I decided this morning to explore the east side of the bay this time, hoping I’d get further along than my visit to Scrabster yesterday. I tried to reach the ocean. Soon, the farm road that I was following turned and headed off in the wrong direction and I found myself getting further from my goal. Still, it was a beautiful walk!
Tonight I went to see Superman vs Batman for a second time, ignoring my nephew Sam’s advice on Facebook (wait for it to come out on DVD). I actually liked it a lot better this time. Last time, if you recall, I was half asleep throughout the entire film. That was a tough watch for me. I hated it for that reason. I actually like it now.
This morning was a perfect morning! I wandered into town and found a “breakfast roll” for breakfast. Like a pig-in-a-blanket, but instead of just the sausage, there was sausage, egg, bacon and beans. I wonder when and why Scotland decided that beans is a breakfast food. I’m not mocking them, but beans are everywhere here- especially when it comes to breakfast choices. Don’t they know about gas?
I went for a long walk to the ocean. Oh, how I love the ocean! I wandered for about three hours, walking very slowly toward Scrabster along the beach while listening to podcasts and conference talks. This is such a beautiful place! I didn’t realize this before, but Thurso happens to be the northernmost city on the mainland of the United Kingdom. File that one away for later.
When I made it back to the hostel, it started raining and it’s pretty much been doing that all day long, or at least up to this point. I get it April showers bring May flowers. No prob. A nap was in order. I probably got about 20 minutes of sleep and have spent the rest of the afternoon indoors.
18:06
I just got back from an early dinner. I found a really great Chinese food place, and since I hadn’t had any lunch, I ordered way too much! You know the expression “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach”? Yeah- that. It was pretty great food, even though there was zero spice to it after ordering a dish that was supposed to be spicy. No worries, though.
It’s sad that most of my entries discuss the condition of the wifi. When did that become a thing? How did we survive as a species before the early ’90s when the internet wasn’t available to everyone? You know- before Al Gore invented it. Keeping with this theme: The internet on the train going north is horrible. I have to swap to a different train as soon as I reach Inverness. I hope things will improve.
If you’re following along with a map in hand, you may be wondering why I went from Inverness, all the way down to Edinburgh for a week and am now going all the way back up north. When I was booking my stays, one of my friends asked if he could join me for part of this trip. He told me when he was available and I had a thought that if he was only going to see two places, Inverness and Edinburgh would be the places to see. I’m not sure how much of a country boy he is, and these two places would give him a great feel for Scottish culture.
So I backed Inverness and Edinburgh up next to each other, booked my rooms and transportation and then my friend decided that he couldn’t join me after all. So, onward and upward- the next stop is going to be Thurso.
I’ve been to Thurso once, the last time I visited Scotland. It’s a lovely little city, right on the ocean. Someone once told me that that was a good place to surf. I would add: Yeah- if you want to freeze to death. Apparently, where the Atlantic meets the North Sea, there are some killer waves. I’ve never surfed so I cannot confirm or deny that claim.
Inverness > Thurso | 14:09
I had about two hours to kill when my train got to Inverness, so I thought I’d trudge over to The Godfather’s and enjoy a fish and chips. I use the word ‘trudge’ because my backpack is pretty dang heavy. Maybe ‘trudge’ isn’t the right word. I’m open to grammatical suggestions.
Now I’m on my way- the couple sharing the train seats with me are also going all the way to Thurso. I haven’t gotten all their deep, dark secrets yet… they’re way too quiet for my taste. When I do, I’ll be sure to update you.
Thurso Hostel | 20:14
I love this hostel. I’m attracted to hostels that are old and just a little run down. As long as they’re clean, that is. I like their quirkiness. It’s like going to visit grandma’s house. The perfect example is the hostel I stayed in when I was in Hobart, Tasmania last year. Brilliant! This one isn’t as old as that one, but it tries. When the train arrived in Thurso, I remembered the directions from the station to the hostel. Not bad after only having been here once! I wanted to go see the ocean immediately but was very hungry. More than five hours on a train does that to a guy.
