Edinburgh Castle

Yesterday Luke and I finally had the chance to visit the Edinburgh Castle.  The castle sits on top of an extinct volcano.  It's easy to understand why the Scots decided to build this fortress here because you would need a lot of luck to storm this castle.

We didn't take these yesterday (they were taken at the beginning of September when I first arrived), but they might give you a better idea of where this castle sits.

Now that you've seen the outside, lets go inside the castle walls.  I would have to say that Edinburgh Castle is definitely not my favorite that we've been to.  Because it's in the capital, it's definitely a tourist destination and really reflects that.  We did to get to see the crown jewels which were quite impressive but we couldn't take pictures in there.  You can see a picture of them here if you're interested.

But it was a great day.  The sun was out for most of it so we got to soak in some vitamin D.  And I finally got to hear (and watch) the one o'clock cannon.

The Great Hall was probably my favorite room.  There were suits of armour and swords all over the place.

Because the castle sits so high, you get some amazing views of the city.  Take a look.

And here are some other random shots.

And my favourite!

We love you & miss you!
Aubs, Luke & Luther

Guest Blog....Snow in Edinburgh

Yesterday Mum & Dad went to a castle without me so she promised that today would be 'Adventure Day'.  And boy - was it ever an adventure!  We got to play in the SNOW!!!!  

When we left the flat, it was cold and a little wet, but when we got to the Holyrood Park, we saw the snow on the top of Arthur's Seat.  I was pumped because I love to play in the snow.  

We hiked to the top where it is always windy.  That's definitely not my favorite part.  I like the open grassy areas where I can run around.  But Mum & Dad wanted to go to the top so I went with them.  It was a good thing I did too because the wind stole a girl's hat and I saved it for her.  It was really easy to do because it was fur so it looked like an animal.  I was a little disappointed that Mum & Dad didn't want to play with it once I brought it to them.  They just gave it back to her.  Bummer.

Mum took some pictures of the snow and she asked me to share them with you.  Hope you can tell how awesome it was!

Cheers!
Luther

Christmas & Hogmanay

Photo courtesy of Jackie Kelly

Christmas in Edinburgh is a month long affair.  I missed the start of the Christmas season (Nov. 29th) because I was still in the US at the time, but Edinburgh sets up a Highland Festival with rides, shops and lots of food.  And simultaneously, there is a German Christmas Market that offers even more gifts and amazing food.  Everything is set up right in city centre - in the Princes Street Gardens.  When all the lights are on and the Ferris wheel is in motion, it really looks beautiful.  Unfortunately, the festival can get really busy - especially on the weekends - so we stayed away for the most part.  We did take one Tuesday afternoon to enjoy some poffertjes (mini buttered pancakes with powered sugar and chocolate sauce), hot chocolate, mulled wine and cider and of course - sausages.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the festival looks like. 

Santa's mailbox

As for what we actually did for Christmas, we are so fortunate to have made some great friends here in Edinburgh already.  On Christmas Eve, we headed to our friends Will & Jackie's for dinner and a round of White Elephant.  Dinner was amazing and we came home with WD-40 and a numpty (http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/numpty) mug.  Overall - a successful game of White Elephant.  From there we walked (swiftly) to the 11:15pm Christmas Eve Communion service at our church - St. Paul's and St. George's.  It was a nice service and led right in to Christmas.   

The next day we woke up and went right back to Ps&Gs for the Christmas service.  Because there were quite a few students that were staying in Edinburgh for the holiday, Luke invited a few over for Christmas lunch and two German students took us up on the offer.  They are studying at New College on exchange from the University of Tubingen in Germany.  Both are studying to go into the ministry.  Unfortunately my kitchen here is 1) not as big as my kitchen in Raleigh and 2) not nearly as well stocked with supplies, so I opted to make a roast chicken instead of a turkey or ham.  And although it was on the simplistic side, dinner tasted great and the girls brought us German cookies for dessert.  Yum!  Nora and Carolin are super sweet and we had a great time visiting with them. 

In Britain, the day after Christmas is also a holiday - Boxing Day.  From what I've read, it is when servants used to receive gifts from their employers known as a 'Christmas Box'.  Today we just don't have to go to work.  And I'm okay with that.   

