On May 22nd, we left the scenic Lake District for the land of whiskey and kilts - Scotland. The train ride to Edinburgh (pronounced ED-IN-BUR-O) was only about 2.5 hours away from the Lake District. Our hostel was centrally located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh - just a few blocks away from Edinburgh Castle.
Adventures in Edinburgh
On our first day in Edinburgh, we decided to do our normal walking around to get acquainted with the city. The sun was shining and the street performers were out and about. There was also a protest in the midst with people protesting for democracy (not sure where they were from).
Instead of becoming involved with the protest that was quickly taking over the streets, we decided to watch a street performer with an American accent and dyed orange hair. He was pretty entertaining and the show got even more interesting for us when Matt became part of the act. He nicknamed Matt "Beef cake"! A German guy was also pulled in from the audience and every time the performer would talk to the German guy, he spoke to him in a German accent. The premise of the performance was that Matt and the German guy were to tie the performer up in a straight jacket and then tie him up with a metal chain. Obviously, the performer was able to manuver himself out of the situation, but he definitely engaged his audience and we all had a good time watching.
The following day in Edinburgh, we went to see Edinburgh Castle. The most memorable parts of the castle for me was the National War Museum as it contained beautiful stained glass, albums listing those who died in WWI, WWII and other wars Scotland was involved in, as well as other memorable plaques and tributes. The castle also contained St. Margaret's Chapel - the oldest building in Edinburgh, Scotland's crown jewels, the Great Hall and Prisons of War. Here are some pics from the Castle.
We spent quite a bit of time in the Old City of Edinburgh and less time in the new city which mainly has shopping. While in Edinburgh, it was so windy! The wind, paired with the occassional rain did not fair well for anyone's umbrellas. At one point, the wind was so strong when we were at Calton Hill, I felt like I was going to be blown off the hill. We had to seek shelter alongside the historical monuments and wait for the winds to die down a bit. The winds were so severe at some points throughout the day that it reminded me of the windstorm we had when Stanley Park in Vancouver was severely damaged. The wind we faced in Edinburgh was probably just as strong, if not stronger at some points. We heard the next day that the winds reached as high as 140 m.p.h. in some areas.
That evening, we took a tour of the Real Mary King's Close, which was an interesting tour of Edinburgh's underground. The streets have basically remained frozen in time since the 17th century. We learned what it was like for the people who lived, worked and died during that time. I was glad that it was a historical tour and not a ghost tour! After the tour, we decided to try some Haggis. You know what, I actually liked it! Thinking about what's in it is enough to make anybody's stomach turn, but I had to try it and it was good. I'd eat it again!
Life in Hostels
For the most part, our hostel life has been pretty good. We've always had respectful dorm mates who are relatively quiet during the night, especially if they are returning to the hostel in the middle of the night (or early morning!). The hostels have met my standard of cleanliness for the most part :) The one thing though that is completely out of anyone's control is the issue of SNORING! Oh man, I know the snorer cannot control their snoring, but on a few occassions there has been some pretty obnoxious snoring. As it is, I'm a light sleeper but while in Edinburgh, I encountered the most obnoxious snorning sound I have ever heard. It was so loud that I am certain the walls were vibrating.
Whoever this guy was should only rent private rooms on a go forward basis because he snored so loud - like the loudest I have ever heard! I got out of bed to get my ear plugs and they didn't help so I threw them down on the bed in frustration. I cranked up my Ipod and still, I could hear the snoring. I then put my head between two pillows (we were spoiled at this hostel - 2 pillows) with the Ipod blaring in my ears and it did not help. The snoring was really THAT loud. It re-confirmed for me that whomever I marry cannot snore, otherwise we'll need separate bedrooms...maybe on separate floors!!! LOL! Anyway, I decided to pray for the snoring to cease. Seriously, I should have done that to begin with, because within 30 seconds of praying about it, it stopped - completely! Finally, ahhh....peace! After tossing, turning, saying "AHEM" to wake him up and thinking of taking my spare pillow and throwing it at him out of frustration, I was able to get some sleep.
The Edinburgh hostel will definitely remain in my memory for some time. I had a few memorable experiences there - the first being the snoring situation and the 2nd being the creepy man from Amsterdam who was standing outside the bathrooms completely naked at 6am!!! There is more to this story. I met the 40 something year old guy the prior night in the kitchen area and he kept talking to me while I was eating my dinner....while he was talking to me, his hands were not on his knife and fork - yes, use your imagination if you need to. Matt had left the table briefly to grab something from the room and didn't return soon enough as he met a new guy in our room and they started to talk. Meanwhile, I was left in the kitchen with the creepy man from Amsterdam who even offered for us to stay in his apartment...AHH! I thought that my experience with him had ended that night, but oh no, there he was at 6am standing compeltely naked in the hallway outside the bathroom. I wish I took a photo of him. I would post it for all to see & be aware of!
That's all for now!
Adventures in Edinburgh
On our first day in Edinburgh, we decided to do our normal walking around to get acquainted with the city. The sun was shining and the street performers were out and about. There was also a protest in the midst with people protesting for democracy (not sure where they were from).
