In Defense of Doing Nothing

Barely left the dorm today.  I was lucky I did laundry and booked a flight from Stockholm to Helsinki.  I also looked at other travel prices and mediums of travel, but the Stockholm-Helsinki was the cheapest I could find.  At least I thought it was a deal.  A flight for 30 quid?  Steal.  You don't get that cheap in the US.

Sometime in the afternoon, I started to feel guilty.  Guilty that I spent my entire weekend holed up in my dorm room pretty much just sitting and doing nothing on the Internet.  There was some reading on occasion, but mostly just sitting and getting frustrated at my right knee which apparently can't stand to stay bent for several hours at a time.  Currently lying straight on my bed, resting the joint.  But as I was feeling guilty, my friend David came online on Facebook.  So I told him I was in London and doing nothing but shouldn't I be doing something since this is supposed to be an awesome thing I'm doing?  And here I am having a mini-vacation in the middle of my vacation.  And he said that vacations are good, and relaxation is good, and I shouldn't feel bad.

And then I made a list of all the things I've done and all the things that are planned and for sure going to happen:

List of things I've done

• Stonehenge
• Edinburgh
• Bath
• Oxford
• Various London Museums
• Shopping among Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, even a street market!
• one stage theater production

List of things going to happen for sure

• Rome
• Florence
• Madrid
• Odense, Denmark with Hanne
• Norway (Oslo?)
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Helsinki, Finland
• perhaps a day trip somewhere other than Helsinki?

List of things currently being planned

• Brussels, Belgium
• an obscure small town somewhere for the weekend, just the weekend, a flight in the morning on Saturday, a flight at night on Sunday, that's all I ask!  Why is this so hard to find for cheap???
• More London Museums
• at least one more stage theater (Jersey Boys?  Billy Elliot?  Wicked?)

Sorry for that little rant  for my weekend alone.  It's so hard planning something within your budget.  And it's kind of scary traveling alone.  But it'll be the first time doing it all alone and then I argue with myself over how cheap flights can really get.  Current flight budget: no more than 50 quid. 

Anyway, I took a look at this list on paragraph form and thought damn, that's one giant paragraph.  Can you really do all that in a semester?  And at first I thought no, you can definitely do more.  Then: But can *I* do any more?  I don't know.  Can you?  That'll be pretty hard to fit in, won't it?  Why don't you be happy with what you have.  Look, Scandinavia and Finland!  Just like you've wanted, right?  You should be happy with at least that!

And so I am.

For a while I thought about Becky and how she said that she's the only one out of her friends who could even study abroad.  And that's why she's planning so much for so many weekends.  She barely has a weekend to herself.  A tourist for three months. 

But me?  I'm a traveler.  I go someplace and I know life goes on just as it always does.  And I adjust accordingly.  Yes, I go places, some more local than others, but I just have a different experience than Becky.  I don't feel privileged being here because all of my friends have been abroad at one time or another either for school or something else.  Mostly for school, I think.  And here I am, abroad for school, just like everyone else.  Doing what I do, just like I do back at home.  As Jessica said last night, life goes on just as it does no matter where I am. 

And that was the topic I wrestled with over the weekend.  Mostly today, but also all weekend. 

Also, I can't seem to find my phone and I suspect it's in Oscar's room.  This will have to be reconciled very very soon. . . .

Lazy Saturday

This morning, I got up fairly late.  Finished watching The Phantom of the Opera on YouTube (which I started the previous night and I had to finish it this morning).  Then I did some productive things like wrote the journal/reflective logs I'm supposed to be writing for class.  Then I took a look at the giant to-do list I wrote in my written journal and decided that it was time to check off a few of those things.

I went to find a weekend trip for myself but it's surprisingly difficult to get to a small town in France very cheaply.  But SkyScanner has this wonderful thing that enables you to look at any prices from one airport to any airport anywhere.  It's amazing.  I found tickets to Marseilles for approximately 30 quid and I was seriously considering going, until I looked at exactly when the plane leaves.  I would have gotten there Saturday afternoon and would have had to leave early on Sunday.  So, unfortunately, Marseilles didn't work. 

