Edinburgh For A While
My next stop was the longest of the trip so far: Edinburgh, Scotland.
Carlos and I traveled via bus from Inverness, enjoying the countryside along the way. Upon arrival, our jaws promptly hit the floor of the coach. Edinburgh’s architecture is truly breathtaking, including both the Gothic and Victorian styles that I particularly enjoy. We took our time walking to the hostel, enjoying the scenery along the way.
The next day, I made new friends in my hostel and we went out to see some sights. We began with Edinburgh castle. The castle is situated on top of an impressive mount overlooking the city, one Edinburgh’s three volcanic formations. The castle made for excellent views of the city, but was overrun with tourists. We took a walk through the castle grounds, including a memorial to Scotland’s military casualties, a small exhibit about the castle’s jail, and a display of antique weaponry (I especially liked the Claymore sword, much like the one in Braveheart). You’ll see a re-enactment of the prisoner’s conditions in the photos below, including me scowling at my daily portion of gruel.
After the castle, we took a trip down to the National Museum of Scotland. We focused on the science, engineering, and wildlife sections of the museum. A particular highlight for me was a piece of a particle accelerator (I believe from CERN?). Truly the pinnacle of human ingenuity.
After a quick break back at the hostel. The girls and I went out for dinner and drinks at a fantastic Indian restaurant—Dishoom. We shared small plates that were full of flavor (flavor can be in short supply in some Scottish cuisine). I ate far too many portions of the spicy chutney and was rewarded with a stomach ache. After dinner we went for a drink at a local speakeasy-style bar, Hoot the Redeemer. You’ll see a picture of me spying around the opening of the door.
The next day, I went out to take a free walking tour and enjoy the good weather. Over two hours, I learned about Edinburgh’s rich history and culture. The tour provided detail on historic living conditions (which were terrible), including the 7am and 10pm emptying of chamber pots from your apartment window, no matter the floor. It just so happened that the pubs also let out at 10pm during that time, leading to many inebriated individuals in the street. Where a sober individual might know to sprint when hearing the customary warning call of “gardyloo!”, the drunk individual might only look up at the noise and be rewarded with a shower of human excrement. It is believed that this phenomenon gave rise to the term “shit-faced.” Other interesting stories included Edinburgh as a hub of culture and learning, which is apt considering the wealth of great writing, philosophy, and technology that hail from Scotland (The Wealth of Nations and the modern steam engine come to mind). The tour ended with a trip to a local cemetery that provided inspiration for Harry Potter (as did a number of other locations in the city) and contains mass graves from Edinburgh’s bout with the Black plague.
After a break for lunch, I took the afternoon to explore the national art gallery. The gallery had striking red wall paint, and included paintings from a variety of eras. My particular favorites were those painted in the Flemish style, notable for painting scenes of ordinary people and with impressive colored shading and detail.
That evening I went out for a pub crawl and stayed up very late.
After a well deserved rest, I woke up to burn off the alcohol with a hike. I teamed up with friends from the pub crawl, Nikita and Jody, to ascend Arthur’s Seat, a local rock formation. Like the castle, Arthur’s Seat is a volcanic plug. It provides tremendous views of the city, along with a rare moment of tranquility in the otherwise busy city.
After our hike, I split off from the girls to watch the World Cup with Carlos and a friend I’d made in Inverness, Alejandro. On the way to the pub, I went for a quick stop in the Edinburgh city museum. The museum was quite charming due to its small size and old, creaky building. It covered a variety of Edinburgh products, cultural elements, and famous persons. After the game, we took a leisurely walk through the park below Edinburgh castle.
That night I went to dinner with some new friends I made in my room. We had a long conversation about the US, their native Canada, and the world.
After a few days of activity, I took the next day to relax in the park and read. Other highlights included getting a haircut. With some hours rest take are of, I met up with Jody, Nikita, and Brad (another pub crawler) for Thai food and a quick stop at the grave of Bobby the dog (note the sticks on his grave). Bobby is a bit of an Edinburgh historical celebrity, known for going back to the grave of his dead owner over and over until he was allowed to live in the cemetery. We then went back to the hostel for a beer and a game of cards against humanity.
The next day marked Jody and Nikita’s last day in Edinburgh, so we went for a quick jaunt through Victoria street’s Harry Potter shops (Victoria street was the inspiration for the famous Diagon alley in Harry Potter). We took the opportunity to dress in wizard clothing and take some pics (I am a Gryffindor, FYI). Afterwards we went for a glass of Scotch at a local pub named for Bobby the dog. The girls had never had Scotch before, so I made sure to take them through the tasting ritual I’d learned on my distillery tours. After they left, I switched to my second hostel in Edinburgh, which was considerably homier than the first. I was lucky enough to end up in the same room as Alejandro, and we made plans for an excursion the next day.
The next morning, Alejandro and I took a 2.5 hour train to Stonehaven, on the Northeast coast of Scotland. Stonehaven is a sleepy little coastal town with the ruins of a castle about thirty minutes walk from the city. We took our time walking through the city and hills in search of photo ops. You’ll see a memorial to Stonehaven’s dead from the first and second world wars in the photos. Alejandro is quite the photographer, so I did my best to soak up a bit of his knowledge as I took my pictures.
Once we reached the castle, we took time to take photographs and relax. Alejandro opted to pay to enter the ruin while I stayed out. By the time we were finishing up there, we were getting hungry. There was an extremely highly-rated fish and chips shop back in town, so we headed there before our train. We were surprised to find that seemingly ever person in the town had the same idea, and ended up waiting in line for thirty minutes. We ended up walking while eating, but made it to the train on time. Also, I’ve included a photo of Alejandro throughly enjoying his fish and chips. He hates this photo, but I think candid shots are the best.
For my final day in Edinburgh, I began by taking a walk down the Royal Mile (Edinburgh’s most photogenic stretch). I took a quick detour for a burger and some vanity shots at Edinburgh university.
From there I went to Mary King’s close, one of the Royal Mile’s most popular tourist attractions. Edinburgh is full of these “closes,” which are basically pedestrian alleyways. While the original closes (of which there were hundreds) were all destroyed in the modernizing of Edinburgh, Mary King’s was kept partially in its original form. One can then take a tour (no pictures allowed) that details the life and living conditions of various Edinburgers during the 16th and 17th century. This includes both poor and middle class apartments, various ghost stories, and a depiction of the plague hitting a family (rough stuff). After the tour, I took some time to watch a street performer and walk through some back alleys. I then took a rest with a real cask ale (naturally carbonated aka flat beer) and my kindle. Finally I took a stroll through the park and met Alejandro for dinner before we finally parted ways. Alejandro was off to Barcelona for a few days before returning home to Argentina.
