PREVIOUSLY ON AMBER'S BLOG: Amber embarked on a week of exhaustive traveling with her sister and friend from home. She slept less than 28 hours in one week and, because she was way too optimistic about her traveling-stamina during the planning phase, has another two weeks straight coming up in a little more than 24 hours. Can she survive without sufficient sleep and/or possibly a dose of the nectar of the gods? Stay tuned and find out!
So, after I made it to campus, I unpacked her backpack, repacked my backpack with all my supplies and twice the amount of clothes somehow, Skyped my family, watched Tarzan, caught up on Arrow(I know this was mentioned before, but that was traumatic and I'm still not completely over it- the last three episodes-of-awesome did, however partly make up for it.), and had some much needed snoozing. And then? Train station time!
I met my lovely traveling companion Anique (who is Dutch, and taught me all sorts of fun facts about the Netherlands over these weeks- it's now on my list of places to travel) at the Uni train station to head to the airport to begin our week. Another international student, a Turkish girl named Merve, actually had the same flight as we did, so we buddied up and headed out. We left around 10 on Monday night, deciding to crash at the airport since our flight was relatively early the next morning. Belfast International, thankfully, has some really comfy seats that we used to do so. I situated myself and my things and passed out for, I think, about 4 hours of intermittent sleep. I was told later that during this time my companions got up and went strolling about the shops or whatnot while I was asleep, but I must admit I was completely unaware of their movements (Thanks guys. I feel so secure. ;p ). Anyway, we got up, checked in, waited for our flight to be called, and were on our way (for me, back) to Edinburgh.
Now, I know that I'd been there before. In fact, three days before. This trip actually covered two of the cities I'd already visited with Elisia and Sarah- London and Edinburgh, and actually a little snippet of Galway, though a different part, too. There are a couple of reasons for this, the first being that I was planning these two trips semi-simultaneously, so I'd be throwing ideas around with one group then talking to the other with it in mind, and since nothing was solid, suggest it in case group 1 decided not to do it. Turns out that all three of my companions had particular desires to go to London, Edinburgh, and Galway, places which I too wished to see. So I just ended up going twice. Another reason I agreed to it, outside of that I would have felt bad being like "oh no, I'm sorry, I'm going there with someone else so I can't go with you," I actually thought that more time in a city, especially capitals, might not be a bad thing. Turns out it was right- you really can't see more than just the bare highlights of a city in a day.
So, Edinburgh. I know I said this before, but it is just such a pretty city! I just... I want a flat there, and I want to go there whenever I feel all deep and writer-y, and I want to write darn it! Unfortunately for me, the amount of space I had available was not conducive to me bringing anything more than a small notebook with me to write. Boo. But that's okay, actually, because there was lots that I hadn't yet explored of Edinburgh, so I had things to fill my time.
First off, we wandered up to the Castle, since the girls hadn't seen it before and I wasn't gonna say no to those spectacular views. We wandered past the gate, actually, as far as we could go without having to buy a ticket. After that, we were mostly just walking around, seeing what the city would offer up for our pleasure. We found ourselves at the Gallery, and I headed straight for my beloved impressionists, before we went out into the gorgeous sunshine and sat barefoot in the grass with some energetic bagpipes as our background music. Edinburgh just has such an atmosphere and it was such a beautiful day.
We didn't sit for long, but rather went wandering again. We went into another graveyard when our pursuit of the Edinburgh Palace came up short, and actually discovered a statue of Abraham Lincoln; evidently some Scotsmen went across the water to help out (I'm assuming in the North, since... well).We then found ourselves at the top of another hill with a half-baked Greek-looking temple atop it alongside some old stone buildings. There was the most magnificent view of Arthur's Seat (which I vowed at that moment to climb the next day) and a gentleman who appeared to be showing the girl sitting across from him how to play the banjo; he was singing, too, and had a voice vaguely reminiscent of the guy who sings in the animated Hobbit movie. It was charming.
NEXT UP: AMBER'S ENGLAND ESCAPADES. COMING SOON TO YOUR COMPUTER
So, after I made it to campus, I unpacked her backpack, repacked my backpack with all my supplies and twice the amount of clothes somehow, Skyped my family, watched Tarzan, caught up on Arrow(I know this was mentioned before, but that was traumatic and I'm still not completely over it- the last three episodes-of-awesome did, however partly make up for it.), and had some much needed snoozing. And then? Train station time!