I went to the first restaurant I saw, right near the hostel. So tonight was curry again! I love it so much! I may be spending a little extra time in the loo tomorrow, though- totally worth it! A good curry burns going down, and then again coming out. That was crude! I’m sorry! You can quote me, though.
After sitting and eating, I could feel my body wanting to fall off to sleep. The ocean will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Sorry- no pictures from Thurso tonight. I’ll take some tomorrow. Think I’m going to call it an early night.
I left the hostel this morning to search out a better spot to get wifi and I ended up getting breakfast at a Turkish cafe. While there, I downloaded the rest of the General Conference talks and set out to walk up Arthur’s Seat a third time. As I crossed Holyrood Park, the wind and the rain was hitting my face. A thought came to mind: There is no way I’m going to walk up this mountain right now. I salute the blessed and dedicated skinny people who got to where they are (weight-wise) by ascending to the top on days like this.
Instead, I have come back to the warmth of the hostel to charge my phone and start to pack my bag since I leave for my next destination tomorrow. Oh- how I love this city, even in the rain and the wind and the cold. I can’t wait to come back (and I will be back before I fly back to the states).
The guy in the bunk next to me is still in bed, he’s awake now but playing whatever on his computer. Maybe he’s the one who is stealing all of the bandwidth. Jerk face.
20:08
Earlier I went to see the movie Ran (trailer). This movie was originally filmed in 1985 and they really do not make films like this anymore! This was at a cinema on the west side of Edinburgh that shows more of the art films, and films that do well at the film festivals. By the way, the other day I also saw a movie there called Marguerite, that is about this privileged French woman who loves to sing… we’ll just leave it at that… good flick, though!
Now I’m sitting in bed, hoping that I fall asleep soon. The hot shower I took seems to be doing its important work. I’m pretty wiped out. I have an early train to my next destination, tomorrow morning. And you know how this works- I’d hate to give away the surprise.
It’s raining today—a cold and windy Sunday morning. I just got back from breakfast and think I’ll stay inside and see if some of this cold weather burns off. I don’t mind the overcast weather, but I planned to walk through a cemetery or two to look for names. At the moment, that would be a damp mess. Instead, I’m sitting on my hostel bed, waiting for some inspirational talks to download onto my iPhone.
19:31
I found a late lunch at a restaurant west of the castle called Bun Meats Bun. Quite a creative name- many of their menu items had clever names as well, such as “The Lamb Shank Redemption.” I giggled as I looked it over. I ended up getting a burger, but this was unlike any other burger I’ve had. You see- this was called a Butter Bacon Burger… but the butter was made from bone marrow!
This is what I call opening myself up to trying new things. The problem is that the burger tasted quite weird. I think it’s merely the fact that they told me what I was eating, so I wanted to reject it automatically. That’s not what life is about- life is about (or should be about) opening yourself up to new experiences, at least in my opinion. I think it would’ve tasted better if I’d not known the ingredients.
19:35
I feel sorry for one of my roommates at the hostel here. He stays up all night playing some game on his computer, and then he sleeps all day. Doesn’t he realize how amazing this city is? There’s so much to see and do and experience! That being said, I’m going for a walk, maybe up Calton Hill, but I haven’t decided yet. I have downloaded most of the General Conference talks and am going to go have a listen.
I was finally able to walk up Calton Hill this morning. It’s a great little hike, and much easier than Arthur’s Seat. I lucked out- there weren’t any tourists lurking about and I more-or-less had the entire hill to myself! It was quite nice!
Tonight I went to dinner at The Witchery. I first found out about this restaurant from my friend and coworker, Gwen (a BWI-based customer service agent for Southwest Airlines: Shout out to Gwen!), years ago when she had just returned from a trip to Scotland and heard of my plans to go back. She told me I had to check out this restaurant, so I did. This is now one of my favorite Edinburgh traditions.
The restaurant is located toward the top of The Royal Mile, I believe it’s the third building down the south side of the street from the castle. It is a bit on the expensive side, but the ambiance is worth it, even just once during a visit.
