Arthur's Seat
Elephant House
Calton Hill
On more or less a whim, I found myself exploring the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, this past Monday-Wednesday. The English department decided to grace us with an independent study week, so I felt that it was only appropriate that I took advantage of the opportunity and see a bit more of the UK (Scotland is part of the UK, but separate from England). After scrambling together a few other international students, (Noah, Ashley, and Tiago) we were off for the two and a half hour train ride up to visit the Scots.
Upon arrival we did not waste anytime starting our adventures. We checked into our amazing hostel, The Castle Rock Hostel, and headed off to the Elephant House for lunch. For those of you non-Harry-Potter-fanatics out there, this place is famous for being the birthplace of Harry Potter because Rowling wrote it there, way back in the day before she could even afford to buy paper. The food, tea, and overall vibe of the place was awesome, but we didn’t linger too long… off to Arthur’s seat!
Arthur’s seat is a dormant volcano that was carved out by ice age glaciers so that it is a very steep, yet very beautiful hike up to the top where there is the best view of the city. After endless stone stairs (yes, even more than CSUSM), we reached the breathtaking top. We sat and enjoyed the view for a while, and were then driven back down the hill by the sinking sun and blustery winds. Now the question remained, what were we going to do tonight? Ashley really wanted to do a ghost tour, but a friend of ours had also told us about a highly recommended pub-crawl. To pub-crawl or not to pub-crawl.
To pub-crawl is of course the answer! While Tiago and Ashley decided to go on the ghost tour, Noah and I opted for the crawl…obvi. The crawl met at The Bank Bar in town, and then went around to four other pubs, and ended in a nightclub. There were overall about twenty participants, a good majority of them being highly intoxicated Ecuadorian teenagers. However, we did meet a really cool couple Jon and Grace from Australia who were working in London and on holiday. Over the course of four hours we made our way to an Australian themed bar, an open mic night bar, a hostel’s bar (famous for the jagger bomb dominos), Frankenstein’s bar, and finally a nightclub, receiving discounts and free shooters all the way. All in all it was definitely a good night.
The following day we went on a three-hour walking tour of the city. I know, it sounds painfully awful, but it was by far one of my favorite things. We had a very entertaining and charismatic guide that took us all throughout Edinburgh, teaching us the origins of various monuments, locations, and historical sights. We even got to see the building that inspired Rowling’s Hogwarts, heard the tale of Maggie Dickinson who inspired Nearly Headless Nick, and visited the graveyard where there is actually a Tom Riddle buried there. Although it was three hours long, I didn’t even find that I was bored or tired at the end. The tour offered us an inside look at the beautiful city and was also extremely interesting. Five stars to New Europe Tours. Onward!
The rest of the day was spent in the Scottish National Museum, home to mummies, ancient artifacts, a T-Rex skeleton, a space exhibit, and even Dolly the sheep: the first ever clone stuffed for all to see. Needless to say, we spent a good couple of hours getting lost in the various exhibitions, but eventually made our way to Henderson’s for some delectable vegetarian curry and frozen honey cheese cake. Mmmmm J We stayed in the hostel that night, but it was anything but dull. Noah described the Castle Rock as a “hipster’s dream”. Everywhere you looked were funky painting, suits of armor, various lounges like the posh lounge complete with a baby grand piano and cozy fireplace or the record lounge where you can just relax while listening to some good old vinyl, themed rooms (Scottish clans, Virgin room, Latin room…), and a great bunch of people. We enjoyed a cheesy 90s movie, popcorn, and good company and we were off to some much needed sleep.
Our final day in Edinburgh began with a trip to the St. Guiles Cathedral located on the Royal Mile (the old town city center). Here we found ourselves gazing into the seemingly endless panels of remarkable stain glass, intricate carvings, and one massive organ. After sneaking a few pictures, we headed off toward the National Gallery. By this time it was only about noon, and with nothing else planned for the trip we decided to all go off on our own adventures after spending our desired time in the gallery. I thought that I would be in and out of the gallery, but I found myself in there for a substantial two hours, in awe of the enormous paintings and the stories behind them. Now off to my own little adventure…
I began to mosey along Prince’s Street (lots of shopping), and found that I left my map and all touristy pamphlets in my suitcase. Fabulous. With no real idea of where I was headed, I started walking through the new town and off toward a group of columns up on a hillside a ways away. Eventually I made it to what I discovered was Calton Hill Park where I spent the majority of the day walking a few trails, befriending a calico, and gazing up at monuments. As my legs and stomach grew impatient, I headed first to Victoria Gardens to enjoy the sun and people watching, and then off to The Elephant House for lunch.
I couldn’t resist not visiting the place where my obsession was created one more time. I went even one step further and wrote a nice little journal entry on one of their napkins to complete my nerdy cliché fantasy. I then enjoyed my veggie chili in the company of a very nice German girl who was looking at potential colleges, and concluded my own little day of exploration. Before we bid farewell to Scotland, we made one last little trip to the Castle that was right in front of our hostel, hence the name Castle Rock. And alas, it was time to head back to the dreary reality and rains of Preston until I venture out to Paris Friday J
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