We spent quite a bit of time in the Old City of Edinburgh and less time in the new city which mainly has shopping. While in Edinburgh, it was so windy! The wind, paired with the occassional rain did not fair well for anyone's umbrellas. At one point, the wind was so strong when we were at Calton Hill, I felt like I was going to be blown off the hill. We had to seek shelter alongside the historical monuments and wait for the winds to die down a bit. The winds were so severe at some points throughout the day that it reminded me of the windstorm we had when Stanley Park in Vancouver was severely damaged. The wind we faced in Edinburgh was probably just as strong, if not stronger at some points. We heard the next day that the winds reached as high as 140 m.p.h. in some areas.
That evening, we took a tour of the Real Mary King's Close, which was an interesting tour of Edinburgh's underground. The streets have basically remained frozen in time since the 17th century. We learned what it was like for the people who lived, worked and died during that time. I was glad that it was a historical tour and not a ghost tour! After the tour, we decided to try some Haggis. You know what, I actually liked it! Thinking about what's in it is enough to make anybody's stomach turn, but I had to try it and it was good. I'd eat it again!
Life in Hostels
For the most part, our hostel life has been pretty good. We've always had respectful dorm mates who are relatively quiet during the night, especially if they are returning to the hostel in the middle of the night (or early morning!). The hostels have met my standard of cleanliness for the most part :) The one thing though that is completely out of anyone's control is the issue of SNORING! Oh man, I know the snorer cannot control their snoring, but on a few occassions there has been some pretty obnoxious snoring. As it is, I'm a light sleeper but while in Edinburgh, I encountered the most obnoxious snorning sound I have ever heard. It was so loud that I am certain the walls were vibrating.
Whoever this guy was should only rent private rooms on a go forward basis because he snored so loud - like the loudest I have ever heard! I got out of bed to get my ear plugs and they didn't help so I threw them down on the bed in frustration. I cranked up my Ipod and still, I could hear the snoring. I then put my head between two pillows (we were spoiled at this hostel - 2 pillows) with the Ipod blaring in my ears and it did not help. The snoring was really THAT loud. It re-confirmed for me that whomever I marry cannot snore, otherwise we'll need separate bedrooms...maybe on separate floors!!! LOL! Anyway, I decided to pray for the snoring to cease. Seriously, I should have done that to begin with, because within 30 seconds of praying about it, it stopped - completely! Finally, ahhh....peace! After tossing, turning, saying "AHEM" to wake him up and thinking of taking my spare pillow and throwing it at him out of frustration, I was able to get some sleep.
The Edinburgh hostel will definitely remain in my memory for some time. I had a few memorable experiences there - the first being the snoring situation and the 2nd being the creepy man from Amsterdam who was standing outside the bathrooms completely naked at 6am!!! There is more to this story. I met the 40 something year old guy the prior night in the kitchen area and he kept talking to me while I was eating my dinner....while he was talking to me, his hands were not on his knife and fork - yes, use your imagination if you need to. Matt had left the table briefly to grab something from the room and didn't return soon enough as he met a new guy in our room and they started to talk. Meanwhile, I was left in the kitchen with the creepy man from Amsterdam who even offered for us to stay in his apartment...AHH! I thought that my experience with him had ended that night, but oh no, there he was at 6am standing compeltely naked in the hallway outside the bathroom. I wish I took a photo of him. I would post it for all to see & be aware of!
That's all for now!
Alright! Jane we all know the you wish you had a picture of the austrian guy from amsterdam naked to savor the moments you two had at 6 am! Haha just kidding!
ReplyDeleteEdinburgh was really neat it had a lot of history Mary Kings close was very cool! Edinburgh is a city on top of a city or the old slums. Close is another word for alley. They were very narrow only a couple feet wide in some areas, compared to the modern ones above the can easily fit a car. Highly rec. this tour its only a small portion of the old city that is safe to walk in today. The top floors of the old buildings have been removed and when you look at the old builds under the ground and look up and see modern structure you have to take second look it looks very out of place.
There thing that i found interesting about the scotish crown jewels was amoung the sword and the crown there was a rock! Just a plan rock! The story behind this rock is that back in the day all future kings were taken to the small village of Perth and crowned on this rock! When england took over scotland they carried on this tradition but instead they dug up the rock in perth and brought it to england up until 1996 it remained the through in westminster abbey. They have since given it back to the scottish and they are very happy to have it back as they display it with their crown jewels. The scottish believed that if the right king of scotland was crown on this stone that the "powers" of the stone would protect the new king. There is a small history lesson.
Haggis well it tasted like a veggy burger! I took several bites to tried to like it but FAIL! Jane ate the rest! Haha all the power to her!
Hostels have been great! Except it wasnt the snoring that bothered me (custom made ear plugs) it was the guy that was farting all night! Oh yea the silent ones! I almost relocated him to the hallway but he did stop and i was out.
I have been told by a few that i need to post more things on here. I will try mu best but as most know hotgooglefacetubing my life on the internet is not one of my strong points :-)
Cheers until my next post!
matt your haggis is not a veggie burger thats why its awful or offal, just to explain the haggis is made from OFFAL the parts of animals that any bright person would throw away, intestine, brain, testicles etc all ground up and served with added spices. ha ha
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