36 hours in Edinburgh

Here's what happened:

First I got on the wrong train and ended up having to get off and then back on another wrong train (as the correct train was long gone), and along the way explain to three officials that I had gotten on the wrong train. Fortunately I decided not to buy another ticket and t0 just keep explaining to people (ticket would have cost 50 pounds = 100 dollars!) and the third guy let me stay on without having to buy a new ticket. But I had to stand the whole way. The view from the window made up for it, though. I saw the North Sea and a Range Rover herding sheep.

We finally got to Waverly Station and I made my way to my hostel, which is in a very nice spot in Old Town at the corner of Grassmarket, Victoria St., and Candlemaker Row. The walk was 10 minutes, straight up hill basically. I wish I had the camera with me so I could post some photos -- Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I've ever been too. It's kind of like Seattle plus Paris -- amazing old architecture and phenomenal natural scapes.

After I found the hostel and dropped off my bag in my six-person mixed dorm room, I went walking around Old Town. I went to the University of Edinburgh campus, Calton Hill, and checked out the view (see the stock web photo to your left), and ate some food at this vegetarian place Susie's Kitchen that my friend Thora recommended. I also had a pint of Deuchar's IPA at a pub on campus.

After the beer and food I headed back towards Grassmarket to buy a ticket for the Literary Pub Tour. Usually tourism and I don't mix. They still don't. But it was sort of entertaining hearing about a bunch of old, dead, male Scottish writers, none of whom I have heard of except for the one who wrote Jekyll and Hyde. Sorry Scotland.

After that I had planned to go see Belle and Sebastian play, because I saw a sign advertising Belle and Sebastian for that night. I asked where the club was up at the front desk of the hostel. The guy who had checked me in was psyched that I asked, and also psyched about the show because he is a fan of Chris Geddes the DJ. I mean, he seemed really psyched, but maybe it was the Australian? New Zealand? accent that made him seem particularly enthusiastic. However, I am not that much of a B and S fan and that became apparent because as our conversation progressed I had no idea what this hostel guy was talking about. I played along, then checked the internet. I *think* Geddes was a member of b & s and now has a DJ solo act? I'm still not sure. But by then I was too tired and ambivalent to go and also wanted to avoid getting lurched into by the drunk rugby players stumbling all over the place so I went to bed.

This is getting long so here's some highlights of the rest of my remaining 18 hours in Edinburgh:

• midnight: Pretended to be asleep while five Romance-language-but-not-French-speakers arrived and got ready for bed; worried that they were stealing my laptop (they weren't) or going to have loud sex (they didn't).
  
• 8:00am: Woke up, snuck out of the room of Italians? Spanish?; the same guy was still at the desk! He asked if I liked the show and I had to admit I hadn't gone because I was tired -- but HE had, and afterwards came back to the hostel to continue what appeared to me to be a 24 hour shift. After politely acknowledging his disappointment in my uncoolness, he then said "no worries" which tipped me off that he is probably Australian rather than New Zealand. not only do I think that New Zealanders do not use that phrase, I also think they don't feel that sentiment. This is based on the three New Zealanders I know: a guy from my program in Madison, and Brett and Jermaine.
• 8:30am: Walked around looking for coffee; nowhere was open, but I was offered some gin, which I declined (uncool).
  
• 9:00am: Went to a farmer's market at the base of the Castle and had a kickass doughnut and some coffee. Everyone else was eating meat sandwiches. At the base (of the castle). hi greg.
  
  
  The Castle
  
  
• 9:30: Walked up to New Town where the architecture is Georgian (so basically it looks like rows and rows of Southern plantation houses, but without the slavery).
• 10:00am: Began my ascent of Arthur's Seat, this little mountain right in town. Convenient, isn't it? a mountain? in town?
• noon: Made it down from the mountain, thrilled that I had not been blown off the top by the insane gusting winds up there. Note to readers: don't wear Puma's when climbing mountains.

OK, so then I walked through South Edinburgh which it turns out is where JK Rowling lives. Didn't see her. Walked around more, ate, shopped at some vintage stores, sat outside in Princes Street Gardens, managed to catch the correct train home.

Then I got to Leeds! Saturday night in Leeds -- that's another story altogether.