Edinburgh

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A Little Cultural Research

I’ve done a lot of research about Mexico over the years, confident in my belief that I’d eventually live there, if only as a snowbird. But now that it’s really real, I’m having a burst of panic thinking that I really need to know things I take for granted in Canada and the US, like tipping and how the currency works, never mind all the cultural etiquette!

My only experience traveling in a country that doesn’t use dollars was a month-long trip to Scotland in 1998. I remember my first night in Edinburgh (third night in Scotland) like it was yesterday. A fellow backpacker, Michael, and I decided to go have dinner together. I ordered penne in a rosé sauce and was shocked to find meat in it (I was a vegetarian back then). But even more clearly than that I remember paying the bill and Michael asking me three times if I really mean to tip what I was tipping. It was only later that night that I realised I’d given a nearly 30% tip on a mediocre meal with poor service! I had a good laugh at myself about it.

This is how I’m going to approach my first trip into Mexico proper (I’m not counting the two trips I’ve taken to border towns). I am going to make mistakes. I will likely get scammed more than once. It’s just part of the experience and I will do my best to keep my sense of humour!

Living in another country that does not use dollars and whose primary language is not French or English has been a major dream of mine. I can’t believe it’s about to come true!

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Stirling to Melrose

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11:29 am

I’m on a bus waiting to depart. Destination: Melrose. Yep. I’ve had luck today. Here’s how it’s gone :

1) Huge breakfast with extra bread and jam to eat for lunch with peanut butter

2) Walk to bus stop. Told bus to Edinburgh 2hrs. Train: 50 min. (travelling time)

3) Go to train station. Fare to Edinburgh very similar (few p. difference at most. Less than £5). Next train leaves in 10 min.

4) Get to Edinburgh. Told to go to bus station. Get there on my own with no detours.

5) Find bus to Melrose. Less than £6. Leaves in 15 min. Time to get bed booked and buy a snack!

6) I’m on my way. Cost: a lot less than the train to Berwick!!!

6:06 pm

I’m in the absolutely lovely Melrose youth hostel, a Victorian mansion. From the common room, I have a view of the abbey, which is even better from the dining room! I cannot believe just how different the Lowlands are from the Highlands. I slightly regret not bringing home some Highland dirt and a thistle when I had the chance. Oh, well. Scottish dirt is Scottish dirt!

The Abbey was great and included an audio tour. I gave my last respects to Robert the Bruce at the site where his heart is buried. Yup, it made its way back!!! This is on thing I’ve been most lucky with. (When the heart was found the second time, a year or so ago, I think, it was taken to Edinburgh for tests. There were incredible delays with getting it back to Melrose. I missed the burial by only day or two, but at least the heart was home when I went to Melrose, and not lying in some scientist’s office.) It was like visiting a grave — I guess it was a grave. It was most moving, to say the least.

So, I plan on two nights here, perhaps one in Dumfries (if I find a cheap place), two in Ayr, and one very near the airport ! Melrose is great in that everything is very nearby and the hills aren’t very high! My trip is just about over and I don’t feel that I’ve wasted my time. It’s a good feeling.

8:16 pm

I have not felt such peace and pure contentment since Colorado. I mean, I’m sitting this close to ancient (okay early medieval to 19th century) ruins. Melrose is such a beautiful abbey, mostly red and yellow ochre, but there are other colours as well, best seen inside. Digress.

I think I’ve invented a new sport! The sport’s name ? Mud skiing. It involves going hill walking in inappropriate attire such as worn down sneakers that won’t adhere to anything and light coloured jeans. Now, find a steep, slippery, muddy hill (you have to be at the top). Now, carefully pick your way down to the first muddy and slippery patch you can’t see. Allow yourself to slip down it, gaining momentum. Once you’ve stopped sliding, KEEP MOVING VERY QUICKLY until you reach the next muddy and slippery spot you can’t see. Allow yourself to go full speed down that one, gaining more momentum. You should end up literally barrelling down the hill. The point of the exercise is to get to the bottom on your own two feet, without falling, without dirtying your clothes, and with a very minimal amount of mud on your shoes. Impossible ? Hell, I did it !

