I had a 6:30am train out of Chester to Edinburgh, and Jack was kind enough to drive me, trance-like, to the station. I had just enough time to grab breakfast and a drink before the train rolled up. I was sitting in first class—hubba hubba—because for some reason it was cheaper than economy when I bought it. I discovered, to my disdain, that breakfast/juice/coffee were all complimentary in first class! I had just choked down some crappy eggy sandwich when I could have been luxuriating in FREE FOOD. Wah.
As soon as I walked off the train in Edinburgh I knew I was going to love it. Everything about it is beautiful. Even the ugly bits are beautiful.
The Royal Mile
My hostel (St. Christopher’s) was only a 5 minute walk from the bus station (convenient!) and perfectly placed between “Old Town” and “New Town”. I dropped of my luggage, walked back to the station and caught the Edinburgh Bus Tour of “Old Town”. When the bus finally wound its way up the hill in the center of town, I jumped out to visit Edinburgh Castle. The weather was sunny and gorgeous and I figured I better see as much as I can (as Scottish weather is notoriously finicky).
Edinburgh Castle
View of the city from the castle
The first thing I did at the castle was lose my digital camera. That’s not true—the FIRST thing I did was eat an ice cream, THEN I lost my camera. I was sitting on a bench, listening to my boring audio guide when the free tour I was waiting for started up behind me. I jumped up, eager to get a good spot in the throng. It took about 20 minutes of the tour before I wanted to take a picture of something…and that’s when I realized I had left my camera on the bench. Eep!
I ran back to where I was sitting but there was no camera. Nearby was the audio guide rental booth and I slunk up to them with my hands clasped in prayer under my chin and my frown in a perfect upside-down “U”. Before I could say anything the woman behind the counter said, “Could you describe your lost camera?” while the guy behind her chided, “Aw, just give it to her…” Apparently they had looked through my photos and recognized me as the poor shlub. Le sigh.
The rest of my time at the castle was uneventful. They have a few small museums scattered throughout it, but truth be told I got just as much enjoyment looking at it from the outside as I did from the inside. And the tickets weren’t cheap! Next trip to Edinburgh—the castle’s a pass.
View of the city from the castle
It was time to check into my hostel and as soon as I saw my bed I knew it was naptime. When I woke up I decided to treat myself to a little retail therapy—the night before I had realized during a phone call that I really was newly single and I felt sniffly all day. So I bought a new outfit at H&M—something I’d feel confident in when going out to pubs by myself in this new city. I had just read an article where a woman’s grandmother said, “Men are attracted to bright colors”, so I bought a bright yellow ruffled tank top, a lilac cardigan, and a matching lilac pin-on flower. Color me desperate!
I wandered the city a bit more until the tummy rumblings started. I headed to the Grassmarket—a lively area full of restaurants and pubs where, in the olden days, they used to sell livestock…oh, and it was also the sight of public hangings. I had dinner at “The Last Drop”, named for the location where the doomed would have one last drink before being hung.
Edinburgh at night
When I got back to my room it was LIGHTS OUT for me. I was exhausted, and tomorrow am taking a tour of the Scottish Highlands, and I have to be up at 7am.
