Glorious Scotland, Day One

Greetings from Edinburgh! I took a bus from London up here yesterday and in just under 9 hours of travel time, I got to watch the landscape change from the gentle rolling hills of the southeast, to Liverpool and Manchester, alongside Yorkshire Dales National Park, to the mountain-like terrainand snow capped hills of the Pennines on our way through Liverpool, Carlisle, and finally over to Edinburgh. The spotless and cozy guest house at which I am staying is fabulous, run by a lovely couple named Jim & Fiona Mackie. Since I purposely made this trip alone, I have a single room with a lovely view and my private bathroom just on the landing. My bathroom has a TUB! After my first hot breakfast in over a month (yummy waffles, porridge, yogurt, toast, and tea) I set out to conquer the city.

Edinburgh is much different from London - things are a much smaller scale and the entire city seems to have this darkness that appropriately represents the great Scottish history and the generally dreary weather. (However, I love the damp and cold so this is the place for me.) Between the streets are these great little alleyways called closes (in London they are called mews) that connect the city in a helter skelter sort of way of passages and stairs. Unlike London, Edinburgh definitely has topography - it's a series of hills so I am constantly walking up or down. One street will be 20' above another and this is a stair climber's paradise. I had a wonderful day just wandering around with my Lonely Planet guide in hand and a general idea of where I was going but exploring interesting shops or eye catching buildings wherever I went.

I ventured down Princes Street with Edinburgh Castle ever looming over my head and made my way to the Royal Mile, past all kinds of shops including a marvelous Christmas shop, St. Giles Cathedral (being renovated), John Knox's house, The Canongate Tollboth, the crazy and controversial new Scottish Parliament Building, and eventually ending up at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Her Majesty the Queen's royal residence in Scotland. (I have now been to all three: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Holyroodhouse.) A student discount is offered so I explored the palace with one of the free and very informative audio guides. My favorite part of the palace is the Abbey, which dates to 1128. It lies in ruins with just portions of all four walls and the cloister intact but while standing in it, you can almost hear the story of what has happened in that space.

While I was in the Palace, I noticed a huge hill to the south (I guess you could call it a mountain) and upon looking closer, I saw the tiny little dots of people moving along a road that traversed it. Consulting the map, this was Arthur's Seat, one of the highest points in Edinburgh and the guidebook said it was a fairly easy 45 minute walk to the summit, 251 meters above where you begin. I started the climb and it's really a severe grade for the first 20 minutes or so! A Scottish guy started the hike at about the same time as I did and we chatted, breathlessly, up the side of the mountain while watching the city sink further and further below us and eventually reached the top about an hour later. (The guidebook lied about the easy walk... it was more like a moderate climb.) Standing there at the summit in the stiff, cold wind overlooking the entire city was definitely an experience I will not forget. From this point, you also overlook the Firth of Forth, the body of water that comes into Edinburgh from the North Sea and visible just in the distance is the Forth Rail Bridge. I hope to get closer to it before I leave because it really is very unique. The descent to the city was much shorter that the climb and I exchanged thanks and goodbyes with my hiking partner.

A light rain started to fall mid-afternoon so I sought cover in a little Mexican place on the Royal Mile called Pancho Villas. Finally, a place that knows how to do Mexican properly! I spoke with the owner for a bit since I was the only patron and he told me that Edinburgh has a dozen or so Mexican restaurants. Hooray! This is not the case in London! Sufficiently full after my two course meal for £6.95, I wandered back up the Royal Mile to Lothian Road toward Princes Street and then along Rose Street which is open to pedestrians only. All along here are restaurants, pubs (some with crazy names), shops, and a number of really interesting jewelry stores. My parents brought me back a lovely Charles Rennie Mackintosh necklace that I am not often without when they were in Edinburgh several years ago; now I'm looking for a unique ring or earrings.

My pedometer says I walked just over 14 miles today and I feel it. I would love to be able to attach some photographs to this post because everything is breathtakingly beautiful but in the interest of traveling light, my laptop is back in London so I can't transfer the digital images.

Tomorrow I'd like to visit the Castle, the Museum of Scotland and the National Gallery, Calton Hill (which sounds as if it could be another climb to its summit), and possibly the royal yacht Britannia. Wednesday I am taking a day trip to Loch Ness, Glen Coe, and the Highlands and then it's off to Glasgow for Thursday and Friday before returning to London by bus on Saturday. I will try to post daily this week, check back soon!