Also found a site that gives good information about ferries all over Europe.  At first, I thought "Oh, it'd be fun to take a ferry from Stockholm to Finland!"  And then I discovered that there are no direct ferries from Stockholm to Finland and a look at a map told me why.  But then I attempted to find something from Stockholm to Turku and a train from Turku to Helsinki.  For some reason or other, that was more pricey than I wanted.  Or was it odd times the ferry was coming in?  I can't remember.  But I decided that it wouldn't work out and moved on.

I did, however, check out things to do in Helsinki.  And I've seen pictures and now I'm really excited to go there!  Should I cut another country short for Helsinki?  I don't know.  I would want to visit all of them equally, but more research on what to do and what to see will be required.  I hear Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki are all lovely cities.  There's bound to be loads to do in each one.  So yes, more research.

Went to visit Oscar later in the afternoon.  We attempted to book Brussels but when I told him that a flight would be cheaper than trains he didn't really believe that he'd have to pay 120 quid for the flight.  I said that I know what I'm talking about, but he heard Francie get really cheap flights but he couldn't remember the company.  So he wants to talk with her first, but I'm positive (and I told him this) that she'll be thinking about Ryanair and I've looked.  Believe me, I've looked.  And there is no direct London to Brussels flight for Ryanair.  They don't even offer options for changeovers.  And trains are more than 60 quid for a return.  It's 60 quid one way and 80 quid coming back, which would mean 140 quid both ways.  So that 120 flight is looking really inviting to me.  But he still wants to talk to Francie.

We ate dinner at a place called Imperial Tandoori which is barely a block away from the dorm.  I walk by it every day and I can now say that it's really good food.  I had the honey chicken with the rice stir fried with almonds.  Oscar liked his marsala better, but he agreed that I had the better rice.  He attempted to figure out how I base my morals, which I've never considered before so it was very hard to answer his questions.  Then he explained how he based his morals and then asked a few really hard questions which I attempted to answer to the best and truest of my abilities.  And then we moved on to which ancient civilization we think is best (somehow).  He also made fun of me for not understanding a lot of foreign English accents.  I don't think he realizes that if the foreign accent is hard, try a foreign accent in an accent that's not your accent.  America has, what, three main accents for five very large portions of the country?  You walk ten miles over here and people have different pronunciations of the sound "ah".  Also, still don't hear many British accents in London.  Yeah.

Upon return to the dorm, we had some booze (yum, Smirnoff) and put in the movie Hard Candy.  Hard Candy is the confrontation between a 14 year-old girl and a 34 year-old man you think is a pedophile.  But then the tables turn when she drugs him and proceeds with the psychological torture.  Oscar loves this movie because it's right up his ally.  Not only is it controversial on so many levels, but he has formed a solid opinion about the movie which, of course, I don't really agree with.  I decided to withhold opinion for a while and now that I've had time to mull it over and think about other things (and talk with other author friends who interpret things similarly to how I do), I have come to a decision. 

I appreciate the film as a film but I do not like it on a personal level.  Similarly to my relationship with South Park, in that I appreciate it for being a satire but I don't like it.  But unlike South Park (I just don't like the humor), I cannot relate to the characters in the film Hard Candy on any level.  The only one with any development is Jeff and Hayley is just a psychotic bitch with no development and they are quite literally the only two characters in the movie.  And one being developed and one not being developed is such a contrast that I feel as if the balance is tipped and there's no equality within the movie.  And that is my opinion about it.  I also checked out the reviews on IMDb and it's either you love it or you hate it.  While most people love it and only a few hate it, I'm not going to admit to hating it just yet.  It'll just be something I'll take pains to avoid from now on.

Next time, I'm introducing Oscar to my favorite movie: Speed Racer.  See if he likes it.  (There's no controversy at all, the villain if fairly ineffective, and it's very, very trippy and colorful.)