I’ve been laying in bed, thinking about what I want to do today. I haven’t started up to Arthur’s Seat yet because it’s raining at the moment. There are parts of the climb that are perhaps too dangerous if you add water to the mix. Some slick rock and mud, things like that. Then again, there probably won’t be a whole lot of people up the- I’m tempted to have a go.
Actually, I think this morning’s focus is going to be breakfast and then laundry. I’m on my last clean shirt, so it’s time. I have some letters to write and send anyway. Maybe I can find a museum or some other indoor activity for later. Stay tuned.
20:02
I decided to walk the Royal Mile and just take pictures. Some of these pictures may seem dumb to you, but I took them for a reason. I took a picture of many of the ‘Close’ signs because I want to go back and see if there is anything about them on the internet- like so-and-so died here or this-or-that happened to whats-his-face. Then some of these pictures I thought were simply beautiful! I do love this city.
The pictures stop, just before I get to the top of the Royal Mile. This is because the wind start to kick up and I became very cold, having left my scarf back at the hostel. Maybe tomorrow I’ll take continue up the mile, taking more pictures, or perhaps I’ll go back to the bottom and work my way up the other side of the street. I’m going to wait to see what the weather is going before I make any decisions, however.
04.02.16 | 01:35
I found a dance club. Yes, I danced. This is amazing because I don’t dance. No alcohol even needed! I’m so blessed to have been raised in such a home where I know I don’t need alcohol (or drugs for that matter) to have a good time! I’m naturally high on life.
My hostel in Edinburgh has been having internet issues at the moment. I originally posted this day right on time like the other days, but for some reason, my blog service has since lost the post. This is a repost, but since I didn’t save what I’d written, I’ve had to retell the story. If you already read about day 31, then hopefully I’ve added some more information. A lesson has been learned: I’m going to keep the notes I take about each day in the off-chance that this happens again. To quote a line from the song She Doesn’t Know by Michael McLean, my post was “…lost somewhere in cyberspace!”
What I do remember about day 31 is that there was another walk up Arthur’s seat. I managed to take a few more pictures while I was up there. This was perfect because there was hardly anyone on the mountain yet.
The absolute best part of the day was going on a ghost tour at night! This is where we went into the old Edinburgh underground, well after dark, where tens of thousands of homeless people had once lived, many years ago. The tour guide shared a story of when the city passed a law making it illegal to be homeless. Any person without a roof over his or her head at night was collected and shipped off to Australia, or worse. This is the reason that so many of the homeless people would end up underground at night- they were hiding.
Back then, it was also illegal to be the child of a single mother (like you had any control over who your parents were). The city council decided that all these bastard kids would no doubt grow up to be thieves since they didn’t have fathers to teach them right from wrong. In order to keep this from happening, the city officials would take the child from the mother and sell him or her to the orphanage to make the child work. Often these kids would have to literally work their fingers to the bone.
These underground passages were filled with so much disease that many of these homeless people would die. Their deaths were actually looked by the city as a way of controlling the homeless population. The limestone walls would slowly dissolve in the damp conditions due to all of the feces and urine that was being dumped into the streets overhead. This would drip down on these people.
In order to remove the damp caused by this waste, the people would spread tons of straw on the ground to absorb it all. This was done every 6 months or so when the seasons changed. It would get so dry and nasty that this underground world would become a major breeding ground for rats and other pests.
The tunnels had decent air ventilation but no plumbing. Because of these conditions, if there was ever a fire in the underground, it would burn hot and fast. The firemen and police would refuse to ever come underground to fight these fires. This was yet another way to control the numbers of the homeless population.
During our tour, one girl in our group actually fainted while our guide was telling us all these scary, sorted stories. At first, I thought she was planted in the group and that she was supposed to faint to make it scarier for us, but this was not the case. Another one in our group had been on this tour three times already and this had never happened while she had been underground.
