Didn't really sleep on the bus, but I did close my eyes and rest and uncomfortably shift around in my seat because anything that was comfortable my butt inevitably started to go numb. Which is never comfortable. Nonetheless, I did somehow feel wide awake when we got to Edinburgh.
It was dark when we got there. We had to pay 30 pence to use the bathroom in the bus station (Urinetown, anyone?) so we thought we'd find somewhere with a free bathroom. Except we were pelted with mass gusts of wind once we went outside. Went inside to situate ourselves against the cold. I had spotted a McDonald's and suggested going there because they're like the traveler's haven in times of Everywhere-Else-Is-Closed-And-Check-In-Isn't-Until-2pm. So that's where we went. I changed out of my PJ pants and into some solid jeans, put in my contacts, and brushed my teeth. Then I got a sausage McMuffin and tea because I wanted breakfast and only brought along two apples and all the candy I had. Go me.
The first thing we did was Colton Hill, which offered glorious views of the city. So pretty. There were some ancient buildings that we didn't bother to learn about and an observatory, and took pictures of ourselves jumping with the background. Becky couldn't time my camera just right so my official jump shot is with hers. When that was finished, we found a tourist information center for info on ghost tours (Halloween weekend and all) and learned about The Real Mary King's Close which was usually a history tour but are doing a paranormal tour this weekend for the holiday. The info desk didn't book with them, so we went to find them because we were both interested. We booked for the late showing of 9:40pm because that's all they had open.
Stopped into St. Giles because by this time it was raining and we were wet with heavy backpacks. It was a relief. Nice place, St. Giles. There's a big tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson along the back wall which I got a picture of. Also bought a bunch of postcards not just of St. Giles but of Edinburgh as well. You don't see 20p a postcard very often. Besides, proceeds go to the church.
Had lunch/brunch at a small sandwich shop a block or two away from Edinburgh Castle. Haggis on a roll . . . yum. I enjoy haggis. It's no different than a hot dog without the skin lining, really. Just with sheep instead of pigs.
Edinburgh Castle didn't have student discounts, but we went inside anyway because hey, it's Edinburgh Castle!! And we saw beautiful sights of the city and marveled at the 18th century architecture (because those were the days that didn't believe in preserving the past so a lot of the really really old stuff is mostly gone). There were a bunch of small museums and a couple small shops and lots to see. We watched the cannon being shot at 1p. We also took a small tour that led you around the general layout of the castle. Saw the crown jewels but couldn't take pictures of them. They were magnificent and something every country with a monarch has -- a crown, a scepter, a sword. There was also the Stone of Destiny, upon which every Scottish monarch is coronated. You can find more about that in the new thinger on the sidebar.
We saw everything the castle had to offer and even had tea in a tearoom. I had carrot cake and a pot of tea and Becky munched on the snacks she brought. I'd be jealous but I had carrot cake. And the tea made me warm and fuzzy because it was quite chilly and wet outside. Not a very good day. We thought the castle would be warmer because, well, we thought it would be inside mostly. Guess not.
Afterwards, we went into the park at the foot of Castle Rock (upon which Edinburgh Castle stands) and decided on an itinerary for tomorrow. I suggested getting rid of the backpacks because my shoulders had been hurting since the castle and I really, really wanted to get rid of it. We decided on general ideas of what to do for tomorrow and went to get dinner at Tesco. It was a long walk to the Tesco we found and it was also a long walk to the hostel. We bought the extremely cheap sandwiches that expired on that day because they were extremely cheap and we were going to eat them right away. Becky also bought a couple boxes of Canterbury chocolate-covered biscuits. Addictive little buggers, but I wasn't the one with them.
We ate in our hostel room and met our roommate, who was a nice gentleman in town for a course he was doing about group psychology. I guess it's a weekend course on how to run a support group because those sorts of things are a) weekly and b) don't usually travel to different cities. Didn't meet our second roommate until the next day, but more on that later. It was a really nice hostel with a cool not-very-well-kept back garden featuring lots of old bikes and overgrown weeds. And it wasn't nearby the main attractions, sort of off-the-beaten-path so, by default, I have to like it. It was very clean and the max amount of people in a room was 4. Which was nice. Also, free lockers which I actually used this time.
