I've only been to Italy once before my recent trip to Rome. The place was Ventimiglia, and the time was nearly three years ago. In Ventimiglia, I had the fortune of being very close to the border, and thus made my way by very easily with my native English, and my decent French and Spanish, but mostly I used the foreign languages. I didn't feel as lucky on this trip, partly because everyone spoke English, and for some reason I was too shy to ask if they spoke English. There were times when I could understand the Italian, but I could never produce it, possibly because I have never had an Italian class in my life.
So this is where my story begins, with a slight language barrier. My plane arrived smoothly, and I figured out how to take a train to the city center. As soon as I got off the train, I felt like I was being bombarded by Italians asking me if I wanted a taxi, to which I said 'no' even though I had no idea where my hotel was. I just knew it was considered to be close to the train station, and I knew the address. So I started walking, all the while trying to keep an eye on street names just in case I happened upon the correct street. After walking about ten minutes, I felt like I was getting too far away and decided I better just get a taxi. I hailed one, and being the un-confident person I am I just handed my slip of paper with the address on it to the cab driver. He looked at it, glanced back at me, handed back the paper, and started driving. A block and a half later, he stopped, and told me that that was the street I needed. I felt so stupid, especially since I had just walked past the street, but I think it had a different street name on the opposite side where I looked. He told me I didn't need to pay, but I figured he could have driven me around in a circle since I didn't know where I was and I would not have noticed, so I paid anyway, and was very grateful.
I began walking in the appropriate direction, but soon found that I had walked too far. I turned around, and walked back while trying to keep a closer eye on the street numbers. How could I miss my hotel? I had no idea. But then I saw it – my hotel was not one hotel, it was actually three hotels. There was a different hotel on every floor, and my hotel was located on the third floor, or if you prefer, fourth floor by US standards. The elevator looked very rickety, so I started up the stairs. Once I reached my floor, I saw the sign. It stated, in very plain Italian and English, that I had to walk to a different hotel in order to obtain my keys. If I weren’t such a light traveler, I would have been mad. They could have put a sign on the ground floor stating this fact, but alas, no. I went back down the stairs and continued to the other address, where I found a much nicer hotel. I checked in, received my key, and walked back to my hotel and collapsed.
Well, for a few minutes anyway. I had not eaten dinner yet, so I went for a little walk in search of a restaurant. I did not have to go very far, and found myself in a sort of commercial looking pizzeria. But on the walk, I managed to see a couple of women who appeared to be working the streets, and I also received several exclamations of ‘Ciao!’ from men walking in opposite directions from me. At the restaurant, I ordered the first pizza that caught my eye – the Titanic. Suffice it to say that it had two very good toppings, zucchini and shrimp, but they did not go very well together. It was still a good pizza, though, I just picked off the shrimp. In the corner of the restaurant nearest me there was an obvious first date going on, and it seemed like it was going well by one of the participant’s manners, but not by the other. The couple seemed to be studying together at a local university, and the guy at least was Australian. I know this because he was doing all of the talking. It was an interesting listen, and kept me entertained while I ate.
The next day I got up and decided to start exploring. I discovered that I was only one block away from one of the train station entrances, and that meant I was also only one block from the main bus hub. I soon saw all of the different Hop-on, Hop-off busses that Rome had to offer. I just chose the one closest to me that seemed a reasonable price, and paid for a two-day pass. Which was interesting because when I said two-day pass, the guy helping me thought I said a today pass. Which might be why I noticed later that it was advertised as a 48 hour pass... I hopped on the bus (got a seat on the top deck) and pretty soon we were on our way. The bus went by all of the great sights, but the one I really wanted to get to was the Colosseum. There were quite a few stops before, and I started up a little chat with the group of American women sitting in front of me. Apparently one of the women had been having problems getting pregnant – she’d been trying for ten years! She only had one more chance to get pregnant, and her friends decided to drag her to Rome to get blessed in the hopes that maybe it would happen after her next treatment. They had done Vatican City 'right' the previous day, including drinking some Holy Water. I hope the woman luck, and it was definitely interesting speaking with them.
After more than two hours going this way and that way through all of Rome, we ended up at the Colosseum. Maybe it’s sad to say, but this is the one sight I was hoping to see in Rome. I eagerly joined the line, and soon I was on my way inside. I purchased a guided tour, but I had a good forty-five minutes to kill before it started. I spent my time wandering around, and just getting to know the space before the tour began. At one point I swear I saw a cat lying down in the colosseum, you can judge for yourself.
At the appointed tour time, I went to the rendez-vous point. There was no one there, and I sort of felt silly just standing there. Eventually a woman came up and asked if I was there for the tour, to which I responded yes. I was unsure whether she was another participant or the tour guide, but it was soon revealed that she was the guide. She went to the ticket counter and asked how many people had purchased the tour, and it turned out that I was the only one. We waited a few more moments in the hopes that someone else would also purchase a tour, but no one did. So, for approximately 4 euros I received a private guided tour of the colosseum.
Most of it I had heard before, but I had a few rumors that I had either made up on my own or heard before debunked by my guide. For instance, for some reason I thought the acoustics were supposed to be so good that if the emperor spoke the entire audience could hear. Debunked. Also, while the emperor did give the kill order for gladiators, it is unknown how he gave the order – the thumbs-up/thumbs-down used in the movie Gladiator was made up. Also, the seating in the Colosseum was by class: emperor first row, followed by knights, landowners, then came the worst seats, which two types of people sat in – women and slaves. Nice to know the women fit in somewhere, anyway. There was also someone who asked my guide how to get into the basement area of the Colosseum, which is not possible for tourists. You would think that the person would have seen that no one was down in that area… oh well. Oh, and I also asked about my cat. Apparently, cats and other animals were very commonly seen down there as recent as 30 years ago, but there shouldn’t be any there now. So that leaves to imagination what I saw – stray cat or ghost cat or no cat at all?
I am glad I was able to go there. Again, it’s the history of the place that fascinates me. After Rome became mostly Catholic, gladiators were no longer able to fight in the building. Since it no longer had any use, all of the materials making up the inside were taken to be used in other structures. At one point there were monstrous statues at every entrance of the structure, but now they do not exist anymore. It’s a shame really, all that’s left of the building are the raw materials that made up its skeleton. There was also an earthquake that took out part of the outer wall, giving the building the shape it has today. And at one point, a pope put up a cross in the colosseum to try to acknowledge persecutions the Christians made there, but it is completely undocumented that anyone was ever in fact persecuted there. Apparently the cross just adds to the rumor.
After the Colosseum, I decided to walk back to the point of a previous stop on my bus tour. It took me by some pretty awe-inspiring ruins, and I crossed back and forth across the road several times just to see them all. I got back to the previous stop fairly easily, but I had just missed the bus. So, I had to wait for about half an hour. In that time, some French students on a tour got back on their tour bus, a man broke a bottle of beer at the nearby refreshment stand, and the man who worked there cleaned it up.