Afterwards, I came back to my room, and saw that Jessica was online.  Hooray!  And then Dan called on Skype.  Hooray!  And so we had a conference chat with Skype for about an hour where we talked about the new Skype update for Windows that allows video conferences (must look into).  We also talked about Alan Moore and his graphic novels, the awesomeness that is Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss (as separate entities though both of them together is a huge overdose of awesomesauce), and interning at the UW Press, which I'm seriously considering and I have two close friends already there who can put in a good word for me.  Also, they love people from PubCom (WUD Publications Committee) and I'm a member of PubCom simply for being a member of Working Title.  So there I go.  Also: Blackdog Publishing. 

And now it's 2am again and I'm still awake.  This bodes well for Skyping into Working Title on Monday.

Remember, Remember . . .

Just like everyone else in the States:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot

 Today, I went to work and did work things.  Then I ate a giant cookie for the second half of my lunch and it was good and mushy and scattered crumbs all over my keyboard.  Helen, another intern who just started last week (?), brought in carrot cake for the afternoon.  And that was good.  And then I figured I should stop eating so many sweets, but then I get home and cookies are RIGHT THERE!  It's so hard.

Attempted to go see some fireworks this evening, but it fell through because the ones I wanted to see wouldn't be worth the rush.  As it turns out, I've been watching a TON of fireworks just outside my bedroom window.  Guy Fawkes Day is kind of a big deal over here.  And I added my own celebration to the festivities by inviting a few people to my room to watch the infamous V for Vendetta movie by the Watchowski brothers.  It was me, Emanuele from Milan, and Our Lovely Oscar.  Emanuele liked the movie even though he thought it was a bit strange, and Oscar didn't like V at all.  His reaction amused me.

We used Oscar's speakers for the film so we could hear it over the fireworks outside.  When the movie was done, he forgot them and I had a mischievous gleam in my eye and I set them up around me in my bed.  And just as I was finishing and starting to chat with Dan on Facebook, Oscar came back for them.  Darn.

Of course, the big news is Oscar's dislike of V for Vendetta in which I like it because the use of symbols gets me every time. (the ROSES and the DOMINOES).  But he dislikes the fact that V is pretentious and gets around all ninja-like with seemingly no explanation and such.  I had him FB chat with Dan and Dan just said to read the graphic novel because there are things that were cut and there's no love story and such.  But Oscar's not going to read the graphic novel because he's not that interested.  Which I'm not going to condone or anything -- he's not interested, he's not interested. 

Things yet to do today:
- get going on those weekly class journals for creative writing and internship toolkit
- rank apartments for 2011-2012 and send them back to Sarah
- write a little bit of my story because I would like to just sit and do that for once

Lots of fireworks outside my window.  That's it for today.  I'll talk to you all tomorrow.  Insert corny catchphrase here.

Now I HAVE to go to Finland

Yesterday, I discovered my monetary limit and decided not to spend anything until the load comes through.  So what do I do today?  Spend money. 

Genius.

Went to meet with Hanne at a Starbucks by Primark on Oxford Street around 11am.  We just talked and hung out.  She tried hazelnut hot chocolate and didn't like it because it tasted like she was drinking Nutella and she's not a fan of Nutella anyway.  I didn't mind it.  Then again, I like Nutella.  She had to go because her flight left around 1p and she had to be there at least ten minute beforehand.  So we parted fifteen after noon.

And I was left to my own devices for three hours.  I wasn't about to go back to the dorm because, well, what was I going to do?  So I walked into the Apple store on Regent Street.  Read a chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh on an iPod Touch.  Then I went to an iPad where I checked my Facebook, my Gmail, and then played a few rounds of Plants vs. Zombies.  Then I left because I was finished with screen-based technology. 

Picked up lunch at Mortimer's on the corner of Mortimer and Wells.  It's a really nice sandwich shop, and fairly cheap too.  I like their food.  Went to eat lunch in front of the classroom, but then I remembered there's a student common room in the basement of the building.  So I went there instead to eat said lunch and finish reading Harry Potter.  And that's about the time I realized that I should have brought another book with me because if you're that far into a book and you figure you're going to have a bunch of extra time to kill, why the hell do you not bring enough to do?  Besides writing, but writing isn't good when you're eating a sandwich as well.  The crumbs get all over the paper and you smear the ink when you wipe them away.  Why do I do this to myself?