We sat around for a while after dinner, I journaled and so did Becky. We talked for a bit. We went to the TV lounge where some people were making a fire and X Factor was on. First time I saw X Factor. Think of American Idol in Britain and you have X Factor. I've heard it mentioned before I saw it. It was a rerun, of course. We left a bit earlier than we probably should have for our paranormal tour, but we didn't know everything closes at 6p. If you want nightlife in Edinburgh (or maybe everywhere else in Europe), you check out a pub. So we spent the better part of two hours hanging about the Real Mary King's Close gift shop. We eventually whipped out sudoku puzzles and started on those while we waited.
The Close was really awesome. It was a dark tour with a tour guide in character from someone really from that time period. They led us through the dark history of the close such as witchcraft and ghost stories. We were informed on several occasions that none of the stories were made up -- they were taken from real people at some point or another. They were also well researched. The lack of a ghost story in every single room was enough to make me believe they put effort into gathering not just stories but TRUE stories. They also told us about the plagues, both plagues because there were two. One was the Bubonic Plague and the other was Black Death. I've heard of both names before but it didn't register that they were two separate plagues until this tour.
During the story on witchcraft, I was singled out for being a witch because of my bright red sweatshirt. Red is a color associated with the devil, and my declaration of it surely meant that I was a witch. They made me pace around until the end of my life or until I confessed to being a witch. I wasn't the only one singled out though. Another guy was accused of being a warlock because he tried to hide himself among the crowd. And Becky was accused for being a witch because of her oddly shaped hat.
There was one house on the tour that creeped our tour guide out so much that he went out of character to say "I hate this house. I've seen pebbles skid across the floor. I just hate it." No one's allowed in the house (except the maintenance main to maintain the scary red light on the other end by the toilet) because the floor is the original flooring. The house is important because it's the first house with plumbing, so of course we get to see the toilet illuminated by a scary-looking red light. There was a shadow in the light that was moving. It was too big to be a bat, but it was also too dark to get a closer look at it. Still not sure what it is though. The tour guide didn't seem to be able to see it.
Then she led us to a small room where she said "My real name is Megan. I know, I'm a liar and a fake. I'm not really a servant from the 16th century". We call could figure that one out. But she showed us a photograph taken by the camera that they have set up inside. Once every night while they're closing down, the manager checks to make sure the camera is still working. So he takes a picture and goes back to the lobby/shop and finds that a shadow was in the picture that he didn't see before. It looks like a man mentioned in the tour so that's what they say it is. Not sure about the photograph, but there were recordings that gave me the creeps.
The owners of the Close know something is going down in the house Megan hates so much. So they did a little trick and went to ask the ghost that lives there questions. They brought a recording device. The trick goes like this, you ask the open air a question and record the question and the silence that comes after it for about a minute. Then you ask the next question. Keep asking questions until you're done. Go away and play back the recordings and see if the spirit or ghost or supernatural entity has said anything. This was done in that scary house and there was actually an answer. The words were really muffled but it sounded like whoever was talking was speaking clearly but something was preventing their words from coming in clearly. But I understood that Yes, this guy was fed up with all the tours coming in to peer into his house. Didn't understand how he died, but I understood the second thing. There was a third question but I can't remember what it was. But I understood a little of that answer too. It was really freaky listening to it back then. Made me think about ghosts and whether I believe or not. (Yes and no -- depends on the situation and whether things were done correctly or not).
30 Oct -- Day Two
Woke up in the morning, showered, and went downstairs for free tea and an apple for breakfast. Cut it up as I ate with my knife so I felt awesome doing so. Also spotted a book on the shelf that caught my interest. There was a guy who tried to start a conversation, but you know me and being tired and hungry. I didn't bite his head off or anything; just didn't say much to him and took a seat in the back of the kitchen looking into the awesome garden. Love their garden. Don't think I got a picture of it, though.
