Afternoon Tea at The Balmoral

Yesterday Catherine and I went to The Balmoral, a really fancy hotel on Princes Street for Afternoon Tea. I enjoyed getting dressed up and doing something grown up with my sister. It was fun to put on our almost matching blue dresses and do our hair and make up. We were greeted at the door by a man wearing tartan trousers opening the doors for us. It was so exciting to see behind the doors of the hotel I've always seen such fabulous people emerge from. We were led into the palm court and seated on a low chair facing into the room. The greeter laid serviettes on our laps and explained the afternoon tea service to us. We both ordered tea - the Balmoral Blend for me and Darjeeling for Catherine. At first we both felt quite awkward. We were nervous that we'd embarrass ourselves I think. 

We were served the Chef's Amuse Bouche (what a cool name) which was a parsnip and apple soup. It was served in a tiny bowl, poured in front of us from what looked like a little milk jug. It was actually really delicious but at first we worried about how exactly we were supposed to eat it. After watching other people we later determined that we'd done it properly! There was also a waiter wearing a kilt so we really had the Scottish experience. 

The first tiered stand to arrive was the sandwiches. There was roast beef, cucumber, egg salad, cheese, ham and salmon. No haggis, thank goodness! Afterwards we had scones with clotted cream and individual jam pots - blackcurrant (my favourite) and raspberry (my second favourite). There was a selection of cakes - chocolate, shortbread, gingerbread, lemon and caramel. I also had a mousse that was plum and ginger. 

One of the best parts of the experience was that there was a harpist playing from a balcony. At one point he switched to playing Happy Birthday and we all clapped politely as someone's afternoon tea was delivered with a candle. It felt very civilized! 

Of course we made a point of going to the bathrooms and they didn't disappoint! The sinks were amazing - ornate China with a pink floral pattern. There were lots of fun soaps and hand creams and thick towels to dry our hands with. Catherine went first and came back to the table and whispered "Oh my goodness. Just go, Ruth. You have to see this." I really wish I'd taken my camera. 

At the end they gave us two tins of their Balmoral Blend tea to take home and wrapped up our leftovers (we were so full) in the fanciest doggy-bag packaging I have ever seen. 

All in all it was such a fun experience and I'm so glad we got to do it.  

Catherine and I about to enjoy our delicious scones

Shop Til You Drop

On Thursday Rosanna, Molly, Catherine and I went to Banbury. We went shopping in charity shops, the shopping centre and the high street. I ended up buying another bag to be able to pick all of my things in to bring them back to Edinburgh on the train. I acquired quite a few Christmas presents and didn't pack very lightly to begin with! Rosanna, Catherine and I had a coffee in Nero while Molly went to an eye appointment. It was a really nice and relaxing morning. We also found an awesome sweet shop which had rows of pic n' mix which I couldn't resist.

After lunch at home we went to Blenheim Palace to walk around the gardens there. Though I'm not a huge fan of walking it's always really beautiful there. We had good chats and saw some sheep. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no photos!

On Friday us four girls went to Oxford. We went shopping again. There were lots of post-Christmas sales and opportunities to spend Christmas money. I bought some pretty notecards so look out for letters in the new year. We had lunch at Wagamama, a noodle place. I had a vegetarian curry with rice. After we were tired of shopping we stumbled upon a little bookshop which also served tea. We each had our own colourful teapot with our choice of tea. I had Earl Grey Blue Lady in a blue teapot. The best part was that we got to choose what mug we wanted! The bookshop was very charming and when Rosanna and Molly bought books the shop owner wrapped them up in cute wrapping paper.

The next day my mum, Catherine and I boarded the train, Catherine and I to Edinburgh and my mum to Yorkshire to stay with friends. Unfortunately there were some delays probably due to flooding but we made it to Edinburgh only an hour late. We had fun playing cards on the train and looking at the sea.

