So this is what deep fried dog turd tastes like!

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Geo: 55.9503, -3.18761

Very tired ... I'm getting sick! Noooooooooooo!!!!! Only 5 days to go - my body can disintegrate when I get home, but not now! The sidewalks are very slippery - the dampness and freezing temperature means the ground is coated with a nice layer of black ice and it's pretty dangerous walking downhill. It was actually safe walking on the street itself, since its surface was a little grippier.

I chatted with an older gentleman after he slipped on the streets. He's been to the Yukon and Hudson's Bay before and liked both quite a bit. It's funny how people see much of the world, but never their own country - like me!

Off to the Majestic bus tour - 4 different bus tours (well, only slightly different) are included with the pass I bought. They all belong to the same bus company, but they had to do it this way because of anti-monopoly laws in Edinburgh. Each "company" has a slightly different route and itinerary. The pre-recorded commentary onboard sounded like Sean Connery. We drove past the botanic gardens and several nice mansions across from it. They were more like stately manors.

I arrived at the Brittania, the Queen's former private yacht that is now docked at a port and large shopping centre just outside of Edinburgh. It was cool - I was the first tourist onboard and had pretty much the entire ship to myself, except for the odd staff member.

The dinner settings onboard were very precise - they actually have to measure everything with a ruler to make sure it conforms exactly to the predetermined standards. It was kind of neat, but nothing special and wasn't worth the 10 GBP entrance price.

After, I did some shopping - I finally found a striped, grey hoodie that was a little dressier than the average hoodie. I've wanted one for a while now, and regretted not buying one in Florence - I didn't want to pay $30 CAD for it thinking that I could get a similar one cheaper, but I never did find one. And now, over a year later, I'm paying twice as much! And I still prefer the one from Florence more. I was actually looking for some jeans, but couldn't find any cheap ones.

The ticket stub from the Brittania grants discounts at some of the fast food places in the mall, so I took advantage of it. Feeling sick, I had a peach/mango/orange/vanilla yogurt smoothie. It was kind of blah, but I needed the nutrients and vitamins and it was 20% off! I grabbed a chicken tikka masala wrap from O'Brien's sandwich shop. Served in a tomato tortilla, it was stuffed with onions, peppers, and chicken - I was disappointed that was warmed in the microwave instead of a panini grill. Though it looked small, it was surprisingly filling and fairly tasty.

Back to town - I did some shopping on Princes Street, where I found some decently-priced jeans. The problem was that they were skin tight on my calves, and I didn't want to look like Peter Pan or a girl from high school that we ridiculed for wearing similar jeans. They looked too much like MC Hammer's pants from the video "U Can't Touch This".

The National Gallery - not much of interest to me, but it was free! The Scottish Gallery inside had some cool Art Nouveau-style embroidered panels. The Impressionists gallery was also quite soothing and calming. As I was leaving the museum, I noticed it from across the gallery - there was no mistaking it - an El Greco! Such a distinctive style ...

Off to the Museum of Scotland, where I managed to join a free tour. Wannabe Spanish Casanova Tip #7: Hotties can be found on these tours! A girl from Southern France, a Latin-looking girl from the UK, and another Caucasian girl from the UK. The tour guide was awesome - our 30 minute intro tour quickly became 75 minutes. He kept telling us that he wouldn't be offended if any of us wanted to leave early to wander on our own, but none of us complained.

It was a good overview tour with a nice touch of humour. The museum is very interesting because there is a lot of symbolism in its layout and artistic design. There was no time at the end to explore the museum on my own, but I didn't care because I wasn't feeling very well anyway. I didn't realize how close the museum was to the hostel and ended up taking a long way back (probably twice the distance).

I saw Nick and Janette when I entered the room - they were pretty surprised that I had returned after last night. Apparently, one of the younger Aussies came into the room complaining that he was dying (at around 4 AM). I guess he was having troubles breathing. I didn't really notice anything with my earplugs.

Anyway, Janette wanted to change hostels because she had grown attached to Nick and with him leaving, she didn't want to stick around. I told her to hold out for a bit, because everyone else in that room was also leaving and you never know who the new bunkmates might be.