When the bus arrived, I hopped on, and stayed on the bus for about another hour so that I could return to the bus station that was near my hotel. I hopped off the bus, and boy what a surprise I had in store for me…
“Bellisima! You are beautiful!” Which warranted a smile and a thank you, but I thought that would be the end of our exchange. Nope, it just provoked it, causing him to stop and talk with me further. I have a feeling he was around twice my age, but he was wearing a business suit and seemed very formal and graceful. “I am called Alexandro,” he said to me. Knowing that this was not the way he was going to pick me up, I offered a false name. He then inquired as to where I was going, to which I stupidly replied that I was just walking around (which was true, but I probably should have had a definite place in mind where I was going to meet imaginary friends). He explained to me how he just happened to turn while he was walking by me, and was taken by surprise when he saw how beautiful I was and it just slipped out and he wanted to talk to me. He also asked if I had a boyfriend, and where I was from. I made up the boyfriend, and since he didn’t ask my country of origin, just where I was from, I told him France. Luckily he didn’t speak French, so my (white) lie wasn’t completely blown out of the water. He told me that he was just getting off work, and he lived nearby. I said that’s nice, but I really needed to continue on. Sort of flustered, he asked if I would meet with him later that evening. Remembering my made-up boyfriend, I insisted that I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt our relationship. And I doubt I will ever forget what his response to this was – “But you are in Rome! You need to experience Rome before you leave!” (Oh, and you’ll have to imagine the hand gestures here!) I again said no, that I would be back in France soon, and while Rome may be great, France was where I would be returning. Realizing I would not give in, Alexandro gave up on trying to ask me out for that evening. We did what is called ‘les bises’ in French, just touching cheeks and air kissing, but he actually kissed my cheeks and lingered on the second kiss, and then we parted ways. He turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, and I realized he had either followed me for a bit before speaking to me or he kept walking while we were talking taking himself further from his destination (which was only a block). In either case, thank you for the self-esteem boost, Alexandro, and good luck with the next young tourist.
I decided to go back to my hotel since I wasn’t very far from it, and regathered myself while I called my mother. She told me some bad news, which seems to actually be better by now, but it still put me off for a while. After speaking with her, I went in search of another restaurant for the evening. I found a rather nice looking place, where I ordered the cannelloni, tiramisu, and cappuccino. Once I had finished the meal, I retired to my room for a bit of reading before sleep.
The next morning I took it easy, taking my time getting ready for the day. After I left the hotel, I got back on my bus. My plan for the day was to go to Vatican City. Once the bus arrived there, though, it was obvious that something was going on. There were police barriers blocking the streets, and a huge crowd in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Did I just miss the pope?! Apparently I did. As I was walking closer, a couple asked me if I could take a photo for them, which I did, and I asked about the pope and they said he was still there, but he had finished his speech. So I proceeded to the crowded area with the intention of staying until I saw him. I think I was only there for half an hour to forty-five minutes, but I was able to see the pope leaving in his ‘pope-mobile,’ a name that sounded very stupid on the lips of the American women standing behind me, but which I have heard many a time before. That made me wonder whether it is also called the same thing in the UK or Australia…
I wandered out of the area with other people in the crowd, all the while noting all of the religious costumes that so many people were wearing, along with a few brides and grooms. I am also curious whether people get married in the morning, and then go to see the pope to bless the marriage, or if they show up in the attire with the hopes that the pope will marry them. I’m not sure, but I also saw a few women alone wearing wedding gowns and I wondered if they were hoping to get a proposal from the pope… ah, well, it’s fun to ponder!
I found a nice small café for lunch, and luckily there was a gelateria right next door. I tried out my first gelato, and I have to tell you, it was good! I tried out the café mocha, and enjoyed it very much. It was also, sadly, the only gelato I was able to buy while I was in Rome. After lunch, I returned to St. Peter’s Basilica, and got in the line to enter. Inside the building, it was extraordinary. There were statues of popes past, as well as one that was encased in glass.
After my time there, I started to try to find the Sistine Chapel. I knew that it was often listed as one and the same with the Museo Vaticani, the Vatican Museum, but I didn’t know you had to go inside the museum to go into the chapel. The museum was fairly cool; I especially enjoyed the Egyptian section. There were also tapestries and maps, but all I really wanted to do was get to the chapel.
It is truly a maze in the Musei Vaticani, but at least it is well laid out. I felt like I was walking down corridor after corridor and I would never get to the chapel. Finally, I arrived. And I couldn’t remember what was so fascinating about it. So I left. Then, I immediately saw the poster of the Creation of Manking… Michaelangelo! Right… How could I forget that? So, since the museum was sort of one-way only, I had to walk all the way back around to get back into the Sistine Chapel. This time I appreciated more what I was seeing, and really saw the brilliance of it. But I still can’t help feeling stupid for not immediately (or even in my search for it) remembering why it was famous. I just felt compelled to go there, like I couldn’t leave Rome without seeing it. But what can I say? I guess I’m just not a great art lover.
I left the chapel for the second time and left the museum for good. I returned to St. Peter’s Basilica, and hopped back on my bus (after stopping off at a couple of tourist shops and buying myself a deck of cards). I still had a few hours of sunlight, but I had finished everything I had planned to do for the day. Originally I planned to go to see the Spanish steps just before leaving the next day, but I realized I had time to do it then. So that’s what I did, I got off the bus at the stop for the Spanish steps and continued from there. My path took me to the top of the steps. There were people all around trying to sell roses to tourists, and I saw one woman become rather furious when they wouldn’t stop insisting with her. Maybe I just have that ‘no’ look down – maybe say no aloud, try to avoid much eye contact, shake your head, and continue walking. It doesn’t seem to stop them from asking, but it gets them to give up fairly quickly. There was also a group of what were probably Spanish students sitting on the steps holding a Spanish flag. Perhaps they were trying to reclaim the space, but it made it a picturesque visit. I walked down the steps, and then walked back up. I had not realized that visiting them would be so quick. So I walked back towards the bus stop and stopped at a pasta store on the way. I was planning on buying my roommate, Anna, a bag of gnocchi, especially since I had forgotten all of my travel documents at the apartment and she had told me everything I needed to know over the phone. The pasta store I went in only had dried pastas, so I would just have to wait to buy gnocchi (it probably would have been a bad thing to buy it that early anyway since it may have gone bad if I had). I then went back around the corner again and grabbed an early dinner at a restaurant. My meal was pretty much a repeat of the previous evening, only with spinach cannelloni this time. I finished around 6:30, and went back out to catch my bus.