Holiday Update

I had a really great Christmas this year and I was able to see almost all of my extended family. Our Christmas lunch was delicious as always with lots of sprouts (my favourite), roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sausages wrapped in bacon, turkey and gravy. We had Christmas pudding for dessert with clotted cream, cream and custard. We opened our presents after lunch and Catherine and I acted as the elves passing out the gifts to everyone. I got lots of presents - enough to fill my gym bag. I will have fun trying to take all my stuff back on the train! We played Newmarket in the evening and had some crackers, chutney and cheese. Now you know what a typical Christmas for the Hobbis family looks like!

This is the first time I’ve been down to visit the family since my grandparents moved to their new house. We went over lots to visit them there and they came over for dinner several times during our stay. They live only about a ten minute walk from my aunt. Their new house is really nice and it was good to see some of their familiar belongings around the new place. Millie, their black lab, seems to like the house too and she is enjoying going for walks with her new dog walker. My dad and Uncle Peter took her out for two walks on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. At one point they had to lift her over a stile (and she’s not light)! On one of the days we went to the Lord Nelson’s Arms for a pub lunch. I had the Ploughman’s lunch – a spread of apple slices, baguette, cheddar cheese, chutney and salad. It was really good but required a lot of assembling!

I’ve been having fun spending time with my canine relatives – Bryn, Grace, Rosie, Millie, Ted and Florence. I’ve got more dog cousins than human cousins! Rosie is a year and a half and very playful. She loves to play fetch with her rubber ring or tennis ball and will bring it to you over and over again. I’ve never met a dog that has wanted to play with me so much. It is nice to be in a house with a cat now after so many dogs! I think everyone knows I'm a cat person at heart!

We just left Somerset where we stayed with my Uncle Keith and Jan for three nights. We visited Auntie Elsie and John on the way there. Auntie Elsie always prepares a delicious spread of all my favourite English foods and she gave us lovely presents. This year we gave her a homemade calendar of photos of the family. We had dinner in the village with Uncle Keith and Jan on the first night and I had the usual - ham, egg and chips. One year they didn't have any left and it was so sad! Every year since we joke about reserving it for me. One of the days my family went into town and Catherine and I had a coffee in a little cafe and shopped while my parents visited with friends. We also made our traditional trip to the arcades to bet on the 2 penny machines. We went round the village where my Uncle Keith and Jan live, going in all the little shops. Jan has a cafe there and an artisan bakery. We also went to check out my grandad's old house and to place some flowers on his and my grandma's graves in the cemetery in the village. It's always a sad thing to do but it's important to remember them at Christmas. 

My family and I are now in my hometown staying with family friends Penny, Fernando, Rosanna, Molly and their cat Betty. We arrived yesterday and went on a walk around the village. It has been ten years since I have lived here and some things I didn't recognize at first. For New Year's Eve us four girls went down to the park with a blanket, some grapes and a bottle of champagne. We rang in the New Year by eating one grape for every strike of the church bells on the hour and sipping champagne from the bottle - very classy! It was a lot of fun and we stayed out gossiping under the stars and watching the fireworks.

Today I had a productive morning working on my Psycholinguistics paper and then a lazy afternoon watching TV and playing a board game. Tomorrow we plan on going into town and on a walk and then on Friday we are going to Oxford. My dad has gone back to Atlanta now but my mum, Catherine and I take the train on the 4th. My mum is heading up to Yorkshire to stay with friends and Catherine will be staying with me in Edinburgh. I'll keep you updated!

Parental Visit to Edinburgh

I am writing this post from my Auntie Joanne and Uncle Neil's house in England. I'm about to start work on my paper that I have to write over the holidays but I thought I'd write this blog post first to ease myself into the work!

My parents arrived in Edinburgh about an hour or so after my final exam. I met up with them at their B&B and took them to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I'd been there twice before - once with my Auntie Valerie and Uncle Adrian and once on my birthday. My mum and I both had the lasagna and my dad had spaghetti bolognese - nice, comforting food after their long day! Afterwards I showed them around my house and they met one of my housemates, Emma. They were quite tired from their flight and so they went to bed after that. I stayed up and celebrated the end of exams with my flat and friends playing a game and drinking wine. It was fun to do that right before everyone left for the break.

The next day I took my parents up Arthur's Seat. It was pretty tiring to be honest, especially because it was very cold and VERY windy. We made it up there though and enjoyed the scenery. I think my parents enjoyed being able to see the Firth of Forth from the top.