We then left to scale Arthur's Seat, which is a giant hill similar to Castle Rock but different in that no one built a giant castle on top of it. That is, we thought we scaled Arthur's Seat. It turns out this rock as three different peaks and we scaled the wrong one because we were impatient. Go us. It was rough hiking too because the side was so steep. But we made it and the view was glorious. Glorious I say!!
 | ||
| Glorious |
Walked all the way past a lake full of swans and a sign that said "If you are to feed the animals, please feed them wholegrain bread as white bread is not good for them." (A much more productive sign than the "Don't feed the ducks" signs in the States.) Meandered our way to the Scottish palace where we took pictures outside but didn't go in because it would have cost 10 quid and we weren't willing to spend that much. But the Scottish Parliament was free so we went in there.
Except we had to go through security first. And I had my knife and forgot to take out my iPod to get scanned so not only did I stir some ruckus with the knife, but I also set off the alarm. Whoops. They had a woman security officer pat me down and she found my iPod. The gentlemen said that they'll give me a receipt and I just have to hand the receipt back to them on the way out to get my knife back. They took the whistle too. When I asked about that on my way out, the gentleman said in his Scottish accent that it can disturb parliament and the Youth Parliament was in session. So they took that under the same receipt as my knife. But they were very understanding and weren't at all "You can't have this here" in regards to my knife. And when the lady felt my iPod in my pocket, she didn't pull it out but asked me to do it. So, yes, I felt like I caused trouble, but they were very courteous about it. Maybe I didn't look like a trouble-maker or something.
Becky and I sat in on the Youth Parliament, which was interesting for a while. The teenaged youngsters were arguing against a motion that would require all Scottish youth to volunteer for a non-profit organization for six months. A lot of them were against it for various reasons, such as
- I would no longer stick out when applying for universities or jobs
- some teenagers have to take care of family AND work on school and it would be a burden to them
- the definition of 'volunteering' contradicts that of 'mandatory'. Doesn't the government know basic grammar? (Becky's favorite reason)
- the job would be done half-heartedly if forced to do it; but whole-heartedly when not forced
The list went on.
Onward we went to get some lunch. We stopped at the same Tesco (hey man, it's cheap) and picked up a baguette, a thing of ham, and a pack of six small bags of chips. I also bought a small box of cupcakes which were a pound. We used my knife to cut the baguette and split the ham evenly. It was such a giant sandwich! Ate it all, plus the bag of chips, didn't save room for the dessert I brought. So I saved it for later.
A company called New Europe puts on free tours in various cities across Europe. We joined that tour at 1p after lunch and heard a bunch of different stories. You can check those out in the new links table on the side. This post would get longer if I told you all the interesting stories I remember. The tour took us all over the main parts of the city. Our tour guide, Kate, had a very interesting Scottish accent. She's originally from Canada and moved to Scotland about six years ago. Now she's a tour guide and works for tips. I'm sure she does other things to support herself too, but giving tours must be really fun. She was funny and her stories were really amusing. She was also really short and she always poked fun at that.
After the tour, we shopped around for a bit. Checked out the Writer's Museum which we encountered on the tour and I wanted to see. We were planning on going to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner (Yes, there's a Hard Rock in Edinburgh. There's hardly a big city where there ISN'T a Hard Rock Cafe anymore). But when we got there, we learned that it would be cheaper if we booked ahead and came back later. So we booked a reservation for Sunday night and left to eat at a cheap pub Kate the Tour Guide told us about. First time I had bangers and mash, and it was good. Also tried a Scottish soft drink called Irn Bru, which is also good. Tastes like a flavored Sprite, almost. I'll have to look for it in London.
Returned to the hostel then because neither of us is interested in getting drunk at a pub or finding a night club. So we hung out in our room a bit and met our second roommate who hails from the Gelway, Ireland region. He was going out with friends and probably stumbled back into the room at 3am like he did the other night. I didn't hear him stumble in, but I was amazed by his ability to sleep through us both getting ready and leaving. Props to him. Hope that hangover wasn't as bad as he expected.
