After just over three weeks in London I jumped on a bus up to Edinburgh. A couple of weeks before hand I came across really cheap bus tickets (about 14 pounds each way- almost the same price to catch the tube to the airport!) with Megabus. I wasn’t aware at the time that it was to be a nine hour bus ride, ah well, it was rather pleasant just sitting there, watching the English countryside rush by. We stopped roughly every two hours for a wee break (in both senses of the word). It was interesting as at each stop on our way north the accents got thicker and thicker!
the streets of Edinburgh, with a big boarding school to the write (the inspiration for Hogwarts I’m told)
I arrived in Edinburgh very late that afternoon and contemplated taking a taxi to my hostel but after failing to hail one down I walked for 45 minutes with my enormous suitcase trying to locate the street it was on. Admittedly it was an absolutely stunning walk, Edinburgh is situated on a hill overlooking a large loch in the distance. The enormous, majestic castle in situated upon large, sweeping cliffs overlooking gorgeous stone townhouses. It is one of the beautiful places I have even laid my eyes upon, so green, dark and eerie.
The hostel, as it turned out, was merely a town house, a very large one though and with FOUR FLIGHTS of skinny staircases. I could have died on the spot, backpacker friendly but not suitcase pulling tourists. As soon as I made it all the way the mammoth stairs and dumped my gear I headed out into the now misty, drizzly streets of Edinburgh. As it was now early evening I grabbed a bit to eat then found myself on a ghost tour, run by the same company as all the other European city tours I’ve been on. Unfortunately I had little space on my memory card, as well as a camera that doesn’t cope very well with night time shots so my photos of the tour are not incredible.
(borrowed this photo from google)
The tour took as through many a cemetery and told stories about witch burnings, spirits and evil Scottish fairies, Burke and Hare- infamous bodysnatchers, passed an unfinished, oddly placed Pantheon, down incredibly steep stairs, Jacob’s Ladder, all in absolute darkness. There were pagan obelisks scattered everywhere in the cemeteries so that no matter where the person died they can still find their way back home to Scotland and down into the earth through the tall pointed sculpture. Interstingly, cemetery are the second most popular place for outside sex in Scotland, the tour guide said that he has, unfortunately, had many an awkward experience during his tours.
During the daytime though, cemeteries are a great place to hang out as they are green, grassy and beautiful, oddly, a perfect place for picnic or a play with your canine friend, both of with I saw occurring during my strolls.
North Bridge, the ‘suicide bridge’ so then they decided to install nets to catch people but this turned into a huge drunk sport as the bridge links two big drinking districts and the fire department spent more money on fishing the intoxicated out.
The next morning, armed with a heafty magazine outlining every act participating in the festival I sat down and highlighted, circled and underlined possibilities. You name a comedian, play, opera and it was showing, plus things you’d never, ever think of, the quality was often questionable.
The main hang-out was the Royal Mile where the whole road was closed off for street performers, buskers and performers giving you a sneak peak of their shows or handing out flyers. There was lots of free shows you can catch, like one amateur comedy show I attended in the tiny attic of a pub. The main shows were held in about 4 big hotspots were large marquees were set up, flyers graffitted every wall and people stood in clumps arguing about what to see. Most tickets ranged from about £5 to £20 pounds at the max.
You can even see a show in an upside down purple cow at the Udderbelly.
I saw about 6 plays in the space of a day and a half, the incredible Reverie, a student production of Equus, the downright silly Shaggers and a brilliant solo show..I’ve forgotten some, and also got invited to Aussie comedian Sam Simmons show by a Perth boy in my room at the hostel. Wasn’t a huge fan of the comedian but the rest were amazing! Even just wandering around Edinburgh was amazing, the atmosphere was incredible with music always floating down the street, jugglers’ balls flying everywhere, crowds applauding, accordians playing down little closes to shelter from the frequent drizzles.
I took the frequent tour during the first morning, ironically led by an Aussie guy! He led us to the cathedral, explained interesting statues in the city, told hilarious stories about the never ending rivalry between England and Scotland and even lead us to a place to buy Iron Bru (like Scottish fanta that is the country’s favourite hangover cure) and the (in)famous deep fried Mars Bar.
It tastes as good as it looks…terrible
Victoria st
the King’s out of proportion body on what looks like a shrunken horse, quite funny in reality
this may look like it has romantic connatations but in fact this is where locals spit in if they have something to complain about
where J.K Rowling wrote the early Harry Potter books, I stumbled across it trying to find internet which this café, as it turns out, has computers you can jump on.
Kilts galore. Much to my great delight many a Scottish man still wear a kilt down the street
After about 48 hours in Edinburgh I was back on the overnight bus back down to London, where I was to stay for a couple of days before heading to the Middle East to visit Aunty Neen.
The bus was chockers, luckily I was sitting next to a very charismatic and hilarious English/Scottish guy whom I chatted with for most of the trip as it was much to uncomfortable to try to even consider some forty winks. We arrived in London at about 7am, absolutely exhausted. I headed to my new hostel, in the lovely Northern suburbs of London- Belsize Park. I was hoping I could drop off my suitcase as check in wasn’t until 2 then go find a park to crash in until the afternoon. The Brazilian guy at reception though saw how absolutely wrecked I was so decided he would try and find me a bed so I could check in straight away, and even let me have a free breakfast as I wasn’t really paying for today. Turns out this hostel,not only costing a mere 15 pounds a night, offered free breakfast and DINNER, whoo great picking me!
On my last day before heading to Jordan I was able to catch up for a quick brunch with family friends, Charles and Marilyn, who were over from Melbourne visiting their new grandchild. It was so unbelievably great to see people from home and have a good filling meal, something I had been missing with all this travelling recently!
Next stop, the Middle East!