Snow capped mountains

We stopped for a nice lunch in Elaine's Cuppa Cake which was very quaint with tea pots with knitted tea cozies and Victoria Sponge cake.This revived us and so we headed off down Nicholson to the Royal Mile. We bought me one of my Christmas presents (a Black Watch tartan scarf) and went in lots of tartan/tweed shops. We stopped in at St. Giles Cathedral which was stunning. A girls' choir was practicing and there was a big Christmas tree. We walked up to the top of the Royal Mile to where the castle is. I took lots of photos and we went through the first gate and into the gift shop but couldn't be bothered to pay the extortionate fee to go inside. As Emma says, "it's just like every other castle really". And there are plenty of castles in Britain! After the castle we went down to the Christmas Market to do a little shopping. All three of us went on the carousel which brought back the child in each of us I think! We were thoroughly exhausted at this point as we had walked a long way and were chilled to the bone. We stopped in at Starbucks for a hot chocolate before heading back home. We split up for an hour or two and then met up again for dinner. We tried to go to the Golf Tavern but it was too busy and everywhere else turned us away too so we ended up at the Best Western brasserie. I had the special which was Turkey and all the trimmings followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding, yum!

Old College

The next day we weren't sure what to do as we had covered so much ground the day before. We decided to walk through the Meadows and go to Greyfriar's Kirkyard, the Grassmarket (which my parents loved) and back to Princes Street to finish our Christmas shopping. After that we stopped in at the Museum of Scotland. My mum and I walked around the Scottish history exhibits which were pretty interesting. They had a display on Scots in Canada which was cool. My favourite part though was a video of different people from Scotland talking about their favourite Scottish food, slang and what they think Scots are best known for. That night we had an Indian meal for dinner which was delicious. Apparently there had been construction work outside that day and so they couldn't offer us any water because it was not working. And they brought us a giant naan bread!

We left Edinburgh on Saturday and drove to my Auntie Valerie and Uncle Adrian's house in Yorkshire. We went out to the pub with them and I had butternut squash risotto. Back at the house we had not one but two desserts - an apple strudel and a chocolate cheesecake. My parents and aunt and uncle sipped on whisky in the evening and we sat in front of the fire. Also there was their dog Bryn who I bonded with. My bed that night was super comfy and the duvet was so heavy and warm - it was awesome.

Now we are at Auntie Joanne and Uncle Neil's after another day of driving, the highlight of which was seeing a double rainbow! Catherine was already here having arrived almost a week ago to spend time with the family and to help with preparations for Christmas. I have been enjoying playing with Rosie and Grace the dogs.

Christmas Is Coming...

Exam season is upon us all here at the University of Edinburgh (and back home at Queen's too). So far I have had one exam and I have noticed a few differences.

1. We have assigned seating which means no more filling in endless bubbles on scantron sheets
2. We have less time. My exams are either one or two hours whereas usually they are three hours.
3. They are worth more. My lowest value exam is worth 50% of my mark and my highest is worth 100% of my mark. At home mine usually range from 20%-40%.

I have three exams and an essay. Social Psychology I already took and I think it went OK. Next Monday is Psychology Methodology 1 and I am very nervous about it! On Wednesday is Perception and then I am finished --- apart from a paper worth 100% I must write over the break, boo! Scottish Literature's exam is not until next year. On the topic of courses I have also finalized my schedule for next semester. I am taking Scottish Literature (part 2), Psychology Methodology 2, Social Work (it has lots of guest lecturers talking about their jobs which I'm excited about) and the Psychology Group Project. I'll be doing it on the topic of Space Coding in Touch. I will design an experiment and write up a report with a group of other students. I'm hoping it will help prep me for my thesis next year.

Despite exams it has not been all work and no play for me. I saw my friend Shannon last week to say goodbye to her before she went home for the holidays. We watched Brave New World and shared some snacks and talked about what it would be like going home. I won't be going home until June but I am missing my friends and Kingston now. It would have been nice to see them over Christmas but I'm really looking forward to having my parents and sister visit me in Edinburgh and seeing the extended family in England.

