Adam Smith, Rowling, and Mountains
Posted by Jackie , 04 October 2010 6:05 PM
If I could move tomorrow, it would be to Edinburgh. Castles, ghost stories, beautiful little cafes, J. K. Rowling, hills throughout the city, and beautiful monuments combine to make Edinburgh a glorious city of culture and history.
On Friday, Elissa and I met with the travel guide for our group at Kings Cross Station at 6 AM. There was some initial - ahem a lot - of stress on getting to the station as I overslept my alarm and only woke up when Elissa called me. Thankfully, I had already packed my bags and laid out my clothes, so it was the work of minutes to get to the station. As the train traveled north, we watched the sun rise over beautifully rolling hills and fields that looked suspiciously like large broccoli plants. We pulled into Edinburgh shortly after 11 and were taken on a brief coach tour of the city. Elissa and I spent the evening leisurely walking through the city, most importantly finding all sites Adam Smith. In particular, we spent nearly an hour searching an old grave yard for his grave - it was one of the last ones we looked at. A few photos later, we were attending a "Ghost and Ghouls" tour. The tour guide stayed in spooky character the entire time and we explored some old underground vaults as well as historically scary spots on the Royal Mile (the main tourist street).
Elissa and I spent Saturday entirely on our own in Edinburgh. The morning was spent in climbing a mountain. Well, a hill, I guess, but it was incredibly high nonetheless. It's called Arthur's Seat and is one of the highest points in Edinburgh. Even though Elissa and I didn't have the proper footwear in the least (I was wearing TOMS without traction, and Elissa's shoes weren't much better), it was a spectacular way to start the day and see the city. Upon reaching the bottom, we visited the Elephant House tea shop, AKA the place where J. K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter way back in the day. We took some touristy photos; it was great! A quick detour took us into the National Museum of Scotland where we saw some old Celtic stuff, in particular some amazing swords and old weapons. A scarfed down jacket potato later - that's a baked potato with any topping you could think of - we explored Edinburgh Castle. Inside, references to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce were absolutely everywhere. It was rather surprising, actually. Turns out that the two of them are really big characters in Scottish history, despite a general dislike of Mel Gibson's Braveheart. We left the castle and, after a quick stop for hot chocolate, continued on to the main shopping street. As we learned, however, most everything closes in Edinburgh at 6 so there was little for us to do in the retail area of town. We stopped at a pub called The World's End, known as such because in olden days the Edinburgh town wall was at that exact spot. For the locals, the wall really marked the end of the world. After a pint, we devoured some amazing fish and chips and split a fried mars bar (also delicious!) before going back to the hostel for a relatively early evening (for students, anyways).
Sunday was excellent as well, though my update on that will have to wait. I'm tired now and need to get some beauty sleep for class tomorrow; it'll be my first one! Till tomorrow.
