Here's the long awaited pic of me in a kilt at the St. Andrews Day Gala Ball. 

back to the States

We're getting ready to head home tomorrow and we're so excited. We've been spending time with friends here and saying our goodbyes. Stacey is not coming back next semester, so this is it for her. It was hard to come here, and now Stacey is finding that it's hard to leave.

As part of our last hurrah, we rented a car on Thursday and drove to Stirling. That's where William Wallace and later Robert the Bruce whooped those nasty English. We visited the Wallace monument, which is quite impressive. We also went to the castle, the Holy Rude Church, and several other sights. It was a good time.

But now...we're ready to come home for Christmas.

afternoon tea at Hogwarts

This past Sunday, Stacey and I were invited to have tea at St. Leonard's boarding school where Stacey has been volunteering. As we approached St. Leonard's School, we went through a stone gateway and down a driveway to a large, stone house. The Deputy Headmistress greeted us at the door and ushered us into the main room. We were served tea, fruit cake, and mince pies. The girls were all very nice and well behaved. The house was filled with old, formal furniture and large paintings. It was one of the most British experiences that I have had up to this point. I felt like I was at Hogwarts and Harry Potter would fly around the corner at any moment.

no hotdog in Zurich

Though it's been almost a month, I still haven't blogged about Switzerland. We went to Interlaken and rode the train through the mountains--the scenery was incredible. We stayed there for two nights.

The next day, we went to Zurich on the way to Germany. I decided that it would be important for me to make a pilgrimage of sorts to the Grossmunster Church--the self-proclaimed "motherchurch" of the Reformation. This is where Ulricht Zwingli served as a pastor during the start of the Reformation. As people in Zurich will tell you, Zwingli was reforming the church before anyone in Zurich had heard of Martin Luther. He was famous for having a little sausage roast in the plaza after church during Lent and outraging the local bishop. As such, Stacey and I looked for a hotdog stand outside of the church so that we could eat one in honor of the Reformation, but none could be found. Not long after, Zurich died fighting in a religious war. Now, there is a statue outside the church of Zwingli holding a sword.

There is also a statue of Heinrich Bullinger, who became pastor after Zwingli's death. Bullinger in famous for the Second Helvetic Confession.

The plaza outside of the church is now called Zwingi Plaza. On the far end of the plaza, there is a store called "Zwingli." We went in an found it was a clothing store. I would have bought a Zwingli shirt, but I would have had to pay Swiss Francs for it and I would have gone broke.

We weren't in Zurich long, but I'm glad we went. It was a beautiful town.

what's under the kilt?

While America was celebrating Thanksgiving, this past week was St. Andrews Week here in Scotland culminating on Tuesday with St. Andrews Day. To celebrate, we went to the St. Andrews Day Gala Ball on Saturday at the St. Andrews Bay Golf Resort. It was a black tie occasion, so I was supposed to hire (rent) a kilt (man-skirt). I figured that this was the only time in my life that I would be able legitimately to wear a kilt, so I went for it (along with four other friends).

I decided to get a Stewart plaid in honor of my maternal lineage. They were out of Royal Stewart, so I got Stewart Black--but I think I like the Black better anyway. It came with a jacket, bow tie, socks, garters (sock tassels), ghillie shoes (funny shoes with extra long laces), sporran (man-purse), and sgian dubh (knife to put in your sock). I particularly enjoyed the sporran. It was very useful for storing my wallet, keys, and whisky--especially since there was no pocket on the kilt.

At the kilt shop, we ventured the age-old question of what to wear under the kilt. Is it really like Braveheart? Much to our relief, we discovered that it's not like the movies and you are supposed to wear something under your kilt. What is that something you ask? Three drops of cologne. Unfortunately, I don't wear cologne. So I had to go bronco.