Back in Edinburgh (and in a new flat!)

I arrived back in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, and it feels great to be back! Cassie is amazing, and found us a flat while I was still in Shanghai so I got to go directly to my new home from the airport. We are over in New Town, which is newer than Old Town, but was still built in the 1800s. I'm not sure exactly how old my building is, but it is beautiful and perfect. The décor is pretty dated, but it is actually kind of charming. It also gave me an excuse to get vintage style, girly bedding! After living in student housing for the first half of the year, I am really looking forward to living like a proper Edinburgh city dweller!

Here are some photos of the flat:

The outside of the flat.

The staircase. We are on the second floor (third floor in US terms) and it is the top floor of the flat.

Skylight in the ceiling. It lets so much light through during the day no other lighting is needed.

Since the flat was once was all for one family, we have two doors leading into the flat. The one at the end of the hall leads into my bedroom, and the other one leads into the hallway.

I get a kick out of the keyholes. They actually look like this, and work.

Here are my keys. Again, I just get a kick out of them! They are so "traditional" and unlike any house keys I have ever had in the states!

My bedroom. My bedding has lace trimmings and it is beautiful. Note the pile of stuffed animals on the bed. An unnecessary collection, as a friend called it.

I love vanities! And yes, that is a closet! An absolute rarity in Scotland. Totally beats a wardrobe.

Here is the view from my bedroom window. It is hard to see, but you can see a sliver of the North Sea. I can't believe this is what I wake up to!

The hallway.

Bathroom. Lots of green!

Along with the shower, there is a tub!

Living room.

And kitchen/dining room. It is all open plan, which is perfect. The cabinet on the left is actually the fridge!

The view from the living room. Not quite as beautiful, but certainly not bad!

I absolutely love the flat. I have definitely had to pinch myself a few times because I can't believe I get to live in this wonderful place, in a beautiful old flat. Man, I love Edinburgh.

I have been really busy since getting back. Besides getting settled in, I started my internship. I am working with an animation start up based here in Edinburgh. It has been good so far, and I think it will be a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to learning about a new industry and challenging myself in new ways. I will also start volunteering at the Stroke Association starting next Friday. I have also jumped right back in to social festivities! Every Wednesday the MBAs have been getting together for happy hour and dinner, so I was finally able to join in! We also played a little "pitch and putt" golf in the Meadows. It is a tiny course with 36 holes total, and you just use a pitching wedge and a putter. I was a little rusty! The MBAs also had a little BBQ in back of our suite by the business school for the 4th, followed by an epic three hour Skype session with my mom. On Friday, I spent the day outside because the weather was perfect and then went out with a mix of current and past students in the evening.

Had to have a Bud on the 4th!

Children and dogs were trying to beat the heat by wading in the pool outside Parliament.

The Crags were looking awesome.

I hiked up Calton Hill. This is the view out to the sea.

Enjoying the sun!

The other side of Edinburgh.

The National Monument, also known as Edinburgh's Folly. They ran out of money before they could finish it!

I also managed to have a cooking disaster already. Note: never buy a pepper grinder from the dollar store. I was making my Grandma's hamburger (or for me, turkey) hot dish, and as I was seasoning it, the top completely came off the pepper grinder and I dumped peppercorns into the pot of raw meat! Unwilling to sacrifice the meal, I spent 40 minutes digging them out.

Here is all the peppercorns I took out. Luckily, even with the delay, the meal turned out awesome!

Elisa and I are having an American Dinner party inspired by the 4th on Sunday. I am making Becky's Jell-O Salad, potato salad, and pasta salad.

I tried out Tesco delivery. It was awesome! If I do it again, I would plan for delivery during the week so I can save a little on delivery fees (it cost 6 pounds for Saturday morning) but there is no way I would have been able to carry all this home from the store on my own, so I would have paid at least that much for a cab home from the store. Not only did they bring it to my home, they carried it right up to the flat! I will definitely be doing it again!

Making potato salad. I used a recipe my mom gave me inspired by Grandma's, but I jazzed it up with capers, lemon and fresh herbs. I'll let you know how it turns out! 

For the Jell-O salad, I needed Cool Whip. That sadly doesn't exist in the UK, so I used this dream topping powder (similar to Dream Whip). It turned out ok, but I think it would have been better if I had an electronic mixer. It wasn't voluminous enough, so I will be adding some normal whipped cream tomorrow. Again, I will update with the results!

Gosh, I am so glad to be back in my home away from home!

Xian and Beijing

 Tonight, I leave China. My last week has been hectic but lots of fun. I spent a week traveling. I started in Xian, then spent a few days in Beijing.

Xian

Xian really only has one major sight: The Terra Cotta Warriors. These were uncovered in the 70's, and are estimated to be from 210 BC. They were made to "guard" the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. There are thousands of them, with over 1200 being uncovered currently. They depict the Emporer's army, and have distinct looks, clothing and hair styles.

I took a plane out of Shanghai at 7am, and arrived in Xian at around 10. After a bus ride to the city, I was finally ready to explore around noon. I had a quick lunch of cold noodles in spicy peanut sauce, took a shot of espresso, then hopped on the bus to the Terra Cotta Army. They are about two hours outside of the city center. To be honest, while they were neat, I spent so much time traveling to get to them that I was a little underwhelmed once I got there. It was still a great experience, however, and one of the most famous sights in China.

After the warriors, I took the bus back to the city and wandered around for a few hours. After getting back to the hostel and organising accommodation in Beijing, I hit the hay.

Delicious noodles. The man selling them was so nice, he gave me soup and some Chinese fry bread along with the noodles. Note the dishes are wrapped in bags to minimize the need to wash!

An archer. He was originally holding a cross bow.

This is the first and largest pit uncovered so far. There is still ongoing excavation.