10:20 pm

Everything is just fine and perfect and wonderful. I feel such peace. I wish I could feel like this in the ‘real’ world. I called home and actually got (my mother). She’s going to put some money in my account. Turns out I had a whole £100 left, but for some reason I was unable to extract half of it. Oh well, Friday I’ll have the extra cash, so I’m going to enjoy my weekend. Horseback riding, perhaps?! (I can’t explain the frame of mind I was in as I wrote this entry. It was like I was floating on clouds. I had no worries, no stress, no negativity. It was pure bliss, I suppose.)

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In Which I Explore Edinburgh, See the Queen, and Go to Perth

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.

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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!

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Edinburgh Castle and a Wild Night on the Town

5:30 pm

Edinburgh… I came to Scotland expecting to dislike Glasgow and fall in love with Edinburgh. The opposite happened. Edinburgh is cold, creepy, dirty, and smelly. It’s full of steep cobblestone streets and dank closes. Yuck. Blech. I can’t say I’m disappointed since I wasn’t really expecting anything but what I mentioned at the beginning of this entry. Still, I never anticipated this ‘malaise’ that walking these streets brings.

I did have a perfectly incredible day, though. It took me almost 3.5 hours to get through Edinburgh Castle (a walloping £6—but worth it!!!) The entrance fee includes an audio tour. There was so much material I ended up skipping some of the less interesting (to me) bits.

I can’t believe how emotional I got when I entered an exhibition that eventually led to a chamber holding the Scottish honours and the Stone of Destiny. First, there was a mural of each Scottish monarch up to and including Robert I, then there was a statue of the coronation of Robert I. I almost broke down seeing all this history I’ve been studying come to life. And when I came face to face with the Honours themselves…

But that was nothing compared to how I felt walking into St-Margaret’s chapel. She’s my ‘favourite’ Queen and to stand where she prayed… I also saw the chamber where Mary Stewart’s son James (1st and 6th) was born. Wow. At one point, a guard noticed how, um, awestruck I was, standing by the walls listening to recordings of a history I know very well, and asked if I was okay. I could only nod. If this is how I react to Edinburgh Castle, can you imagine me at Stirling and Bannockburn?!

After, I walked around for hours looking for cheap grub. I ended up having pizza at a decent price. After, I saw the grave of ‘Grey Friar’s Bobby’ as well as that of his master John Gray. Then, I nosed through a used book shop and ended an exhausting day at the Royal Museum for a 1.5 hour whirlwind tour of the most amazing collection of stuff I’ve ever seen (even in my own room!!!).

I hadn’t sat down since I left at 9 :00 this morning (not even for lunch!), so I figured it was time to come in and get off my feet for a few hours. I think I pulled a muscle at one point during my Ben Nevis adventure. Going down stairs has been excruciating today. Oh, and in the Edinburgh castle gift shop, I found my favourite whisky to date. It’s sweet and not too ‘alcoholicky’. It’s name? Unbelievably: Wallace, and made at Stirling!!!

Tomorrow, I’d like to try the Whisky Heritage Centre. I really am growing fond of the stuff! The lady who offered a very wee dram of ‘Wallace’ didn’t seem too keen to answer my questions about the whisky like: how’s it made? what type is it? etc. Either she didn’t know or she couldn’t be bothered with someone who was obviously new to the whisky tasting business.

One thing I find unbelievable about staying here is how late the sun sets and how early it rises. I mean, there were still red streaks in the sky at 12:30 AM and when I woke up at 5:00, the sun was totally up! By 7:00, it was quite literally cooking me!

June 27th, 1998 1:17 AM (note that technically this is the same day!)

Well… I’ve had a most unusual night (for me, for others it was really quite normal). It started at a pub around 8 where 3 of us got carded. We chose to leave and actually had to search for another one! In Scotland, imagine ! Anyway, we found one and settled down to watch the match (by the way, ‘us’ refers to the 3 South African girls and on Australian guy, Jason, and me).

In my case, a pint of Guinness later, we headed off to the Mercat Cross at Saint Giles in order to join a tour about Edinburgh’s creepy, supernatural, and darker side.

