A Sunny Day

There is a heat wave here in Scotland! Meaning it is 70 degrees. The house is stocked up with ice cream to get everyone through what is supposed to be a whole week of this temperature! Surprisingly, it did not rain ONCE today. Much to my dismay, I got sunburned. Again. Even after putting sunblock on before leaving! I guess that is my punishment for being spontaneous! I'll get to that in a bit.

I set off from Haddington this morning with the idea to do two museums: The Writer's Museum, and the Portrait Gallery up on Queen's Street. I did make it to the the Writer's Museum. It was an interesting, if not a very tiny place. The museum is located in Lady Stairs Close. Lady Stairs, a huge support of writers during her time, used to reside in the house that has now been converted into the museum. The floor tiles of the Close (the Scots believed 'enclosure' to be way too long) are engraved with quote from literary figures. I thought this one was particularly resonate for first-time-solo-travelers such as my self. It says "It's a grand thing to get leave to live."

The museum itself was interesting right away due to the architecture. Once you walk in the door, you are immediately faced with the option going either up or down a narrow winding staircase. Unfortunately, guests were not allowed to take pictures inside, but I think that the museum website may have some if you're interested. You can check out the link here. The museum features artifacts from three celebrated Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. I think the RLS exhibit was my favorite, because they played an audiotape of someone reading Treasure Island as you looked at pictures of all the inspirational places he visited. He travelled so much to gather stories up in his head, fragments of experiences that later he would incorporate into his books. 

 From there, I decided to stop in Saint Giles Cathedral (fun fact, not actually a cathedral because no bishop has sat there). It can also be known as the "High Kirk." It was incredible. Someone was giving a very monotone sermon, I think just to provide a backdrop for visitors to the site. On the bus on the way into the city, for some reason "Call Me Al" by Paul Simon popped into my head. The lines that go "he sees angels in the architecture/spinning in infinity/he says 'amen' and 'hallelujah'" particularly kept going through. So it was amazing to walk into this ancient stone structure and see the statue of the angel. Just one of those weird coincidences I think. 

I did not manage to get a picture of it because I did not want to disturb the people in the far left chapel of the church, but there were actually wooden carved angels playing bagpipes! It was so unusual! I have passed a restaurant on the Royal Mile before that is called "Angels With Bagpipes," so now that makes sense! 

Edinburgh was absolutely BUSTLING with people today, all out enjoying the weather. I think there is already a kickstart happening for the Festival shows. You want to see someone juggling some inflamed item, you got it. See amazing art made right before your eyes, sure. Panto? Of course. I even saw someone dressed as a ghost singing opera, and another as a gypsy spinning wool into yarn. But here is one unusual act I saw today, a guy balancing a ball on various body parts, to "Teardrop" by Massive Attack playing on a boombox. Anything goes I suppose!

I continued down the Royal Mile a bit, contemplating whether I should start making my way back towards New Town to find the Portrait Gallery. It was so nice out still in the morning hours, that part of me just wanted to grab a coffee and fall asleep in Prince's Street Gardens again. But then I saw a sign advertising a free 2.5hour walking tour of the city, and on a whim just decided to sign up and do it. I am really glad that I did! Our Australian tour guide took us to many places I had been before, but provided so much history about the city I probably would not have known otherwise. For example, on top of the market post in Parliament Square, there sits a unicorn. I already knew that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn (how awesome, to have a mythical creature as your national animal), but what I did not know that symbolically, this wild and unruly animal is considered tamed when it is shown with a chain around it's neck. Very telling, when you think about Scottish history and the many years of violence in which they sought their freedom. This political battle is still going on. Next year a referendum will be taken to vote to see whether Scotland will become independent. Very interesting!

The Scots during the age of enlightenment also considered themselves the "Athens of the North," believing their country to be the next great power, like the Romans. Throughout the ancient architecture you can see many reminiscent elements of that idea, including sphinxes on top of buildings, famous leaders garbed in togas (no one actually ever wore a toga in Edinburgh) and even the start of a parthenon replica they hoped to build. However, they got about 8 pillers constructed out of the 60 needed, and then ran out of money. This was quite embarrassing for the city! But you can still climb up the hill and picnic by those pillers now, and be reminded how Edinburgh tried, but failed, to become the "Athens of the North."

 Some other highlights: The tombstone of Thomas Riddell (and his son!), the inspiration for the name for JK Rowling's famous villain in her Harry Potter books. It has a different spelling, but she does claim this is where she got the idea, while exploring graveyards for interesting character names! I mentioned before about the Elephant Cafe, where Rowling used to sit and write. This back of the cafe overlooks Greyfriars Kirk and Kirkyard. 

