Advertisement
Celtic Cross in Castle Grounds
To commemmorate the men and non-commissioned officers who died in the South African war 1901/1902. April 28th 2005
Edinburgh, Scotland.
As children, my siblings and I would stand outside in cyclones, waiting, with arms outstretched, for the wind to overcome gravity and carry us away... just a few yards, mind you. Unfortunately, North Queensland is not a particularly windy area and has not, in recent years, managed to produce anything stronger than a category two cyclone, which certainly lack any detectable elements of excitement. It's quite humorous, in fact, to watch the newcomers work themselves into a tizzy every time the newscasts begin forecasting devastating winds in the latest cyclone threat. …"Yeah, right".
But today, my friends, was just such a day and just such a city. Edinburgh's high altitude is obviously conducive for strong winds, because it's often been windy in the few days I've been here, but nothing compared to today. I wandered the parks and streets and took many pictures of my current favourite sight, the grand old Edinburgh Castle perched high upon The Rock. At one point I was walking with the wind behind me across the North Bridge and I swear, if I had dropped my bag and opened my arms (and shed about thirty kilos in an instantaneous
Walking in the Castle Gardens
Walking amongst the daffodils....tilt your head until the path is horizontal. marvel that would have stumped scientists the world over), it would have picked me up and carried me along for a time. It was just that strong, that forceful, that eager, as if I was already hovering millimetres above the concrete. The brief sense of liberation, of being able to soar away, was glorious.
Later in the day, I was walking against a particularly strong wind, and that was fun, too. My clothes all plastered themselves against me and it was like a giant hand pushing, a vacuum behind me sucking; it was Mother Nature insisting, "No, stop, it's more fun this way. Turn around! I'll show you some secrets and blow your mind". But then maybe it's just me who thinks such things.
The old city is full of so many lovely ancient buildings and cobble-stone streets and tiny little alleyways tunneling into or between the buildings. These are called 'closes', and connect with secret parks or streets or businesses behind the buildings. There is a wee 12-year-old Nancy Drew fan inside of me jumping up and down with excitement and clapping her hands in glee; time to explore! Most are open to the public, so I
"Dunbar's Close" Hidden Garden
See what I mean? Hidden little gardens at the end of the Royal Mile's closes and wynds...this one's the most elaborate I found. And it continues on, too, but no room for pics here. have spent a lot of time wandering in and out and peeking about. I discovered some lovely little cafes and placid little gardens and all sorts of yummy new things. I adore it all and want to buy a house here with a secret little close and disguise it somehow and then fill my courtyard with an Eden of flowers and plants and water features. I would call it something very obscure and refuse to tell anybody what it meant and build a secret hidden passageway between the walls in my house with a secret and very clever latch that sprung it open.....
In the meantime, I have discovered a neat but temporary way around my primary money-draining expense, which is paying for accommodation. My hostel apparently has a work-for-it type of program, where you can do two hours worth of cleaning for the next night's accommodation. So I was busily scrubbing every tiny crevice of the eight-floor staircase today, but all in all it was worth it and providing I can wake up early enough tomorrow, I will continue to work for my bed rather than pay for it. Unfortunately, most hostels don't have a similar program on offer, so it will be painful to leave here for the oh-so expensive London again, but for now I'm going to soak up what is a pretty damn good deal and try not to think on that. Hopefully it won't take more than a couple of weeks to get a job, and then I'll be laughing.
I've been in a wee bit of a funk today. Not upset or cranky, just feeling a bit unadventurous and sticking pretty close to the hostel. So unfortunately I do not have much to write about. I've walked the Royal Mile and been in the courtyard and the grounds of the Castle and wandered all over the streets and closes of the old and new towns and such forth but have not yet been inside the Castle or done anything else which costs money. Tomorrow I'll do it all properly and will have much to report. Until then...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.257s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 72; dbt: 0.0745s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb