Scotland 4: Day 32

28 Apr 20116 Apr 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

Edinburgh, Scotland | 23:22

Today was great! I woke up and had two big bowls of cereal and then went out for a walk. I decided I’d walk toward the west, away from all the “touristy” areas. It was refreshing to see “normal” people going about their day. I must have been near a university or college because I saw a lot of young people out and about.

Well, I may have lost my cell phone. I haven’t had time to look for it very much yet, but I didn’t see it in my stuff. I hope I don’t have to pay for a new phone- but on the plus side, this will be all the excuse I need to go from my iPhone 3GS to a new iPhone 4. I was secretly hoping to hold out until the iPhone 5 announcement, whenever that will be. I’m crossing my fingers that I can find it.

I found a great lunch at a place called Maxie’s. I had chicken on a bed of spinach and feta cheese, covered in a fantastic sauce that is made from red peppers. It was brilliant!

Last night was a blast! Chin asked me if I was going to go out partying. I told him I didn’t party, but I thought it would be fun to find a karaoke bar or somewhere. He agreed and asked me if he could come along. I told him that would be fine. After a quick shower, I met these twin brothers named Connor and Rorie. Connor is currently studying abroad in Ireland, and Rorie is doing the same thing in France. They have finished their studies and thought they’d come to see Scotland before they fly home to California.

Chin and I set out to karaoke, and I soon realized that it was very awkward having him there. He’s sweet and means well, but unlike me, he is quite the introvert. While I was chatting with strangers, Chin was following me around like a lost puppy. He wouldn’t even talk very much with me- he wouldn’t talk to anybody. I told him in advance that if he got too tired or bored, he could head back without me. But there he stood, like my Asian shadow.

After a while, Connor and Rorie showed up. When they did, it broke the tension a bit because they wanted to talk with me, and weren’t afraid to venture out on their own. I’m not sure what Chin’s deal is, but when the twins arrived, he went back and sat at a table all by himself, as if he was trying to avoid all contact with everyone.

The twins were even asking me what his deal was- but I didn’t know. After a few more songs, Chin came and told me that he was getting tired, and he wanted to go back to the hostel. I asked him if he knew the way, and he said he did. We all told him goodnight, and he left. Once he was gone, I’m sad to say it was much easier to relax and have a good time- the twins agreed with me. I promise I’m not a bad person. I just wish Chin would have at least acted like he wanted to hang out with us. The rest of the night was great!

Scotland 4: Day 31

27 Apr 20116 Apr 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

4.27.11 | Edinburgh Hostel | 15:56

My breakfast this morning was provided by the hostel, so I didn’t have to eat out. It was some brand of multi-grain cereal. My keen observation: Over here, Cheerios is part of that Nestle company, not the General Mills company like in the states- and now you’re as smart as I am.

Chin and I grabbed lunch at Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. I had some fried brie cheese as an appetizer and then a pork steak and eggs. Chin had his first haggis. He said it was good, but he was expecting it to be a lot better- so many people had told him how they loved it. My haggis experience was different, I thought it would be much more disgusting than it was. Both of us managed to keep down our first haggis, though. I feel like this is a huge milestone or right-of-passage!

After lunch, I was dog tired, so I curled up and took a long nap. Now it’s time to do some laundry. Sadly, this may be the last load of laundry I’ll do while I’m in this country.

23:43

After my laundry was cleaned and put away, I went to Greyfriars Cemetery and explored some. I tried to find the headstone for George Watson and John Watson. George Watson’s stone is so worn out that I couldn’t read what is inscribed. The John Watson headstone is overturned so that I couldn’t read it either. I wonder if either of them is my ancestor.

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant. I got some delicious chicken curry. Afterward, I walked to New Town and saw the movie, Thor. It was pretty cool, although predictable. Still, it’s always fun to watch a superhero kill everybody.

Scotland 4: Day 30

26 Apr 20117 Apr 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

Edinburgh, Scotland | 14:20

Good afternoon! I left Pitlochry this morning and now I’m back to Edinburgh. Sadly, this is my 2nd to last stop before having to fly home. This time I’m at a new hostel… well, I stayed here 3 or 4 years ago, or whenever Scotland 3 happened. It was a good hostel and so I thought I’d stay here again. In the day I come back to Scotland, I’ll surely spend more time staying in and exploring Pitlochry. I’m very impressed by that town.

My train ride was a good one, uneventful with a train change in Perth. Nothing worth reporting, really. The gal sitting across from me didn’t wanna talk- so I closed my eyes and got about 15 minutes or so of sleep. I read my book for most of the other time.

I got a message today from my friend Neil, who I met on Shetland a few stops ago and he says he wants to plan a road trip in the US sometime in 2012. That would be crazy awesome! I hope we can work something out. I have a few great road trip plans.