The beloved dog of a nightwatchman, a terrier named Bobby, was buried here. He is famous for guarding the gravestone of his owner for 14 years, and was utterly loved by the whole city. When he died, he was not allowed to be buried in Greyfriar's Kirkyard because they could not be sure he was a Christian...so that is that. As you can see people still leave him tokens of gratitude. SOme of the more unusual gifts we were told about included unused German train tickets, inviting the spirit of Bobby to join the gifter for Oktoberfest! 

 After the tour, one of the girls I met on the walk and I decided to grab something to eat somewhere. She's an American student as well who is doing an internship in Dublin this summer. I also met a girl from Monmouth County who was studying abroad in London and spending the weekend in Edinburgh. It really is a small world! Here is the view from a balcony restaurant in OldTown. We did not eat here, but the little cafe we did go to is the white building on the bottom right with the tables outside! I had been there before, but I was not too hungry so I grabbed a smoothy. She decided to use the rest of the day to go to the castle (she was flying back to Dublin in the morning), so I wandered a bit more through the town before heading back to Prince's Street. 

SO that is how I got off track and did something completely different than I expected to, and got very sunburned in the process. Tomorrow we are going to Loch Lomond Shores, a shopping center on the Bonnie Bonnie Banks!

National Gallery

Last night, we spend a while drinking coffee and chatting infront of the telly. We had the Glastonbury festival on, and were eagerly waiting for the Rolling Stones to perform. There was this whole issue going around where somehow the media was relaying that none of the Stones' performance would be televised, because they claimed it was not in their contract. SO we didn't think we would get to see them. But finally around 8:30pm last night they performed. It was a pretty good show! I'd really like to come back to the UK for Glastonbury at some point. I'll just skip the other screamy and intimidating headliners they had performing in some of the other evening slots.

Today I spent another day in Edinburgh. It was a shorter day than I would have originally planned for, but I got a lift into the city, so that's ok. Today I decided to walk all of Princes Street Gardens...and that I did. It was beautiful! It's basically like NYC's Central Park. Being a sunny day people were sunbathing, eating ice cream, playing with their dogs. Groups of students were sprawled out on the grass, playing guitars and picnicking. It was nice to just walk around an explore. As every time I have been there, you can hear the faint sound of bagpipes coming from somewhere in the Old City.

I've seen this band perform a few times now on my walks from Prince's Street into Old Town. They're called "The Spinning Blowfish." 

And yes. That child ran in circles nearly the entire performance.

Since I got to the city in the afternoon, I knew I only had a few hours to explore the museums before they closed at 5pm. So the one I picked for today was the Scottish National Gallery. Along with works by some of the "greats," including Van Gogh, Monet, and Raphael, there was a whole exhibit dedicated to Scottish artists. Some of the landscapes in this exhibit featured places I have been or see frequently, such as Bass Rock. Due to the lighting in the museum, it was difficult to get pictures inside without flash (I only brought my phone), so you'll just have to check it out for yourself someday!

Rodin's "The Kiss"

After exploring the museum for a few hours, it was almost time for it to close. So I grabbed a coffee at the museum cafe, and headed out the back to Prince's Street Gardens. I brought Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" with me, so I found a shaded spot on the hill and stayed there for a while.

But the sunshine did not last too long. Eventually clouds moved overhead to block the sun, and it began to rain. Since my usual plan of ducking into a museum was void at this point, I went down to Chamber's Street and grabbed a toastie to take-away. When the rain did not give any sign of letting up, I walked all the way back down to Prince's Street and found the bus I needed to take home. Next weekend I think I will do the Writer's Museum and if I have time, the Mary King's Close - the city underneath the city!

National Museum of Scotland

This morning I took the 9:45am bus into Edinburgh, with the goal of spending the day in the National Museum of Scotland. After wandering about for a bit down the Royal Mile, I eventually found my way to Chambers Street. I'm really bad with street names, I mostly go by landmarks, so I was pretty lucky I stumbled across it on my walk. The majority of the museums in Edinburgh are free, so all I had to do was pick up a map and start my independent tour. It was great! I picked the perfect day to go - rainy, cool, and quiet. The museum has something for everyone. Between learning about the history of Scotland (geographically how it was formed), the spirituality of early Scottish people, the introduction and spread of Christianity, developments in science and technology, art, and the natural world, there was so much to see.

Ancient ritual carvings. Reminds me of Gallifreyan writing from Doctor Who. Inspiration, perhaps? 

This necklace, which is believed to be a symbol of aristocracy and possibly also military rank, was found buried in the town I'm living in!

On the second floor in this hall, there was a balcony cafe, where I had my lunch. 

Earth Witness - my favorite Buddha pose!

Each one is so unique!

View of the castle from the terrace of the museum!

I spent over four hours in the museum, and there were so many things I did not even see. But I think I am going to try to go back soon, as they are setting up a exhibit on Mary Queen of Scots! After the museum, I walked down the road to the Elephant House, where JK Rowling famously spent time writing some of her books. I met a Canadian family outside, and took their family photo for them. In return, they took one of me! I went inside the cafe thinking I may grab a coffee before heading back to the bus, but it was absolutely packed. As it was raining outside, I decided just to walk back to Prince's Street and safe a coffee there for another day.