As I got on the bus, the guide told me that the bus was only going another two stops, to St. Peter’s Basilica. That’s all right, I thought, I can just grab another bus from there. It took more than half an hour to get back to the Basilica due to traffic, and I got off the bus. I looked around and saw that the place was absolutely empty. No tourists anywhere, and no other tourist busses like mine. Oh no. Not a big oh no, but oh no. And I had used all but 5 of my euros, and you know how when you are looking for something you never see it? Well, I had been looking for an atm all day without seeing one, and I didn’t know whether taxis in Rome accepted credit cards. So, I walked down to the Basilica, tried to take a couple of night shots, and then started walking back in the general direction of my hotel.
Along the way I quickly found an atm, which felt like a miracle. I got out what I thought would be enough for a taxi, but I was just enjoying walking and decided to walk until I got tired, then I would hail a taxi. I planned out my route back, and started my journey. I never really felt like I was going through a bad part of town; there were always people bustling past and going this way and that way. I walked past a few of the places that I had seen on my bus tour, but since the bus goes in such a funny way across the city I never really noticed how it all connected. Before I knew it, I was back at my hotel. I had walked from one side of my map to the other, without getting lost (well, maybe once, but I just turned down the wrong road, and figured it how to correct my path quickly), and it had at most taken an hour and a half. How's that for saving money?
The next morning, since my plans for seeing the Spanish Steps were blown, I decided to try to find La Bocca della Verita (The Mouth of Truth) that was seen in 'A Roman Holiday.' Since my two-day pass was still good until 11:30 am, I hopped on the bus again, rode around for one last time, and hopped off at the appropriate stop. I walked down a hill, and there it was. The mouth is actually right outside of a church, and you have to pay 50 cents for one photo, and there is only one photo allowed at a time. I asked the people standing behind me in line to take the picture, which they agreed to do. The story of the mouth, loosely told by me, goes that if you stick your hand in the mouth, it will bite down if you are not a truthful person. My hand came out intact, so you can make of that what you will! I then walked around the church and the gift shop, but walked away with nothing.
I decided to take a route that took me past the opposite side of the same ruins I had walked by after visiting the Colosseum. I again got caught in a crowd of touring French students, but emerged unharmed :-). My path was loosely in the direction of the train station, where I wanted to end up eventually, and it took me by way of the Colosseum again. I walked around to the side of it that I had not seen the day before and took a few pictures.
Walking down a side street, I stopped off at a restaurant for lunch. It was much more expensive than any I had gone to before, and since the portions at the other restaurants had been more than enough I decided to only order some ravioli and a glass of wine. I guess I was in the tourist trap area. Despite the price of the ravioli and the elegance of the restaurant, the ravioli was only okay, and it was not very filling. I considered ordering something else, but realized that would probably double my tab for the meal and I did not want to spend anymore money on lunch. So I left, thinking that if I saw a gelateria on my way I might stop, but I never came across one.
Once I was about halfway back to the train station, I came across a metro station. I wanted to see what the metros in Rome were like, and it turns out that it was really nice. I bought my ticket, and continued on the train the rest of the way back to the train station. Since the only grocery store I had noticed was by the station, I stopped in there and bought the fresh gnocchi for Anna, then went back and bought my ticket back out to the airport. Inside the train station it was sort of like a mall with boutiques and stores everywhere. I wandered a bit, then got my train. My flight was inconsequential other than the languages that the flight attendants spoke on take off and landing. It was a Spanish airline, so all of the announcements were in Spanish and English. Only once, upon arrival at the airport, did the announcement come through in French, and then I realized why they didn't attempt the other languages. Since the majority of passengers were French, they were all laughing by the time the flight attendant had finished his welcoming speech to Paris... his accent was that bad. The one phrase that made me giggle was when he said, "A bientôt," he pronounced it "A bien toute."
My flight arrived around 8:30. I got back to campus around 10:30. There was a Latin Carnival Night going on in the MBA building that I went to with the other girls here, and it sounded like the events during the week would have been fun if I'd been on campus. Once we got to the fiesta, we started out by playing fooseball for a while, a game which I had not played in forever. My dad always wanted a fooseball table, and every time I see one I'm reminded of him.
Two weeks ago was India Week in the MBA, and a few of us also went to some of those events. The stuff on Thursday night included choreographed dances and live music. I enjoyed watching it all, and at one point I got pulled into the dancing. Then Friday night they hosted a (not nearly as long as a real) traditional Indian wedding. I again got pulled into the dancing, but it was still fun. My friend Mandira was supposed to be going out of town that evening, but she was having a good time so she missed her train, slightly on purpose. Towards the end of the evening, I was helping her find her coat, and we even went up to her office to look for it. It turned out to be in the main area of the building, and it's a good thing that she eventually found it. As we were walking back to our building, there was a pizza delivery guy that asked us where a building was, and I pointed him in the wrong direction two times...I just didn't know where it was in all honesty, and I told him that they were just guesses. The third time he stopped, Mandira invited him to the party in the piano bar, and he eventually showed up there with a friend. I realized later that it was possible that the friend was meant for me since I had been walking with Mandira at the time, but I never spoke to either of them.
The time changed here last weekend for daylight savings. The sun isn't rising as early in the morning, but it is staying brighter later into the evening. I've been trying to spend time outside, reading mostly. In fact, I wrote the majority of this entry while sitting on a bench on campus. The sun is starting to shine more often. The clouds were too depressing here. That is one thing I really loved about Rome: the sky was a brilliant blue the entire time I was there. I think that aspect is starting to come to Paris and Jouy. And it's a beautiful time to have it, too. The flowers are blooming, the birds are whistling, and the students here are campaigning for who will be the student government next year. Part of that campaign includes inflatable fun and games on campus.
My mom is coming next week and then we'll be traveling around a bit (10 days) in the south of France. So, I should be updating again after she's gone, and then she'll get to read all about herself :-).
A plus!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Does that kilt come in blue?
Scotland. It's been a three weeks since I've been there, and I have also been to Rome since then, but this update will solely be about my trip to the highlands. This is where I went over the 'vacance scolaire' of HEC. My true motive was to go see a Snow Patrol concert, which you might think is crazy, but that was reason enough to go for me. And since that was only one night, and I had a whole week in Scotland, I had the opportunity to see some of the countryside. So, let me tell about my adventures...
The first day was all about traveling. In order: Walk, train, bus, plane, taxi, train, walk (very little), and collapse in hotel. I flew into the Glasgow Prestwick airport, which is actually quite a distance from Glasgow itself. I had a bit of time in Glasgow before my train to Inverness, so I walked around the area near the train station for a bit. There was a huge square directly outside of the train station, and it was beautiful. I really enjoyed the architecture in Glasgow as well. There were lots of red bricks, and it just looked rather classical. I then took the train to Inverness, and found my hotel which turned out to be right beside the train station. I've become rather good at booking those kinds of hotels, and that means they're not difficult to find and they are near public transport :-).
