Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 16:08:50 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Nice evening for a walk, aye?
I left the hotel VERY leisurely at around 12:30 or so this afternoon,
then came back to the hotel at around 4pm, slept until close to 9, went
to dinner and a short walk and now I'm back at the hotel. It's not
midnight yet.
Thats pretty much it. You can delete this email now if you don't want
to read the rest of my ramblings :)
I just noticed today that nobody says "yes" around here -- everyone
says "aye". Saying "yes" would probably immediately mark you as a
tourist, like saying "hola" in Portugal!
I also noticed that Edinburgh is a completely DEAD city by 10pm Sunday
nights. I think the reason for this (besides having a lot of ghosts
around from its turbulent past) is that most tourist attractions close
at 5pm, and very few locals are actually found roaming around the old
town area. That's very unusual for me to see something like that!
Well, Calton Hill is the lowest of the three hills around old town, so
today's was the easiest climb (the last two days might also have had
something to do with it). I'll compare this to the "1st floor views
from the Eiffel Tower". Unlike Edinburgh Castle or Arthur's Seat,
Calton Hill is a lot lower and closer to the rooftops of the city, so
the views are a lot more detailed, but other landmarks (like those two
hills) can obscure the view. Everything is just so close and you can
still hear the sounds of the city.
Not to say the views are bad -- they're actually quite good (the
weather Gods have been really generous this whole trip), and this was
the only place which had an ice cream truck parked on top! This was
also a place to wrap my jacket around my backpack, use it as a pillow,
and take a short nap on the grass under the sun! Until being awakened
by some kid who accidentally(?) kicked my shoe while running. On top of
the hill are a few monuments dedicated to a few people. I wasn't as
impressed with them as the views below. All of them can also be seen
from Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle. So I had seen them before and
they weren't much different up close. The ice cream was good even
though I dropped my first one on the ground, but I'm sure some of the
birds didn't mind.
After coming back down I just roamed around, hanging out at the train
station for a bit and wondering if I should go to Glasgow for less than
10 pounds round-trip! Decided to stay in Edinburgh and made my way to
New Town -- wasn't impressed much by it. I liked Old Town a lot
better... On the way there was also a monument dedicated to Sir Walter
Scott.
On top of the hill I had met a couple from New Zealand (of course it
HAD to be New Zealand of all places!) who told me that the main
building of the National Gallery of Scotland is worth a visit. So I
went there next. That was really nice -- beyond my expectations! First
of all, its free, so it definitely gets bonus points for that! Second,
it was SMALL -- I could see the whole museum in under an hour -- more
bonus points! And finally, beautiful paintings with every gallery
having several very comfortable chairs to sit on and relax my feet!
Right, the paintings -- according to their ad they have the largest
collection of Renaissance (and beyond) art for a comparably small
country like Scotland. Whatever that means. But it was good -- lot of
works by Raphael, Rembrandt, and Titian (lot of paintings and a few
sculptures from 1300s-1800s). No photographs were allowed inside
though.
No wonder it was the #2 attraction in my "Top 10 Scotland" book. Very
nice!
This is when it was "around 4 pm" (see first paragraph).
I went out to dinner near the train station again and hung around the
area taking pictures of all the monuments at night. At one point I was
taking some pictures of Edinburgh castle (a LOT of pictures actually --
I wasn't getting the light settings "just right" so I kept snapping
away), and I was approached by this Israeli couple who asked me to take
their picture... I did so I asked for the same favor back, and in both
the pictures that they took, the camera shook a little bit and there's
quite a funny "shadow" of my face behind me... :)
Ok, my first night here I was in no mood to have any conversations with
anyone, just too tired from the climb up Arthur's Seat. Today, I found
myself actually STARTING conversations with random strangers! For
example that couple from New Zealand! I asked them about their accent
and where they're from, and when I found out my eyes must have lit up
and I must have seemed like an obnoxious brat, asking them all about
New Zealand, what to see, what to do, when to go (is October a good
time instead of December?), why winter is not good on the south
island.... all random subjects! They were very nice about it though,
telling me a lot about their own country and also places in Edinburgh
that they had been to.. The same with the Israeli couple at night --
after we took each others pictures I asked them where they from, but
then ended the conversation right there.
Very contrasting day from the first one on this trip :-)
Now its just after midnight and I have to start walking to the train
station at 4:20am to catch the 4:50am bus to the airport. I'm wide
awake and am even considering going back out and wandering the deserted
streets for the next 3 hours. I'm not really sure what to do now... I
wonder if any pubs are open this "late" in this city!
So until June 6th from Cancun...
Adios,
-yo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| May 24 | Contents | May 26 |