The Pogues, Live in Glasgow

Exams finished up this week and -- with a few days to kill before I return to the States -- I headed to Glasgow on Tuesday evening to see one of my favorite bands in concert.

If you're not familiar, The Pogues are an Irish folk-rock group from the '80s who have garnered a bit of a cult following in the U.S. over the past few decades. You might know them from their Christmas tune Fairytale of New York or, for those of my generation, for the song that plays during Jimmy McNulty's wake in the TV show The Wire.

Their lead singer, Shane MacGowan, is a bit of a cult hero in the folk-rock scene. His "defects of personality and his inconstant sobriety and hygiene" (that quote is actually about McNulty, but I think it fits aptly) have gotten him thrown out of the band several times over the years. The Manchester Evening News, in a review of a recent show, said of MacGowan: "The fans celebrate every appearance as another victory over the Grim Reaper, out of whose bony grasp MacGowan has been slipping for 30 years."

On Tuesday night, Shane was on stage and his usual slurring self, remembering just enough of the words to make the whole thing work. The band played through their 1985 record "Rum Sodomy & the Lash" in its entirety before playing a few other favorites. I was surprised by the age of crowd; there were far more 18-25s than there were 40-pluses, which you surely would not see at a U.S. show. Overall, it was an excellent show and a stomping good time, a great way to wrap up my time in Scotland.

One longer note from the show: Glasgow is well-known for its sectarian football rivalry, but I did not expect to see any of that at a seemingly neutral concert on a Tuesday night. Oh how wrong I was. The crowd was decked out in Celtic (the Catholic squad) gear, and there were even vendors selling football merchandise outside. Several times during breaks in the show, the crowd broke out in football-style Celtic chants, which was bewildering and a bit intimidating to an unknowing American observer. I should say that the prime chanters seemed to be the moshing young people in the front, but the older folks near me didn't appear to mind either. The fact that they are spilling over into non-football contexts suggests that these old tensions are still kicking over in Glasgow, and it seems like they're not going anywhere in the near future.

St. Andrews

My parents, sisters and girlfriend all came to visit, and we took a guided tour of Fife (the region in central Scotland north of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth) ending in St. Andrews. There were great sights everywhere, but this photo by itself made the trip worth it. This is the famous Swilcan Bridge on the 18th fairway of the Old Course at St. Andrews, perhaps the most recognizable site in golf. I can vividly remember watching Tom Watson kiss the bridge in his last Open Championship at St. Andrews; it's moments like that one that make this place truly golf's mecca.

Looking over the St. Andrews links from the garden atop the pro shop. The Old Course is just one of numerous courses surrounding the town; if I remember correctly, these fairways are part of the Jubilee course.

The high altar of St. Andrews Cathedral, built in 1158 and a major pilgrimage site for several subsequent centuries. The cathedral fell into ruin in the 16th century, and only 2 1/2 walls remain. Mary, Audrey, Dad and Megan also made the photo.

Looking down the 'nave' of the cathedral from the altar. From this vantage you can really get a sense of the sheer size, which is very impressive for a 12th-century church.

R.I.P. Auld MacDonald

Dublin

Middlebury students in Dublin. Note our bad European haircuts.

The old library at Trinity College, where I stayed during my visit. The famous Book of Kells is housed here, but the library itself is worth seeing as well. In case you didn't get the classical influence on your own, they covered the walls in marble busts to help you out.

One of the many scenic buildings on the Trinity campus. Unfortunately I have forgotten its name.

The Spire of Dublin on O'Connell Street(or the Stiletto in the Ghetto, depending on who you ask). This is on the site of a former monument to Horatio Nelson, which the IRA blew up in 1966. There is a clear effort being made to establish secular symbols of the Irish people, and this monument (along with the harp, which is everywhere) is a great example of that.

The old General Post Office, epicenter of the 1916 Easter Rising. You can still see the marks of English shells in the columns out front.

I started my last day in Dublin with a full, homemade Irish breakfast. Having worked my way fully around the British Breakfast trifecta (English, Scottish, Irish), I think I can safely say the Scots have won me over. The haggis really does make a difference.

Glasgow

I went over to Glasgow with the Edinburgh University Athletics Club for a track meet, and spent the following morning walking around the city. Glasgow is much larger and more modern than Edinburgh, and is really the commercial capital of Scotland as well as the center of Gaelic culture. Here is a photo of George Square, the city's central square. The statues are Sir Walter Scott (upon on top of the column) and Robert Burns, with the Glasgow City Chambers behind.