My plan for my first full day in Inverness was to go to Loch Ness and see Nessie. The evening before, I had inquired about tours, and decided to take the one offered by Jacobite. The tour included a cruise on Loch Ness, and bus trips around the area. I found the bus station (just a couple of blocks from my hotel) and asked to book the tour. To my dismay, the tour was not operating for various reasons, and would not be on again until Wednesday, at which time I would be gone. However, the lady helping me was very nice, and suggested I take the public bus to Urquhart Castle (which the Jacobite tour visits), and then I could visit the castle and if I had the time, also walk to the village. I took her up on the offer (and booked a return ticket) and literally had to run out in order to catch my bus.
The bus trip was beautiful and full of different sights of the lake and the hills, with mountains in the background. We arrived at the castle, and I loved it immediately. It was built right on the lake, and it was in ruins. I think I actually prefer ruins to a fully constructed castle for some reason; maybe it indicates that the castle has a more interesting history. I bought my entrance to the castle and proceeded to watch the information video about the castle. Then it was time to walk down to the ruins. I climbed up and down and all around. It's hard to imagine just how long those stones have been there, and all of the things that have happened at the location. It was a good time of year to go since there weren't many people there. I could just take in the sights as long as I wanted without having to worry about someone else wanting to see the view from where I was. When I finished the castle, I followed a path that led down to the lake. I doubt people were meant to walk down that way, but there were no signs saying not to, so I went. I stood at the edge of the lake and watched out for Nessie (not really, but I did listen to the water hitting the shore and watch the gentle waves across the grand expanse).
Once I had explored as much as I could, I decided to continue on down to the village the ticket agent had mentioned to me. I got directions from the lady in the gift shop, and started on my way. It was a path that ran between the main road and farms. Once, all the sheep in a field turned to me and started "baa-ing."
I finally made it to the village after about 20-30 minutes, and decided I might grab lunch. Since my bus back was not for another hour and a half, and I would have to take the time to walk back as well, I stopped in at the visitor center (which also sold bus tickets) and asked if I could grab the bus from the village since it went through there. Since it wasn't tourist season the lady said I should be fine, and pointed out the bus stop to me. I walked over to the bus stop and saw that the bus would be coming 5 minutes after the original departure time from the castle. With all of that settled, I walked into a cozy diner and ordered a pizza. Around the diner there were maps of countries around the world, with different kinds of currency taped to their respective countries.
When I finished lunch, I decided to go look at some of the Nessie gift shops around. I found my mandatory deck of cards (my souvenir from most places, I might use them for something creative someday?) and I finished my search for Nessie. Not only was it a success, but I found 2 of her! Outside of one of the gift shops she had been petrified to stone and was lurking menacingly above my head. The other Nessie was being held captive in a pond, and I just happened to walk past because I saw other people walking around the area. If I had not found the second Nessie, I would have missed out a bit, but I also would have made the bus. When I was finished with this Nessie 2, I noticed it was just before 50 past the hour, the time the bus would be leaving the castle. So I started walking the not-too-far distance back to the bus stop. When I was still about 30 feet away from the bus stop, a bus comes barreling around a corner and doesn't even stop. I notice as it whizzes by (probably at the breakneck speed of 20 miles per hour) that it is my bus. But this can't be, my bus should just then be leaving the castle, not already be in the village! I recheck my watch, and it says it's 52 past the hour, then I remember: this watch is a little bit slow. I realized I had missed my bus, but just in case it wasn't my bus, I decided to wait at the bus stop anyway. And wait. And wait. At 5 past the hour, I check the bus timetables. The same version of the bus I missed wouldn't be coming for another 2 hours, and there is another bus that will probably take longer in just an hour.
As I was contemplating what to do, I walked into the post office/general supply store to browse around and buy a pen (of course, I forgot my pen in my back pack and had not transferred it to my purse yet). As I left the store, I bumped into a woman that looked awfully familiar, which was strange because I didn't know anyone in the country. I let out a startled "hello," and she looked at me rather oddly and then said hello back with a little sign of recognition. I walked over to a picnic table, still thinking about this exchange, and then realized that the woman looked an awful lot like the receptionist at my hotel. What a coincidence! Of course, I still wasn't sure it was her, and didn't have it confirmed until I got to the hotel later that day and she looked at me and said "Did I bump into you in Drumnadrochit?" I just affirmed it and walked up to my room.
But back to my extra two hours in the town. I decided to wait for the bus that would be in an hour. With my time, I wrote out a few postcards and sent them, and listened to some music. I didn't think I would have enough time to go through one of the exhibition centers, so I just waited. An hour came and went with no sign of a bus. When it was about 45 minutes until the next bus (the one that was on the same route as my original) would come, I decided to walk back to the castle just to be safe. I knew for sure it would be leaving from there, and I didn't want to chance it. I was also praying that it would be there, because I didn't know how I'd get back if it weren't. And it was still early enough to go into the castle and ask for them to call me a taxi (or let me see a phone book) if it didn't come. I was also cursing myself for not buying the opened ended ticket, because I would have to buy another ticket. The walk back was just as beautiful, and it turned out my fears were unfounded. The bus arrived, I explained about missing the earlier bus, and he still let me use my ticket, so I didn't have to buy a new one. He "Tsked" me teasingly, but it all turned out right in the end.
I just had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and luxuriated in having a bathtub that evening. The next morning I walked around Inverness. It wasn't very far to the waterfront, and I noticed a castle up on the top of a hill. I decided I would go visit it because it looked so nice, and walked up the hill. As I got closer, I realized that it was a castle, but it was still in use. The courthouse was being run out of the castle, and I didn't really feel like going inside in case it's only purpose was as a courthouse. I walked around and admired the view down to the river, and then walked around a tad bit more. I stopped off for breakfast, and then decided to check out some of the tourist shops on the other side of the river. I had to bite my tongue as I was greeted by a kilt-wearing employee in the first shop. Partly due to the fact that my friends had been making jokes before I left, and partly because I knew he was only wearing the kilt as part of his work uniform. I crossed back over the river on a pedestrian only bridge, and stopped at the center to check out the view. One of the passersby saw me and jokingly said to me, "Don't jump!" After walking around a bit, and through a church yard, I walked down the pedestrian shopping street and through a mall, with no real success of finding anything, not that I had anything to look for. I ended up in Marks and Spencer (a real UK staple from the sounds of it) and bought a sandwich and drink to have as lunch on my train ride back down to Glasgow.
I enjoyed my time in Inverness, but it was at an end. I walked back to my hotel, picked up my bag, and went to catch the train at the train station (which you'll remember was right beside the hotel). The train I took to Inverness had been at night and I had not been able to see the view as the train traveled the country. This time, I was traveling in the middle of a beautiful day, and I stared out the window for the majority of the trip. Watching the hills go by was enjoyable, and for a while the tracks stayed right by a river.
