4/12/09
2000 (local time)
The travel to Edinburgh went successful... finally!
I arrived into the freezing cold Edinburgh by 3pm and I've realised that in the U.K the sun goes down at around 4.30pm so it was already get dark and of course cold! Awesome!
Isabelle picked my up and took me back to her place. She is my Edinburgh couch surfing host. She lives with 4 or 5 other people who are... different, to say the least.
Most of the people she lives with are, I’m not going to say hippies, but lets say, ‘they care about the environment and world politics more than the average person’ Meaning, they don't put the heater on because it creates Co2 gasses that are ruining our environment, most of the housemates (apart from Isabelle) are Vegan. Meaning, not only do they not eat meat, but they also don't eat eggs, drink milk, eat cheese, basically they don't eat any product that comes from an animal.
No matter who you are, thats an amazing feat! Imagine travelling and being not able to eat any type of meat product! Truly an effort!
So, after Isabelle cooked up a meat free curry which I quickly devoured she dragged me into the freezing town of Edinburgh so she could show me around. It just so happened, that on the day I arrived it was St. Andrew’s day who is the patron saint of Scotland. So there were huge celebrations going on in town and also an epic firework show that was starting at 7pm!
So we wandered around town and found the best view point for the celebrations, and watched the fireworks! They were quite pretty actually! Got some good photos!
After this, Isabelle dragged me to the German celebrations that were also going on in town and inspired me to try some ‘mulled wine’. In my travels I have made sure I tried most foods and drinks that were offered to me, and this is no exception.
So I ordered my mulled wine, and took my first sip! Not Good! All of a sudden memories started flooding back from when I was younger and had my first proper alcoholic experience on red wine from a goon bag!
After 5-10 minutes of un-enjoyment I finally polished off the wine using the technique of not even letting it hit my tongue, straight to the back of the throat for that liquid!
Eventually I started to freeze so we headed back home, where after a few hours of chat with her housemates we all retired back to our rooms, where I got in my sleeping bag and tried falling asleep!
On my not-so-trusty alarm clock it tells me the temperature and too be honest I have never seen it go below 12degrees, even when I was freezing in Gallipoli, anyway the read out on the alarm clock said it was 12degrees in Isabelle’s room which I believe it was AT LEAST -12! SO COLD!
I was freezing in my sleeping bag, I think I would have needed a -10 to keep warm!
It took me ages to wake, but when I did I had a warmish shower and had some brekkie! And contemplated my move about what I was going to do today.
At the bus station I had picked up some pamphlets about a free tour that goes on, on the hours between 11 and 1! So I had obviously missed the 11 o clock one! So I packed some lunch and made my way to the meeting point for the 1 o clock tour.
On arrival the tour already had 6 people and I made it 7, but the free tour guides said ‘unless the tour has 8 people, it wasn’t cost effective for them to run it’. So, what this means is, if there wasn’t 8 people the free tour wasn’t cost effective to run!
The obvious answer for me was ‘well mate we will just throw an extra pound in to keep you happy’ I didn’t say that, but instead I walked off and did my own walking tour.
I walked up to the castle, I then walked past the school where J.K Rowling got her idea for Hogwarts and then I went to a museum and walked home again. All in all, I was away for about 6 hours until my I-Pod packed it in and decided to turn off because it was out of battery! My I-Pod doesn’t last long in the cold!
When I got home, no one was there so I did a bit of an internet session until people got home!
I had decided that I couldn’t hack the cold any more and bought a bus ticket from Edinburgh back to London for 14 pound ($30 AUD) unfortunately it was a killer 10hour journey but we shall see how I go!
That was my Edinburgh experience... COLD!
Some of the fireworks for St. Andrews Day!
Beautiful Buildings In Edinburgh!
The Edinburgh Castle!
The Edinburgh Castle... Again!
The building in the background is the School where J.K Rowling got her idea for Hogwarts in Harry Potter!
END!
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