A Relaxing Weekend

This morning one of our mothers emailed us a link to the Fife Coastal Walk, so I thought I should add this exciting photograph of St. Andrews taken from the section of the walk nearest our home (which, ironically, is the section she found to link). Our house is roughly thirty feet or so from the path (I may exaggerate slightly, but not much), or at least from the entrance to it. My goal a year ago was to hike the entire path from end to end (a little over ninety miles, I think), but I ended up merely hiking the eight mile stretch nearest St. Andrews many times over (it was hard to get much farther without busses and other complicated mechanisms). This year, we've brought our camping gear and might be able to manage some longer weekend excursions.

At any rate, we spent our Saturday morning shopping in town and then took a stroll on the Coastal Walk in a southern direction, but headed back quickly as the Swing Dance Society was hosting a barbecue on the beach. Our evening included eating good Scottish beef burgers, watching an undergraduate try to cycle on the beach (photo below), and dancing on the sand at the edge of the North Sea as the sun set. As always, the most fun occasions never get photographed, so I have no images of this wonderfully romantic incident--but it was magical.

The cyclist:


Today we attended church in Holy Trinity Church, located in the town center. The church is famous for having hosted John Knox in its pulpit. I took this photo of the outside of the church last December, so it's a little less grey and misty in these sunny September days.

Settling in . . .

Today I had a cosy morning curled up on the couch with a mug of cocoa (and, of course, my laptop). We've had a busy week thus far. Isaac has been peddling resumes about town, and had an interview of sorts this afternoon (at one of my favourite coffee shops, hurray!). I spent the better parts of Monday and Tuesday slogging through recent journal articles and enjoyed a day off yesterday for a "welcome to graduate school, O English students" seminar that lasted all day and included a free lunch and was followed by a wine and nibbles reception (the nibbles were leftovers from the lunch and thus seemed rather substantial indeed). Today I spent what seemed like hours in lines to matriculate, an endeavor which was fraught with complications (I left my visa at the flat and poor Isaac had to dash back to retrieve it, my ID card went absent due to lack of photo even though when I went to be photographed they found a photo in my account, and--the best part--the individual who will be changing my name on paper next week, who was in the registration building today, asked me to get the registrar to verify my certified copy and fax it to him. Ah, administration. I also stood in the "health services" line for twenty minutes, as required, only to find out that I'm still enrolled (hurray--no paperwork) and Isaac, as a non-student, can't be enrolled at matriculation). I do, however, have an ID card now, although it doesn't (yet) work in the buildings I wish to enter. Ah well. Tomorrow I'm attending an all-day seminar on how to be a productive researcher, and then will eventually have a chance to return to research. Eventually.

I'm really in love with my research, as well as the amazing staff and my fellow students I've met (or seen again) at English department gatherings recently. I am truly blessed to have the most amazing supervisor and a wonderful second supervisor as well. Our flat is gorgeous and the sea is amazing. We wish you would all come visit.

And, as a special treat, our flat (please note the flowers and champagne from our landlords and the supper Isaac so carefully prepared).

Seventeen thousand words . . . or the equivalent thereof . . .

Behold, I give you the photos that should have accompanied yesterday's post, but didn't because I am lazy.

First, a last photograph of our old apartment in Albuquerque. Here you can see the wonderful water slide I fashioned for the water dripping happily from our ceiling. We are so glad that we no longer live there!


I didn't take many photographs of our cross-country drive, but snapped this photograph of New York as our ship left the port.


After the embarkation party, we wandered down to our room, where we found this lovely bottle of champagne awaiting our discriminating tastes.


Each night, while we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner in the main dining room, our steward would enter our room to turn down the sheets, rearrange the pillows, and turn on the lamps. You can also see, at the foot of the bed, our abbreviated newspapers, the schedule for the following day, the room service breakfast menu, and two small chocolates.


We spent a great deal of time on the deck of the ship. This is a view of the wake the ship left behind herself.


Our ship had a lovely theatre and gave the interested public a tour on one of the last mornings.


Isaac decided to try his hand at a table tennis competition.


Afternoon tea was held in this lovely room every afternoon, and accompanied by a variety of skilled musicians. Below that photo is a close-up of a chandelier, secured, quite practically indeed, by four guy wires.



One of the most amazing parts of our cruise was the wonderful, wonderful food. In the first photo is a seafood plate I assembled at one of the four buffets during one lunchtime. Below that is mango panna cotta, a dessert Isaac particularly enjoyed, from one of the other buffets. The lovely ice sculpture is one lone example of the beautiful decorations the buffets used for their culinary displays (most of the other decorations were created entirely out of food).



Finally, a photograph of Isaac at dinner on our last formal night. He is in the process of selecting a wine for the evening and has a plate of lobster and shrimp before him (I chose duck instead).


The sunset was beautiful during our last night aboard, but my photo doesn't do it justice.


Here's a photo of Isaac trying to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before our 6.30 a.m. breakfast shortly after the boat docked in Southampton.


From our time in London:

Above, a set of buskers play at the Covent Garden Market. Note that the cellists have their instruments hooked onto their shoulders! Below, the view of London from the cafe at the top of the Tate Modern art museum, where Isaac and I had afternoon tea.

Back to Blogging (yet again!)

Greetings, friends and family! I write from a comfortable couch in our new home, which, ironically, was also my home for a few months about a year ago, when I was finishing my M.Litt. Isaac and I have had an exciting trip to this new home, and are looking forward to a wonderful year abroad, which (if we can manage to keep this blog updated from time to time) we would dearly love to share with all of you, our friends from around the world. Stay tuned--and feel free to nudge us over email or Skype or Facebook if you feel you're missing out too much on our lives.

We left our last home, in the high desert, at the end of August shortly after several days of pouring rain had turned our ceiling into a sieve--and done something similar to our floor, to the consternation of our downstairs neighbor. We had lots of help from our desert friends, and managed to squeeze most of our belongings into a small storage space and eight bursting suitcases before we spent a week driving cross-country, visiting friends in Oklahoma and family in Illinois, Ohio, and Maryland along the way. After three days spent visiting old friends and consolidating the contents of eight bags into six, we headed up to New York City, and eventually sailed east on the beautiful ocean liner Queen Mary II. Six nights of luxury later, we docked in Southampton, traveled to London, and spent a few days sightseeing (and dodging raindrops). Eventually we ventured north to Edinburgh and St. Andrews, where we were greeted by old friends and set up our home in this beautiful flat a few hundred yards from the North Sea.

Actually, we've not had to "set up" much: our flat is fully furnished, from the brand new double bed down to curtains, cutlery, and even towels and soap. Our landlords even put flowers in the living room an master bedroom, compiled a basket of jams and oatcakes (one of my favourite Scottish delicacies), and stocked the kitchen with milk, orange juice, bread, and fruit. We've been thoroughly blessed to have been blessed with this beautiful home!

I realise that's a terse summary, but could probably manage to elaborate on aspects of the trip in the near future, should I be asked. Isaac and I send love to you all--and please come visit!