The tour ended up at Greyfriars, a very old cemetery that was once the only place Edinburgh had to bury their bodies. Even though there are less than 200 graves, it was estimated that over half a million bodies had actually been buried in the small area. Years ago, they had the soil tested and found out that up to 2% of the soil was actually human remains. CREEPY!
This church that sits toward the top of The Royal Mile is now some sort of community building. I love it!
03.30.16 | Edinburgh, Scotland | 18:27
I left the hostel this morning and walked to the top of the Royal Mile to find some breakfast. I also wanted to find a specific booth a man had set up. I saw it yesterday, it was some beautiful photography from around Edinburgh- I spied one I really liked but didn’t want to carry it around with me so he told me he’d be back the next day. I never did find him, though. Hopefully, he’ll reappear tomorrow.
Breakfast was at a little cafe inside Deacon Brodie’s close. Brodie’s real life is believed to be what inspired Robert Lewis Stevenson to write Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a few years after Brodie’s death.
I walked down the length of the Royal Mile, stopping at Holyrood Palace at the bottom. I wanted to find out if this was the place that James II was buried. There’s a good chance that I may be related to this king on my mom’s side of the family. I found it once while searching for my own family history charts, but I’m having trouble locating it again. So either a correction was made to my family line, or I’m just looking in the wrong place.
Further research is needed. I asked one of the tour guides, and he told me that James II was buried here, even though most of the grave has been desecrated. I would love to see it day-after-tomorrow, as the tourist season opens on the first of April.
Next, I decided to hike up to Arthur’s Seat. This hike takes a little more time and is a little steeper than I’d remembered. Still, it was great to make the ascent, even with many tourists getting in my way. It was hard to get a good picture at the top of the climb because of the massive number of people on the mountain! I did manage to get a few, however.
When I’d reached the top of Arthur’s Seat, I ate this macaroon. Even though I do like Irn Bru, this combination was quite nasty!
And now we come to last night’s dinner. I wandered up Victoria street and found a really great French restaurant. I’m not even sure what the place was called. The main course was a seafood gumbo- delicious! My only complaint: I wish that restaurants would always de-shell the shrimps and prawns that they serve. It’s horrible to have to reach into a hot dish and make a mess of everything trying to disassemble the poor, delicious, dead creature.
It’s great to be back to my favorite city in the world (well, my favorite so far- there are many places I’ve yet to travel)! I love this place! It’s been too long! You know I prefer the country over the city, but still, I love this one! On the train over, I happened to sit by three high school students: Aydan, his sister Aila and a girl traveling by herself named Maricel. They were a blast! We all drank Irn Bru together, like best friends or something. Aydan and Aila were continuing their journey and live in Essex, England. Marcel was from somewhere in the Edinburgh area.
On my way to the hostel, I was coming down a steep hill, and since my pack is so heavy, I misstepped and fell on the sidewalk in front of plenty of people. I rarely get embarrassed, because I try to cover up whatever happened with a joke. I stood up, brushed myself off but couldn’t think of anything witty to say. So I just laughed at myself. Several people approached me and asked if I was ok. I smiled and told them all was fine.
Once I settled in, I hadn’t had lunch yet, so I headed directly to Monster Mash to get some bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes). This is a favorite comfort food of mine. When I got to the location, I couldn’t see the restaurant… did they go out of business? But they were so good! I was disappointed.
I decided to go into the restaurant that was in its place called Mum’s Comfort Food. Once inside, I recognized it right away. I asked one of the servers if this used to be another place. She said it was indeed Monster Mash before- same owner, same recipes, just change of name. The day was saved!
I wanted to do something, but my leg was starting to bother me a bit, from that nasty fall I’d had earlier. I went to the cinema and saw a matinee. The only thing playing at the time was Zootropolis. Ok I know it’s a kid show, but I really enjoyed it! Stop judging!
20:08
Walking back tonight, I decided to take a picture of the skyline. That is Edinburgh Castle on the right, plus the top of the Royal Mile to the left. I’ll take some better pictures soon, I promise.
DavTravels 