about 3:30 pm
I’ve had a ‘slow’ day. It began around 9. I had vague plans to walk through Holyrood Park, but it wasn’t any fun with my heavy pack. So I proceeded to get lost following a royal procession out of Holyrood and seeing the Queen (she’s tiny) get in a car!!!
After, I went to a museum that focuses on how (Edinburgers?) have lived during the past 200 years. It was fascinating (and free! (why does it start to rain just when I decided to plop down?)) Besides that, I haven’t been up to much (just uphill!). I’m waiting to meet John and Linda at five. It’s silly that I’ve come all this way and will only be able to stay a half hour. It’s a full hour’s walk back to the bus station and the latest for Perth that I can afford to take is at 6:55. (So, I did end up going to Perth! Turns out there weren’t any beds available in Stirling the night I wanted to go, and to go to Stirling from Edinburgh you have to go by Perth and change buses.)
3:45 (of course the rain doesn’t last (I mean ‘atmosphere’ but the cold sure sets in!) (when it rains, the Scots say it’s ‘atmospheric’. When it snows, the Scots say it’s ‘dramatic’. Why not!)
Do you know what I found to be the creepiest thing in Edinburgh (besides the hidden vaults?) It’s silly, but it’s those strange back taxis rushing along on cobblestone streets late at night!!!!!!!!! In a way, they look like miniature hearses, I guess.
On a more positive note, from Princes street, the castle is magnificent! It looks like it’s growing right out of the rock, like it sprouted from the volcano. I must admit that from without, I don’t find the castle all that ‘beautiful’, but it is impressive and grand, a worthy fortress to defend this city. I remember being up with one of the cannons when a tourist pointed one out and joked that it must have been misfired, indicating the scaffold-covered Walter Scott Monument in the distance. Sure enough, the cannon was aimed straight at it!
On a backpacking holiday such as mine you more often than not find yourself living out of doors during the day. Right now, for example, I’m sitting on a bench next to a busy intersection! No matter the weather, unless you can afford restaurants, you eat outside, usually while walking (the pizza yesterday was tricky! (it was pouring!!!)) Luckily, Scots’ diet seems to be tailored to this lifestyle; most food available in restaurants or deli counters is easily eatable ‘on the go’ (today, for example, I picked up a yummy cheese/onion/potato pasty-thingy at a co-op, which I ate on my way to this bench (59p).)
I must admit I’m looking forward to eating 3 regular meals a day sitting down! What I don’t miss (oddly enough) is my bed, only my pillows. The mattresses and the comforters I’ve encountered here are divine, thick and moulding and warm. The only time I’ve had to use my own sleepsheet was at Ben Nevis, everywhere else it was supplied with the price of the night. In Inverness, I didn’t like their system of tucking the pillow into a pouch (I like to cuddle up with it!) so I used the pillow case I brought.
A few general notes:
roundabouts=great fun! (esp. in a bus). I can see myself driving around one for hours ‘à-la-Mr. Bean-on-the-way-to-the-dentist’!
Edinburgh’s layout: she’s an ancient city and has maintained a very ‘medievalish’ layout. Quebec city looks medieval, but Edinburgh has all the closes, wynds, and dead ends that only an ancient city could have. It would be fun to explore all these dark corners, but scary, too. Who knows what kind of people I’ll find at the end of a dark (in the middle of the day!) alleyway?! I could live in Glasgow, but not here, I think. I thought Edinburgh’s age would make her charming and soft, but it’s rather the opposite. It doesn’t feel safe. However, it’s the personification of my ‘dream’ or ‘ideal’ of an old European city. Edinburgh was hardly bombed during WWII, unlike London, which has very little old ‘stuff’ left (or so I’m told). I’d like to try one of them double-decker buses they have here. I might try to find one that’ll take me part of the way to St. Andrew’s Square to catch the bus. Later.
10:13 pm
I’m in Perth, in a magnificent residence that loses its magnificence when we step indoors! The common room is the only really ‘nice, room in this hostel and it stinks! Still, it’s cheap, and if I stay at a more expensive hostel later on, it’ll be free (like Ayr; I just remembered the offer isn’t available in Glasgow, darn).
John and Linda were wonderful. We had a cup of tea and I stayed for almost 1.5 hours (I arrived at 4:45). I sure am glad I caught a bus that took me almost straight to the bus station! The book’s great (and autographed). I’m going to start it as soon as I finish this sentence!