![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildcard_47 Where to begin?
Well, for those of you who don’t know, I took my real first trip out of London this past weekend, to Edinburgh, Scotland. Like every other traveling adventure, it started from the magical Platform 9 and ¾! (Okay, actually, it just started from King’s Cross train station in London. But I tried my hardest to get onto the Hogwarts Express! I even got my hand through the magical barrier before they booted me out again! *pouts* I'll post pictures so you can see what I mean.)
Anyway, my friend Sara and I took the Underground to King’s Cross and boarded a 9:00 train to Edinburgh on Friday morning. All was going well until the conductor came by to punch our tickets. Turns out that our passes, as part of a travel deal, didn’t allow us to leave before 10 AM. (The person we’d asked about ticket restrictions had conveniently forgotten to mention that fact.) The conductor explained that our options were either to get off at the next station and wait for an hour to catch the following train, or to pay 60 more pounds to stay on the current train! Sara and I decided to get off at the next station and wait, since neither of us had sixty pounds to spare. However, after the conductor finished making his rounds, he came back; we assumed he was going to sign our tickets (which would allow us to get on the 10:00 train) and show us the door. But, in a wonderful gesture, he punched our tickets, told us to stay on the train, and said that next time we should be more aware of the restrictions. He was so nice, and Sara and I were really grateful to him for letting us stay.
Anyway, my friend Sara and I took the Underground to King’s Cross and boarded a 9:00 train to Edinburgh on Friday morning. All was going well until the conductor came by to punch our tickets. Turns out that our passes, as part of a travel deal, didn’t allow us to leave before 10 AM. (The person we’d asked about ticket restrictions had conveniently forgotten to mention that fact.) The conductor explained that our options were either to get off at the next station and wait for an hour to catch the following train, or to pay 60 more pounds to stay on the current train! Sara and I decided to get off at the next station and wait, since neither of us had sixty pounds to spare. However, after the conductor finished making his rounds, he came back; we assumed he was going to sign our tickets (which would allow us to get on the 10:00 train) and show us the door. But, in a wonderful gesture, he punched our tickets, told us to stay on the train, and said that next time we should be more aware of the restrictions. He was so nice, and Sara and I were really grateful to him for letting us stay.
Besides that small hitch, the train ride to Scotland was lovely, and I got to see lots of English and Scottish countryside as we whizzed by. We pulled into Waverley Station in Edinburgh around 2:00 in the afternoon, and headed up Princes Street to catch a shuttle to our hostel: the Globetrotter Inn at Edinburgh. By 3:30, we were checked in, unpacked, and ready to see the town. Once we got back into the city, we walked around the Royal Mile (the stretch of road between the Palace of the Holy Rood and Edinburgh Castle) and stopped into a few shops there. We also ate at this little café called The Elephant House; made famous due to the fact that J.K. Rowling wrote the first couple of Harry Potter books there. (I tried to absorb some of her writing genius while we were there, but I’m not sure that it worked very well.) After dinner, the two of us were too exhausted to do anything but head back to the hostel and call it a night. Our room was comfortable and clean, save for one little problem: the heat was not working! The temperature seemed to stay at a good 40 degrees indoors during that first night.
Saturday morning, we woke up fairly early to catch breakfast at the hostel and get the 9:30 shuttle into the city. Our day started with a three hour walking tour of Edinburgh, led by an Australian guy named Lindsay. We saw lots of what the city had to offer – historical places such as St. Giles’s Cathedral, the Castle itself, the spot where the city gallows used to hang -- it was really interesting. Sara and I were also able to stop by the small Writers Museum in one of the back causeways of the Royal Mile. It was very cool, most notably because we received a free book: a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! After the tour ended, our feet were tired, so Sara and I grabbed tea and a snack at a place called Salar Deli. We ended up making friends with the shopkeeper, Raj, who was extremely nice. If you ever find yourself in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh, stop by his deli! The food is both tasty and inexpensive! After tea, we went to dinner at a lovely little Italian restaurant, with a Scottish friend of Sara’s named Craig. Craig is apparently nothing short of a prodigy; he's 21 and about to finish his Masters degree in computer programming. Anyway, it all was a bit strange, but the food was good and we managed not to make interactions too awkward.
The next morning, Sunday, Sara and I woke up and discovered that someone else had checked into our room during the middle of the night! Our new roommate, Mohammed, was from Algeria; he thought he’d checked into an all-boys room, and it was all very awkward with regard to introductions and gathering up our stuff. Otherwise, he was chatty, but kind, and none of our valuables got stolen or anything. :) Sara and I spent the rest of our time in Edinburgh at the National Gallery of Scotland – they have artwork there which dates back to the 1400s! We had lunch at Salar Deli again, and caught a 1:30 train from Waverley Station back to King’s Cross. By 7:30 that night, we were home safe in London!
Other than the weekend trip, there hasn’t been too much adventure in my life. I’ve gotten to see a few plays so far (two were mandatory for my theatre class, and one of them – Spamalot – was purely for fun. Especially because Peter Davison (of Doctor Who fame, squee!) was playing King Arthur – it was definitely a highlight of my theatre experience! I also caught the bouquet thrown by the Lady of the Lake at the show's end.....yay for free souvenirs!
Meanwhile, between all of this, my flatmates and I have also been cooking, washing clothes, and riding the Tube like it’s a full-time job! The newest adventure: both Danielle and Iris have friends from back home who are coming to stay with us this week; I should be able to do a lot of touristy stuff while we’re showing them the city! It will be fantastic, but I'll probably lose feeling in my legs very soon because of all the walking! Wish me luck.
Meanwhile, between all of this, my flatmates and I have also been cooking, washing clothes, and riding the Tube like it’s a full-time job! The newest adventure: both Danielle and Iris have friends from back home who are coming to stay with us this week; I should be able to do a lot of touristy stuff while we’re showing them the city! It will be fantastic, but I'll probably lose feeling in my legs very soon because of all the walking! Wish me luck.
