Exploring Edinburgh – 12 August 2011

I got up the next morning and took the bus back from Perth to Edinburgh. The sky was clear and the sun shining so all of the crowds that I had missed the previous day came swarming back onto the streets. The Fringe Festival was in full swing. Vendors, performers (mostly bad with a few good ones mixed in), and people handing out a million different flyers covered every street and practically screamed for your attention. It was great! 

I walked Prince's Street for about an hour to take in the view of Old Edinburgh. The skyline was interesting because of how the city was built on hills. It moves up and down and buildings peak out from behind each other at unexpected heights then just when you think it is all over the castle looms up on the edge of the cliff. Breathtaking! I also got to see and listen to a piper and see the Sir Walter Raleigh Memorial.

I had decided earlier to make sure I included an art museum into my day so I went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It was a large museum so I chose to focus on British artists doing portraits of Scots. They were each very beautiful. Most of them showed men with their guns, dogs, and latest kill – even women

I then began to make my way to a local knitting shop to see if they had any local wools. While passing St. James Cathedral I noticed a local craft fair taking place just outside of it. It turned out to be a stroke of good luck because one of the vendors was a very nice lady who was selling hand-spun and hand-died wool from the sheep her family raised. She had beautiful stuff and because I was so interested she spent quite a bit of time explaining a new project to me and gave me a nice deal on some yarn at the end.

Afterwards, I went back to wandering. I stumbled upon a cute street that was lined with shops and restaurants. I hadn't planned on buying anything to eat but once I saw this store front I absolutely had to stop.

It literally had a whole roasted pig, head and everything, sitting in its window! The workers were pulling meat off of the pig as customers ordered! I HAD to eat there, no questions about it. Whole wheat bun with almost 100 grams of slow cooked pork and a sweet layer of apple-onion stuffing. Mmmmmm. It was  mouth-wateringly delicious.

After a delicious meal I got up the energy to find the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyrood. The Scottish Parliament was a really cool looking building. I didn't go inside because I got distracted by a huge hill/mountain that people were climbing just beyond it. I've discovered that I am not a city person. I like big open spaces, grassy fields, forested mountains, and small towns. The opportunity to get out of the city and into nature was too tempting for me and as soon as I saw where to go I made a beeline for it.

I knew I was short on time so I decided to not take the traditional path up and just climb up the steeper side because it didn't look to hard. This was not one of my smartest decisions. It was an almost vertical climb, I had on a heavy back pack and it was wet and muddy. When I get scared my mind goes into a weird mode. I stop thinking about the danger completely and just focus on finishing. It's like I'm so scared I'm not able to chicken out. (This is how I was able to do a back flip on the trampoline – I knew if I chickened out half way through I would fall, break my neck and die. So I didn't chicken out and I made it all the way over. I'm weird I know.) But the view from the top was fantastic! I could see the whole city all the way out to the North Sea. I learned later that I had climbed Arthur's Seat – named for King Arthur. If anyone visits Edinburgh they should make time to take this hike. It's beautiful and makes you feel like a Highlander, which is always a good thing.

Can you spot the wee castle?

 

On my way back to the center of town I stopped and looked at Holyrood Palace. This is the Queen's Residence when she visits Scotland. 

And so after a long day of mostly aimless wandering I took a bus back to Perth for my last night with the Crooks. The main lesson I learned from this day was that I should have planned my trip better. I could have done everything that I did in Edinburgh in one day and probably visited somewhere else. I have no regrets because I enjoyed my visit, but next time (and I'm determined there will be a next time) I will plan better.