Edinburgh, Scotland

12:34

Last night I accidentally left my jacket, camera, and umbrella in the lounge here at the hostel. The good news is that they didn’t steal the jacket or the camera. Someone did steal the umbrella, however. I guess that’s what happens when it’s raining out. Yes, it rained again this morning, but by the time I left the hostel, about 08:30, it had already stopped, and the sun even came out.

I came down this morning and asked the desk clerk where I should get breakfast, and he suggested I walk across to New Town to a place called Snax. I followed his directions. It was a hearty meal, but not the best I’ve had over here- far from it. It was very traditional: fried egg and bacon (think Canadian-style bacon over here), a roll (more like a salted hamburger bun), some baked beans, and hash browns. Once again, I had them hold the black pudding. None for me, thanks.

I wanted to check out the cemetery that is right in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. I was excited to find a couple of ‘Watsons’ buried there. I shot a little video while I read the headstones… I am not sure if they’re my ancestors, but maybe when I get back to the States, I can Google the names and dates or something.

While reading about one of the Watsons, a squirrel came up with a peanut in its mouth. It got so close to me that I actually reached and pet its little head. It walked away for a second, dropped the peanut that was in its mouth, and came back to me. Now, this meant either of these two things:

1. This squirrel is relatively tame, and it thought that I may have some food for it. or
2. This squirrel was the reincarnation of the same ‘William Watson’ that I happened to be reading about at the very moment of its approach. I have decided to name it William Watson-Squirrel, just to be safe.

18:50

This afternoon was frigid. The hostel I’m staying at offers a free tour of Old Town. Even though I’ve been on guided tours in my past trips to Scotland, I wanted to learn more about this fascinating city. Our guide was Paul, who is actually from England but has traveled the world over. Other than the familiar Scottish tales and places, he would tell us about his world travels.

So many fascinating stories! I hope I’m getting some of my own to share with friends and family. The tour lasted about 6 hours. Now I’m kind of happy to be off my feet for a little while.

Edinburgh has such a rich history! We walked past the church graveyard, where Charles Dickens is said to have seen one of the headstones that inspired his famous character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Also, we walked by a pub named for Deacon Brodie, a man who was a church-attending, god-fearing man by day, and at night, he would burglarize people’s homes and live a secret life. His real-life story inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write the famous story, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

Images from the Tour

Dinner was at a Thai restaurant that was hidden in a narrow alley. I went back and found it again for dinner. Curry is so good. I’m sure to have plenty of gas later.