Back in Glasgow, I realized I couldn't find where I was on my map. I didn't see any tourist office in the train station, so I walked out to the square I had previously seen. Across the way, I noticed the word 'Tourist' on a building that was under construction, and as I got closer I saw that it was just what I was looking for. I walked in, and got the much needed directions to my hotel. Half an hour later I was in my next hotel room, and I waited around there until Anna showed up. We decided to go out for dinner, and walked around for quite a while. We ended up at a pub where she got her fish and chips and I snacked on appetizers. We also discovered Magner's Cider, which I've decided I like.
Emilie joined us at the hotel around midnight, and then the next day we were all ready to do a bit of sightseeing. The hotel again had a full scottish breakfast available for us (which included toast, fried egg, a potatoe patty, tomato, and bacon, along with cold items like yogurt or cereal). As we left the hotel, we asked the receptionist where we should go, and he seeemed to be an expert on these things. We packed up, and headed for the bus stop to take us to go see the cathedral. Unfortunately for us, we started to walk to get off the bus at the appropriate stop, but we were a bit slow and the bus driver shut the door and started going again before we got off. So, we had to take a bit of a detour and ended up a 10-minute walk away from the cathedral. As we were walking, we came across this massive building that looked older, but well constructed. As we were trying to walk through the grounds surrounding it, we saw a sign pointing to a morgue and realized that it was a hospital. It must be one of the most beautiful hospitals I've ever seen, at least from the outside. The red brickwork and the bevelled out windows were picturesque. As we were deciding which way to go when we came to a dead end, a woman asked us if we were looking for the front entrance of the hospital. After explaining our destination, she pointed us in the right direction to get outside of the fenced-in area of the hospital and around to the cathedral. While definitely not the largest or most impressive cathedral I've ever been to, this one was still worth the visit. Though I think I might say that because of the cemetery surrounding it, to be honest. The cemetery expanded up on to the top of a hill, and I wish I would have had time to walk there because I bet the view was astounding.
After the cathedral, we started walking back to the city center. We made our way to the main pedestrian shopping street, and we stopped to get the mandatory starbucks drink. Even though it was cold outside, I still got a frappucino. Once we were a bit warmer, we made our way to the next suggested sight, The Lighthouse. While I foolishly thought this was a real lighthouse, it was actually a fairly modern building. As you went up each level (on an escalator), there were different art exhibitions on each floor. One floor was a competition to create a useful product (book, clothes, farm equipment). There were also a couple of floors under construction, and another floor had stuffed animals and other things made out of socks, and they were arranged in such a way as to make the room feel alive. They were hanging from the ceiling, interacting with eachother, etc. Then, we finally made it to the floor that would allow us to go up the lighthouse. We walked up stairs for a few more stories, and got a spectacular view of the city. From up there, you could tell that Glasgow is an industrial city. While seeing the skyline was impressive, you could also tell that there wasn't much there that wasn't business related. We walked back down the stairs, and then took an elevator back up to the 'viewing platform' which was separate from lighthouse. The viewing platform felt like it was just a glass box suspended above the building, but that's probably just because there were windows on every side of it and the only way to get there was by elevator. There was also a maintenance door that opened out onto nothing, which freaked me out a little bit, but I'm sure whenever people use it they know what they're doing.
We then stopped off for lunch and avoided a bit of a downpour. Since we were close to the hotel, we went back to drop off our stuff and immediately head out again. Well, things did not go according to plan. We ended up reading and/or napping the rest of the afternoon. Since it was raining off and on the entire time we were there, I didn't feel bad about not going out and doing more. Finally, we got ourselves into gear and decided to leave. We ended up at a Borders book store, ordered coffee, and read and talked for about an hour. Then we headed to my destination: Snow Patrol!
We arrived at the concert hall (or so I thought), and as I looked around, I noticed that the crowd seemed way too young. And wearing too many cheerleading costumes. To me, it looked very "High School Musical," and our confused expressions attracted one of the information workers in the lobby. In fact, we were at the place for "High School Musical Live!" and we needed to go to another building to get to the concert. In the next building, I stopped at the souvenir booth and bought a coffee mug and some Snow Patrol pins for my friends that couldn't come, and then we proceeded into the concert hall. It's a good thing we got there when we did (which was still very early, in these terms), because we were in the front 1/3 of the area and in front of the center of the stage. By the time the opening acts began, the whole massive room was full. The opening acts included The Hazy Janes and Fanfarlo. They were both decent, but when you want to see a specific band nothing else will fill that gap. In a single word, the actual concert was awesome. They know how to put on a good show, and from the time I saw them in Kansas City I already knew that they knew how to do good special effects with lights. But since this was a much larger venue, they also had huge screens on both side of the stage, and thin screens behind them on stage. It was amazing. And even though there were so many people there, the audience was well behaved; no one really pushed or shoved, and it just seemed like everyone was just enjoying the music. At one point, the lead singer somehow made it to the middle of the crowd and played his guitar and sang 'Run' from there. I'm not sure how he did it without everyone screaming, but he managed. Here's a video the person standing next to him made: click me. The band did their 16-minute opus, The Lightning Strike, as the encore, and for that entire song they had a video playing that played on their new album's theme of origami suns, starting out with the big bang and the creation of the universe, to the evolution of the planet, all leading up to ending up at the concert, all in computer generated origami. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Which I might, because they have now announced a tour date for Paris in June.
We made our way back to the hotel, by way of a supermarket to grab snacks for a late dinner, and crashed. Emilie escaped early in the morning to head off to London, and after Anna and I got up and ready in the morning we made our way to the bus station to go to Edinburgh. Again, I enjoyed watching the countryside roll by while we traveled, and in about an hour we were in Edinburgh. We walked around a bit to find our hostel, and dropped off our stuff. Since it was lunchtime, we left the hostel (which was very colorful, bright orange) and tried to find something to eat. We didn't have to go far as we ended up at a little cafe right across the street from the hostel that emphasized their smoothies and healthy food. It was just what we needed, not too heavy, but still yummy.
Our hostel, and the cafe we ate at for that matter, were at the bottom of a hill in Edinburgh, but it was parallel to the popular road in Edinburgh, the Royal Mile. We found some stairs up to this other road, and came out right beside a cathedral. Since it was massive, Anna and I decided to go into it to see what it was like. I was shocked as we walked through the doors: the entire place had been refurbished, and it had been converted to a coffee shop. I had heard about churches being converted like this, but had never seen it myself. In fact, the longer we were in Edinburgh, the more old buildings I saw that were being gutted, leaving the older facade, but the insides were being pulled out and being made new.
