Edinburgh

Caitlin and I left for Heathrow Airport on Friday afternoon after class in the rain. I tset a worrisome tone to our trip because it would b eunfortunate if our only day in Edinburgh was rainy. We got to the airport and through security very quickly, and to my surprise, they do not check passports when traveling within the UK. I was nervous about my e-ticket but it worked perfectly. The plane ride went smoothly and it was beautiful above the clouds. I took a decongestant during the day, and this was the first that my ears were not in horrible pain during and after a flight.

It was easy to tell from the aerial view that Scotland is simply beautiful. I say simply because the green and brown rolling hills and mountains look so peaceful around the small patches of farmland.

Anyway, we took an easy bus ride from the airport to our hotel, which was right in front of Princes St. Gardens and the Scott Monument! The Castle was also just across the gardens and it was absolutely beautiful, seated up on a cliff above New Town. (Edinburgh is split by the gardens as Old Town and New Town). The other most captivating part of Edinburgh is the majestic Arthur's Seat above the Palace. The sun just beamed down on it, and it was a rich green. It is amazing to see nature so close to city life.

We stopped in our room for a little bit to drop our stuff and look through the binder of brochures for something to do that night. We decided to find the ghost tours that started a little later on a street that we had passed on our bus ride. When we got to eh top of the street, we saw a ghost tour company by a different name, were confused, and then decided to take it. The tour guide was about our age, totally done up in a black suit with a top hat and cane, and adopting a very loud, obnoxious (familiar to me) character. Naturally, we were ridiculed for being Americans, and then made friends with the Canadians.

On the tour we walked through small alleyways and learned about being yelling something like "tallyhoo"? and then throwing their "buckets of nastiness" out the window into the middle of the street. The out-of-towners usually got a mouth full because they would look up when they heard someone yell. He brought us over to St. Giles' Cathedral and he yelled at me for following him up the steps where he would be speaking and demanded that I stand on the ground level with the other peasants. After this tiff, he decided that I would be the witch that the mob would hang. He brought us through the mob mentality of framing someone for causing your problems. For instance, oh no my puppy died, it must have been Lara because she was muttering something in the street the other day. Anyway, they put me through various tests i.e. nailed my thumbs to opposite knee caps, made me swim but I stayed afloat because my dress, then tortured and burned me. Quite the pleasant tour group.

Then, we went into the underground vaults of Edinburgh. By the way, I should mention that Edinburgh is known as one of the most haunted, if not the most, city in the world. We went into level 1, 2 and 3 vaults. Level 1 means that spirits are present but are unaware of you and cannot interact. Level 2 means that spirits are present and are aware of you but cannot interact. Level 3 means that spirits are present, aware of you, and can interact with you. The underground vaults are where the homeless used to live if their home collapsed in from weather conditions. THey moved here without any light to live in small, crowded rooms, where your neighbor may become your toilet, because it was illegal and punishable by death to be homeless. Historians estimate that the average healthy male could survive up to 18 months. The vaults were very creepy, and the spirits were harmful according to the tour guide and a specialist. We were forced to stay around the edge of the room because in the centers of the level 2 and 3 rooms is where teh most "activity" has occurred. In one room there is a circle of large stones and whenever someone is inside they come out covered in scratches. One person on a tour put their arm in, and on the way out of the vaults tripped and broke his wrist. Another story is that a daughter swore her mother took her hand and led her to the other side of the vault, only to find when the lights were turned back on that her mother was on the other side. It was very creepy, and one couple didn't enter the Level 3 vault.

After the tour we walked down the Royal Mile and saw a Faneuil Hall-like area where there was a stage filled with over 20 people throwing fire. Apparently they do this every night? And there was a circle of men playing drums.

The next day we ate scrambled eggs on toast at the Elephant House cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter with a view of Edinburgh Castle. We then went inside Edinburgh Castle and through various submuseums like military, crown jewels, POW bunks, etc. The POW bunks were my favorite part! There were 3 doors that had been carved on in the 1700s by American "rebels" of the American flag, ships, their names and dates. It was amazing. The people who founded our country were held there and experienced those bunks as a result of the war for independence. Soo neat. [P.S. At Leed's Castle they celebrate the 4th of July - maybe they were happy to get rid of us?]

We then walked down the Royal Mile and ate at a pub where I got my first shot of 'neat' Whiskey at Mr. Hayes' suggestion and steak and ale pie. Mmm good. We continued to walk down the Royal Mile while doing tourist shopping when suddenly we heard bagpipes! Marching down the street were building dressed in kilts, playing bagpipes, followed by people carrying the Scottish flag. We then walked to Holyrood Palace and learned that one of the Vanderbilt daughters lived there after being forced to marry into British aristocracy. He wanted to marry her because he was losing his fortune and she was still rich. They had two children whom she referred to as "the heir and the spare", they divorced after about 10 years and married people they actually loved. Out the back of the Palace is an old abbey, and I saw a baby bat! At first I didn't know what it was and thought I saw some sort of mole thing on the side of the building, and when I got close I saw wings tucked under the fur ball, which is when I freaked out and walked far away.

After the Palace we walked across the bridge toward Princes St. and stopped at the gardens. They were beautiful, bright green and the small hill up to the street was lined with bright yellow flowers. Oddly, this is what used to be the pit of Edinburgh where they would throw dead bodies, waste, etc. After our stroll through the gardens we had to get back to our hotel and leave so that we could make the next day at Leed's Castle and Canterbury. It was sad to leave, and I hope that I will go back there sometime soon.