Linguistics was the same as usual.  This is the class most similar to classes at Madison, so I like this class despite the teacher being really, really dull.  I sit next to a kid named Andy usually and he thinks I'm a genius of some sort.  I apparently "know everything" and I don't know why because I just pay attention and take what I've learned previously.  I also don't think he knows I'm approximately two years older than he is.  In the world of educational institutions, that's a boatload of educational information separating us.  But I'm not going to tell him that anytime soon.

Back at home, dinner was leftovers from last night.  And it was still delicious.

I was arbitrarily checking out travel prices to various places across the continent (mostly Scandinavia and Finland) when I found plane tickets from Helsinki to London for roughly 35 quid.  You read that right.  It would work out perfectly for my road trip too.  But I wanted to clear some things up before I actually booked it, so I went all the way to Oscar's room to ask a few "strange questions" as I phrased it.  I'll explain this as my intentions and then what was arranged with Oscar.

The intention was to leave my giant suitcase and giant duffel bag behind in London when I go for my trip so I don't have to worry about them.  Yes, it means laundry every three days, but I don't mind.  Said luggage would be left with a friend in the dorm because it would be free and, ideally, wouldn't take up much room.  Also, I would need a place to sleep for a night when I return to London.  My flight back to the States leaves 11 January which means I have to be back to London by 10 January.  I'm supposed to be out of the dorm by 7 January, which means I won't have a place to call my own for one night in London.  Again, I was planning on bumming with a friend because it's what friends do.

Oscar said I could stay the night for that one night.  And he could even see me off a Heathrow the next day (I asked if he could because I figure he would want to considering our relationship and all that).  He was uncertain about the Heathrow thing at first but I told him that you just take the Piccadilly line until the very end and he liked the idea of being able to take the Tube there.  Also, I could store my luggage under his bed for a week and a half.  I was iffy about asking him about that because I know his room is really small and I wasn't sure where it would fit.  But I guess it'll fit under the bed because they fit under my bed now.

Once that was squared away, I booked my Helsinski-London Gatwick flight, wrote down all the information I would need, and then celebrated by visiting Oscar again. 

Read some more Neverwhere which I'm starting to like quite a bit.  That's good.  And then my eyes started to hurt so I thought "I should go up and go to bed" which is a near two-hour process since my bedtime routine involves calling my parents and then updating this blog before finally turning in.  But here I am.

Also, while I was on Oxford Street today, I bought some keychains for friends in Madison.  But one keychain I'm keeping for myself.  It's a gold-colored figurine of Big Ben, and it's so cool I wasn't about to give it away.  The others were two figures of double-decker buses and two telephone booths.  They got me excited because I found them 5 for 5 quid.  They come 4 for 10 quid at Great Britannia, which is good to look around in but runs fairly pricey so you're better off buying from a cheap souvenir stall on Oxford Street if you can.

Walking back from class, there were some live models on the second level of a building dancing in the spotlight in their underwear.  I was with Andy and Hattie when we spotted them.  Hattie seemed aghast at them but Andy pointed out the one who had the best dancing.  I was just like "Oh, cool, live models" and didn't really judge them.  It's either a publicity stunt for the store or Britain's Next Top Model was doing a challenge.  But it was still neat to see it happen.  Now I wish I got a picture.

Still have lots of cookies left.  But I should really rephrase that to lots of sweets.  I have two giant Ben's cookies, two bags of homemade cookies from Mom, a big bag of pretzel M&Ms, and a sleeve and a half of English biscuits from a while ago.  Not to mention four sugar-loaded cupcakes in a box and half a bag of chocolate covered peanut butter balls.  So lots of sweets.  I better start walking long distances between bus stops . . . .

Antics and Glorious, Glorious white sauce

Last night, I was sitting in bed, writing in my Notebook of Everything, when I hear this "WHAP!!  taptaptaptaptaptatpatpatpatpatpaptapt" at my door.  Since Hattie and I were going back and forth with your linguistics coursework, I thought it was her and this was an unusual way of knocking.  But when I opened the door, I was greeted an "Ka-tie, I'm so drunk!"  And Oscar stumbled into my room and collapsed on my bed.

