The flight to Scotland was again thankfully uneventful. After a decent nap and a few tunes on my iPod, we were already set to land again. Flying in over the Scottish countryside was quite breathtaking. I don't think I've ever seen so much green in my life, and the land was dotted with shimmering lochs and tiny white cottages visible even from our lofty vantage point in the sky. As we approached Edinburgh, the plane banked and the massive volcanic remnants of Arthur's Seat came into view (don't fret, some pictures of the mountain will follow - albeit from a much closer view). Flying over the port and into the countryside a bit out of the city, we could even see the old town and the castle looming over it from its perch high on Castle Rock. Just a few moments later we touched down and began to disembark. It was a gray, gloomy day outside, and I instantly regretted only packing a light hooded sweater. Oh well, there would be ale and whisky to keep me warm, right? A quick pass through customs and I was getting my first taste of life in the UK, namely a ride into the city center on a double decker bus. Tea and crumpets would have completed the sensation, but I guess I'll take what I can get.
After a thirty minute ride into town, passing by quaint little cottages and row houses in the countryside, the bus dropped me off right smack dab in the middle of the city. From the bridge separating New Town from the medieval and renaissance Old Town, I could see some of Edinburgh's most famous landmarks right from the bus stop:
The Sir Walter Scott monument (or a 19th century rocket ship - not quite sure which.)
A fancy schmancy hotel.
I started my hike up the hill towards Old Town where my hostel was located. Along the way I was introduced to the beautiful architecture that defines the city; mostly from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the buildings loom up above the winding, narrow streets of Edinburgh. It was a drastic change from the style I'm used to throughout Italy.
Welcome to Scotland!
Tron Kirk, one of the focal points of Old Town
This is a view up the Royal Mile, Old Town's main drag, towards St Giles Cathedral which rises up in the background
The headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Another view of St Giles Cathedral. I'd get to hear some interesting stories about it later on during my trip
Getting closer to my hostel as I continue up the Royal Mile
Arriving at the front door of the hostel, this is the view looking towards the right.
But turn to the left, and...
Yep, that's the world famous Edinburgh Castle, right outside my doorstep! I couldn't believe how close it was. I'm glad I didn't make this trip 400 years ago, or it could have been a pretty perilous spot to spend the night.
I went inside and checked in. The place was very cool: professionally run, just like the place I stayed at in Granada; very clean, warm, and inviting; tons of kooky artwork on the walls, decorating every nook and cranny with something different. It was huge as well, sporting a number of kitchens and a gigantic common room for people to relax on sofas or play billiards.
They had a great sense of humor too. Instead of just assigning numbers to rooms and individual bunks, they used nicknames - I stayed in the 'Underwear' room, and my bunk was the 'Thong' bed (right above Jocks, and sharing the room with Edible, Panties, and Apple Catchers).
I met some people staying in the Beatles room, with bunks such as John, Paul, George, Ringo, Dung, and Stink. I liked the place already.
Looking out of the Underwear room's window, you could see the George Herriot school - the supposed inspiration for JK Rowling's Hogwarts Academy in the Harry Potter series (which she wrote in Edinburgh).
I stayed just long enough to get my stuff put away, because by this point in the afternoon I was starved, and there was enough daylight left that I could still go out and do something. So, first thing's first, like any good Miller I headed out to get something to eat. I had heard of a place nearby called the Last Drop which has cheap meal deals for backpackers, so I searched it out for a first taste of real Scottish food. By the way, the place is called the Last Drop because it is situated on a square where thousands of people met their end on the gallows. Bon appetit!
Exploring the square
Another incredible view of the castle from the square
Sitting down at the Last Drop, I wasted no time in getting myself a nice red Scottish ale (my favorite kind - oh how I miss Kiltlifters from back home!) accompanied by a plate of mince and tatties - Scottish for ground beef and potatoes. It was quite delicious, and the ale washed it down rather nicely.