Lovely little apartments. How could you NOT be inspired by this city?

View from the very front of the double-decker bus

 Tomorrow it's off to the Royal Yacht Britannia! I am exhausted, so it's bed time for me!

First Day in Edinburgh

I had an INCREDIBLE two days. I have to split my reflections into two posts, because there is just way too much for one!

 On Friday after work, I caught a bus to Edinburgh. It was 4 quid just to get there, but I had a double-decker bus to myself most of the time! Getting the bus was  uneventful, but once we got into the center of town, I was not really sure exactly where to get off. I recognized Princes Street (as it is pretty much the main road) so I decided just to hop off there and spare the trouble of sitting in traffic guessing whether I was at the most convenient stop based on where I was heading or not.

The first thing I heard when getting off the bus were bagpipes. So automatically, I started walking in that direction! There were a couple of street performers playing outside of the Scottish National Gallery. Here is a wee bit of one song!

I experienced this particular feeling a few times yesterday, though it is really difficult to describe. I am often very unsure of myself, wondering if I did the right thing, made the right decision, or did everything I possibly could to make things go a certain way. But when hopping off the bus in Edinburgh, it kind of hit me that I have actually done it- the one thing I have daydreamed about doing for as long as I can remember: travelling abroad. LIVING abroad. Edinburgh made me forget those worries and just be in the moment. Edinburgh made me feel alive. As cheesy and cliche as it sounds, it is really the truth. I want to feel that way more often.

 Though I did not have a clear plan of where I was walking, I knew my destination sits at the base of the castle. So I began walking in that direction. After some twists and turns through winding roads and feeling like I was constantly picking my jaw up off the ground each time I turned a bend, I finally reached my end goal: the Castle Rock Hostel, my haven for the night. This is the view from right outside the hostel. Incredible, right? 

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the inside on the hostel. It was kind of medieval-themed, with suits of armor, huge wooden doors, and painted celtic knots on the walls. That was juxtaposed with more modern art in some the rooms, with giant maps of the world and brightly colored walls. The rooms and beds all had funny names. I was in "Snow White's Room," and coincidentally I also had the "Snow White" Bed, a top bunk.

So after checking in and getting the room sorted, I grabbed my camera and headed out onto the Royal Mile. Here are some pictures of what I saw!

I really wanted Indian food, but I felt awkward asking for a table for one at a busy restaurant where other, larger groups, were waiting. So after wandering for a bit I found this little place called "Hula" that was actually a juice bar/art gallery. They serve carnivorous, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free foods as well. I had a yummy veggie wrap with guacamole, and this pretty latte.

Since it was late in the evening, I decided to save going inside the Castle for another day. It's really expensive to go in so I want to make sure I have sufficient time to see it all and really enjoy it!

Street performers: bagpipes and this circus-type guy. Apparently he's turned down Circus Soleil a few times because he believes they charge too much money. I also watched him juggle a live chain saw, a grenade and a machete. You can see him here laying on a bed of nails. 

This is called "World's End" because there was once only one road out of Edinburgh. You could leave for free, but if you wanted to enter into the city, you had to pay a toll. Unless you had a lot of money, you did not leave. So for most of the people who lived in what we now know as Old City, this spot marked the end of their world.

Doctor?

After exploring until about 8:30pm, I decided to head back to the Hostel. The wind was really picking up! When I got to my room (12 bed female dorm), a few girls were there who were American. They had also just arrived. We struck up conversation, and they invited me out with them that night. A pub called Ghillie Dhu was recommended to us where there would be live music and a céilidh! Of course I was excited! Traditional Scottish dancing was something on my list of things to do while I am here.

I could not get a good picture of it due to the confined space, but there was a beautiful spiral staircase leading up to the second floor of the pub where the dancing was to take place.

As you may be able to see, there were all ages involved in the dance.

 I got asked a few times to dance by the instructor, so that was really awesome! He was a very good leader so I was able to pick up the moves and the patterns pretty quickly. The three girls I came to the pub with seemed to really enjoy it too! We all partnered up throughout the night, but many of the dance require interaction with others and switching partners. It really was a great way to meet people. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and excited about our enthusiasm. Every time we decided to take a break and catch our breath, we would get asked again to join someone as their partner. My calves are sore this morning! It was quite a workout! But this was one of my favorite experiences so far - everyone was just smiling and laughing and having a good time, no one was judging your technique or anything. It was just fun!

Once the dancing had drawn to a close, we went back to the hostel. There were still a lot of people up, so we sat in the common room and chatted for a while. There were people from all over the world - some just passing through, others living in the hostel long term. I am looking forward to going back!