Edinburgh - Days 6-7

---

My introduction to the British bus system was a rough overnight bus from London to Edinburgh. I guess for 31 pounds I can't expect too much. It was interesting passing the fifth anniversary of 9/11 outside of the US. I'm not sure how the day went in the US, but there really wasn't anything even mentioned here. Oh well, I'm just glad nothing happened.

After trying to sleep and generally failing, I arrived in Edinburgh in a bit of a daze. The city center is quite compact especially compared to London, and it's also hilly which makes a huge difference. After some effort I managed to locate my hostel (Brodies 2), which the Lonely Planet had raved about. Straight from the LP: "Edinburgh's first 4 star hostel." I wonder if they meant that as a joke because the place was a total dump. At least the people were cool.

I liked the feel of Edinburgh. It feels so much older than London and much, much smaller. The compact center was great for walking around, which is primarily what I did. Edinburgh has some great museums, but I needed a break after London.

While I was looking for my hostel I ran into an American named Tim from Philly. He was dragging around two giant suitcases looking for the same hostel. After we got checked in, we walked around the city. Edinburgh has a dramatic castle perched on a hill in the middle of the city. We walked around the base of the hill and saw an interesting doorway in the wall, so we climbed about 100 feet up the hill to check it out. An older tourist followed us up, and while we were taking pictures of the city from the vantage he started scaling the wall! He got about 5 feet up and then stopped, apparently so his wife could get a picture of him from the ground. It was a bit shocking to turn around and see this guy climbing the wall.

The highlight of Edinburgh was a hike to the summit of Arthur's Seat. It's about 400 feet high and has a commanding view of the city and surrounding countryside. Absolutely gorgeous views from the top.

Edinburgh was also the place where I finally started eating at grocery stores aka self-catering. I really wish I had tried this in London because its a huge saving over eating out. It costs maybe 2 pounds for a meal, while eating out cheaply is 5-6.

Tim, Nadine (from Nova Scotia), and I went out for drinks in the evening and had a blast. We left Tim with three German girls from Munich, and apparently they stayed out all night since he rolled in around 7 am.

The second day was a lot like the first except I walked around with Nadine instead of Tim since he had to go to orientation for the college he was going to in Glasgow. Edinburgh is really well setup for walking, and the architecture is really pretty amazing. So much stone everywhere, and little passageways leading off the streets. There's even a palace where the queen stays when she is in Scotland.

The next morning I left for Fort William in the Scottish highlands, so stay tuned for that entry and pictures hopefully. I'm surpised at how hard it is to track down internet access where I can sit and upload stuff.

---

Photos

Arthur's Seat
Summit of Arthur's Seat looking towards the ocean.

Scaling the wall
Some tourist trying to break in...