After the shock of that cathedral, we walked on up to the castle, which our friend Sarah, among others, had told us was the one 'must do' item in Edinburgh. The ancient castle was quite amazing. The castle was built into the top of a mountain, and there were huge rocks everywhere, jutting up out of the ground. There was also a spectacular view of the city from the height of the castle, including other hills outside of the city. Shortly after entering the grounds of the castle, we found a guided tour that was just beginning. It was interesting being taken around and told about the sections of the castle. It has a very long history, and it was worth the visit.
We finished up there and continued on down the Royal Mile in search of another recommendation from Sarah, Chocolate Soup. I asked for directions before we left, and it was pretty simple, walk down the Royal Mile and it would be on the left. When it felt like we had walked too far, I stopped off at a gift shop and asked if we were close to it, and it turns out that we had passed it. And, it wasn't on the left side of the road, it was on the right, and actually a little bit inset from the road on the other side of a Starbucks. The chocolate soup was very chocolate-y, and the ambiance in the establishment was very college-student oriented. It actually reminded me of the local coffee shops at home, the Mudhouse or even Potter's House. After this, we walked around into some of the local malls and also stopped by the tourist information center so that we could get information about going to the waterfront for the next morning, before leaving. Finally, we just went around to all of the little tourist shops, and they all turned into a blur since they had the same things, but unfortunately I didn't see any more employees in kilt uniforms. Anna and I rounded out the evening by grabbing dinner at a pub nearby. We were both craving chili, so that's what we both ordered. About 5 minutes after ordering, we were told that there was only enough chili for one order, so I ordered a chicken caesar salad instead, and we split the meals, which felt like a very interesting combination.
The next morning we packed up and started out for the waterfront. We had been given a bus schedule and I thought that the bus stop we were waiting at would be the right one to take us to the beach.... I was wrong. Due to time restrictions, I suggested we just hop on the 'Ocean Terminal' bus so that we could at least see the water. The ocean terminal was just that, an ocean terminal. Not much to see, but at least we saw the ocean. And, the main building also doubled as a mall, so we were both able to grab a cup of coffee. The downside to that story is that when we tried to get on our bus, the driver told us that no hot beverages were allowed on board. I asked how long it would be until the bus left, and he told me a few minutes. Anna tried to see if it would be all right if she put her drink into a bottle with a screw on lid, but he refused. We proceeded to drink our hot beverages as quickly as possible, and I even burned the roof of my mouth. There was not a trash can nearby, so I walked down to the tail end of the bus, poured out the rest of my coffee, and threw my cup away while Anna did the same. As soon as we turned to walk back to the bus, the driver pulled away. We tried to signal for him to stop, but he ignored us, and when he had to drive back past us (as he had to do a u-turn), he didn't look at us once. Very rude, but I guess that's life. Anyway, we ended up on a bus that was supposedly faster.
And that was the end of my journey. Anna and I took a bus back to Glasgow, and then I immediately took a bus back to the airport.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed my time in Scotland. While it was still chilly outside, I was fine most of the time, and I got to see Loch Ness, Snow Patrol, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh... and the list could go on. Of course you can't know a country by spending so few days there, but I definitely felt comfortable and would go back in a heartbeat.
The first day was all about traveling. In order: Walk, train, bus, plane, taxi, train, walk (very little), and collapse in hotel. I flew into the Glasgow Prestwick airport, which is actually quite a distance from Glasgow itself. I had a bit of time in Glasgow before my train to Inverness, so I walked around the area near the train station for a bit. There was a huge square directly outside of the train station, and it was beautiful. I really enjoyed the architecture in Glasgow as well. There were lots of red bricks, and it just looked rather classical. I then took the train to Inverness, and found my hotel which turned out to be right beside the train station. I've become rather good at booking those kinds of hotels, and that means they're not difficult to find and they are near public transport :-).
My plan for my first full day in Inverness was to go to Loch Ness and see Nessie. The evening before, I had inquired about tours, and decided to take the one offered by Jacobite. The tour included a cruise on Loch Ness, and bus trips around the area. I found the bus station (just a couple of blocks from my hotel) and asked to book the tour. To my dismay, the tour was not operating for various reasons, and would not be on again until Wednesday, at which time I would be gone. However, the lady helping me was very nice, and suggested I take the public bus to Urquhart Castle (which the Jacobite tour visits), and then I could visit the castle and if I had the time, also walk to the village. I took her up on the offer (and booked a return ticket) and literally had to run out in order to catch my bus.
The bus trip was beautiful and full of different sights of the lake and the hills, with mountains in the background. We arrived at the castle, and I loved it immediately. It was built right on the lake, and it was in ruins. I think I actually prefer ruins to a fully constructed castle for some reason; maybe it indicates that the castle has a more interesting history. I bought my entrance to the castle and proceeded to watch the information video about the castle. Then it was time to walk down to the ruins. I climbed up and down and all around. It's hard to imagine just how long those stones have been there, and all of the things that have happened at the location. It was a good time of year to go since there weren't many people there. I could just take in the sights as long as I wanted without having to worry about someone else wanting to see the view from where I was. When I finished the castle, I followed a path that led down to the lake. I doubt people were meant to walk down that way, but there were no signs saying not to, so I went. I stood at the edge of the lake and watched out for Nessie (not really, but I did listen to the water hitting the shore and watch the gentle waves across the grand expanse).
Once I had explored as much as I could, I decided to continue on down to the village the ticket agent had mentioned to me. I got directions from the lady in the gift shop, and started on my way. It was a path that ran between the main road and farms. Once, all the sheep in a field turned to me and started "baa-ing."
I finally made it to the village after about 20-30 minutes, and decided I might grab lunch. Since my bus back was not for another hour and a half, and I would have to take the time to walk back as well, I stopped in at the visitor center (which also sold bus tickets) and asked if I could grab the bus from the village since it went through there. Since it wasn't tourist season the lady said I should be fine, and pointed out the bus stop to me. I walked over to the bus stop and saw that the bus would be coming 5 minutes after the original departure time from the castle. With all of that settled, I walked into a cozy diner and ordered a pizza. Around the diner there were maps of countries around the world, with different kinds of currency taped to their respective countries.
When I finished lunch, I decided to go look at some of the Nessie gift shops around. I found my mandatory deck of cards (my souvenir from most places, I might use them for something creative someday?) and I finished my search for Nessie. Not only was it a success, but I found 2 of her! Outside of one of the gift shops she had been petrified to stone and was lurking menacingly above my head. The other Nessie was being held captive in a pond, and I just happened to walk past because I saw other people walking around the area. If I had not found the second Nessie, I would have missed out a bit, but I also would have made the bus. When I was finished with this Nessie 2, I noticed it was just before 50 past the hour, the time the bus would be leaving the castle. So I started walking the not-too-far distance back to the bus stop. When I was still about 30 feet away from the bus stop, a bus comes barreling around a corner and doesn't even stop. I notice as it whizzes by (probably at the breakneck speed of 20 miles per hour) that it is my bus. But this can't be, my bus should just then be leaving the castle, not already be in the village! I recheck my watch, and it says it's 52 past the hour, then I remember: this watch is a little bit slow. I realized I had missed my bus, but just in case it wasn't my bus, I decided to wait at the bus stop anyway. And wait. And wait. At 5 past the hour, I check the bus timetables. The same version of the bus I missed wouldn't be coming for another 2 hours, and there is another bus that will probably take longer in just an hour.
