Edinburgh

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Edinburgh to Pitlochry

7:37 AM

I’ve had a most comfortable night. What I like about this B and B is that a whole family lives here (the owners, of course). I’m getting a taste of what life is like for a family in Edinburgh. I’m glad that Yvonne picked me up yesterday. The B and B is situated in this tiny courtyard called Coiney House Close, just off New Skinner Close. To get into the building, you have to open this great big barn-like door, go up 3 flights of stairs until you reach another number 3 (the address is 3/3). The courtyard is so European, all cobblestone and stone buildings, very beautiful. I must say that finding this place was more than luck, it’s the sort of thing you read about in travel journals but never have happen to you. Breakfast, though, was not great, it was adequate: oatmealy cereal with raisins (I ate it with milk) and (white, yuck) toast with pineapple jam (yum!).

Of course, I never expected much sun in Scotland, so I didn’t bring much in the way of sunscreen. You should see my nose! I also have a nasty scrape on my wrist from scraping it against the rough wall as I clambered up the stairs after Yvonne with my huge pack (I would soon become known by everyone on Haggis as ‘the Canadian with the *really* small pack! I must say my packing job was *excellent*. I had nothing I didn’t need, and I’d only forgotten two minor things I could live without!). I have to make sure it doesn’t get infected. I never thought I’d be using the 1st aid kit so soon in my trip! Well, I’d better be going. Haggis is expecting me in 15 min. Both Michael and the guy from Laval are with Haggis also, except they’re doing 6 and 3-day tours.

Later (from Perth or Pitlochry?)

9:24 AM

I’m crossing the Firth of Forth.

10: 32 AM

We’re driving through the very pitiful remains of Birnam woods.

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3:24 pm

Well, I’m in Pitlochry. It’s very beautiful. I’ll most likely take a day trip or 2 from Edinburgh into Fife. I saw Perth and that was enough. I’ll be staying here for two nights. Tomorrow, I plan on hiking. Scotland’s smallest distillery is here, and I’ll be visiting it tomorrow (supposedly we get a free dram at the end of the tour).

Figures. I leave a big city for a town with a pop. of 2,000 and I find my 1st (and only, so far) stop sign and a ‘real’ supermarket. I’ve got my next three meals covered (that’s 4 in all) if I don’t mind eating bread, cheese, peanut butter, apples, and water for a while. I’ve bought Galloway cheddar. It’s delicious. On the way here, we stopped to hike a bit. I saw ‘Braes Folly’ (actually I’m not sure if that’s the real name, but ‘Braes’ and ‘Folly’ are 2 of the names associated w/ the area. Lodging here is £15… for 2 nights, breakfast not included. Even with the breakfast you can buy (£2), it’s still cheaper than Glasgow or Edinburgh, and the sheets are provided.

8:25 pm

I attempted to do the ‘Moulin’ walk today, but somehow got off the trail! (during the summer, the sun sets incredibly late. You can go out for a long walk/hike after dinner, and be back before twilight!) I still got some great mileage in cow country and soon discovered to my relief that I wasn’t lost but merely misplaced since I finally ended up just where I should! The countryside is so very much like the Cantons de l’est, that must be why so many Scots settled there. On my walk, I crossed some very noisy sheep and some stupid, staring cows. I also scared a… pheasant! Or something that looks a hell of a lot like a pheasant. I also saw a hare. I really got a taste of the ‘freedom of passage’ thingamabob. I was walking straight through fields of grazing cows for Pete’s sake! I even had to open and close a few barriers and climb over another. I ended up in some ‘old’ couple’s yard. I was embarrassed but the lady only glanced up long enough to say ‘hello’.

I called (my mother) tonight through ‘Canada Direct’. It was ridiculously easy. She’s happy to have a more detailed itinerary. I’m thinking of Aviemore for 2 nights, then Inverness and my long sought Ben and Loch Loyal up way north! I’m doing fine financially and time-wise (the former, yes ; the latter no, as I would soon discover to my ‘horror’!), so why not see if there’s anything to be seen! Of course, once I enter the Highlands I’ll enquire about whether it’s actually worth going up there.

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Exploring Glasgow and on to Edinburgh

About 8:25 AM.

J’ai fait le ‘tour de l’horloge’. That is, I slept from 7:30pm to 7:30 am (interrupted, of course, but only briefly). Why don’t I feel refreshed? Because my body says that it’s early morning! But, since I got up at ‘normal’ G.T., I’ll most likely go to bed at a normal time and wake up on time tomorrow!  Breakfast was great. I haven’t spent any money this morning and I have in me a full bowl of Alpen cereal, two glasses (warmish, but very tolerable) milk, one glass powdered O.J. (icky), and two sandwiches (1 whole wheat, the other yummy white) composed of cheese (processed, naturally…!) apricot marmalade ,and real butter. Now that’s an ideal breakfast for the type of day ahead! None of that American sweetroll ‘crap’. I’m all set to go to the city centre, now. It seems that the Necropolis doesn’t have an opening time. The cathedral (me going to church?!) opens at 9:30. It’s 8:28 (am) now, so by the time I get going it’ll be about 9:00. The walk to the city centre I’m told takes 30-45 minutes, so I should be arriving just as everything opens. I think that I might spend the morning in the city centre, then hike back to see the transport museum this afternoon. I’ll see.

My first ‘real’ morning in Scotland (ie. awaking in bed!) is bright and sunny, a few harmless clouds can be seen in the distance. It looks coldish, though. Anyway, later, I’m anxious to go and explore!

P.S. glad to see I got over the depression?!

