the New World!

I love flying buttresses so I love this little chapel!

The original plans called for a larger church, but the finished product is much smaller and the unfinished portion is clearly visible. Eventually, they added a small entrance in the unfinished portion.

Original plans (shape of a cross)

View of the chapel as it stands now.

The unfinished portion of the church - you can clearly see that they intended something bigger. The edges of the structure have unfinished walls, but they added the entrance portion later. 

I don't have any photos of the inside (no photos allowed), but there were some interesting features, including:

• An angel playing the bagpipes - oldest depiction of the bagpipe - they were first used in the mid-1400s
• A beautifully carved column - This column was allegedly carved by an apprentice carver inspired by a dream. When the master returned and saw the carving, he supposedly killed the apprentice in a rage
• Mistake or Message? In a stone carving of the 7 Sins and 7 Virtues, Greed and Charity are swapped, with Greed amongst the virtues and Charity now a sin. 
• A crypt that featured in the Da Vinci Code - although it looks a little different and less exciting without Tom Hanks!

One of the saddest things is that in the 1950s they tried to protect the delicate painted internal sculpted features by applying a protective coating to everything. However, they haven't been able to successfully remove it, so all the internal features are less detailed and unpainted. The features are still beautiful and I can only imagine how stunning the chapel would have been prior to the 'saving' of the delicate features...

A few more photos of the beautiful outside of the chapel.

The flying buttresses were beautiful in person, but hard to photograph because they blend in with the stone behind it. 

Dog friendly!

There is a little graveyard just down the hill from the chapel.
It was beautiful and green with storm clouds in the background. 

The chapel is located next to a very beautiful natural area complete with hiking paths, stone walls, and a stream - very beautiful in the fall!

When the wall was built, there was clearly a need for this little pass through.
The tree couldn't have been blocking it, so it just reinforces how old things are. 

No trip is complete without a stop for a pint!
We were happy to be a bit early for the bus :)

A cocktail party education

14 Feb 2015

A cocktail party can be a very international educational experience (and much more fun than sitting in a classroom!). Things I learned at a cocktail party:

1) Making cocktails is messy business
Making mixed drinks (pouring, using a shaker, etc.) is not as easy as it looks when the bartenders do it (my drink-coated table and floor will attest to this!). We had milk punch (alcoholic milkshake) and brambles (a fun, British drink) - we got the hang of it eventually!

2) Party games are different across the ocean
I went to a well-respected party school for college (Go UW-Madison!) and thought I had a good handle on party games. However, I learned two new games. One is distinctly British and the other is too much fun not to share:

Save the Queen:
Using a British coin (which has a picture of the Queen on it), you have to try and get the coin into someone else's drink. If they are holding the drink, you can slip it in. Otherwise, you have to throw the coin in. If you succeed, you exclaim 'Save the Queen!' (because she's drowning!) and they have to finish their drink. Of course, beware that you don't accidentally swallow the Queen in your haste to save her from her watery fate...

Paper/Guessing Game:
Using whatever theme you want (anything from all nouns to famous people or Valentine's Day), each player fills out three slips of paper with appropriate (or inappropriate!) words. Then the game is played using teams and three rounds. In the first round, each person gets 1 minute to try and get their team to guess as many of the words as possible by describing them in any way, but without using the word on the paper (a la Balderdash). When the minute runs out, the other team gets 1 minute and it goes back and forth until all the words have been guessed. At this point, everyone on both teams has heard all the possible words. You would think that would make the following two rounds easier...
In round 2, the format is the same, but you only get a single word descriptor. Finally, round 3 is miming only.

3) Names for Disney heroes/villains are not the same across languages
This difference is apparent mostly when trying to use the name in a party game with people from at least 5 different countries! Our particular example was Cruella vs Crudelia. I looked up another example as well as my homework.

• English: Huey, Dewey, Louie
• Finnish: Tupu, Hupu, Lupu
• Swedish: Knatte, Fnatte, Tjatte
• Danish: Rip, Rap, Rup
• Norwegian: Ole, Dole, Doffen

4) Innocent handwriting misinterpretations can lead to hilarity.
I'll leave you to invent a definition for 'spankles'!

Cheers!

The lone piper in the rain

15 Jan 2015

As I finished working in the lab today, I heard the faint echo of a bagpipe amidst the pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows. I walked to a window down the hall and the melody grew louder. I looked down over the courtyard to see a lone piper in front of one of our historic buildings playing his bagpipe.