I took a quick nap and went back to Maison Bleue for dinner - it was busier tonight, and I had the set menu again. In addition to the wait staff (though Shantal wasn't working tonight), the clientele was also quite lovely tonight!

There wasn't any foccacia tonight, only sesame and rye breads. They were good with the soup. I chuckled to myself as I noticed a couple executing a plate switch halfway through their meal. The advantage of being hooked up! Since I was sick as a dog, I skipped the wine tonight and instead had apple juice. The meal was definitely better last night. Shantal showed up just before I left. I said "hello" before returning to the hostel.

I showed Nick and Janette my food photos and they laughed. I can't blame them - what kind of loser takes photos of his food when he travels? Probably the same kind of loser that takes pictures of cute Spanish hotel receptionists and cute Spanish waitresses ...

I took another nap and then watched some cool improv shows on TV. One was called "Mock the News", and was similar to "Whose line is it anyway?". Another was entitled "Quiz Show" - the whole premise was to quiz comedians and laugh at their hilarious responses.

I used the internet for a bit before heading to bed. I had a good chat with Nick and the young, dying Aussie from last night. He's actually a good kid, but he's ... well ... just a kid! So obviously, he does some pretty dumb things! I babbled and rambled about my travels - Nick was looking for some specific info about places like Hungary, Croatia, and Poland, while the young Aussie just liked hearing about my travels.

Funny - the young Aussie commented that I was the most well-traveled person he has ever met. I laughed and told him "Obviously, you haven't met that many traveling Aussies yet!" Given that Aussies have such an affinity for travel, I'll probably one day run into this kid and it will be him telling me stories of the amazing places he has visited, places that I could only dream about seeing.

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Photos

a
On board the Brittania - the galley, stocked with food. Having skipped breakfast, I was tempted to swipe some biscuits.

b
They kept this royal vehicle on board - it was too big for the garage, so they actually have to partially take the garage apart to get the car out.

c
The private deck of the royal familly. I seriously hope that Queen Elizabeth doesn't suntan in the buff out here. It'd just be like the old, pasty, wrinkly Germans from the Canaries!

d
The Queen's bedroom - funny that her husband had a separate, adjacent room.

e
Officer's lounge, for relaxing. Perhaps Queen Elizabeth used to entertain the men by swinging around this pole?

f
The National Gallery of Scotland, I think.

g
After, I walked through the nearby Princes Street Gardens. It was in a pretty dreadful state, with all of the renovations taking place. The nearby train tracks also make it less than appealing. I continued walking and drank 1 L of juice to fight off my sickness.

h
There was some kind of Amnesty International demonstration taking place outside of the National Gallery.

i
Fleshmarket Close - is this where the red light district is???

j
Fried Mars bar - Scots are famous for frying everything - pickled eggs, haggis, and even pizza.
This looks pretty disgusting, doesn't it? For all I know, it could be a fried dog turd. But surprisingly, it didn't taste that bad (I'm talking about the fried Mars bar, not fried dog turd). It was pretty greasy and I felt kind of sick after.

k
The inside of the Mars bar.

l
Locals stand on the edge of the heart and spit at the middle. If it lands in the centre, it means you'll have good luck. I managed to get my spit in the middle - but unfortunately, I don't think it counts if one drop of your spittle out of 100 lands in the middle.

m
The Elephant House - cafe where JK Rowling wrote most of the first Harry Potter book.

m2
The Museum of Scotland.

n
I started with a goat cheese/courgette soup. It wasn't creamy like I expected, and was more of a puree. The cheese wasn't overpowering like I thought it would be - the soup was fairly light and had a nice flavour.

o
The main course was a ribeye with peppersauce and garlic fries. The sauce was much too peppery and the steak was tender, but not really juicy. The salad was more like a garnish - just a few assorted greens and a few slices of crappy tomatoes. I ended up paying a 2 GBP supplement for the steak.

p
The cheesecake was a fairly tiny piece, and had WAY too much powdered sugar. It was decent, but not great.

q
A bit of an attempt at an "impressionist" photo of the interior of Maison Bleue.