A statue of the Duke of Wellington with a traffic cone on his head. I had to look this one up, but apparently the cone is a bit of a tradition; they have long since stopped trying to keep the Duke cone-free. Pretty funny.

The Glasgow Necropolis. It's exactly what it sounds like.

I had more time to kill before my bus, so I wandered a bit, right into The Barras weekend market. The booths were selling everything from bootleg DVDs to old paintings to pies, but it was all cheap and kind of dirty looking. There were some thick Glasgow accents about, which was really what I came for.

I also came for lunch. I stopped in for a plate of steak pie, cabbage and mash at a little local place in the market. It was awesome.

Milano

I'll start by apologizing for the long delay; it's midterm essay season here in Edinburgh. That being said, I still found time to fly down to Milan last weekend for a bit of sightseeing. You might notice that this post is relatively short, only four photos. Milan is really more of a commercial city than a prime tourist spot, which I realized shortly after arriving. Most of the tourist sites are centered around the Duomo cathedral, which is enormous and stunningly beautiful, even against the a cloudy afternoon. Having seen quite a few cathedrals at this point in the semester, I can safely put this one up at the top alongside Toledo, and well ahead of Madrid.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuel II, or a very old shopping mall. This is directly adjacent to the Duomo. It was quite the scene, with Prada and Louis Vuitton holding down the prime real estate in the center intersection. The domed glass roof was really impressive though, especially for a building that old.

The inside of the Sforza castle. It was massive.

And we caught up with my friend Hakeem, who showed us where the good food was.

Stirling and Dumyat

Stirling is about halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow in central Scotland. Everything in the town -- streets, pubs, fish and chip shops -- is named after William Wallace, who defeated the English here at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. The battle features prominently in the film Braveheart, though Mel Gibson somehow managed to leave out the bridge. You can just see the bridge at the lower left of the photo, with the Wallace Monument on the hilltop behind. Beyond that is a mountain called Dumyat, where I will be spending my afternoon

I start my visit with a quick jaunt up the hill to see the castle. Pretty imposing from down here.

Stirling Castle. The statue at right is Robert the Bruce, who is right up there with Wallace and Robert Burns among Scottish folk heroes.

The Wallace Monument overlooking Stirling Bridge

After lunch I headed over to Dumyat to do some hillwalking. I decided against the path, and took it straight-up. The wind was intense.

It was also steep.

This sheep is suspicious of my presence.

The summit. It was even windier up there, so my stop was brief.

Looking back towards Stirling

"The Gateway to the Highlands"

A view south over the countryside on the descent. You can see the River Forth zigzagging eastwards towards the North Sea, just before it widens as it approaches Edinburgh.

You could see the remnants of an ancient hill fort on one of the minor summits.

I descended by a different route -- there wasn't much of a path, just more sheep poop and great views.

My Morning Walk

I live in Fountainbridge, a neighborhood on the western outskirts of central Edinburgh. George Square -- the academic center of the University of Edinburgh -- is right in the middle of town, just south of Old Town and The Royal Mile. I do this walk a lot.

The view from my flat window. Fountainbridge is a, how shall I say this, 'up-and-coming' neighborhood. That pretty much means it's a construction site. You can see Arthur's Seat though...it's behind the crane. Of note: the light-blue lift bridge and church steeple at right are along my walk.

I take the Leamington Lift Bridge over the Union Canal. Some days, if I'm lucky, the bridge will be up to allow a canal boat to pass. In these situations, you can still cross by taking the staircase.

The Edinburgh Quay: eastern terminus of the Union Canal. 'The Quay' is another 'up-and-coming' neighborhood.

I walk a few blocks down Lothian Road to get to the Meadows. This church is along the way.

Bruntsfield Links: they have a 36-hole short-hole golf course right in the middle of the city.

The Meadows Walk. This runs parallel to Lauriston Place -- the east-west thoroughfare in this part of the city -- but has significantly nicer scenery.

Old buildings next to new buildings. This is pretty much how it goes -- architecturally speaking -- in Edinburgh. This photo was taken from the Meadows Walk.

Bristo Square. The University students' union and other student-life buildings are all situated around here. I would call it the social center of campus. It's also just a few hundred feet from...

George Square, University of Edinburgh