"Edinburgh, It's Morningside for Muffins"

Edinburgh (Ed-in-burr-uh) is an old city in Scotland (also the capital) which is built on lots of hills and valleys. This makes pictures of different areas really easy to get, as well as great views from some of the  higher areas. The frequent changes in elevation also give the area a unique shape and interesting parks and buildings to compensate.

The buildings are mostly made of dark bricks and have almost a fairytale quality, besides for all the shops. On top of a hill near by is the Edinburgh Castle, which from a distance looks both forboding and impenetrable.

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Going into Edinburgh, we took the train, which was quite a long ride, especially for our first train ride around England. However, it was a lovely trip. This comes from many reasons that I have come up with. 1. You don't have to drive, so you do not need to pay attention or really concentrate on anything. 2. The drivers are professionals and not your insane uncle. So you can relax some. 3. There is copious amounts of leg room, compared to a plane and most cars. I am almost six feet tall, so leg room is important and being able to stretch out my legs is the difference between being relaxed and being trapped in a box. 4. They have tables that you can work at. Best. Idea. Ever.

The only issue on the ride, because there just has to be one, was a small cohort of eight year old girls and grandmothers who were riding in our car at the beginning of the trip. They had a boom box that they were blasting provocative pop music from while the eight year olds danced about on the chairs and walkways near them. It was really strange to see and worse to hear as the music was not even good quality. Many people left our car to find peace somewhere else, but we just tried to ignore them. (At one point I considered opening one of the train doors while it was moving, just to throw their boom box out, but lucky for everyone they got off at the next stop.)

Once in Edinburgh, we checked our 'things to do' list and decided to go to the Botanical Gardens. As you may have realized by now, we hate spending money. So we looked up the directions on Libby's phone and headed off in the hopefully correct direction. The only issue was that her phone was calculating how we should get there via driving, not walking, so it sent us around in a crazy fashion up and down hills and streets. After climbing up one particular hill that seemed to continue on into the clouds, we made it to the garden. The sky was clear and crisp and the aroma of flowers and damp grass wafted through the air. (It had rained recently.)

There were lots of cute gardens, green houses, hedge walls/tunnels, and flowers to walk around in there forever. There was even a section with some bamboo, a pagoda, and plants native to East Asia. Another section was called the 'Fairy Woods' and had lots of tall trees, grass, ferns, and plants you would usually find in a forest. It was very serene, even though no fairies made an appearance. Paths crissed and crossed around the huge garden taking one from an area with giant leafed plants to the Queen Mother Garden (in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's mother, Elizabeth). We rested for a bit near the Fairy Woods on a simple bench and watched some pigeons approach us skeptically.  It was funny because Amy really dislikes pigeons and did not want them anywhere near her, (and also because we were talking about dressing them up in a monocle and vest) but the tides turned when a squirrel run up near us. (My mom always told me that squirrels that approach people have rabies, so I was sure this one did too.) Long story short, I started having a bit of a freak out and everyone laughed at me. I can see the humor in it, looking back now though, although it was not funny then.

We then walked back to our hostel, which was much more downhill than our journey to the gardens. We also stopped by a park and ate at a tasty American food place, which served REAL lemonade (not Sprite/lemon-lime soda). They also had pancakes, REAL pancakes! In the UK what they call pancakes is really a thick crepe, which is sad, because pancakes are just about the most delicious thing ever.

The next morning we went to St. John's church, which was close to our hostel, which was nice since it had changed from beautiful and sunny to torrential down-pour over night.  My umbrella blew inside-out several times in the short walk over. It was really lovely inside, as I think all churches in the UK are required to be. It had funny little paper fish and dolphins hanging from the ceiling with bible quotes and fun saying that children at the church had decorated. However, after the service, a man who worked there kept trying to get me and my compadres to agree to come back later for another service. We explained we were just visiting, but he would not be deterred  Eventually we mumbled out something so he would allow us to leave.

Next on the itinerary was the 'Elephant House'. It's a small coffee shop in downtown where JK Rowling is said to have come up with the idea for the Harry Potter series. Because of this it is a huge tourist attraction and was crammed to the brim the entire time we were there. Luckily, however, we did get a small table in the back where we enjoyed a nice lunch and tea break. I, of course, got a brie and cranberry sandwich which was delicious. Overall, it was a cute place with lots of elephant memorabilia  but it was so crammed and over populated that it was a bit of a let down. Although, I think most places like that are. You go into the shops, expecting it to be the same atmosphere where said author or movie director or artist dreamed up their masterpiece, but it never really is, because everyone else wants that same experience. The bathroom walls were completely covered in Harry Potter love though.

Afterwards, we went on the 'Scotch Whiskey Experience', which is like a teeny-weeny scotch history lesson meshed with a theme park. You ride in this whiskey barrel around learning how whiskey is made and the different types that different regions make. There is also a small black cat in ever scene to look for so, of course, that's what I was doing most of the time. After riding around, you get to pick one of the four scotch types (one from each of the four regions in Scotland where it is made) to try. In a word, I would describe whiskey as Third-Degree-Burn-Revolting, although I am not entirely sure that I was not drinking acid. It was definitely not my cup of tea, and having to down the entire small glass before being able to drink water, was really not any better. The trip overall was very fun though!

Next, we travelled a few buildings over to the Camera Obscura with Libby's friend Cat. It was full of optical illusions and mind-bending tricks. There was one room where it looked like one person was a midget and the other was a giant, and a table where you could pretend to be the main course for dinner. For dinner we went to the 'Amber Rose' a nearby pub, which was very delicious.

Overall, Scotland was beautiful, even if it was super hilly and rainy some of the time. It was a terrific visit, and I wish we could have spent more time adventuring around. (Although not in the winter, because it gets really, really cold there.)

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is from the song 'Edinburgh' by Jim Horne.

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." -Virginia Woolf