Fortified, I set out again to find something to do. My goal that afternoon was to conquer Arthur's Seat, the massive volcanic hill on the outskirts of Old Town. However, the weather was acting bipolar, with rain one minute and sunshine the next. As I walked down the Royal Mile towards the mountain, I would have to duck into shops or the occasional museum (all of which were free!) to get out of the rain until it passed. On the walk, I was continuously impressed by the beautiful buildings that lined Edinburgh's streets.
As I would later learn from tours and museums, Edinburgh is one of the first places considered to have 'skyscrapers' - buildings, even as far back as the early 19th century, that reached up eight, nine, ten or more stories, and often with an additional three or four stories in wood above the rooftops of stone structures. It was an overcrowded, squalid place to live in even until the mid 20th century. Now it's just awesome.
A decommissioned public water well. Many homes in the city didn't have indoor plumbing until the middle of the 20th century! To the left you can see 'Old Assembly Close' - closes are an architectural feature, consisting of a narrow alleyway on the street front leading back to a more spacious inner courtyard. The old city is criss-crossed by these closes running back from the main streets.
More Royal Mile, complete with stereotypical British red telephone booths!
Inside a courtyard behind a close. This was probably enlarged in recent times, but it still gives you a little idea what life would have been like back then.
An oh-so-British passive aggressive warning sign. In Italy this sign would just say 'Don't let your dog shit on the grass'
I think this was just a tavern
So very different from Italy!
A church on the Royal Mile had this huge creepy graveyard surrounding it. Edinburgh is world renowned for having paranormal activity and ghost sightings, partly due to the great number of graveyards, tombs, etc inside the town - and partly due to its violent past. I stopped in to snag some photos.
Found a cool headstone... click on the picture to make it bigger and read the sign
This grave marker looked like it had been well kept for the last 200+ years, probably by surviving family members.
Enough looking for ghosts. I continued downhill, passing the decidedly-modern New Parliament building. It was built after 1997, when the Scots voted to have their parliament returned to the capital after hundreds of years meeting in London. It's a huge point of pride for the Scottish.
Just across the way is my destination: Arthur's Seat, which keeps watch over the whole city
On the way to Arthur's Seat, and sitting at the end of the Royal Mile, is the Palace of Holyrood. It's the official residence of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom when in Scotland - like the Buckingham Palace of the north (but without the guards in funny hats). Normally you can go in and visit, but unfortunately it was off limits since the Pope, of all people, was visiting at the same time I was in the city, so the Queen was actually coming to stay that week.
Continuing past the castle, I started my way up Arthur's Seat. I didn't know where to begin, so I asked a policeman standing by. I'm pretty sure he only tells tourists to go the way he told me to go, because the way I went up was long and quite the hike, but when I discovered a much shorter way when I came back down.
Blimey! It's a proper British roundabout, gov'nor! In all seriousness, I had a really hard time when I was crossing the street trying to figure out which way traffic was coming from. Why can't they just drive on the correct side of the road?
Gaining some altitude now, and a better view of Holyrood Palace
Across the city I also had a good view of Calton Hill and its various monuments
Even though it was a hike, there was some great scenery. And so green! It's easy to see why Scotland is the birthplace of golf
Edinburgh's skyline, pierced by numerous towers all over the city
Rounding the second level of the hill, a little green, peaceful valley is revealed
Nearing the very top now, and getting a great view between outcrops on the rocky crag
A great view onto the city and the commanding castle
Looking down once again onto Holyrood Palace. From up here you can see almost the whole thing, and even some of the ruins of the old abbey behind it
I slept in a bit (it's a vacation, after all!) and grabbed a simple Scottish breakfast of a few sausage links in a warm fluffy bun so I'd have some energy for the long tour that morning. I joined up with the tour in front of the Tron Kirk, where we met our very enthusiastic guide. The tour is free, but the guides work on tips, so they must all be quite knowledgeable, fun, and good at getting everyone involved. We started out learning about Scotland's ancient history - really, REALLY ancient, like how volcanic activity millions of years ago and glaciers in the last ice age shaped the modern city; namely, the three main hills of the city and the valleys in between. That led to the choice of Edinburgh as a strong defensive fortification in days long past, and that's how it got to be the capital we see today.