Soldiers in a row. You can get a feel for the "individual-ness" they have.

Me with my new TCW pals.

In front of the pit. As you can see, I was definitely travel weary!

The scenery surrounding the museum was beautiful.

Side by side comparison.

The soldiers were also holding wood and bronze weaponry.

Horses were part of the army as well

It wouldn't be a Traci trip without some street food. This is a baked sweet potato. Simple and delicious.

There was randomly a haunted house outside the museum.

And a large amount of pelts for sale.

This is the Bell Tower of Xian. It is one of the most famous in the world. It reminded me of this bell tower from Pokemon:

But I doubt a legendary Pokemon is waiting on top of the one in Xian.

Couldn't resist some street melon for dessert!

My hostel room. It was small, but actually really nice!

Beijing

After somehow not setting my alarm, I managed to wake up naturally at 6 am and was on time for my flight to Beijing. I was really cutting it close, but since there really isn't much to do in Xian, this was the best way to maximize my trip.I got settled in my hostel around noon, and hit up the major sights of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven all on the first day. It started to rain at the Temple of Heaven, but I braved a trip to the Olympic Stadiums anyway. I just had to see the Water Cube and Birds Nest for myself. Sadly, they were miserable in the rain. The lights hadn't been turned on yet, and the Water Cube was practically invisible. I gave it up as a bad job and went back to the hostel to prepare for my wall climb the next day.

Tiananmen Square was really interesting. It is absolutely huge, and can fit something like a million people. It wasn't all that interesting to look at, but certainly had a significant history. There were many, many Chinese tourists in Beijing, and it was obvious that Tiananmen Square was very important to them. The Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace for the Ming Dynasty, so it was basically the center of the Chinese government at the time. It was really neat. It was absolutely huge! I couldn't believe how many buildings and acres were a part of it. I imagine it was the height of luxury in the 1400s. The Temple of Heaven was quite boring to me. The rain probably wasn't helping. My favorite part was the Long Corridor, which basically housed lots of old people playing cards and Chinese chess. I thought it was cute that they all hung out there, laughing and enjoying each other.

I spend Wednesday on the wall. I took the train from Beijing to the Badaling portion of the Great Wall. This is the most visited portion, probably because you can take a train that only costs $1 each way, but it was the easiest way to go about it without involving a tour group, which I hate. It was a beautiful hike, with lots of inclines and stairs. It is definitely not flat on top, and some of the less fit tourists were having a tough go. There was a cable car that could be ridden to the top for those who didn't feel up to the climb. The Wall was incredibly impressive. It definitely lived up to all the hype. It is over 13,000 miles long, which is just insane to think about in the context it was built in. It was absolutely filled with people!

Wednesday night I went out to Xiu, a bar at the top of the Park Hyatt hotel. It was quite swanky, and outfitted in a Midsummer Nights Dream theme. It had a great house band, expensive (but delicious) cocktails and a mixed clientèle of Western and Eastern people. I had a good time, but called it a night fairly early before my pocketbook felt too much pain.

On Thursday, I pretty much just went to the Summer Palace. It was really neat. There was a lake surrounded by buildings and beautiful landscapes. I sad by the lake and read for quite awhile and was perfectly content. I can see why Emperors chose this area to build a vacation home. I went back to Shanghai late on Thursday night. My plane was actually delayed and didn't leave until almost midnight. I am sure we were the last flight out of the airport. Unfortunately, this meant I would not arrive in Shanghai until 3:30 am. After a small hotel fiasco, I got settled in at a budget hotel right next door to the apartments I was staying at with the rest of the Edinburgh group.

Tiananmen Gate, after which the Square is named. It separates the Square from the Forbidden City.

Entrance gate to the Forbidden City. Quite impressive, huh?

These lions were everywhere in Beijing. This one indicates the Emperor's line (that is a baby cub under the lioness's paw).

And this represents the Emperor's hold over the world (ball under lion's paw).

In front of the Forbidden City.

Gives a little idea how big the place is.

This was a huge marble carving. I think it was like 17 meters or something. It was really cool. Apparently the Emperor used to be carried over it each day.

From Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square looking the other direction.

The Long Corridor at the Temple of Heaven.

I think this was a Harvest temple or something. I was clearly engaged with the area.

Entrance gate to the Wall.

It just goes on and on.

It was truly amazing.

Women are always in heels here. I could barely do it in my Toms! Granted, my Toms do get a bit slippery.

More wall.

It was such a beautiful day.

Finally saw the Birds Nest at night. It was pretty neat.

So was the Water Cube.

Olympic Stadium selfie!

A performance at the Summer Palace.

A view of Kunming Lake.

This was my reading spot for the afternoon. Until I was booted out so others could take photos there.

After climbing Longevity Hill, this view was the reward. Worth it!

I found a Korean restaurant and treated myself to some Kimchi Bibimbap. It was delicious!

Overall, I really liked Beijing. You can really tell it is the capital, and has a much more significant government presence than Shanghai. For instance, in Shanghai, you have to send your bags through a scanner before getting on the subway. Most people ignore this and only do it for big bags. In Beijing, even the smallest purses went through. There was also security at every single sight I went to. It felt much more "Chinese" and traditional, although I have to say I have enjoyed the night life more in Shanghai!

Lastly, I would just like to give a shout out to my beloved Toms. When I got them to wear to Erin's wedding, I thought they were ugly and that I would never wear them again. How wrong I was. These Toms have walked on 3 continents, and visited many World Heritage sites. It seems that ever significant trip I have, I have a shoe that gets me through it. My first time in Europe, it was my purple Converse. This time, it is my Toms. Thank you, surprisingly comfortable and well made shoe. I would not have been nearly as comfortable in my travels without you. I could do without the awkward foot tan line, though.