I have also been to the Edinburgh Christmas Market downtown on Princes Street. The stalls are amazing - Dutch pastries, Gluhwein, crepes, mulled cider and lots of homemade crafts. I went once with Erin, Puck and Amelia and we got mulled wine and watched the ice skaters trying to navigate the ice rink (they were not very good and my expert Canadian opinion said that the ice really needed zamboni-ing). There's a big ride that goes really high in the air and then spins you around. I was too chicken to go on it but Amelia and I watched Puck and Erin go on it. I went to the market a second time with Aidan and we had crepes, sampled some German chocolates and went on the "Big Wheel" ferris wheel which was absolutely terrifying. I love the market and definitely want to go again soon. It's open until sometime early January so I'll be able to take my family!

Puck, Erin, Amelia, Aidan, Joe, Tom and I all organized a Christmas Dinner together to help alleviate exam stress. We all contributed to the meal and we ate a splendid array of turkey, ham, bacon wrapped sausages, stuffing, roast potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, key lime pie and mince pies as well as lots of alcohol. It was delicious and I was so impressed by everyone's cooking. Sadly we were too full to cook the Christmas Pudding as well. Of course we had Christmas crackers with the usual corny jokes and hats. It was interesting to watch Aidan experience British Christmas as I understand they do things differently in the States. My family and I have always celebrated Christmas this way, even when we had it in Canada. It was fun teaching him that crackers are not actually "crackers" and that mince pies do not have meat in them. After the meal we had games and a Christmas Quiz created by Aidan who was in charge of entertainment. We did an egg toss (I dropped the egg AND managed to get it onto the carpet despite us laying down newspaper beforehand) and a game where you had to eat a doughnut off a piece of string. It was so much fun and really got me in the mood for December 25th!

On Monday night, to celebrate my first exam being over Aidan and I went out to have a few drinks. We did a bit of a pub crawl (Greenmantle, The Blind Poet and Southsider) and stumbled upon a Poetry Slam at The Blind Poet. It was actually really awesome and so sad that I discovered it when it was the last one of the year. The guy that went last said there will be a new slam starting in Teviot, the student union, next year once a month so I will definitely be going to that! It was really interesting to hear people reading/performing their poems. There were a lot of Christmas themed ones, some funny poems, some with a political message and some really deep poems. I really enjoyed it!

No exciting plans for the future at the moment, just trying to get through my next two exams!

Wind Band Christmas Concert

Happy St. Andrew's Day!

Classes are officially over and the study period has begun. I am just finishing up my final assignment, a close reading of 'The Piano Tuner' by Valerie Gillies, for Scottish Literature before starting my rigorous study schedule! My final class of the semester was my Scottish Literature tutorial on Thursday. We sat in our tiny room on the 3rd floor and discussed poetry over bottles of red and white wine provided by our tutorial leader and stopped part way through to admire the beautiful sunset (note: this was between 3 and 4 pm). I've heard of 'write drunk, edit sober' but I wonder what they say about when analyzing poetry? Discussion flowed much more easily thanks to the wine and I left in high spirits, especially because the sun was still setting in beautiful pink and orange as I walked home through The Meadows.

This is where I have tutorial every Thursday
Source: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-28390-buccleuch-place-23-25-/photos

Yesterday I went to Black Medicine Coffee Co with Debra to do work. It was really nice to catch up with her. I wasn't hugely productive, I admit but I did get some work done. I also ordered a delicious fruit scone and when it came to the table I swear the man said "Your scone, Ma'am". This was my first visit to Black Medicine and I am now so disappointed I hadn't gone earlier. It looks tiny from the outside and don't get me wrong it is small but there are two floors of wooden tables with wooden benches, mismatching chairs and stools. The hot chocolate was really nice and all the drinks came with a little biscuit. This may be my new study spot because the best thing about it was that there were loads of outlets!