Yes, it's as amusing as it sounds.

It was apparently happy hour at a pub somewhere around Regent Street campus, so of course he had like eight cocktails.  Something about puking and taking an hour-long nap in the loo.  And his bag was taken.  Poor guy.  His student ID was in said bag.  So I hope he gets it back because the way he told the story, it sounded like someone took the bag because they thought he was gone. 

We lay on the bed (he half-lay on it -- his bottom half was dangling on the floor) for a good while before I poked him awake and said "Okay, I'm kicking you out." 
"But, Ka-tie, don't you love me?"
"I do.  I just have to wake up for work tomorrow."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do."
And he managed to drag himself out of my room.  I'm sure he was aware enough to make it to his room on his own.

And that's part of the reason why I didn't want to wake up this morning.  But I did and I took a shower and tried out my brand new travel towel (which takes up less room and dries so much faster according to the tag it came with).  Made a salad and picked up a can of soup for lunch at work.  Made sure I had my coursework with me and went outside to wait for a bus. 

Work involved lots of typing.  I left for lunch to drop off my coursework.  It wasn't as hard as I thought.  I thought I'd be gone a full hour working my way around the Tube strike, but the Victoria line from King's Cross to Oxford Circus was still running, and it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be.  I got to sit down going there and back, at least.  But I turned it in and it was easy-peasy (I even kissed it for luck).  Got back to work, ate lunch, did more typing. 

The sun started to set around three or four and it made it seem later than usual.  Phoebe mentioned being tired because of the early sunset.  Which made going home seem later than usual.  Especially since I have to wait for-fricken-ever to get the 59!  Why don't you come more often!  I see more 205 and 135 and 73 than 59 and 59 is my line!!  Grr.  And it was remarkably busy both going to work and coming back from it.  And then I forgot my short-cut across Tavistock Road to Southampton Row. 

I was sick of being out of bread AND milk, so I waited a few extra stops than usual to get to the giant Tesco on Kennington Road.  All the while, I kept thinking about making the last of my pasta with white sauce and frying the last of the hamburger patties, a pepper, and some mushrooms with a stalk of celery and mixing all that in with the sauce.  And that was dinner, and it was good.  Even made toast while it was cooking because I missed bread so much. 

Which brings me here.  I'm waiting for Ryan to send me V for Vendetta so I can watch it on Friday.  The British celebrate the 5th of November by lighting bonfires and fireworks.  Americans celebrate the same day by watching a movie by the Watchowski brothers.  I told Oscar that you guys celebrate Parliament NOT being blown up, and he almost retorted that, but then said that Americans probably have silly holidays too.  I said that Independence Day could be compared to Bonfire Night because they both involve fireworks and celebrating the country. 

Almost bought some ice cream to go with my GIANT PILE OF COOKIES, but I forgot when I was in the store.  Drat.

Hanne, cookies, and Where did these books come from?

Monday, when I got back from Edinburgh, I sat in my room for about six hours just catching up on Internet stuff I missed over the weekend such as email and YouTube vlogs.  Then I took a nap.  Then I did some more Internet and worked on some homework.  Then Oscar came to visit.  We're going to Brussels later in November but we have yet to book anything, but we did agree on a Saturday morning to Sunday evening trip.  I'm also spending Christmas with his family (yay!!)!  He suggested having a few presents sent over from home so I don't feel left out when everyone else is opening theirs.  (Mom, Dad, preferably a few small things, so I can easily bring them back home.  Or edible things so I don't have to bring them back home.)

We went to hang out in his room and then Lynn, Denise, and Cieron came over because they were going to play cards in the common room.  They used my cards and we played Bullshit.  I left early because I was sleepy but Oscar's going to return my cards later.

This morning, I woke up before my alarm.  Which is unusual because my alarm was set for 7.45am which is actually pretty early and I didn't think I got a lot of sleep on Monday.  But anyway, I did and I got ready and complained about being out of milk (drat, I still have to get some) and delivered my very polite "Please put my dishes back when you're done" letter to the mysterious person who steals my dishes and puts them under the sink.  Then I left to print off some things at the library before class. 

