Cooking!

A certain friend of mine who knew I suck at cooking (or rather, finding recipes) mailed me a cookbook. Cough cough Evren, what a godsend. Not that I've actually used the book yet, but I've definitely been inspired to stop attempting to throw different flavors together randomly. Now I'm on to cooking things that taste good!

While these obviously aren't complex, I still think they're tasty and I wanted to brag.

Oh and this past weekend, I went to Inverness and Loch Ness (the Scottish Highlands!). I'll write a post on that soon. Pictures to come!

Matt visits!

This past weekend was Haverford's Spring Break so my friend Matt visited me for the majority of the week. It was an incredible visit on so many levels. This gave me an excuse to see all of the touristy sites I hadn't gotten around to yet and I finally got to experience meals out. So tasty! HOWEVER, as he eventually informed me, Matt's family has a vacation curse where they inevitably travel to new places during the worst weather. This week was no exception. I decided to show him my favorite parts of the city and naturally, all involve significant walking. During our climb to the top of Arthur's Seat, we were barraged with heavy hail and high winds (which led me to completely wipe out on my way down the mountain), rain while we were out shopping, intense (& cold!) wind at Edinburgh Castle, and more rain when we were visiting other various high vantage points. Just our luck, right? I was so excited when the sun came out but I think that just jinxed us more. 

Otherwise it was an absolutely fabulous trip. Can't begin to explain it. 

Here are some pictures that I took this week. Sadly I only took about 15, which is surprising since I went so many places I hadn't before. It's the memories that count though. Please note the precipitation and disgustingly gray clouds...

The peak of Arthur's Seat

One view from Arthur's Seat

At the top of Arthur's Seat- but sadly, very little view due to weather.

 And of course another view of the castle from below. One can never take too many castle pictures apparently.

Edinburgh Castle (from the Grassmarket)

The only picture of us together?

That's about all I have to report for today. Hm, but actually, some of my friends and I just decided spur the moment that we're going up to Inverness (the Scottish Highlands) for the weekend! That should be fun. The bus up is really cheap so we figured why not?!

Exciting news! I now know who I'll be doing my senior research with! Second choice isn't too shabby. And it looks like we've got the potential to have an amazing year...

"In October, Wilson, a biologist whose research uses fossil plants to reconstruct environmental history, was awarded a $49,000 matching grant from the Li-Cor Bioscience Environmental Education Fund to buy a portable infrared gas analyzer, which measures rates of photosynthesis."

http://www.haverford.edu/news/stories/57981/51

Watch out world. For the year I'm a plant biologist.

London & Amsterdam

It seems as though I've gone M.I.A. for a while. The past week was spent visiting my friend Sydney from Haverford in London then traveling with some Haverford girls to Amsterdam. It was an absolutely lovely time and I have hundreds of pictures to prove it. For example,

However, I'm going to change things up here and only go overboard with pictures that stand out to me. Mainly, what made the city special in my eyes. Sadly, I didn't really take that many pictures in London (that are atypical from the tourist shots), but Amsterdam has a few gems. 

However, I was super happy to get back to Edinburgh. I mean, come on. Who doesn't love a city that looks like this?

Carlton Hill

Sorry this post is super lame, but at the moment I'm pretty talked out about my trip. Eventually I'll put up little anecdotes about the cool cultural experiences from my trip. For now, enjoy the selected pictures.

Favorite parts of the trip-
1. Tea time with Earl Grey tea and cupcakes
2. Viewing Seurat's Bathers at Asnières in the National Gallery (London)
3. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
4. Amsterdam's bike culture
(and of course...)
5. Seeing Sydney!

Happy Birthday!

Also, happy birthday Mimi! Hope you're having a lovely day. I know you read this, so here's my transatlantic birthday wish to you. Love you! (PS Thanks for all of the cards, I love getting mail!)

1. I love dinner parties. (My cooking skills are significantly improving.)

2. Britain's Got Talent was literally outside my flat building today. Auditions were being held in the Festival Theatre, which is directly next to mine. The crowds (and noise) were a nice surprise...

National Museum

I went to the National Museum of Scotland today. It's pretty cool, although rather eclectic. I guess I'm just used to a more specialized museum since I only frequent the Franklin Institute back home. Regardless, it was a good experience. Each room seemed to remind me of the passions that I sometimes I forget I possess: rocks and minerals, heavenly bodies, Egypt and mummies, etc. I can't begin to explain how excited I was when I got to the geode section. The last picture of the amethyst- OH. MY. GOD. I fell in love. Directly behind the amethyst was a huge display of hundreds of different petrifications and minerals. I could have stared at that one display for an hour easily. And of course, they opened a mummy exhibit so I was in heaven. (Sadly though I didn't go- the exhibit wasn't free and I didn't have any money on me).

Oh museums, how you entertain me. I'm so excitable.