As I was contemplating what to do, I walked into the post office/general supply store to browse around and buy a pen (of course, I forgot my pen in my back pack and had not transferred it to my purse yet). As I left the store, I bumped into a woman that looked awfully familiar, which was strange because I didn't know anyone in the country. I let out a startled "hello," and she looked at me rather oddly and then said hello back with a little sign of recognition. I walked over to a picnic table, still thinking about this exchange, and then realized that the woman looked an awful lot like the receptionist at my hotel. What a coincidence! Of course, I still wasn't sure it was her, and didn't have it confirmed until I got to the hotel later that day and she looked at me and said "Did I bump into you in Drumnadrochit?" I just affirmed it and walked up to my room.
But back to my extra two hours in the town. I decided to wait for the bus that would be in an hour. With my time, I wrote out a few postcards and sent them, and listened to some music. I didn't think I would have enough time to go through one of the exhibition centers, so I just waited. An hour came and went with no sign of a bus. When it was about 45 minutes until the next bus (the one that was on the same route as my original) would come, I decided to walk back to the castle just to be safe. I knew for sure it would be leaving from there, and I didn't want to chance it. I was also praying that it would be there, because I didn't know how I'd get back if it weren't. And it was still early enough to go into the castle and ask for them to call me a taxi (or let me see a phone book) if it didn't come. I was also cursing myself for not buying the opened ended ticket, because I would have to buy another ticket. The walk back was just as beautiful, and it turned out my fears were unfounded. The bus arrived, I explained about missing the earlier bus, and he still let me use my ticket, so I didn't have to buy a new one. He "Tsked" me teasingly, but it all turned out right in the end.
I just had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and luxuriated in having a bathtub that evening. The next morning I walked around Inverness. It wasn't very far to the waterfront, and I noticed a castle up on the top of a hill. I decided I would go visit it because it looked so nice, and walked up the hill. As I got closer, I realized that it was a castle, but it was still in use. The courthouse was being run out of the castle, and I didn't really feel like going inside in case it's only purpose was as a courthouse. I walked around and admired the view down to the river, and then walked around a tad bit more. I stopped off for breakfast, and then decided to check out some of the tourist shops on the other side of the river. I had to bite my tongue as I was greeted by a kilt-wearing employee in the first shop. Partly due to the fact that my friends had been making jokes before I left, and partly because I knew he was only wearing the kilt as part of his work uniform. I crossed back over the river on a pedestrian only bridge, and stopped at the center to check out the view. One of the passersby saw me and jokingly said to me, "Don't jump!" After walking around a bit, and through a church yard, I walked down the pedestrian shopping street and through a mall, with no real success of finding anything, not that I had anything to look for. I ended up in Marks and Spencer (a real UK staple from the sounds of it) and bought a sandwich and drink to have as lunch on my train ride back down to Glasgow.
I enjoyed my time in Inverness, but it was at an end. I walked back to my hotel, picked up my bag, and went to catch the train at the train station (which you'll remember was right beside the hotel). The train I took to Inverness had been at night and I had not been able to see the view as the train traveled the country. This time, I was traveling in the middle of a beautiful day, and I stared out the window for the majority of the trip. Watching the hills go by was enjoyable, and for a while the tracks stayed right by a river.
Back in Glasgow, I realized I couldn't find where I was on my map. I didn't see any tourist office in the train station, so I walked out to the square I had previously seen. Across the way, I noticed the word 'Tourist' on a building that was under construction, and as I got closer I saw that it was just what I was looking for. I walked in, and got the much needed directions to my hotel. Half an hour later I was in my next hotel room, and I waited around there until Anna showed up. We decided to go out for dinner, and walked around for quite a while. We ended up at a pub where she got her fish and chips and I snacked on appetizers. We also discovered Magner's Cider, which I've decided I like.
Emilie joined us at the hotel around midnight, and then the next day we were all ready to do a bit of sightseeing. The hotel again had a full scottish breakfast available for us (which included toast, fried egg, a potatoe patty, tomato, and bacon, along with cold items like yogurt or cereal). As we left the hotel, we asked the receptionist where we should go, and he seeemed to be an expert on these things. We packed up, and headed for the bus stop to take us to go see the cathedral. Unfortunately for us, we started to walk to get off the bus at the appropriate stop, but we were a bit slow and the bus driver shut the door and started going again before we got off. So, we had to take a bit of a detour and ended up a 10-minute walk away from the cathedral. As we were walking, we came across this massive building that looked older, but well constructed. As we were trying to walk through the grounds surrounding it, we saw a sign pointing to a morgue and realized that it was a hospital. It must be one of the most beautiful hospitals I've ever seen, at least from the outside. The red brickwork and the bevelled out windows were picturesque. As we were deciding which way to go when we came to a dead end, a woman asked us if we were looking for the front entrance of the hospital. After explaining our destination, she pointed us in the right direction to get outside of the fenced-in area of the hospital and around to the cathedral. While definitely not the largest or most impressive cathedral I've ever been to, this one was still worth the visit. Though I think I might say that because of the cemetery surrounding it, to be honest. The cemetery expanded up on to the top of a hill, and I wish I would have had time to walk there because I bet the view was astounding.
After the cathedral, we started walking back to the city center. We made our way to the main pedestrian shopping street, and we stopped to get the mandatory starbucks drink. Even though it was cold outside, I still got a frappucino. Once we were a bit warmer, we made our way to the next suggested sight, The Lighthouse. While I foolishly thought this was a real lighthouse, it was actually a fairly modern building. As you went up each level (on an escalator), there were different art exhibitions on each floor. One floor was a competition to create a useful product (book, clothes, farm equipment). There were also a couple of floors under construction, and another floor had stuffed animals and other things made out of socks, and they were arranged in such a way as to make the room feel alive. They were hanging from the ceiling, interacting with eachother, etc. Then, we finally made it to the floor that would allow us to go up the lighthouse. We walked up stairs for a few more stories, and got a spectacular view of the city. From up there, you could tell that Glasgow is an industrial city. While seeing the skyline was impressive, you could also tell that there wasn't much there that wasn't business related. We walked back down the stairs, and then took an elevator back up to the 'viewing platform' which was separate from lighthouse. The viewing platform felt like it was just a glass box suspended above the building, but that's probably just because there were windows on every side of it and the only way to get there was by elevator. There was also a maintenance door that opened out onto nothing, which freaked me out a little bit, but I'm sure whenever people use it they know what they're doing.
