Pour One Out

Escape From IV: Extreme Edition

Britain isn’t exactly known for its culinary delights, and Scotland even less so. There is not a whole lot you can say about the complexity of a culinary culture if the most famous signature dish called haggis, which involves stuffing a sheep stomach with everything else left over from the butchering process. Arguably worse is the prevalence of something called Black Pudding. When you think of pudding, you are most likely to imagine some sort of amazingly delicious chocolate dessert. In sharp contrast, Black pudding is made up primarily of blood, which is cooked until it congeals, and other sausage fillers like oatmeal and barley.

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The Irony of Guy Fawkes

Escape From IV: Extreme Edition

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot…

It’s Guy Fawkes Day here in jolly ol’ Britain. It’s a day built around bottle rockets, bonfires, giant explosions and celebrates a day in 1605 when a group of gentlemen conspired to blow the houses of parliament sky high. Mr. Fawkes was caught sneaking around underneath parliament with a few dozen barrels of gunpowder and was subsequently tried and convicted of treason along with his co-conspirators.

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It’s a Revelection!!!

Scotland, it’s friendly, cold, wet, and absolutely fascinated by our election. With the day of reckoning just under a week away, it appears that Scots and most everyone else, is absolutely fascinated with our little democratic race.

I arrived into Glasgow Central Station on Sept. 8 and took a cab to my new apartment. The driver had all sorts of questions. It started out pretty standard.

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It’s Hella Cold Over Here

Escape From IV: Extreme Edition

I stepped off the National Express train into Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh onto the very same platform that Queen Elizabeth II uses when she travels to the city. In contrast to her majesty, I received no royal welcome; no one and nothing was there to greet me but the harsh, bitter Scottish cold when I set foot onto Scottish soil (or concrete if you prefer) for the first time. There is nothing that would have felt more appropriate. It is hard to imagine Scotland without its wind and rain, and after two weeks of travel and transition I was ready to be somewhere that felt like home, even if it was about 50 degrees colder than California. The only thing missing from the greeting was rain, and that met me when I finally lugged my bag out of the station.

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A Blundering Gelato N00b

Escape From IV: Extreme Edition

“Straciatella and melone?!” Unwittingly I had mixed Stracciatella (which is basically fancy chocolate chip) and melon gelatos. Or at least I tried to. After two waitresses, five bystanders and a good friend had laughed at me, I was informed that it was a cardinal sin to mix fruit and crème based gelatos. Embarrassed, I managed to pull myself together in time to order melon and lemon gelatos. For days afterward, every time I ordered gelato, my friend Michele (not pronounced like Michelle) felt the need to explain to everyone what I had done. I would have no idea until I heard the words melone and stracciatella in Italian, at which point everyone would turn to laugh at me and my gelato ignorance. This courtesy extended to anyone, waiters, family members, people on the street, everyone felt the need to laugh, point and inform me not to do that again.

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