They really do drive on the wrong side of the road!

The week after my trip to Russia, I headed to the United Kingdom to visit friends and see how the Brits do it. First stop: London, England to visit Nina.

Nina has been in London the whole semester and so I got to see her flat and get shown around the city that she has come to love by a very knowledgeable tour guide.

Nina picked me up at the airport Sunday afternoon and we took the Picadilly line all the way to Holborn, which is the tube stop by Nina’s house.   I immediately loved London as soon as we stepped off the tube – the sun was shining, and Nina lives in a really cute neighborhood with shops and a park right nearby.  There were also big red double decker buses and red telephone booths everywhere! I thought these only existed when London was portrayed in the movies, but they’re real! I even saw someone using one of the phones, and we took a double decker.

Our first day in London we saw a whirlwind of famous tourist sights.  We walked from Nina’s flat in Bloomsbury to Covent Gardens and from there to Trafallagar square.  We took pictures with the lion status and noted the number of days until the London olympics on the giant counter that they have in the square.  Trafallagar was full of teenagers and young people milling around, I loved the scene.

From Trafallagar square we walked to Big Ben and Parliament – what a sight! It was just like in the postcards. Even though Big Ben is touristy I really enjoy seeing it. It’s not as tall as one might think, but impressive nonetheless.  We opted not to spend the time and money to get into Westminster Abby but we took the obligatory tourist picture outside instead.

Posing with the lions at Trafalgar Square

Big Ben and Parliament

From Parliament we headed across the Thames, saw the London eye, and grabbed lunch at a restaurant along the water.  We followed the Thames to the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern.  We saw the exhibit that was featured at the Tate modern – it was a huge pile of porcelain sunflower seeds done by a Chinese artist.  The explanation was fascinating – it talked about how the sunflower seeds represent individuality and yet they are all identical, reality but yet they are actually made out of porcelain, and China's economy and labor market.

From the Tate Modern we crossed the millennium bridge, saw St.Paul’s Cathedral, and then popped on the tube to Piccadilly Circus to check it out.

The view from the Tate Modern

That evening was the first night of Passover.  We usually celebrate by having a big Seder with our family but since we couldn’t be home this year we did the next best thing – a seder via skype! We did a little Passover shopping (luckily London has a big enough Jewish population to have small Passover aisle in the supermarket) and picked up some gefilte fish, horseradish, apples, nuts and grape juice, and of course matzo! We prepared a delicious chicken dinner, pulled out our Kahal B’raira Hagaddah, and skyped with the parents! I have to say, it was the epitome of Eichner-Maged family cuteness. We didn’t go through the whole hagaddah as it is rather long and the skype connection kept getting lost, but we sung our favorite songs, asked the four questions and munched on hillell sandwiches. It was a really sweet variation to our traditional Passover celebration, I was glad that I could be with family for Passover.

All ready for our skype seder

On Tuesday we went to the Tower on London. Despite the 15 pound entrance fee, it was fun to see this historic sight where so many famous Brits have been beheaded.  We got a tour from a jolly old man, who informed us that tour guides at the tour of London are not just any old employees but they have to have served many years of military service and live there in the castle.  We also saw the British crown jewels, which, even though I love the Danish royalty, are far more impressive than the two crowns that Rosenborg castle houses.  My favorite part was the moving walkway that takes you past the Jewels –so you can’t wait too fast or too slow but at juuuust the right speed. 

After tower of London we jetted over to King’s Cross station to take our picture, as so many Harry Potter fans before us have, at the legendary platform 9 ¾.  We got to the station and didn’t know exactly where to go but had heard that the place to take our picture wasn’t actually between the real platforms 9 and 10.  So, naturally since Nina’s friend John and I were to embarrassed to ask, we made Nina ask an employee at the station where 9 ¾ was.  She approached him and began, “I have a kind of embarrassing question but…” and he immediately interjected “Harry Potter? Platform 9 ¾?” Clearly we were not the first tourists to make this same inquiry.  Platform 9 ¾ is actually just a fake brick wall labeled “Platform 9 ¾” with half of a luggage cart sticking out of the wall. Cheesy Harry Potter sight #1, check.