The first monument we saw was the Mercat (Market) Cross, which stood in the main market square during the old days. It was used as the podium for the official town crier; it was even punishable by death to interrupt the crier while he performed his duties! Also, it was a place of public punishment - thieves would be nailed to the column by the ear. They could endure the pain and public humiliation (children kicking them, rotten veggies thrown at them, men peeing on them, etc) for 24 hours, and hope that in time their shame would be forgotten. OR, they could tear themselves away from the podium by letting the nail rip through their ear, but the permanent scar would mark them forever and banish them to a life on the margins of society. On a lighter note, the cross was used once by one of the least loved kings in a famous PR screw up. Charles I, an Englishman who wasn't very popular with the Scots from the start, decided to endear himself to them by having red wine freely poured out of the water spouts seen on the column, available for all the citizens to collect for an entire day. Well, the people of Edinburgh went on such a bender that they all woke up the next day with a red wine hangover, and blamed Charles I for being the bastard that got them all drunk.
Just around the corner, and in front of the Old Parliament building, the very same Charles I made another colossal PR screw up. Trying once more to endear himself to the Scots, he had a statue commisioned of himself looking rather majestic astride a horse, riding into battle. At least that was the plan. However, he chose to appear as a Roman general, for whatever reason. The Scots, however, didn't know what a Roman was for the most part, and thought he looked liked he'd been all dolled up for a very 'fancy' dress party, if you get the drift. And furthermore, he'd had himself appear larger than life, dwarfing the horse to seem all the more impressive. But the Scots, being observant, thought he was just riding a tiny little pony to his fancy party, instead of a commanding steed. So to stop the public ridicule, the powers that be decided to cap the statue with an iron crown once a year as a sign of respect to the king. However, the statue was made of lead, much softer than iron; so after a few years, holes started to develop in the king's head. And it rains in Edinburgh... a LOT. So the statue started to fill with water through the holes, and tilted to one side. So now the king was riding a drunken pony to his fancy dinner party. What was the solution? Drill a hole in the horse to drain the water, of course. And the best spot to drain it from? Well, the lowest point, of course... erm, which happened to be in an *odd* location. So now, every time it rained, the king was riding his tiny pony to a fancy party on the back of a horse with bladder control issues. The public laughter was so great that 'modesty boards' were installed, blocking the view of the statue from the crowds until it could be sufficiently repaired.
In the same square, a small brass plate is the only remaining marker of a grave in the former churchyard of St Giles Cathedral. Here John Knox was buried; a prominent figure in Scottish history and the man considered to be the founder of Scottish Presbyterianism.
Another part of the Old Parliament building, which was used until the English and Scottish parliaments were merged in 1707.
The front facade of St Giles. The church has seen a lot of action over the years, not the least of which was a rebellion against Anglicanism imposed by every Scotsman's favorite leader, Charles I. The riots started when a fiery Scottish lass chucked a stool at an Anglican priest, and grew from there into full scale rebellion and war between England, Scotland, and France within a short time.
Across the street, a statue of the great Scottish thinker David Hume. Notice his shiny right toe - students, especially philosophy students, come by to rub the toe for good luck before exams.
Outside a tavern called Deacon Brodie. He was a man that is supposed to be the inspiration for the tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Brodie, a keymaker by trade and by all accounts a sweet, mild mannered man, would turn keys for the rich nobles of his time during the day. But at night, he turned into a scoundrel, using copies of his own clients' keys to sneak into their homes and rob them blind.
The Scottish Writers Museum on Lady Stairs Close
A typical example of the tall, dense tenements Edinburgh has been known for over the years. Our guide highlighted the fact that often two, three, or four stories of wooden structures would exist above where these current day buildings end, and the poorest of the poor would have lived there in days gone by. Also he pointed out the pipes running along the outside - another visible reminder that indoor plumbing is still a fairly recent development in Edinburgh's history. It was such a problem in the past that the city tried to solve it with synchronized 'tossing of the bed pans' throughout the city. Long story short, you did NOT want to be on the street at 10am or 10pm.
A bit better view of the former church outside my hostel, as we passed by it on the tour
Down the block, we stopped in the same square I'd had breakfast in. The spot marked on the ground in the circular raised stones is where The Last Drop gets its name from - this is the precise location where the gallows were located.
This is the back end of the cafe were supposedly JK Rowling would go to write the first of the Harry Potter books. I guess she used to go to cafes because it was cheaper to buy coffee and sit in the cafe all day instead of paying her heating bills. And now she probably burns $100 bills in the fireplace to keep warm. Sigh.
Right across the street from Ms Rowling's haunt was this wall. Edinburgh was a walled city, even beyond the middle ages, as the Scots constantly feared their rowdy English neighbors (and for good reason). Around the time they were building these walls, there was a bit of a shortage of one of the main components of the mortar for the blocks - ash, to be specific. Coincidence or not, there also happened to be a rise in witch trials at the time. These walls were literally built with the ashes of the convicted and burned individuals.
Up the street some more, and we came to Greyfriars Churchyard and its storied past. Here at the church, the National Covenant was signed. It was a document resulting from the religious rebellion mentioned above which began at St Giles cathedral. The short story is, Charles I was imposing Anglicanism on the Scots and asking them to pray to Charles himself as the head of the church, even above Jesus. So a declaration of rebellion was drawn up and tens of thousands of Scots went on to sign it.
What's a churchyard without a creepy cemetary?
Another part of Edinburgh's colorful past. Edinburgh had a prestigious medical school, fine enough even to teach human anatomy with the dissection of corpses. However, due to a change in execution standards, the only legal source of dead bodies for dissection (ie criminals' bodies) began to dwindle. But where there's a demand, there's a supply. People began digging up fresh graves and selling them to unscrupulous doctors for use in the classroom, who had no penchant for asking where they came from. So, rich people started protecting their graves with giant iron cages sunk into the earth around them. This period of time also gave birth to the famous tale of Burke and Hare, two individuals in 19th century Edinburgh who always had the freshest corpses to sell - because they snuck around the city's dark, twisty, narrow streets murdering people. Eventually they were caught, and Hare turned on Burke claiming he was the real killer. Burke was sentenced to hang, and in a case of poetic justice, was given over to the university for dissection.
In another part of the cemetary lies the mausoleum of George Mackenzie, the King's Advocate (ie Attorney General) in Edinburgh during the time of the religious rebellion. It's said he was responsible for sending thousands, if not tens of thousands, to their deaths for their resistance to the king. Such a malevolent soul can't rest well, and it's said that only a few years ago paranormal activity started in the area around his grave when his final resting place was disturbed by a falling object breaking through the stones above his crypt. Public hysteria grew to the point where the city had to install bars and a tough padlock to keep people away from the mausoleum.
In the rear corner of the churchyard is the entrance to an open air prison, where many of George Mackenzie's victims met their ends (if they didn't make it to the gallows, that is). Horrible physical and mental torture awaited anyone who ended up here, shivering and starving in the cold and wet Edinburgh nights.
On a lighter note, the churchyard is also home to the tomb of Greyfriars Bobby - the little Skye terrier made famous in book and film legend. Tales of his loyalty may have been exaggerated, but it's still a good story. People come here to leave all sorts of things - flowers, sticks for Bobby to play with, even plane and bus tickets from all over the world to show how far people have come just to visit his memorial.
Just outside the churchyard was the more lifelike monument to Greyfriar's Bobby. Here our guide told us about another loyal little Skye terrier, perhaps more deserving of fame and legend than Bobby. Mary Queen of Scots' terrier, upon seeing her beheaded, was apparently so inflamed with rage that he turned into some kind of demon dog, terrifying the crowd gathered at the execution. He even rushed the heavily armed executioners, possessed and enraged. Covered in Mary's blood, he raged for several terrifying moments, then dropped dead next to the Queen's body.
Further across town, we walked by two of Edinburgh's famous museums. They are built on The Mound, an earthen bridge between Old Town and New Town which was created from millions of cartloads of debris during New Town's construction. Most of the city's museums are free to enter, which is great! When I later went to visit the National Picture Gallery, I was treated to a big roomful of art by Italian masters - Raphael, Botticelli, Da Vinci, et al - all for free!
Past the mound, we walked down into the Princes Street Gardens - a natural ravine between the Towns. In the middle ages it was filled as a defensive lake on one side of the castle hill, but it was later drained and is now home to a pretty impressive greenspace.
A great view of the castle from below
Our tour nominally ended there at the gardens, but like any good host our guide took us all to a nice nearby pub where we were treated to a nice cheap meal. Some people ordered the haggis, but I still wasn't brave enough yet and I opted for a burger, which was definitely the best burger I've had since I left the States.
After lunch, I headed back to my hostel to relax a bit. There was a pub crawl going on later that night, and I intended to join so I could meet some more of my fellow hostel denizens. I had some time to kill before that though, so I dropped off my camera and its charger at the front desk (which had a UK adapter for guest use, which was awesome since I forgot mine) and set out to explore the area a little more while it was charging. I walked through part of the university area, which was even more packed full of bars and restaurants than the rest of the town - not an easy feat to accomplish in Edinburgh. It seemed to be an epicenter of the whole old-church-converted-into-something-else motif that the city had going on. After some wandering, I returned to the hostel, retrieved my camera, and awaited the start of the pub crawl.
I won't bore you all with details of the night out out - suffice to say that I met a lot of interesting characters, we hit up a lot of cool bars, and the highlight of the night was probably at the pub called 'Frankensteins' which - you guessed it - has a life-sized Frankenstein monster that descends from the ceiling a few times each night, in a cloud of fog, flashing lights, and creepy music. The night ended with me accompanying a couple of crazy Canadians to an all night diner on the main drag, where they proceeded to regale me with crazy stories of their travels and generally act like drunken idiots. But it was a lot of fun to watch.
I slept in that next day (of course), which was just fine, because apparently the streets were crowded early on with tens of thousands of people to see the Pope. I was busy sleeping and bumming around the hostel at that hour, which was just fine by me, because if I wanted to see His Holiness I would have gone 100 miles to Rome instead of 2000 miles to Scotland. Instead I had planned to visit the castle that day. So off I went, on my long 100 yard walk from my hostel up the hill to the entrance, and started wandering around one of Scotland's most famous monuments. I arrived a little after noon, and wandered around snapping some photos for a bit. I decided to postpone going inside the various exhibits and museums, as at 1pm there is a traditional canon firing, which I did not want to miss.
The imposing Half-Moon turret. Most of the castle was destroyed by siege in the 1570s, so much of the current architecture dates from then.
It's amazing how much of the castle utilizes living rock as part of the defenses
Sounds like a badass to me
That is one serious gate
A mid-level cannon battery
Stairs leading to the upper defenses
This cannon seems to have New Town and the Port of Leith under control
Here is the famous 1 o'clock gun. In the early 19th century, the city began giving a visible signal to ships in the port at 1pm every day so that ships captains could set their chronometers to a precise time for navigation purposes. The visible signal was a ball being dropped from atop the Admiral Nelson monument on Calton hill - however, the frequent fog in the port rendered it useless much of the time. So in the 1860s, the 1 o'clock gun was added at the same time to give an audible signal to the ships. A ritual loading of the gun proceeds its firing, but it is actually set off by the clock itself, not the gunmaster.
The gunmaster approaches
Loading the cannon
Here's a video I took of the cannon going off precisely at the stroke of 1pm
Original Video - More videos at TinyPic
Further up the hill, there is the Scottish National War Memorial. Built in 1927, it honors the Scottish War Dead from the (at the time) recent wars in Europe, Africa, and the Near East.
A little cemetary for the regimental and officers' dogs
This badboy is Mons Meg - a giant siege cannon from the 1400s. It could lob an enormous cannonball up to two miles! The Scots used it to pummel the English until the 1600s when its barrel exploded
Now THAT'S a gift shop
St Margaret's chapel - the oldest surviving structure on the hill. It was built in the 1100s. I bet there was a lot of praying going on during some of those long sieges...
The Royal Palace inside the castle. It houses Scotland's crown jewels, which I got to go in and see (but no pictures due to the MASSIVE security, as you can imagine)
Great view looking out one of the gun emplacements on the half-moon turret. That's Arthur's Seat in the background, and my hostel is the closest building on the road down there, with the blue car in front
From up here, there was a great view of George Herriot's school - aka Hogwart's Academy
A glimpse at what the Scottish crown jewels look like. They were significantly more impressive up close, but since I didn't want to get tazed by one of the guards, this is as close as you're going to get, gentle readers
The entrance side of the National War Memorial. Although it looks pretty old from the outside, it had a really cool art deco style interior. No photos allowed though, as it was a place of reverance for Scotland's fallen sons
The Great Hall, a huge building for feasts and other ceremonial occasions
These claymores were bigger than me. I would not want to be staring down one of those guys on a battlefield
There was also a prison museum on the grounds. During the 18th and 19th century, the castle held many prisoners from the wars Britain participated in - including the American Revolution. Here, you can just barely see some graffitti scratched into a door - the newly authored American flag flying off the back of a ship
Well, it's official. Prisoners in the 1700s ate better than I do on a daily basis.
Um... duh?
Just another great shot of the castle rising out of the living rock
After spending the better part of the day wandering around the castle, I finally left and headed back down to the city. I strolled around the Royal Mile for a bit, snapping photos and visiting places I hadn't yet seen.
One day I hope to have a plaque dedicated to me - but not for anything like this
Outside St Giles Cathedral again. The window doesn't look like much from outside...
But go inside, and voila!
Interior of the cathedral
Inside is housed an original copy of the National Covenant (the document that started the religious rebellion)
After exploring the cathedral, I wandered towards the New Town side of the city. A great view of the Scott monument, almost from the same height atop Old Town's hill
I included this picture only because it felt so different to be back in a place where people use crosswalks, wait for green signals to cross, and say 'pardon me' or 'sorry' even if they just almost bump into you on the street. Man I've been in Italy a long time!
Looking across the Princes Street Gardens back up towards Old Town
A much closer-up view of the Scott Monument
Another view of Old Town from across the top of the train station. I just can't get over the architecture here!
I headed up towards Calton Hill, one of the other volcanic remnants of the city. This one is covered in a large park with several monuments on it.
Here, the Nelson monument. It's from the top of this tower that the ball is dropped, the original signal for ships captains to set their chronometers by.
The (unfinished) Scottish National Monument. Originally intended to simulate the Parthenon in Athens, funding ran out before it could be completed. On a related note, Edinburgh is known as the 'Athens of the north', both for its many architectural similarities (eg this monument, the national galleries, and a few other buildings) and for the many inspired scientific and philosophic minds that found a home in the city during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Dugald monument on the hill, overlooking a great view of the city
After wandering around the hill for a while and taking in the views, I headed back down to the city. There was another pub crawl happening that night (don't judge me, I'm on vacation), but first I needed to put some food in my belly. I found a great little pie shop in the university area with cheap eats, so I sat down for a meal there. No, not the cherry or apple kind! Think of chicken pot pies - but in the UK they have all sorts of different flavors and fillings. They even had a haggis pie for cheap, so I decided now would be the time to try it. Even if I didn't like it, at least I wouldn't be out too much scratch. Well, I took my first bite, and lo and behold it was delicious. Of course you can't think about what you're eating if you really want to enjoy it, but it was savory and didn't have any weird texture, which I was expecting. I downed my authentic Scottish meal, and headed back to the hostel for another night of debauchery (which I will once again spare you the details of, my dear sensitive readers).
The city was full of clever pub names. I think Mom n Dad would have enjoyed this one
That is Adam Smith, a Scotsman and father of modern economics, wearing a traffic cone on his head. Oh those crazy economics students...
Probably the most entertaining part of that evening was when I ran into a few local youths near the Tron Kirk on the walk back to my hostel after leaving the pubs. I was feeling pretty good myself but these locals I encountered were several sheets into the wind, and managed to pack hours worth of entertainment into the few minutes that I stopped and talked to them. They invited me out for some more revelry, but it was late enough for me so I returned to my 'Thong' bunk in the hostel for considerably more than forty winks.
When I awoke, it was my last full day in the city (or at least as full as any day can be when you roll out of bed around noon). I wanted to go see a few of the things I still had to check off my list, and I set off first to go inside the Hub, the big fancy church converted into a public and private event space right around the corner from my hostel.
When I arrived, however, there was a private wedding function going on, so I didn't get to see the inside. But I did get a short video of what a Scottish wedding looks like these days - bagpipes, tuxedo jackets, and kilts.
Original Video - More videos at TinyPic
I continued on down the Royal Mile once again, hoping the Holyrood Palace would finally be re-opened to the public. Some shots from along the way:
Only in Scotland...
More awesome architecture in a little close off the main drag
These quaint little homes didn't look like too much. But you should see their neighbor...
That's the Holyrood palace, right next door. Still closed to the public, unfortunately. Thanks a lot Pope Ratzinger!
Pretty fancy stuff. I could be persuaded to spend a night or two there, I guess.
The old abbey ruins beside the palace
While I was standing at the gate, taking photos, some important looking guy was exiting the palace gates. He saw me standing there in my ASU sweater, and asked if I had really gone to college there. I replied "yes, of course", and he told me how he likes American football and that he has an Auburn sweater. I said "That's great, and I'm really glad you don't have a U of A sweater or there'd be trouble", to which he laughed. He was probably the Earl of Sandwich or something.
I headed back up the Royal Mile, and stopped in the Museum of Edinburgh, another one of the city's small-but-mighty free museums. There were a few cool things inside showcasing Edinburgh's history.
Here are the clockworks used in the 19th century in St Giles Cathedral
18th Century disco?
Old water pipes, made of hollowed out elm trees
A sedan chair that would have carried rich people around. The city was a filthy place well into the 20th century, owing to the massive overcrowding and poor sanitation provisions. Any high class citizens worth their salt would have been ported around in one of these babies to avoid fouling their expensive clothing.
After that I headed towards the Scottish National Museum, and along the way I passed the Frankenstein bar in the daylight. We need more church bars back home!
Inside the National Museum are the stuffed remains of Dolly, the first cloned animal. I wonder if there is another exhibit exactly the same somewhere else in the world...
This crazy looking contraption was an early railway steam engine
I didn't do much that evening, as I had to wake up pretty early the next day to catch my flight. Just a nice dinner of cottage pie and hanging out with some new friends from the previous pub crawl, then I hit the hay. Waking up early the next morning, I had my last traditional meal at a nearby pie shop - Scottish Pie (minced lamb and veggies) with mashed potatoes, and topped with a heaping helping of haggis. Mmmm! And if you're wondering why I'm having soda with breakfast, it was only because I hadn't tried Scotlands famous national soda Irn Bru, and it was my last chance, so what the heck. Haggis and Irn Bru - breakfast of champions!
A few short hours later, I was back home in Bologna. I loved Granada, but my time spent in Edinburgh was a different thing entirely. Such a lovely city, touristy but it still felt quite lived in and lively. The people were friendly, the scenery beautiful, and the food and drink were plentiful. I would go back in a heartbeat, and if any of you get the chance to make it there someday, I would heartily recommend it!
After arriving back in Bologna, I had a few days to relax and get things together while awaiting my next trip, which would be to Munich for the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest! But that, of course, is another story...
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