21:23

This afternoon I met a guy from Korea. He’s staying in my room at the hostel here. His name starts with a ‘J’ and sounds something like ‘Chin Huak”. I don’t dare try to spell it though. I already am destroying it each time I try to say it. He’s currently a student here in the United Kingdom and he happened to have 10 days off of his classes, so he took a little trip up here in the north. He tells me that all his friends here can’t say his name right, so they just call him “Bro”. I thought that was funny.

Chin and I hung out tonight a while and walked around Edinburgh. This was his first day here, and it was fun to give him some advice on where to go and what to see while he’s here. The hostel here seems to be full tonight, or at least our room is. This is quite a change from my experience in Pitlochry. I didn’t have to share a space with anyone while I was there.

6 Apr 201128 Jan 2018 / Dav / 1 Comment

Scotland 4: Day 10

4.6.11 | Edinburgh Hostel | 09:30

It’s another beautiful, rainy Edinburgh morning! I’m sitting in the hostel lounge, waiting for my laundry to finish, deciding what to do for breakfast- I’d better decide soon as I’m very hungry!

11:40

After eating breakfast at “Always Sunday”, I walked down to the train station to pick up my train ticket for tomorrow. Even though I’ve prepaid for all my tickets, I didn’t have them sent internationally because I worried they wouldn’t arrive in time. Each train station has a kiosk where you can go pick up your prepaid tickets- it’s genius. This way I don’t really have time to lose my ticket before I board the train.

Today is officially the rainiest day I’ve ever experienced in Scotland. I’ve lucked out when traveling in April. It has often been rainy in the morning but by about 0800 or so, it starts to clear up and might rain a tiny bit throughout the day. We’ve had a rather heavy rain since I woke up this morning- and right now it’s showing no signs of stopping or slowing. But the weather changes so fast here, it will no doubt be sunny again soon.
I’m downloading the rest of General Conference at the moment. This has been an ordeal that has taken several days. If I were home on my faster connection I could have downloaded it in a matter of minutes, I’m sure. Here, the wifi is slower (but free so I won’t complain), plus I can’t just leave it downloading when I leave the hostel- the wireless signal won’t reach into my room. So when I’m not here, my iPad has to be locked up in my room. I don’t trust these people enough to leave it out. Do you blame me?

23:30

Well, I found a place to sing karaoke. I sang “From This Moment” by Shania Twain. Don’t judge me. I was good, though it was the very top end of my range and I couldn’t stylize it very well. It was still fun, however. The fact that most of the group had already had a couple pints is why I got most of my applause. I’m still thankful for it. It feeds my ever-growing ego.

Back to Scotland 4: Day 3 | Forward to Scotland 4: Day 11

Scotland 4: Day 9

5 Apr 201115 Oct 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

4.5.11 | 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 with the fried egg and the bacon (think Canadian-style bacon over here), a roll (which was 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 ‘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 it’s 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:

This squirrel is relatively tame, and thought that I may have some food for it. or
This squirrel was the reincarnation of the same ‘William Watson’ that I happened to be reading about at the very moment of its approach. Even though I don’t believe in reincarnation, I have decided to name it William Watson-Squirrel.

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 ended up lasting 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 by the church graveyard, where Charles Dickens is said to have seen one of the headstones, which 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 store, “Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.”

Images from the Tour

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

Scotland 4: Day 8

4 Apr 201113 May 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

04.04.11 | Edinburgh, Scotland | 12:59

I woke up pretty early this morning and wanted breakfast but didn’t want to go alone. Since I’d made friends with a 19-year-old Swiss guy, who was sleeping in the bunk above me, I decided to wake him up and take him with me to find food. He wasn’t into breakfast like me, so we ended up at a Starbucks. So breakfast was a hot chocolate and a muffin for me. Swiss boy got a double espresso shot and an almond pastry. We headed back to the hostel.

It’s quite windy and rainy today, so it took a while for me to build up the courage to go out. I wanted to go look at some souvenir shops and run around for a bit. Then it was time to grab some lunch. I went to a pub/restaurant called Whiski. I had this dish that was goat cheese on top of bread, topped with a chutney jelly. Then I had a side salad. It was very delicious!

At the moment I’m waiting for the front desk to send me a new towel because the cleaning person took mine. Rude! Once he does, I’ll run and take a shower. I think I need a nap.

19:51

I had the most awesome dinner tonight! My friend Gwen (a Southwest Airlines customer service from Baltimore) came to Scotland last year, and she told me about a restaurant called “The Witchery.” She talked it up, and so I thought I’d get dressed up and give it a try. OH, MY COW! It was by far the best meal I’ve had on the trip up to this point.

The decor is as if you’re stepping back in time. I’m not sure what style or period but has such character. I don’t drink alcohol, but this restaurant apparently has one of the best wine selections in all of Scotland. That may impress some you, at least.

23:25

I just got back from seeing a movie called Source Code– it was terrific! It made me think… and thinking is always a good thing. Now I’m sitting around, charging my iPad, and waiting for podcasts to download. The signal at this hostel isn’t very strong, and there are about 9 people trying to use it at the same time.

Scotland 4: Day 7

3 Apr 201113 Apr 2020 / Dav / 1 Comment

4.3.11 | Edinburgh, Scotland | 00:26

I had a good evening! I went to the cinema and saw Sucker Punch. That was action-packed and very, very messed up. I think I will go to sleep now.

09:01

Last night I slept surprisingly well. I’ve been stressing this whole room-share situation. At this time I would like to thank the inventor of earplugs, whomever he/she may be. Words cannot express the deep gratitude that fills my soul today… especially with 8 other guys in the room with me.

12:13

Since today is Sunday, I wanted to make things a little different this morning. I walked to Holyrood Park, just on the edge of Edinburgh and while listening to some good, sabbath-appropriate music, hiked up the hills behind the park. It was beautiful and I got my heart rate going for a bit. Now I’m going to go take a nap.

14:31

It was still nice to get a bit of rest off my feet, even if I was unable get any sleep. This is because the new hostel mates are all checking in now. Mike and I are still here but everyone else is going to be new. I’ve met a gal from the Czech Republic named Silva, two guys from Italy and two guys from South Korea- everyone seems nice.

22:53

Not much happened this afternoon. I did get some dinner at a great Italian restaurant that I remember going to last time I was here. I walked around the city some more as well. I’m going to look around some more and try to find Saturday’s conference talks.

Scotland 4: Day 6

2 Apr 20119 Apr 2020 / Dav / 2 Comments

04.02.11 | Glasgow > Edinburgh | 08:58

I had to wake up a bit early this morning to get my train to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is my favorite city! The train is supposed to leave in two minutes. I can hardly stand it. On my way over here, I stopped for some breakfast at the K.F.C.

When I got to my train, there was a lady and her daughter sitting in my seat. I told her I had reserved this seat. I was very kind and smiled at her. She grabbed her daughter and moved to the seats adjacent. She wasn’t there for two minutes when somebody came up to her and told her that she and her daughter were sitting in their seats. She argued with them for a moment and then grabbed her daughter and had crossed to another position. Then it happened a third time- about five minutes later, a couple showed up and told her that she was in their seat. My question to her is this: What’s the point of getting a seat if she’s going to ignore her seat assignment? This isn’t Southwest Airlines, ma’am, we assign seats here.

I highly recommend Scotrail.com if you come this way. They’re not very expensive to book, and if you add a bus, they’ll take you just about anywhere you need to go. Also, you don’t have the hassle of messing with a rental car.

Edinburgh, Scotland | 1029

I arrived at my second destination safely. The funny thing: I meant to reserve the same hostel that I stayed in when I was last here last time. I didn’t realize till I was almost at that hostel, that I was booked somewhere else. Whoops! When I tried to check-in, they told me that they wouldn’t allow me to check-in until after 14:00. Now I get to hang out for a couple of hours. I would go and explore the city, but I don’t see a secure place to store my backpack. Perhaps I’ll find a quick lunch nearby. I’ll hold off my major explorations until later.

15:46

Lunch was at Monster Mash, which is where I ate my first haggis, the last time I was in here. I didn’t want to repeat the haggis experience, so I ordered the bangers and mash. The sausages of the day were venison and beef with tomato.

I came back to the hostel and met one of my ten roommates. Yes, there are ten people in the room. His name is Mike, and he’s from Pittsburgh. Mike is a student but he decided to take six months off of his studies and has been tooling around Europe. He says that he was recently in Norway, where he got a job as a construction worker, living with a coworker. He said Norway is still cold, but the weather frequently changes, just like Scotland.

Mike was just sitting up on his bed, looking bored, so I asked him if he wanted to walk up Calton Hill with me. Calton Hill overlooks the city and isn’t too tough of a hike. We made our way over to New Town and then hiked up.

He wanted to get back to find a pub because there was some game that he wanted to watch on T.V. I went to find some soap, a soap holder and a refill for my razor. I’m sure it’s not going to last long. The soap I bought was called Imperial Leather. It sounded manly- and that’s why I got it. I’m a manly man, after all.

Scotland 3: Day 8

27 Mar 200726 Oct 2020 / Dav / Leave a comment

03.27.2007 | Edinburgh, Scotland

Holyrood Park, looking up to Arthur’s Seat

Looking from Arthur’s Seat to Calton Hill

After this post, I go into Ireland. I will use the hashtag ‘Ireland 2007’. Later in this journey, I’ll come back to Scotland and resume using the ‘Scotland 3’ hashtag.