10:35 am

I just finished touring the Glasgow Cathedral and its cemetery. This church was constructed during the Middle Ages and finished a few centuries later. I touched stone that was cut by a man who lived in the 12th century!  Contrary to North American equivalents, we could go everywhere and touch everything in this cathedral with one minor exception.  The cemetery is so old that most of the names have disappeared from the stone. The oldest I’ve seen is mid-eighteenth century. (The oldest gravestone I saw during my month long stay in Scotland was mid-fifteenth century! It is a St. Kentigern’s church in Lanark. There’s no date on the gravestone, but you can easily identify it by the skull with crossbones. It’s to the left of the entryway into the cemetery by way of the reconstructed arch in the ruins.) I like cemeteries. They are so peaceful, they don’t care how their inhabitants got there! That’s enough morbidity, I’m going to climb the Necropolis.

P.S. jaywalking appears to be the favourite Glaswegian pastime! Remember, look right then left! (It took me over a week to ‘learn’ how to cross streets in Scotland, and even after a month it still didn’t feel all that natural! I don’t even want to count the number of times people told me to ‘go back to Canada if you don’t know how to cross a street’!!!)

3:50 pm

I’m back at the hostel, waiting in the lobby for Haggis. It’s been an excellent day.

The Necropolis was beautiful despite the fact that several crypts and nooks and crannies were obviously the lodgings of derelicts. It’s a huge cemetery built on a hill. What I liked is that while they maintain the grounds (ex. grassmowing) they don’t repair the stones, allow things to crumble, etc. I almost tripped on a vase that had rolled down a steep hill and was lying flat on its back in the middle of the road! It was obvious that it had been lying there for a while.

Lunch was yet another yummy veggie burger with onions. They’re cheap and plentiful in Glasgow, to my surprise. (Actually, they are very common all over Scotland, even in the smaller towns and you’ll soon discover that it almost became a sport to try the local veggie burger! Although I occasionally found two that were similar, generally no two burgers were exactly alike in taste, texture, or condiment. They made for a cheap meal which varied more than one might imagine!)

After, I bought postcards and a Father’s Day card for Dad. I mailed a postcard to (my stepmother) for her birthday, as well the card for Dad. After, I rode the ‘Clockwork Orange’ (ie the Underground, subway, metro, metropolitana, etc.) back here. It’s clockwork, orange, convenient, and easy to use! as well as cozy and comfortable. (I soon came to realise that it’s a lot easier to use the U to get to the hostel, even if you have to walk maybe five minutes more than if you took the bus. Here are the directions from the Kelvinbridge (bridge, not hall) station. Once above ground, you turn right on the road. You follow its natural curve, and cross an intersection. Keep going straight, this road will merge into Woodland Road. Cross Woodland Road (careful, it’s dangerous!) Follow the youth hostel sign you’ll encounter almost immediately. Easy when someone tells you, but very difficult when you have to discover for yourself! I took the long way for all, but one of about six trips on the U!) Now, I’m going to ask the hostel if I can use their bathroom to freshen up.

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4:08 pm

‘No problem.’ It’s amazing what going to the bathroom, washing your hands, and refilling your canteen (I didn’t carry a water bottle on this trip, rather a 2L hiking canteen. With its strap, it was easier to carry, and its flat shape made it less cumbersome than a bottle.) can do to your spirits! I must that the tap water here is excellent, (that stopped in Inverness, where the water situation went bad. It just didn’t taste good in the Highlands; most likely this is do to the peat which makes the water brown. I also noticed in Pitlochry that the water was making me mildly sick, but not enough to stop my fun, so I put off buying expensive bottled water until the last possible moment. Inverness.) I’m refilling my canteen in bathrooms (the water in bathrooms runs very frequently, so it is usually fresher and better tasting.). Speaking of which, the public one near the Necropolis is unbelievable. It’s clean enough to eat off the toilet bowl , the sink and faucets are sparkling, there are (fake) flowers around the mirrors (there were some in the airport bathroom too, and someone said it was ‘unScottish’), drinking cups and soap are within easy reach, etc. The paper towels are blue and the toilet paper is pink, which makes the water go red!) It’s obvious that Glasgow takes pride in itself. I’m going to wait outside now. Later, perhaps in Edinburgh!

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7:00 pm Edinburgh (!)

Luck does follow me! Haggis was about 45 min (no, that’s not the lucky part, let me finish!) late. The road here was lovely, I saw sheep. Our Haggis driver was most cordial. Arriving here, the people from Haggis asked if I had lodging. No, I said. Well, they said, we’ll ring a couple of places for you. Less than 15 minutes, later I’m settled very comfortable in a B and B two whole minutes from Haggis where the proprietor, Yvonne, picked me up!  For £10, I’ve got breakfast, too! I’ll be staying here, most likely, when I return to Edinburgh. I’m going to take a shower, I stink!

Oh! and I’m sharing a room with a guy from… Laval!!! I’ve had a whole conversation in French today!

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10:16 p.m.

One of my ‘roomies’, a great guy from Edmonton named Michael, and I went out for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, my meal had a bit of hidden meat in it. Considering what I’ve eaten today, I figured a little extra protein wouldn’t hurt, even if it was gross! Besides that, the pasta and sauce was wonderful. One problem: how much to tip! I just realised I probably gave too much! Like 75p too much! Oh, well, the service was good, and I had a little extra. I will have to watch that, however.

Tomorrow, I’m either off to Perth or Pitlochry. Haggis doesn’t run on Sundays, so I’ll have to spend two nights wherever I do go. I’m told that there isn’t much in Perth, but I wanted to see Scone, Dundee, and Saint-Andrews, not to mention… The Cliff (at Kinghorn that King Alexander III rode his horse off of in 1286, pretty much launching the Wars of Independence)!!! I might just get off at Perth, make my own way around Fife, get to Pitlochry and go on from there.

… (long rambling about possible plan. I ended up pretty much missing Fife. It’ll be for next time!)