We then stopped off for lunch and avoided a bit of a downpour. Since we were close to the hotel, we went back to drop off our stuff and immediately head out again. Well, things did not go according to plan. We ended up reading and/or napping the rest of the afternoon. Since it was raining off and on the entire time we were there, I didn't feel bad about not going out and doing more. Finally, we got ourselves into gear and decided to leave. We ended up at a Borders book store, ordered coffee, and read and talked for about an hour. Then we headed to my destination: Snow Patrol!
We arrived at the concert hall (or so I thought), and as I looked around, I noticed that the crowd seemed way too young. And wearing too many cheerleading costumes. To me, it looked very "High School Musical," and our confused expressions attracted one of the information workers in the lobby. In fact, we were at the place for "High School Musical Live!" and we needed to go to another building to get to the concert. In the next building, I stopped at the souvenir booth and bought a coffee mug and some Snow Patrol pins for my friends that couldn't come, and then we proceeded into the concert hall. It's a good thing we got there when we did (which was still very early, in these terms), because we were in the front 1/3 of the area and in front of the center of the stage. By the time the opening acts began, the whole massive room was full. The opening acts included The Hazy Janes and Fanfarlo. They were both decent, but when you want to see a specific band nothing else will fill that gap. In a single word, the actual concert was awesome. They know how to put on a good show, and from the time I saw them in Kansas City I already knew that they knew how to do good special effects with lights. But since this was a much larger venue, they also had huge screens on both side of the stage, and thin screens behind them on stage. It was amazing. And even though there were so many people there, the audience was well behaved; no one really pushed or shoved, and it just seemed like everyone was just enjoying the music. At one point, the lead singer somehow made it to the middle of the crowd and played his guitar and sang 'Run' from there. I'm not sure how he did it without everyone screaming, but he managed. Here's a video the person standing next to him made: click me. The band did their 16-minute opus, The Lightning Strike, as the encore, and for that entire song they had a video playing that played on their new album's theme of origami suns, starting out with the big bang and the creation of the universe, to the evolution of the planet, all leading up to ending up at the concert, all in computer generated origami. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Which I might, because they have now announced a tour date for Paris in June.
We made our way back to the hotel, by way of a supermarket to grab snacks for a late dinner, and crashed. Emilie escaped early in the morning to head off to London, and after Anna and I got up and ready in the morning we made our way to the bus station to go to Edinburgh. Again, I enjoyed watching the countryside roll by while we traveled, and in about an hour we were in Edinburgh. We walked around a bit to find our hostel, and dropped off our stuff. Since it was lunchtime, we left the hostel (which was very colorful, bright orange) and tried to find something to eat. We didn't have to go far as we ended up at a little cafe right across the street from the hostel that emphasized their smoothies and healthy food. It was just what we needed, not too heavy, but still yummy.
Our hostel, and the cafe we ate at for that matter, were at the bottom of a hill in Edinburgh, but it was parallel to the popular road in Edinburgh, the Royal Mile. We found some stairs up to this other road, and came out right beside a cathedral. Since it was massive, Anna and I decided to go into it to see what it was like. I was shocked as we walked through the doors: the entire place had been refurbished, and it had been converted to a coffee shop. I had heard about churches being converted like this, but had never seen it myself. In fact, the longer we were in Edinburgh, the more old buildings I saw that were being gutted, leaving the older facade, but the insides were being pulled out and being made new.
After the shock of that cathedral, we walked on up to the castle, which our friend Sarah, among others, had told us was the one 'must do' item in Edinburgh. The ancient castle was quite amazing. The castle was built into the top of a mountain, and there were huge rocks everywhere, jutting up out of the ground. There was also a spectacular view of the city from the height of the castle, including other hills outside of the city. Shortly after entering the grounds of the castle, we found a guided tour that was just beginning. It was interesting being taken around and told about the sections of the castle. It has a very long history, and it was worth the visit.
We finished up there and continued on down the Royal Mile in search of another recommendation from Sarah, Chocolate Soup. I asked for directions before we left, and it was pretty simple, walk down the Royal Mile and it would be on the left. When it felt like we had walked too far, I stopped off at a gift shop and asked if we were close to it, and it turns out that we had passed it. And, it wasn't on the left side of the road, it was on the right, and actually a little bit inset from the road on the other side of a Starbucks. The chocolate soup was very chocolate-y, and the ambiance in the establishment was very college-student oriented. It actually reminded me of the local coffee shops at home, the Mudhouse or even Potter's House. After this, we walked around into some of the local malls and also stopped by the tourist information center so that we could get information about going to the waterfront for the next morning, before leaving. Finally, we just went around to all of the little tourist shops, and they all turned into a blur since they had the same things, but unfortunately I didn't see any more employees in kilt uniforms. Anna and I rounded out the evening by grabbing dinner at a pub nearby. We were both craving chili, so that's what we both ordered. About 5 minutes after ordering, we were told that there was only enough chili for one order, so I ordered a chicken caesar salad instead, and we split the meals, which felt like a very interesting combination.
The next morning we packed up and started out for the waterfront. We had been given a bus schedule and I thought that the bus stop we were waiting at would be the right one to take us to the beach.... I was wrong. Due to time restrictions, I suggested we just hop on the 'Ocean Terminal' bus so that we could at least see the water. The ocean terminal was just that, an ocean terminal. Not much to see, but at least we saw the ocean. And, the main building also doubled as a mall, so we were both able to grab a cup of coffee. The downside to that story is that when we tried to get on our bus, the driver told us that no hot beverages were allowed on board. I asked how long it would be until the bus left, and he told me a few minutes. Anna tried to see if it would be all right if she put her drink into a bottle with a screw on lid, but he refused. We proceeded to drink our hot beverages as quickly as possible, and I even burned the roof of my mouth. There was not a trash can nearby, so I walked down to the tail end of the bus, poured out the rest of my coffee, and threw my cup away while Anna did the same. As soon as we turned to walk back to the bus, the driver pulled away. We tried to signal for him to stop, but he ignored us, and when he had to drive back past us (as he had to do a u-turn), he didn't look at us once. Very rude, but I guess that's life. Anyway, we ended up on a bus that was supposedly faster.
And that was the end of my journey. Anna and I took a bus back to Glasgow, and then I immediately took a bus back to the airport.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed my time in Scotland. While it was still chilly outside, I was fine most of the time, and I got to see Loch Ness, Snow Patrol, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh... and the list could go on. Of course you can't know a country by spending so few days there, but I definitely felt comfortable and would go back in a heartbeat.
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