Thursday, July 7th:
The Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile:
Before I get into today’s events and sites, I have to share with you my horrible story from late last night. The Cowgate Hostel has the kind of doors that lock automatically behind you. At around 4am last night, I half sleep-walked out to the bathroom outside of my room in just my boxers to pee. I soon realized that I was now locked out of my room in just my boxers, everyone around was asleep, and reception did not open until 8:30am. After panicking for over half an hour and deliberating wall-walking out the bathroom window into my room, I finally managed to successfully break into my room with a fork (nice security there…). Thank god! It could have been a very long night.
The (Sir Walter) Scott Monument:
I woke up this morning very irritated (and kind of hungover) about the late-night happening, but quickly gathered my stuff to bring to St. Christopher’s Hostel to drop it off for some more sightseeing. I ate a Scottish breakfast there of bacon and eggs before heading out to the Scott Monument on Princes Street. Princes Street is the busiest street in the city (for cars, anyway) but it has some cool sites and shops along it for visitors. The Scott Monument is a gothic monument dedicated to Sir Walter Scott that stands high above the lower part of Edinburgh. Visitors can climb the ~300 steps to the top (as I did) to take in the views. Warning, though, the stairwells get too narrow for people going up and down to pass one another on the way, and it can get frustrating. From here I walked away from central Edinburgh down Princes Street to Calton Hill. I wandered through a cool cemetery nearby with the grave of David Hume in it, and then went up to see the old city observatory, the Nelson memorial, and the National Monument.
Calton Hill (The National Monument and the Nelson Monument):
From here I decided to walk down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the very bottom of the Royal Mile. Unfortunately, though, the palace was closed to visitors because the Queen was in town throwing a party. The Scottish Parliament building is also right across the street from the palace, and it is a pretty cool display of architectural design. Instead of going inside the palace, I decided to climb up Arthur’s Seat, the massive rock mountain-crag that overlooks the entire city. I bought myself an umbrella because it looked like it was going to rain, and headed up. The hike took about thirty minutes, but it was definitely worth it! I ended up being up there all by myself, and it is one of the most beautiful sights I have seen on my trip so far. Definitely up there with the place we ate dinner overlooking the city in Prague! I stayed up there for a long time before wandering back down because I had gotten hungry. I stopped at a place called Café Vivo on the Royal Mile and got a really tasty Italian Panini with mozzarella cheese, salami, sundried tomatoes, and black olives. I also had a cranberry/raspberry/banana smoothie, and it really recharged my batteries. I took a long walk back up the Royal Mile, passing old buildings and the Old Canongate Tolbooth on my way back to the hostel.
Arthur's Seat:
Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat:
I dropped a few things off at the hostel before heading out again back towards Princes Street. I wanted to buy myself a new backpack and a new raincoat for the rest of the trip, and found some at a place called Blacks. From here I walked in a giant circle around Edinburgh Castle, through the Princes Gardens (with the world’s first floral clock), passing St. John’s Church and all the way over to St. Mary’s Cathedral. This massive cathedral looked absolutely beautiful from the outside, but unfortunately it was closed for the day by the time I had gotten there. I walked back to my hostel through the Grassmarket bar area and up the Granny’s Green Steps back home, listening all the while to the sweet sounds of bagpipes blown through the air.
Princes Street from Calton Hill to St. Mary's Cathedral:
Edinburgh Castle from the Princes Gardens:
No comments:
Post a Comment