Creative Writing was meeting at the Tate Modern today.  I got there a little late and couldn't find the group right away but I did find a few people eventually.  Did what I was supposed to and then met up with Monica (the instructor) and told her I was sorry.  She said to check my email better next time.  Yes, ma'am.

Wandered the non-touristy part of South Bank afterward where Monica pointed out a few things to us but she doesn't talk very loud so a lot of us didn't hear her.  We broke up after thirty minutes of walking.  I set off to get some lunch and meet up with my friend Hanne at her hostel. 

I met Hanne through Camp Onaway's International Camp a few years ago.  Earlier in the month, I had asked if I could spend a few nights at her place in Denmark sometime after Christmas.  She said yes and mentioned coming to London later in early November.  I asked if we could meet up, and she said yes.  We initially planned for a tea/coffee date at Starbucks, but then her boyfriend couldn't come with her so she had the day alone.  So I said "Hey, I don't have my internship class today.  Let's do something."  So we walked down Charing Cross Road in search of second-hand book stores.  I got a tiny book with Christmas poems and a science fiction book called Marrow by Robert Reed.  The first chapter was very interesting so I bought it.  Only cost 3 quid.  Then we wandered over to the Convent Garden market where we split a box of Ben's Cookies.  She ate all hers but I still have two left.  They're GIANT COOKIES I tell you.

Hanne and half a cookie.  Only HALF people!

We tried looking for a second-hand shop on Cheshire Street, but got lost and the tube strike was going to start soon.  So we parted ways and planned to meet at a Starbucks nearest the Primark on Oxford Street at 11a on Thursday. 

A few things happened.  One, when we first met up and picked up lunch at Tesco (cheap sandwiches = amazing), we were talking at a bus stop.  Someone came up and asked me where the British Museum was.  And I could point him in the right direction!  Also pointed someone in the right direction on Oxford Street, but that was because the store she was looking for was right behind her.  Still, it made me remember the guy who asked about the British Museum.  What's more, when I was looking for Hanne's hostel, I got lost.  Haha.

There's a restaurant in the Convent Garden markets that's a level below everything else.  But they've an open roof so passersby can look too.  There was a string quintet there playing classical music and doing funking things.  For instance, when a woman came to look at their CDs, ALL FIVE MUSICIANS went and knelt before her as if begging her to buy one.  It was soo funny!

Take it.  You know you want to!

I got two packages today.  The first is from Amazon.co.uk.  And because of this package, I moved whatever books were next to my bed to the shelving unit above my desk.  So now I have this:

Why, hello mini-library of Space Operas, Neil Gaiman, Harry Potter, and others..  When did you get here?

And if you're wondering where that all came from . . . that makes two (plus) of us.  And if you're wondering how I'm going to get that all home . . . I'm working on it.  There's the option of shipping it, but that's a bit pricy.  There's the option of leaving behind some clothes and bringing them instead, and that's looking promising.  What else can I leave behind? This will require some more pondering.

The second package was much more homey.  I got THREE BAGS OF HOMEMADE COOKIES from my dear mommy!  (Thanks, Mommy)  A giant bag of pretzel M&Ms (my favorite).  A loooong string of Christmas lights Mom assured me can stay in London (will buy plug converter eventually).  Two pairs of thin autumn gloves, and a wash cloth (because I need two).  

Dinner will be more pasta with white sauce.  It was delicious white sauce.  I want more.  I'm also eating an entire vine of grapes.  Someone get these away from me!  No, wait, don't.  They're quenching my thirst.  I luuuurve them so much! 

One of these days I will get Subway.  Because I walked by a few today and it smelled of delicious, delicious American.  Delicious.

Edinburgh, I Will Return to You!!

29 Oct - Day One

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

 

 

We took our time coming down because it was just so fun walking down a giant hill.  We didn't go up Arthur's Seat because it had taken us the better part of an hour and a half just to take a wrong turn and we were happy where we ended up.  Besides, there was less people.  And I like less people. 

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.