31 Oct -- Halloween -- Day Three
Pretty much checked out right away and left. Then we realized that it's Daylight Savings Time and we thus forgot to set our watches. And thus we were an hour earlier for everything we wanted to do. So we waited outside The Elephant House for fifteen minutes before it opened. We weren't the only ones. There was a small group there, probably Harry Potter fanatics trying to eat at the place JK Rowling ate while she wrote the books we all know and love. Met a guy from New London, WI who noticed the origin of my sweatshirt (the green one from Door County). I told him I was from Neenah and we were like "Yeah, we're from the same area, cool." He's studying in Berlin and visiting a friend who has an internship in Edinburgh. Made me wonder why I didn't look into Scotland for studying. Edinburgh's much more my kind of town. But oh well. I'm in London and now I'm established there and there's no going back.
And here's me pretending to write while sitting in a seat that may or may not have had JK Rowling's butt as well:
Oh yeah, before we left, I put on some make up to look like a fairy for Halloween. I went as a traveling fairy. You don't know where I live, but you know where I've been! (Gotta keep the realm of the fae a secret, you know).
Wandered into the National Museum of Scotland and had more fun doing the kiddie Discovery Zones than reading about the natural history of Scotland. I destroyed a city wall and reassembled a broken pot. I even made my own coat of arms. But we left so we could catch the right bus to Rosslyn Chapel on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
And it was pretty. The Chapel is gorgeous even though it's unfinished and there are so many intricate details you can spend YEARS unraveling their mysteries. We spent a good hour and a half just looking at it. We couldn't take pictures inside the chapel itself, but we could take as many as we want outside. The Chapel was built as a tribute to St. Matthew by Sir William St. Clair. He started it when he was roughly 39 years old and didn't get to see it's completion. His son took over but just finished it to resemble a chapel instead of the cathedral his father wanted. Inside, there are about a hundred carvings of the Greenman, an angel that represents Lucifer, arches with mysterious boxes with symbols carved on them that no one's been able to figure out, references to the Knifes Templar, and an arrow pointing straight down. If you stand directly underneath that arrow, you're not only standing on the mystery of what's underneath the chapel, but on crossing lei lines that apparently join there. I felt different standing on that spot, but only very very subtly different. It could be the energy of the lei line, or it could be because I was told something special was supposed to happen in that spot. Who knows.
Lunch was just eating the remaining snacks we had to save room for Hard Rock Cafe. We did some last minute souvenir shopping where I got a present for Dad and Smoky. Also bought a travel towel, which I would call an investment because hostel towels are kind of sketchy. Then I bought another paper journal because my current one is three quarters gone now and I still have more than two months left of traveling to do. That's at least three more weekends of jotting down everything I did while away from London and because both Edinburgh and my previous trip took up a lot of space in that journal. So I got a nice one that even has its own bookmark. It was really cheap too.
Checked out the Grassmarket which had a few shops that reminded me of Pop Deluxe in Madison. There was also a tee shirt shop where I saw a shirt with the Mel Gibson Braveheart character in chibi style with the word "FFREEEEEEDDDOOMMMM" written below him. Made me giggle but it was 15 quid and I wasn't going for it.
Arrived at the Hard Rock Cafe early, and I spent 20 quid on a shirt and 20 quid on the meal. Ugh. I could have gotten it cheaper too, but we realized how after we paid and we weren't about to go back and fight it. Oh well. It was still a Hard Rock Cafe, and it was delicious delicious American food. And it was awesome awesome rock music in the background. Edinburgh's doesn't have a rock museum and their shop is really tiny, but I suppose it would be the same kind of Hard Rock Cafe if it ever comes to Madison.
Wait, I take that back. If Hard Rock comes to Madison, University students will rise up for student discount rates for all, a giant rock museum, and a bigger shop. And they'll protest until they agree to do just that. And then their business will boom in Madison because everyone would want to go to Hard Rock and they'll even have a few regulars. I know my fellow Badgers.
Spent the last two hours of Edinburgh in the bus station. Becky was really impatient but I took a seat and whipped out my journal and then my book. Might as well since I wasn't going anywhere.
Slept better coming back than I did going down, but I would have slept better if our bus driver didn't need to break every two/three hours for a cigarette. So annoying. Could have been in London earlier, but no. Someone had to get their nicotine fix. Grr.
And now I'm home and about to take a nap. In a glorious, glorious bed with a stuffed animal and warm sheets and decently fluffed pillows. The mattress could be better.
No comments:
Post a Comment