Gregory Mulholland

A few days ago was mine and Kelly’s friend Jackie’s birthday. (If that isn’t a confusing statement I don’t know what is). Her husband, Will, wanted to take her to a show in London to surprise her. So, on Saturday, Kelly and I boarded the train for London.

Will and Jackie came a bit later. Before we went to see the matinée show at 2:30, we met up with Amy a friend of Kelly’s from home. She is studying in London on a program not unlike the one I was on in Spain. A group of students goes to a foreign city and brings along a professor. The professor teaches classes the he would have taught were he still teaching at Wake Forest, where she goes. We went to lunch at a little cafe in the neighborhood where Amy lived (and purportedly where Jude Law lives too), and went back to her house to have a tour of the Wake Forest-owned digs. It was a nice time.

Our second task of the day was to find a Krispy Kreme donut store to show some solidarity with the Krispy Kreme Challenge running that day. I knew there was a Krispy Kreme in Victoria Station, one of the major tube hubs. After lunch with Amy, we didn’t have time to go all the way there before the show. Amy thought there was a store at Camden Town, on our way, but she failed to mention that Camden town on a Saturday reminds me of pictures I have seen of Tokyo (packed, with little room to move).

Not disheartened by our lack of donuts, we decided to head to the show. We met up with Will and Jackie about a block from Her Majesty’s Theatre and headed in. The show was great. It seems that London playhouses were made for smaller people than I, so there hasn’t been nearly enough legroom in either of the shows we have gone to, but they have both been very entertaining. One other thing that I really prefer about American playhouses is that food is not allowed into the theater proper. You can eat and drink in the lobby, but not inside. The theater, even at a matinee, is no place for crinkly bags of chips or wrapped hard candy. If you want that, go to the movies. Tickets are simply too expensive to ruin the performance with the sound of crunching. That said, the performance was excellent. Although I agree with Kelly that Wicked (which we saw when she visited in October) was more uplifting than Phantom of the Opera, both were extremely well performed. Phantom was really well done in every way, and we all had a really good time.

After the show we rode the tube to Knightsbridge. It is the Rodeo Dr. of London. Gucci, Prada, Armani, and other such stores line the streets with a surprisingly high number of Aston Martins, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. We just gawked as we walked through, knowing that it would be a long time before any of us could even think of entering one of those stores or driving one of those cars. We walked out of Knightsbridge and found a little Italian cafe where we ate dinner. Then we tracked down a pub, got on a train, and headed back to Cambridge.

It was a really fun trip. I am glad Will and Jackie are here. They are great friends to have, someone to talk about ACC sports with, and another couple that is always willing to join us in having a good time.

That’s all for now. Next weekend’s day trip: Oxford.

Address to a Haggis
Robert Burns
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
‘Bethankit’ hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow’rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

These were the words that were exclaimed over the Haggis at Burns Night. Traditionally celebrated on Jan 25, the birthday of the national Bard of Scotland, it is a night of Haggis, Tatties n’ Neeps, and Scotch. It was quite an ordeal. Normal grad halls, as I have described before, are interesting but in general pretty tame. Perhaps some have a little too much wine, or the food can be a little too gourmet, but as we entered the hall, a bagpiper in full Scottish dress played. After Haddie soup, everyone stood as the Haggis was played in by the pipes. The above poem was read, during which the Haggis was cut. After the reading, we all raised our glasses to the delicacy, and were served.

Now I must say that I have a certain sense of adventure when it comes to food. I will try just about anything (as long as it is not in any way related to the vile olive). The thought of Haggis, explicitly heart, stomach, lungs, and intestine, did put me off a little. I persevered, though, and at it with a smile. It was actually quite good. It isn’t really identifiable as anything by look, and by taste it is seasoned heavily. It might not be my favorite food, but I would certainly eat it again. We had tatties n’ neeps (potatoes and turnips) with it, which were also good.

With dinner was served Scotch. I was actually really disappointed with it. Normally our wines are good and our port is too. Our Scotch, while it did complement the Haggis somewhat, was really harsh. Granted, I am no connoisseur of Scotch, but in my humble opinion, it was a little rough. After dinner, we had cranachan. It is a whiskey mousse with oatmeal in it and a little raspberry at the bottom. Like the haggis, it was enjoyable but not amazing. I can honestly say that the Scots seem to eat much like the English. Their food isn’t amazing, but it isn’t offensive either.

One interesting thing to note is that EVERY course had whiskey in it. The soup did, the main did (and had Scotch served alongside), and the dessert did. You usually couldn’t taste it, but the Scottish do love their drink.

Unfortunately, in the excitement, I didn’t take too many pictures. I will put up what I did take soon, so come back for those.

Over the next couple of weeks, there is a certain amount of traveling ahead. I have a race in Bedford, Kelly and I are going to London to see a friend of hers, and we will be taking the first of our several trips to mainland Europe (in this case southern Spain, where it is warm!).

Sorry for the infrequency of my posts. Kelly and I returned to Cambridge about two weeks ago. What a busy two weeks it has been! Luckily, we both arrived without too much trouble. The plane ride was a little bumpy, and our total travels from Raleigh to Cambridge had more legs than expected.

Now that we are here, though, things have finally begun to settle down. Kelly has moved into her new place, which is arguable nicer than mine. She has found her advisor and gotten started in the lab. She has even begun to wow the social world of Trinity Hall, making new friends and joining in the delights of graduate dinner at the hall.

I am once again really rolling through my research. As always, it has its ups and downs, but I am glad to be making sure progress toward my degree. I spend lots of time in the lab.

Rowing has been picking up as well. We practice something like 8 times a week; bumps (the big race at the end of the term) is only 6 weeks away, so we have to train like the devil to make sure we are up to speed come race day. I can’t say I like getting up early any more, but it does get me to work early. I am sitting in 7 seat in the 1st Men’s Eight for the club. That means I can get one of the awesome jackets I talked about in a previous post. How exciting! Really though, even though it might not be a fashion statement, I am excited to get one. Rowing has been a great experience here, and I am glad to be able to continue.

For now, that is really it. Grad (formal) halls start again this week with Burns Night (Scottish food: Haddie soup and Haggis). I think it is one of those things that I just have to try while I am here — and try not to think about what is in it. This weekend, I Kelly and I are going to plan some of our travels. I will post about them as they come up. For now, we are both just enjoying Cambridge life.