New Year's (known in Scotland as Hogmanay) is a three day affair with lots of celebration and fireworks.  They set up even more rides for the Hogmanay festival and close down most of the streets in city centre for the parties.  Everything kicks off on the night of the 30th with a torch light procession through town and up Calton Hill (the one right by our house that we take Luther up daily).  We opted to meet everyone on the top of the hill and that we did.  There were 40,000 people up there for it.  They ended up closing off the entrances to the hill and people had to watch everything on big screens at the bottom.  After the torch light procession was over, they lit a wire framed '2013' on fire and then lit a giant bonfire behind it.  As you know, Scotland is a very wet country and it rained most of Sunday - making it very difficult to get the bonfire going.  And after that, they shot off fireworks from two different locations on the hill.  We were in a great spot where we could see both without having to turn around a million times. 

For the 31st, we opted to skip paying £30 to join the parties and played Sequence with our friends Kurt and Erin until 11:30ish.  Poor Luther-man was one stressed puppy all night because they shot off fireworks hourly until midnight.  For the big countdown, we headed back up Calton Hill with a bottle of Prosecco where we could see the fireworks from the Castle and Calton Hill.  Everything was timed perfectly and they started and stopped all at the same time.   

Well, I think that about covers it.  We definitely missed being with our friends and family in the US during the holiday, but our experience here was really special. 

We love you & miss you, 

Aubs, Luke & Luther 

My New Hobby....Knitting

When I was a junior in college, my roommate Abby knitted all the time.  And so, I asked her to teach me.  I bought a few skeins of yard and attempted to make something worth wearing.  And my first project was successful.  I made myself a scarf; out of two different colours in fact.  There were a few mistakes along the way, but overall it turned out pretty well.  I haven't worn it a lot (because you don't really need heavy scarves in North Carolina) but I still have it.  See. 

But after Abby moved out, I lost my desire to knit.  I did attempt to make a hat once but I think I unravelled it 2 or 3 times because I never liked how it turned out.  In hopes that I would one day knit again, I held on to my yarn until we starting purging to prepare for the move.  Then I sold it along with a bunch of other string to a friend's roommate for a very reasonable price. 

Fast forward to Edinburgh - where everyone knits.  At our first Whisky Society meeting I met Meghan.  Her husband just finished his PhD and is doing a post doctorate at New College.  During the meeting - while the boys spoke nerd - she worked on knitting a sweater.  As I continued to meet other New College (female) students and wives I realised that not only is it a very popular hobby but it is also very practical when you live this far north.  (I have yet to meet a male knitter but my goal is to create one in my own house.)  So I set out with my friend Erin to find some needles and yarn. 

Erin hosts a 'Knitting Club' occasionally so in late October I (re)learned how to knit and started working on a scarf for Luke.  Unfortunately I neglected to adjust the pattern I was basing the scarf on to the size of the yarn and needles and had to unravel and start over, twice.  In the end I went with a simple knit stitch until I had something long enough for him to wear.  I added a few stitches in there along the way and then tried to take them back out so there's a section of the scarf that is a little wider than the rest, but when it's wrapped around his neck you can't even tell. 

While I was home in November, I told my aunt (dad's sister) that I was making a scarf for Luke and she got super excited.  Apparently she and my grandmother used to knit and she still had all her needles.  Unfortunately she's lost a lot of her motor control due to a series of small strokes that happened a long time ago so knitting is no longer an option for her.  Fortunately for me, she found the needles and passed them on to me.  And there is a TON of them!  She also took me to JoAnn's and bought me some yarn and a pattern book which was really sweet of her. 

So since I've been back from the US, I've been working on dishcloths.  I know, I know - they're totally not that exciting, but they're completely practical and I'll send some home as late Christmas presents.  But it's been really good because I've gotten to practice stitches, learn new stitches and learn how to follow patterns.  And the ones I've finished are really quite pretty.  (I show them off to anyone who comes over to our flat.) 

I have a whole list of things that I want to make for myself but I don't think I'll get them all accomplished by the end of winter.  So hopefully I'll be fully stocked for next winter and will still actually want the same things next year.   

Love you & miss you! 

Aubs, Luke and Luther