On Friday, Liz and I walked the Royal Mile, a popular stretch of road (especially for tourists) since it leads to the famous Edinburgh Castle. While it was apparent that Edinburgh was a beautiful old city from the moment we arrived, the more we walked through it, the more I appreciated it. We enjoyed a particularly spectacular view of the city, however, when we temporarily left it behind to climb Arthur's Seat. This short hike brought us to the top of a hill situated in the middle of Edinburgh, giving us a 360 degree of the city below. After lounging in the grass, enjoying uncharacteristically sunny weather, we went to Princes Street, a main shopping hub. Liz and I allowed ourselves to shop for one specific item (mittens) and that was all. We succeeded.
Friday night, Christy and I went to another part of the city to meet up with some fellow couchsurfers. It was quite interesting, going to the pub and hanging out Francis from Germany, Ludo from France, Chris from Costa Rica, and others from Poland, England, and Scotland. What a motley crew. And good thing I perfected my Boston accent while at school, it's become somewhat of a party trick here. People here describe Bostonian tongue as "the most ridiculous English" they've ever heard, really "fucked up." Haha.
Saturday was museum day for Liz and I. We started at the National Museum of Scotland, getting our fill of Scottish history and taxidermy, the latter via the extensive animal exhibit. Next was the National Gallery, a museum dedicated to western, mostly classic works. Highlights: finding my first (and second) Joseph Mallord William Turner, a selfie by Rembrandt (even though he did more than anyone else, ever), and Poussin's second series of the Seven Sacraments. What alliteration! This doesn't seem like a lot to do in one day, but Liz and I tend to go pretty hard in museums.
Saturday night, we made fajitas and watched inappropriate American TV shows. These things are made in the US but are too vulgar to be shown there on public television. Go figure. Later Liz and I went went to a club called Cabaret Voltaire. It was all stone and fog machines and weird house techno. Edinburgh is known for being very posh, which may account for the subtle, individualistic style of dancing everyone was practicing. Who knows?
And Sunday, essentially our last day in lovely Scotland, was spent at the Stockbridge Market, sampling jams and cheese. I also spent some time talking to Nick, "the crazy fudge guy." He works, with one other person, for Happy Fudge Company, which makes a chai goat fudge that was DELICIOUS. After pulling myself away, we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens. On the walk home, we found deep fried Mars bars at long last, and I purchased some Haggis to complete the Scotland taste experience. Can't say I'm going to eat the leftover sheep parts that are now sitting in the fridge, but I tried.
In an astonishing display of stamina, the three of us just finished watching four movies in a row. (The Hours, Thirteen, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Butterfly Effect, in case you were wondering.) We couldn't resist Christy's movie collection.
Love,
A
No comments:
Post a Comment