Fruit scone, butter and jam from Black Medicine Coffee Co
Source: http://www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk/uk/the-black-medicine-coffee-co-e/

I made a vegetarian chili for dinner which was successful apart from not being spicy enough for my liking. Note to self: add more chili powder next time! Afterwards I went with Erin, Joe, Puck and Puck's mother to see Amelia play her saxophone in the University of Edinburgh Wind Band Christmas Concert. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed the music. Highlights for me were Troika and the The Blue and the Gray by Clare Grundman which had in it the tune my home university, Queen's, uses for our school song. When I heard the tune I felt a surge of Queen's pride and felt ever so slightly compelled to get up and do the dance and sing the lyrics. This isn't surprising as it's so ingrained in us to do so at Queen's, any time you see the signal - someone raising their hand in the air and making circles with their index finger.

Here is a video of Queen's students performing the song (and dance) this year on Move In Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X637140Vy

After the concert we went to Teviot, the Student Union, and we ordered Winter Warmers from The Library Bar. Amelia and I had mulled cider and Erin had a Hot Toddy. I am definitely getting into the Christmas mood, even though it's not quite December yet! The flat is going to the Christmas Market tomorrow so I'm getting really excited! I'll take my camera, promise!

Amsterdam

This weekend I went to Amsterdam and if I were to sum up the weekend I would say that it was absolutely incredible. Amsterdam is such a beautiful city and I had such a great time! We arrived on Friday in the early afternoon and happened upon a Christmas Market just outside the train station. We were feeling pretty peckish so we took advantage of the big barbecue and had a Bratwurst each and a little later an Appelbollen. Obviously both of these were delicious and all of the stalls put me in a very Christmassy mood. We walked around quite a lot because we couldn't find our hostel but I didn't mind because we got to see lots of the city and take some classic canal photos. After successfully finding the canal we wandered around Dam Square and went to the Anne Frank Huis. I thought it was incredibly interesting and moving to be able to walk where she walked, see the posters she put up still there and see the actual pages of her diary. That evening we sampled Amstel and Heineken in a little pub before going to the Ice Bar. The ice bar was unfortunately a major disappointment. It was a bar with ice sculptures and drinks in glasses made of ice and we had to put on coats and gloves since it was -10 in the bar (not so shocking to a Canadian). That was all OK but the 'show' which they played up a lot was a 3D movie more suitable for children. The first night in the hostel was OK but not great. We had a 6-person room but we had it to ourselves which was good. In the early hours of the morning we had the joy of listening to a guy throwing up loudly and repeatedly in the toilet just outside our room and when I went to the bathroom later his sick was all over the floor and toilet seat. Lovely!

The next day we had a delightful breakfast in a little cafe. We chose a seat in the corner overlooking the street and had coffee, a stroopwafel and a ham and cheese frittata. We took a canal cruise that day which was amazing. The views of the streets and bridges were great. There was an audio tour hosted by a couple who had lived in Amsterdam for 60 years. I'm not sure if they were real or not but their banter was incredibly cheesy. After the tour we went to the Heineken Experience. It was cool to learn how beer is made and there was a fun ride which took us through the process of being made into beer by heating us, throwing water at us and pushing us around. We tried to go to the Van Gogh museum but sadly it was closed. That night we had a great meal at a steak restaurant called De Nachtwacht. The steak was amazing - the best I've ever had and it came with a baked potato, fruit, pepper sauce and garlic sauce. That night in the hostel was unfortunately even worse than the night before. There was a kerfuffle coming from across the hall and it turned out there was a man in one of the beds that wasn't supposed to be there and he was with a prostitute. They got kicked out after lots of shouting but it was pretty scary! A bit later two Spanish guys came in to sleep in our room which was fine, they turned off the light pretty quickly. But just as I had fallen asleep a man from the hostel came in and started shouting at one of the Spanish guys saying that he was in the wrong bed. There was a lot of communication problems going on between the man (who was speaking English) and the Spanish traveller but eventually it got sorted and I managed to get some sleep.

Other than the hostel issues, the trip was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed it and I think Amsterdam is a beautiful city. I hope I can go back there some day. Now it's back to reality and I've got a stats assignment due Thursday that means I've spent the last two days in the library. Exams are coming up as well which is daunting but at least it means that Christmas is soon! The Christmas market in Amsterdam really got me in the holiday mood! The Edinburgh Christmas Market on Princes Street opened last weekend and I'm planning to go sometime this weekend!