Edinburgh - Everything Else

Edinburgh – Everything Else

I spent three nights in Edinburgh, meaning that I did do much more than just climb Arthur’s Seat, even though that was the personal highlight for me.

On arrival, I bought a crepe, toured James Craig Mall, and found where Kaitlyn lives.  I settled in, and didn’t do much else aside from that.  It was very nice to see Kaitlyn again, and relieving to discover that I’m not the only one feeling immensely homesick and somewhat unhappy about spending a semester abroad. 

Textiles at work!

The next day I decided to go find the castle, which really I came across mostly by accident anyway.  Before entering the castle, however, I decided to check out the tartan shop nearby.  I was very impressed by this place, and I highly recommend visiting it.  Instead of just being a store, they are also a textile factory where they produce their own wool and cashmere fabrics.  They truly make everything themselves, here, using automatic looms I assume have been used since the industrial revolution.  Being able to witness this process was quite a fantastic experience.  I was disappointed to find that there was no Harrington tartan, but this feeling was relieved when I remembered that my family is Irish, not Scottish.  Nevertheless, I kept catching myself looking for my name between, “Hamilton,” and, “Hays,”.  

 

 The Edinburgh Castle is a very impressive feature positioned up the hill of an extinct volcano.  I do not regret spending half of my food money on the admission fee.  I learned a fair bit of Scottish history, particularly concerning the origin of the castle itself, how it was captured by the English, reclaimed by the Scottish (from infiltration with only 30 men!) and then destroyed by the Scottish so that it may never captured by the English again.  I also learned the story about Mary, Queen of Scots, and I saw the tiny room where King James VI and I was born.  In the dungeons (used prior as storage, then during the civil war became storage for American navy men), I caught a glimpse of what the life of a prisoner of war would be, and became suddenly fond of my room in Bodington Hall, and my freedom to eat a diversity of food should I so choose.

Vegetarian haggis, with neeps, tatties and gravy!

 

After exploring some more, I discovered some places that serve vegetarian haggis!  This is composed of the oats and spices that would make up a regular haggis, plus some vegetable proteins that the chefs decide to incorporate.  Served with neeps and tatties, of course!  Mr. MacTaggart would be proud (maybe).

On the day after I climbed Arthur’s seat, I went for breakfast at a vegetarian café.  I was surprised to see it was only a deli/café when I thought it was a restaurant, but I ordered a walnut scone (delicious!) and some nut ball thing (alright).  Upon leaving, I promptly noticed that the restaurant was below the café in the same building.  Darn.  I then wandered to go explore Queen’s Park before catching my train.  I was disappointed to see that the entire park was fenced off, with locked gates.  On my way back, I stumbled upon Bibi’s cupcake place, completely by accident.  I popped in just to see what all the fuss was about, and the aroma caught me there.  After much contemplation, I bought myself a chocolate orange cupcake.  I think what sold me in this decision over the others was the terry’s chocolate orange piece that crowned the cupcake.

I made my way back to where the train station is, and was pleased to see I had an hour of time remaining.  I found myself a sunny park bench, and enjoyed my cupcake and a book.  This is happiness.  

 

Good bye, Edinburgh!  It was on to Glasgow to meet up with my dad and uncle here.

I finish typing this post just before the train rolls into Leeds (from Glasgow).  Today is my first day of classes!

You know you're in Scotland, when: