I arrived in Edinburgh by train, once again a lovely journey though really rather short! It only takes about an hour from Glasgow. I had arranged to stay in Castle Rock Hostel, which had great reviews online, and plenty of activities for its guests. The hostel is literally at the bottom of Edinburgh Castle. The view cannot be beat. The hostel itself is an ancient building, sort of like a castle itself, and decked out in medieval decor. I checked into my little double room, located up about 5 flights of stairs, and while really very comfortable, I realized that perhaps my time working in and staying in luxury hotels has ruined my ability to stay in hostels... Quite plainly, the room smelled. Bad. I don't think the comforter had been washed in a long time. Thank god I had a large window to let in clean, very cold air. I immediately realized that I would be spending very little time in my room, which is the point of a hostel, I guess. I had arrived on Thursday, the night of the weekly pub crawl. In the main hall I met a group of lovely Canadian and Australian teachers, all doing one to two year stints in Manchester, England. They were fresh faced and all but twenty two. Young they were, but also kind and we had a fantastic night tearing up Old Town. What a fantastic setting for having some fun. The ancient city walls surround you on all sides, and once again I'm left feeling very small in Scotland. The best place for going out in Edinburgh is a road called Cowgate, a name derived from the medieval practice of herding cattle down the street on market days. It's an awesome place, where the bridges of the streets above create massive medieval ceilings. After six lonely days in Glasgow, it was so lovely to be around people and to feel a part of the crowd again. This is why hostels are great - you meet the best people. You also drink enough that you don't really notice the smell or the cold...
The next day my other Aussie friend I had made in Glasgow, Rachel, arrived
. It was great to see her again and hear about her trials and tribulations on the West Highland Way. We had a great day together exploring the city. There is so much history here! It truly is one of my favorite cities I've ever visited. In every direction there is a spire or turret of some sort... a monument, a cathedral, a castle, a grave stone; beautiful, archaic needles that pierce the sky and constantly bring your gaze upwards. The autumn light bathes everything in a golden hue and flurries of fall leaves drift down like orange and yellow snowflakes. Your legs get a good stretch here on the near vertical roads, each leading to another cobbled street full of people and music and delicious aromas. Edinburgh feels so much livelier than Glasgow, which makes sense as it has a much more compact city center and is overall much smaller than Glasgow. Though smaller, it is the capital city, and boy does it pack a punch. In my opinion there is just so much more going on, and it's much more approachable than Glasgow. Edinburgh is split into two - the medieval old town and the Georgian new town, and both offer activities, good food and gorgeous views
. Rachel and I spent the day exploring Old Town, and learning about the closes that weave in and out and under the city. These long, narrow alleyways squeezed under and through the city provided housing to both the rich and poor in the 17th century. It's almost like a game to twist in and up and down them and figure out where they've popped you out in the city. Each corner provides fun colorful shops full of things I would put in my house, on my body and in my stomach... This is my kind of city. Artsy, slightly hippie, full of good food and funky style. It's truly a good thing that my suitcase is small and I don't want to be lugging things around or I would have spent a LOT more money thus far.
Still recovering from her exhausting journey, Rachel went to bed early that night, but I joined a new friend made on the pub crawl for a late night ghost tour. This was so much fun. It started at 10:30 pm, so it was chilly and dark. Perfect spooky weather, and better, the night before Halloween
. As I said, there is so much history here - battles, plague, body snatching... all provide plenty of fodder for an excellent ghost story. The tour lasted about an hour, and wove through the city center and Greyfriars Kirkyard, ending with all of us stuffed in a dark tomb where truly terrible things happened a long time ago. While I thought it was great fun, there were a few people that truly did get scared. Which made it even more fun. I wasn't scared, but it was eerie to be in a place where historical things had occurred, and none of them pleasant. I had timed it right again, getting back very late to spend as little time as possible in that bed!
In the morning I made a move to the Sheraton downtown, where I was using the benefits of working in said luxury hotels and cause of my ruined relationship with hostels. It was SO nice to have clean, sweet smelling linen and a huge bed with comfortable pillows and a large bath in which to soak. I took advantage of all of it for two days
. Rachel felt better and joined me at the hotel for a bit to get all dolled up for Halloween. I was surprised to see that Edinburgh did Halloween BIG. Not surprising, really, as it was once a seat of Druid power and celebration, but I didn't expect the amount of costumed locals! Even the barsistas at Starbucks were in full costume with face paint and fangs and wigs. Truly impressive. My favorite was a great Jack Sparrow that served us drinks at The Globe while watching the final game of the Rugby World Cup. The Wallabies fought a long and hard battle, but were unsuccessful in usurping the reigning champs, the All Blacks. It was a great game, and after a few mournful drams of whiskey, Rachel and I were off for a celebratory evening. We enjoyed ourselves, but got home relatively early after some obligatory late night chips dressed appropriately in salt, vinegar and mayonnaise.
Rachel departed the next day, and I won't lie about how sorry I was to see her go. As I've made mention of in my last post, it's been lonely
. I realized that I've been moving around so much that I haven't really had time to settle in and meet people. I had always planned for Edinburgh to be that place, and after saying good bye to Rachel I checked into a new Airbnb for the next 10 days. It's incredibly reminiscent of my home in Buenos Aires - bare bones, a little rough around the edges, but homey enough. My room is the largest, with huge bay windows that look out to Montgomery Street. It's directly above the local chip shop, and usually smells a bit like batter. But, the sheets are clean, the door locks, and there's hot water! Better yet, I have flat mates. Currently we have two Brazilian students, a Québécois professional acrobat, and two girls from Singapore. An interesting mix for sure! Add in the fact that we're all sharing one bathroom... Well. As I said, rough around the edges, but homey and budget friendly. My flat mates are all really nice, especially David, the acrobat. He worked on cruise ships for over ten years, and we have a lot to talk about. It's nice to have a clan and someone to share some tea with, and to practice my Portuguese! Since I've been here the longest out of the group I find myself playing tour guide, and showing them the sights. Edinburgh feels more and more like home.
I'm in Edinburgh until Monday, then I go up to Inverness for one last look at the Highlands, then I'm back in Edi for one more week before flying back to Ireland. I am very excited as my mother has decided to come and join me for a week for her birthday! A VERY big thank you to my Papa who helped with that. I am beyond excited to see my mama and to share this beautiful slice of the world with her.
BOUNCING AROUND THE 'BURGH
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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