We were led down into these catacomb like vaults where our guide succeeded in scaring us s—s by telling us about supposed malevolent spirits, etc. down there. Let’s just say that the place was claustrophobic (to say the least) and gave off very bad vibes. I was glad to end the tour at a cemetery where the vibes were better.

The tour then dispersed and we (the gang I’d been following all night) ended up on a bench outside the cemetery where we shared a joint (my first).

After that, we headed back for the pub that had carded us. Only two of us ordered drinks (I couldn’t afford anything else by that point!), but Jason got fed up with his Guinness (it was like his fourth that night!) and I ended up finishing it for him. By that time, I was loosened up to the max, but I’d had enough ‘fun’ for the night. They wanted to go clubbing, so we went our separate ways.

I enjoyed this evening very much (although I was worried about getting caught by the authorities with the ‘you-know-what’) but I’d had enough. The lifestyle is brainnumbing! To think that my idea of ‘fun’ is a movie (at home) and my knitting! It still is, but I’ve tasted another world. I wouldn’t want to join it with any regularity, but now I know that occasionally it can be rather enjoyable to almost let down the little hair I have!

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Glen Nevis to Edinburgh By Way of Oban

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12:28 pm

I just passed (on the way to Oban) the castle used in the ‘cow-throwing’ scene in ‘Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail’!

12:49

I saw my third stop sign in more than three weeks!

My fourth in Oban!

My fifth in Edinburgh!

7:31 pm

I’m in Edinburgh. Where else but at Yvonne’s would I be greeted with a cup of hot tea and shortbread cookies?! I’m sorry I was unable to stay in Oban; it sure was bonnie! The Scots sure know how to reuse, reduce, and recycle! I had a veggie burger and chips for lunch. Reuse: the newspaper the food was wrapped in. Recycle: the outside paper, which wasn’t greasy. Reduce: the amount of time it takes to eat; you get to read the comics at the same time! Later, Yvonne’s offered me some supper!

8:01 pm

That had to be the best meal I’ve had since getting to Scotland! Lots of veggies and pasta, yum!

 

Today I’ve only spent £11.85 on meals and board. Try to get that anywhere else!

I went to the tourist info centre to get, what else, info on buses to Stirling and other places that interest me. It looks like getting to Stirling might be long, but not too complicated. I’ll check out other companies, but I get a 30% rebate with Citylink… (It’s too bad I hadn’t yet discovered that trains are quicker and cost almost the same as buses!)

Right by Oban, directly under the bridge, there’s an honest to goodness whirlpool! Supposedly, it’s caused by two opposing tides and it’s treacherous. Oban, unlike Kyleakin, actually has a (albeit minor) smell of the sea. What I wanted to do in Oban was catch a ferry tour to the islands, Mull, Iona, etc., but I discovered that the ferry broke down today and many people were stranded for several days—without their packs!!!

Glencoe, I’m told, isn’t nearly as bonnie as it’s made out to be. I saw Inveraray Castle, albeit out of the corner of my eye!

In a way, I’m sorry to be done with Haggis since they brought such security and less hassle to my travels. I was disappointed with today’s driver, William, who didn’t yak it up much. I think that John was my favourite, although Claire’s accent made her jokes and stories all the better! Craig never shut up, but he said tons of cool stuff. As for Malcolm, I think he was a happy medium between all… 4, was it? Haggis was great in that instead of just taking us from place to place, they told us about the stuff in between. I never once had to ask: ‘What’s with that castle/ruin/tower/cairn/plaque, etc.’. And the stories were always told in the liveliest of fashion.

So, now I’m in Edinburgh, sitting at Yvonne’s kitchen table while her daughter (Mhari, pronounced Ma-ri, like the French but with a Scots accent) is drawing me a picture. Now that’s a souvenir I won’t mind ‘dragging’ home with me (I still have as of posting in 2016!). That’s enough for tonight, tomorrow!

11:30 pm

I’ve come so far in these past two weeks!!! I went into a pub all by my lonesome, ordered a beer, sipped it, and stayed long enough to see Yugoslavia (how the world has changed…) score a goal against the U.S.A. I’m now in a room with three African girls who are great. It’s very late, so good-night. Oh, and I had fun getting thoroughly misplaced in Edinburgh at 10:00pm !