07/13: Edinburgh

We headed out to Edinburgh in the morning, catching a slightly later than planned train out. The trip was very enjoyable as Tom, Court and I sat with this chatty Scottish girl who was very entertaining. We eventually arrived in Edinburgh, all excited to get started. Unfortunately, Derek, who was coming up from his dad's house in Kelso (note: not Kelso, WA) was held up and was going to arrive late.

Ahh, no worries. This will give us plenty of time to get to our hotel, drop off our luggage, maybe see a sight or two and then meet up with Derek. Right? Well, not so fast. We decided to take our bags from the train station, to our hostel. They didn't have a place to check the bags in. They offered us a place on the floor amongst a pile of other bags, but with our ipods and our blings and our gold bouillon, we decided to go back to the train station and leave it in a locker. When we got to the train station, they had a place where you had to pay something like 7 pounds per item! Pshhh, fuck that noise! So we went to the bus station, where the machines barely worked and ate a 1 pound coin before we finally succesfully left our stuff there. By the time we were finished we had just enough time to go to the train station, eat a sandwich, and then meet up with Derek.

From there we walked with the plan to head to Edinburgh Castle. Instead, we were caught in the rain and we elected to sneak into a pub for a pint. We found a super touristy, over priced pub that wouldn't allow us to drink from our own water bottles. As you can see, Derek gives it a thumbs up!
We were informed by Derek, that the castle was first settled by Jesus, possible 200 years before his birth. He had hand picked the site as the perfect spot to throw "his sexy parties". The story was punctuated by thunder claps from an angry and unamused God. This should have given us motivation to put the blasphemy to rest ... but meh. Continue we did.
The four of us. Ginger's unite!
We checked out the price of admission and found it to be a ridiculous 13 pounds. This was asking a bit much for our knowledgable guides, so we elected to settle for a photo with a dragon instead! Rrrroowwwrrrr!!!
We then from there took a stroll on what is known as "The Royal Mile". Which passes through a long stretch of beautiful and historic buildings. Alas, we were too caught up in either discussing what other buildings Jesus had a part in or avoiding the rain, to snap very many purty pitchers. The Royal Mile then ended at the old palace of Holyrood. Again, we were too cheap to go and see it, so we settled for a photo.
Afterward we had successfully navigated the Royal Mile, we were a bit at a loss of things to do. We were far too cheap to hit the other tourist sites, so instead we elected to take a walk up to Arthurs Seat, a 280 meter tall hill right next to town. Great idea right?

Here we are beginning our ascent:
Derek and Courtney climbing the at times steep slope.
Looking back towards Edinburgh from a halfway point.

At about the halfway point, God found it to be suitable timing to let us have it. The clouds opened up and dumped on us.
As you can see, we were soaked, but fortunately the weather improved and we were able to snap a few photos of us being jackasses on the top.
Our band photo.
Suggested name: Tom and the Ginger Kids
I HAVE THE POWER!
We had thought the worst was over ... we were wrong. Very very wrong. We started our hike down, taking a path of least resistance. Unfortunately, it dropped us off on the wrong side of the hill and we had to take a long and exposed walk back towards town. The sky then dumped on us. Derek and Courtney attempted to share a small umbrella, my hoodie was soaked through, and Tom used my rain coat the best he could to keep dry. In the end it was a lost cause, and when we finally found a little pub to escape into we were soaking wet.

For those keeping track at home, here's our "Countries we were rained on in during our 2 week vacation" checklist after our first stop:
1. Scotland
2. Norway
3. Ireland
4. England

We waited out the rain and tried to warm up. We ended the evening with some delicious Indian food, and then Derek and Tom headed back from whence they came.

Ultimately, Edinburgh is a beautiful city, and I think when I come back to Scotland I'll have to devote more time to the town before exploring the highlands.

The next morning we woke up disgustingly early to catch our flight to Norway.


Next Post: Hiking in Norway: Preikestolen