Heading to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4

Wednesday we decided to do some good old London shopping, so we hit up Oxford Street.  First we stopped in Hyde Park and got some ice cream. Then went to PRIMARK! If you don’t know what Primark is, it’s a clothing store with chic clothing and delectable prices.  It is also a mad house.  We went at noon on a Wednesday and the place was packed with fellow bargain-hunters.  We had to squeeze past other people, wait a half hour in line for the dressing rooms, but it was worth it for a beautiful 8 pound sun dress, 10 pound pair of shorts and a 2 pound t-shirt.  What a success.

I was sad to only have 3 days in London, I definitely could have used more time to see the whole city.  It was a beautiful city that sparkled in the sunlight, full of famous landmarks, parks and lively people.  It was great to see Nina (we hadn’t seen each other since January!) and be in her city for three days.

Thursday morning I took a nine hour bus ride from Victoria Coach station in London to Edinburgh.  I had never taken a bus that long but it was actually fairly pleasant.  I had stocked up on glee and west wing episodes on my ipod and before I knew it we were in Edinburgh! Sydney and her boyfriend Alastair (a real live Scot!) picked me up from the bus station. Sydney is a graduate student at University of Edinburgh and lives in student housing there.  Her dorm is located really close to the center of Edinburgh so everything was within walking distance.  Sydney has planned a full agenda for me packed full of three days of fun activities and Scottish experiences to see the real Edinburgh.  Our first morning we got breakfast at Elephant and Bagels, a delicious bagel restaurant very close to the university campus. There is nothing I love me more than a good bagel with lox, yum!  Then we went to the Edinburgh castle and got a guided tour. Unfortunately it was an extremely foggy day so we couldn’t get the typically beautiful view that the castle provides.  We couldn’t even see the top half of the castle standing at the base of it! It would have been nice to see the view, but Sydney assured me that this was authentic Edinburgh weather.  I was glad to be getting the real experience. Friday afternoon we ate lunch at the Elephant House, the cozy café in Edinburgh that has become famous as the spot where JK Rowling wrote the first bits of the Harry Potter novels.  There is a view of the Edinburgh castle and adoring Harry Potter fans have covered the walls of the bathrooms with HP-themed graffiti such as “Headwig forever”, “I love you JK” and “Not my daughter, you bitch!” Harry Potter cheesy landmark #2, check. At this meal I also tried Ironbru, a really popular and quintessentially Scotish drink.  As Sydney accurately described it, it’s a cross of fanta and bubblegum, heavy on the bubblegum. It is sickeningly sweet, and I don’t think I could have drunk more than a can of it, but I was glad to try my first of what would be many Scotish cuisine icons.

After lunch Sydney’s friends were playing a game of American football so we went along to join. I consider myself somewhat of a football idiot, as I can’t even explain the full rules of an American football game, but I did remember how to throw a ball from playing with my dad many, many years ago. We tossed the football around some and then began playing. Although I didn’t make any glorious touch downs I did manage to quite impressively slip and fall on several occasions, creating quite a rip in the knees of my jeans along with some sizeable grass stains and scrapes. I think it made me look tough.  We stopped part way through the game for a beer break and while Sydney was tossing the football around with her friends all of a sudden, as the ball was leaving her hands, it suddenly exploded! The leather ripped apart as the hard plastic that is inside blew up with air.  It was like nothing any of us had ever seen before and Sydney was kind of shocked at what had just occurred in her hands.  Deciding to make the best of the situation, we took our newly lopsided and oddly shaped ball and play kickball instead! No harm no foul.

