I knew this place was strange

you know with the accents and all.  But what is this?  Has the International Statute of Secrecy been lifted?
Can it be that you can now play Quidditch openly?

You can in certain universities that have a team.  Apparently St. Andrews does.  AND they play in the World Cup.

My sound group was heading over to view more parts of the instrument collections when we saw this....I do not know who won or if it's practice.  But it was fun to see.

News and views

I know it's been a while.  I don't have any real excuse, like I was studying or working on an essay(although some of that is true.)
I did work on an essay. 2500 words max.  I chose the topic Research and Scholarship as an important function in museums.  I know it was shocking.  I hope it was good, but I'm not the most important opinion in this equation.  I got 2300 words out of it, and could have written way more on the programmic or archival part.  Again shocking.  Apparently, I was not that out of practice.

And I have been studying.  Mostly for the essay. 

Well, for Scotland news it's pretty cool, still.  I haven't been really homesick.  I do miss certain parts of home.  Modern Pizza, my bed, my paycheck...yeah that one I really miss.  Also fish with friends and going apple picking. 

Even though I haven't left St. Andrews to go touring I have explored a lot of it.  I think I have found all the second hand shops in this city.  There are a lot of them.  I had fish and chips and Indian food.  Not the same day though. I baked for class, and that was well received.  My chocolate hazelnut biscotti. 

I went to the 'golf' side of town.  The Old Course, the golf museum, and I saw West Sands.  I also went to the aquarium.  It's small, and the displays are dated, but they do a good job overall.  They have a small shark tank and seals and penguins.  The Amazon area is well done, except for the models of the animals.  They are oddly positioned.  But the highlight were the meerkats.  They are impossibly cute.  I don't know why the aquarium has desert animals, but I didn't care.

Last week I walked to the Botanic Garden.  That was nice.  I really liked that.  Lots of paths.  Their herb garden was cool, and they even had apple and pear trees there.

I walked the Fife Coastal Path on Sunday.  Went pretty far down. Great views out to sea. 

Tomorrow for school we go to the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I love Edinburgh and haven't been to the National museum yet.

So these are a few views.  The first one is my view on Sunday finishing my paper.  I was doing citations, so celebrating a bit early, but I deserved it.  The second one is a shot from the apple orchard at the Botanic Garden.  I walked on the pier this week and the sea was acting up.  Lots of fun to see.  Cold when you got wet!  And the final two are views on the Fife Coastal Path. 

Vehicle for photos

So really this is just a vehicle for me sharing photos.  Oh there will be the rare informative moment, such as I am all ready for Red Sox post season baseball.  In my sparkly hat, my navy blue hoodie and my Wakefield t-shirt.
But I also wanted to share views from the North Sea.

There was a storm last night, and this morning.  I don't know if it came in from the North Sea or from land.  But it was wild and wooly.  Cold too.  These are some views from yesterday on my way home via the Fife Coastal Path.  I do love that walk.  The first one is the famous pier.  From my view at the top of the hill and the Church of St. Mary's on the Rock.  The second is toward the Castle, and the third is the edge of the cliffs. And the last one is the East Sands beach at high tide. 

Field trips and kingdoms

Part of the degree I'm doing requires, yes requires, field trips as part of class.  Today we went to a castle.
Okay we went to the ruins of a castle.  The castle of St Andrews, like the cathedral, fell into disrepair ages ago, (16th century) and was never repaired.  Damn Calvinists.  Speaking of...I learned today that John Knox was once a galley slave.  Sometimes rebellion pays off, sometimes it doesn't. 

The castle center has some interesting displays and it's a great place to walk around in.  Even if it was a bit windy today. But I am coming to realize it's windy here a lot.  I better get used to it. 

A group of us tried to find a place to get out of the wind and ended up in the mine and counter mine.  Underground.  It wasn't as claustrophobic as you might think, but then I wasn't digging the shaft. It was very cool to climb down in and see. 

I have also realized this weekend that I live in an area of Scotland known as the kingdom of Fife.  That's just great.  I love the fact that one small district in Scotland calls itself a kingdom.  The legend states it was part of the Pictish kingdoms and they just never stopped using it.  It's not an official thing you understand, just a signage deal.  Still it's fun.