There was no obvious audience for this solitary piper. His only crowd, I have to assume, were the other academics like me who had been drawn from their dark offices and labs to the windows, out of his sight, to listen. He stood stalwart in the bone-chilling wind and the driving rain, creating beautiful melodies instead of the usual traditional tourist tunes the council pays to have floating around the city center.

He was the pied piper, drawing people through the dark night to the Burns' Night celebration inside; heralding the light, warmth, and flowing alcohol with the sound of Scotland. You never know when the little things in life will surprise you...

The sound of a lone piper playing the bagpipe, with the melody echoing off the buildings and hills in the dark, rainy, blustery weather - this is Scotland.

Me: What a horrible night to have an outdoor gig!
Him ( with amazing Scottish accent ): Tell me about it!
Me: Well, I hope you don't get too cold out here tonight
Him ( still in incredible brogue ): Too late!

The blind leading the blind in the Scottish Highlands

30-31 July 2014

Nico and I have spent a lot of time in Edinburgh, enjoying many pubs, restaurants, and tourist landmarks. However, Ronda and Ryan gave us the chance to get out of our comfort zone and see a bit more of this beautiful country. Since we hadn't ventured this direction, it was essentially a case of the (mostly) blind leading the blind.

Ronda and Ryan rented a car and Ronda drove - slightly more complicated in a manual, but she did a great job. However, it was sometimes a group effort when it came to sorting out directions :) As a recurring theme in a Scottish blog, castles were the main attractions, although we managed to fit in a distillery and hiking as well. A good, all-purpose trip to the Scottish Highlands. On the first day, we saw Lochleven, then toured the Blair Atholl distillery, spent the night tucked away at a B&B with adorable pine martens, went hiking, hunted some highland cows, and visited Stirling Castle and Doune Castle on the way home. Quite a lot to pack into two days! I think I would budget longer in the future - I can't wait to go back and see more!

Thanks again to Ryan & Ronda for the excuse to get out of town!

Lochleven: A castle on an island. 

A beautiful castle tower all to ourselves - perfect for Ryan and Ronda to re-enact a beautiful romance story with a princess in a tower :)

We stopped at Blair Atholl distillery for a tour. 
Fun to see how they make the tasty beverage, despite the fact that none of us are whisky connoisseurs :)

Trying a new whisky. 

Beautiful scenery on the drive.

Our bed & breakfast for the night. Well off the beaten path and chosen specifically for its frequent, wild visitors. 

Pine martens played outside!

Hiked in Glen Nevis. Tons of waterfalls and it didn't rain on us!

Sometimes the small can be as beautiful as the big.

The destination of our hike, but the rest of the rocky and picturesque hike was almost as gorgeous!

Ronda enthusiastically showing off her rock collection that is supposedly 'for a friend'.
We may turn her into a geologist yet! 

Hunting (with a camera) the elusive 'eelin coo' (Highland Cow):

We specifically stopped several places in the highlands that were rumored to have a cow. No luck! We even stopped by the Ben Nevis distillery that was said to have two cows named Ben and Nevis. They had recently passed away and the baby coos were not ready to be on display just yet, so no luck there. On the way to our hike, we were supposed to see tons of them in the valley - No luck again! We had essentially given up hope and were driving home when we saw these cute guys in a field across from a tourist cafe and gift shop! The pouring rain made it a bit tougher, but I guess this is a more natural state for these guys :)

Stirling Castle - The most intact and stunning castle I've seen in Scotland yet. Edinburgh castle is neat, but Stirling feels more like a castle and it's fun to see sections restored to their previous elegance. It definitely gave us a more complete picture of what these castles might have been like when people actually lived in them. 

We picked up an extra member of our group at the castle. 

You'd never know, but we hosted royalty!

My love affair with crenelations continues :)

Doune castle - Famous for its starring roles in Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as the being part of Winterfell in the first episode of Game of Thrones. In honor of its ties to Winterfell, Ronda beheaded me in front of the castle :)  We got here after it closed, so no view inside, but still worth stopping by!

Not long after this trip, our guests headed home and life settled back down to 'normal' - which still includes a walking commute past a castle and amazing history on a daily basis. We absolutely don't take our time here for granted and I can't wait to get out and see more of the country!