After football/kickball, Sydney and I went to climb Arthur’s seat, a small peak on the large crags that overlook Edinburgh. Our plans were foiled when we began to walk and realize that it was too cloudy to enjoy any of the panoramic view that one gets from the seat. It was so foggy that standing at the base of a huge mountain range I couldn’t even see what was 50 feet in front of me.  Sydney had to keep reassuring me that there was indeed a great view of the mountain out her window.  That evening we were scheduled for a ghost tour, but not before taking part in another one of Scotland’s culinary traditions – a deep fried Mars bar. It sounds disgusting, and yes the concept of frying a candy bar is surely the epitome of gluttony, but it is actually quite delicious.  The hot batter melts the Mars bar so it is gooey and chocolaty.  The whole thing gets stuck in your teeth and sits in your stomach in a horribly delicious way that only a guilty pleasure like a fried candy bar can. 

Our ghost tour that evening was thoroughly spooky and thoroughly entertaining.  We were led through the streets of Edinburgh, their eeryness enhanced by the thick fog, being told ghost stories about Edinburgh’s past. The tour ended in the underground vaults that run underneath the city.  This tour company, Mercat tours, started to excavate the vaults when they were found in 1996 as a place to tell ghost stories but since they began bringing tour groups down to the vaults spooky occurrences have started happening.  He had lots of good stories to tell us about tour participants who felt drafts on the back of their neck and flashlights that went out and the supposed ghostly residents who are responsible for them.

After a packed first day in Edinburgh, we started our second day by walking down the Royal Mile and ending at the Scotish parliament. The parliament building is a modern design and looks nothing like the rest of the buildings in the city. We took a tour and learned about the architecture.  It’s one of those buildings where the tour guide explained many times that if we just squinted at something hard enough, we really would see that this wall design, or that lamp, or this ceiling, really did look like an eye, or a fish, or a boat. There were these designs on the wall of the parliament chamber that were perfectly clearly whisky bottles.  But no, our tour guide reassured us, they were really the artistically drawn outlines of human beings, represented that this was the government chamber that represented the people. It was interesting to learn about the Scottish parliament and what powers it has vis a vis the parliament in London. 

In the Scotish Parliament chamber

After parliament we went to Calton Hill, another peak in Edinburgh where there are several monuments and a view of the city.  It was still a little cloudy, but I was able to get a view of the city and climb some of the monuments.  Edinburgh is one of those cities that kind of looks amazing no matter what.  The buildings are old, rustic looking, whether they are steeped in fog or when it’s sunny they look medieval and charming. 

I had been wanting to try Haggis, the (perhaps not officially but for all purposes) national dish of Scotland. Saturday night we went to Greyfrias Bobby, a Scottish pub that was named after a Scotty dog, Bobby, who was renowned for this loyalty after he sat by his owner’s grave for 16 years after his owner died.  Hagis is certainly an interesting taste.  The full, traditional meal is Haggis, neeps and tatties, which is Haggis, ground up meat innards, mashed turnips and mashed potatoes.  I won’t tell you exactly what type of meat it is, Sydney didn’t tell me until after I had tried it, but I thought it was quite tasty. 

Sunday was my last day in Edinburgh and the sunny blue skies that had been hiding all weekend were suddenly there! I could see Arthur’s seat perfectly out of Sydney’s window and so we headed to climb it.  It was Easter Sunday and there were tons of families having picnics and climbing up the crags.  The mountains in Edinburgh are absolutely beautiful, and the view from the top is breathtaking.  You can see the entire city – the castle, the royal mile, Caulton hill, parliament.  We took lots of top of the world shots and took in beautiful Scotland.  I appreciated the authenticity of the rain and fog all weekend but I sure was glad to get unrelenting sunshine the last day.  Sydney was an incredible host, planning fun, Scotish events all weekend. I had a great time! Sydney absolutely loves Edinburgh as her adopted city and it was an absolute joy to see that love shine through in everything she showed me.

Me and Sydney on the top of the crags