The Old Course (now w/ 16, 17, and 18!)

I finally got to play a full round at the Old Course last weekend and it was a perfect day for golf. With barely any wind I somewhat recovered from a rocky start to shoot a respectable 86. Here's a couple of pics on the 17th tee and then atop the Swilcan Bridge.

Hall Ball Pics

One More Raisin Weekend Pic...

The Foam Fight!

Raisin Weekend Pics

I know these are small but if you click the picture it goes to full size. From top to bottom: My name and dorm in case I pass out somewhere; at my academic dad's flat party; my academic mom's flat party; the resulting carnage of the foam fight (I'm on the left, Sean my golfing buddy in the middle, my roommate James on the right); Frank(my academic dad) and Luke as the bartenders at the shanty party.

Raisin Weekend

I have now officially completed Raisin Weekend, a 24 party that has been a tradition at the University for over a hundred years. The partying started off on Sunday afternoon around 1:30 at my academic mom's flat, where many games involving beverages were participated in (clean version), then moved on my academic dad's flat, then to the Shanty party in my hall, were basically the entire second floor in my dorm was converted into a bar/dance club. I remember having a bunch of fun at my mom's party, relaxing with my friends at my dad's party, and then waking up on my bed at 2 in the morning. Needless to say I had a bit to much to drink, but then again so did everybody that night. I was just happy to wake up in my bed, clean, with no signs of anything terrible happening. That wasn't all for raisin weekend though, because Monday morning at 11 was the foam fight in the quad, participated in by the entire freshman class of St. Andrews. I was dressed up along with my academic siblings as a domino, and we all walked to the quad in freezing cold weather, with the rain falling sideways, to the quad for the fight. The fight was crazy and when it was finished we were all covered from head to toe in foam. Finally, after a nice warm shower, I could finally say that I survived raisin weekend!

1-9 Sounds a Hell of a lot Better Than 0-10

Well, Stanford football finally got into the win column this season by beating Washington, who they hadn't beat since 1975 at Washington. It was especially pleasing to me that their first victory came against former Stanford coach (from the 1999 glory days) Tyrone Willingham. All I can say is watch out Cal, because Stanford is on a roll!

Finally, the Old Course*

I finally had the honor of playing the Old Course yesterday when my friend and I went out at 1 PM and hopped on the first tee. It was an amazing experience playing it for the first time, and I was having a pretty good round as well. The highlight of my round was paring holes 8 through 14, with number 13 being the second hardest hole on the golf course. The only big problem was that since we are so far North here in St. Andrews, it gets too dark to play golf at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we ran into some slow groups on the back nine and could only finish 15 holes, leaving out the legendary 17th and iconic 18th holes. I was having a decent round as well, I was only seven over par after 15, so that was a little disappointing, but fear not my friends, for this Saturday morning we will go out early , and play a full round at the Old Course of St. Andrews.

Florence, Vol. 2

Florence, Vol. 1

I finally got back from Italy Wednesday night after a very fun and very eventful trip to Florence, Italy. The transportation both ways were quite eventful as well, including my friend Jack and I barely missing the last bus to Prestwick airport (after our train to the bus station in Glasgow was delayed 25 minutes), which forced us to spend 30 pounds each on a cab. Not the greatest way to start a trip when you are on a budget. Still, we got to the airport, flew into Pisa, where on the way there was some amazing views of the alps, and took a bus into Florence. We managed to check in successfully at the hostel despite the language barrier between us and the old woman who ran the place. That evening we strolled around the city and had our first authentic Italian pizza at a nice little cafe in Piazza della Signoria. The next day, we a took a walk outside the city and up into the hills, giving us a great view of Florence and the surrounding area. We then strolled back and visited the Galleria degli Uffizi and looked at many famous sculptures and paintings. Monday was spent mostly at the Duomo, the world's 4th largest cathedral. It is an amazing building to look at, especially because of it's enormous dome that took over 150 years to build. We finally left Italy on Tuesday to spend the night in the Pisa airport, where at 1 AM Jack and I were awakened by the airport security guards who told us the airport was closing. We got to spend the next three hours huddling up right outside the airport in the freezing cold. My first travel experience on my own was an extremely fun trip and even more of a wild adventure than I had anticipated.

Going to Italy

Next week is reading week at the University of St. Andrews, a week designed to give students time to read and catch up on their school work. It just so happens that it is also a perfect opportunity to travel around Europe, which is what most people end up doing anyway. I will be leaving Saturday morning from Glasgow airport with three of my friends to go to Florence, Italy for three nights. It should be a really fun and exciting experience, and I'll be sure to take and eventually post as many pictures as possible on this blog. Stay tuned on Wednesday of next week for the complete report of the trip.