I met my lovely traveling companion Anique (who is Dutch, and taught me all sorts of fun facts about the Netherlands over these weeks- it's now on my list of places to travel) at the Uni train station to head to the airport to begin our week. Another international student, a Turkish girl named Merve, actually had the same flight as we did, so we buddied up and headed out. We left around 10 on Monday night, deciding to crash at the airport since our flight was relatively early the next morning. Belfast International, thankfully, has some really comfy seats that we used to do so. I situated myself and my things and passed out for, I think, about 4 hours of intermittent sleep. I was told later that during this time my companions got up and went strolling about the shops or whatnot while I was asleep, but I must admit I was completely unaware of their movements (Thanks guys. I feel so secure. ;p ). Anyway, we got up, checked in, waited for our flight to be called, and were on our way (for me, back) to Edinburgh.
Now, I know that I'd been there before. In fact, three days before. This trip actually covered two of the cities I'd already visited with Elisia and Sarah- London and Edinburgh, and actually a little snippet of Galway, though a different part, too. There are a couple of reasons for this, the first being that I was planning these two trips semi-simultaneously, so I'd be throwing ideas around with one group then talking to the other with it in mind, and since nothing was solid, suggest it in case group 1 decided not to do it. Turns out that all three of my companions had particular desires to go to London, Edinburgh, and Galway, places which I too wished to see. So I just ended up going twice. Another reason I agreed to it, outside of that I would have felt bad being like "oh no, I'm sorry, I'm going there with someone else so I can't go with you," I actually thought that more time in a city, especially capitals, might not be a bad thing. Turns out it was right- you really can't see more than just the bare highlights of a city in a day.
So, Edinburgh. I know I said this before, but it is just such a pretty city! I just... I want a flat there, and I want to go there whenever I feel all deep and writer-y, and I want to write darn it! Unfortunately for me, the amount of space I had available was not conducive to me bringing anything more than a small notebook with me to write. Boo. But that's okay, actually, because there was lots that I hadn't yet explored of Edinburgh, so I had things to fill my time.
First off, we wandered up to the Castle, since the girls hadn't seen it before and I wasn't gonna say no to those spectacular views. We wandered past the gate, actually, as far as we could go without having to buy a ticket. After that, we were mostly just walking around, seeing what the city would offer up for our pleasure. We found ourselves at the Gallery, and I headed straight for my beloved impressionists, before we went out into the gorgeous sunshine and sat barefoot in the grass with some energetic bagpipes as our background music. Edinburgh just has such an atmosphere and it was such a beautiful day.
We didn't sit for long, but rather went wandering again. We went into another graveyard when our pursuit of the Edinburgh Palace came up short, and actually discovered a statue of Abraham Lincoln; evidently some Scotsmen went across the water to help out (I'm assuming in the North, since... well).We then found ourselves at the top of another hill with a half-baked Greek-looking temple atop it alongside some old stone buildings. There was the most magnificent view of Arthur's Seat (which I vowed at that moment to climb the next day) and a gentleman who appeared to be showing the girl sitting across from him how to play the banjo; he was singing, too, and had a voice vaguely reminiscent of the guy who sings in the animated Hobbit movie. It was charming.
If anyone need a reminder. (PRESS PLAY. You know you want to.)
 |
| It was preettyy. |
 |
| Oh, right, we found a cannon too. Pew Pew! |
At this point, though that doesn't really sound like a lot, I was pretty hungry and tired, and so we went back to the hostel to rest. Merve and Anique went out in search of food and I just made some little add-water pasta thing and then went to the common room and sipped coffee while browsing their book exchange for something good to read (I found a 3-book volume of Narnia and read a little of The Horse and His Boy. I consider my search a success.) When the ladies returned, we hung around in that area for a bit and then called it a night.
Day two began, earlier than either of my companions would have liked. Since I sympathized, I let them go back to sleep but decided to go out on my own for a bit. It was foggy that morning, but with the cobblestones and all the pretty oldness, it was kind of perfect. I walked up and down the Royal Mile, enjoying some of the plaques and informative panels along the way. It was a beautiful time, one of the many moments in the whole semester that I just had to soak in the beauty of the place I was at, and reflect on it and various aspects of life in my solidarity. It was lovely and peaceful.
 |
| The city really does look excellent in fog. |
 |
| Pretty old city makes Amber happy. |
After a while, Anique called and we met up to head out to Arthur's Seat for a bit of a hike. We found ourselves at the base of the mountain, though, really, we couldn't see much of it itself. It was more of a daunting shadow in the fog, but we trudged on anyway. When we finally found the path, thanks to a kind Scottish man whose words we only half-understood because of his thick accent, we decided to take the slightly less treacherous path that did not actually scale it so much as go up part way, walk under and around the crags, and head back down again. Even not going terribly high, we couldn't see over the edge, and any approaching stranger looked eerie and strange until they were less than 20 feet ahead of us. Also, I swear we could hear bagpipes while we were up there, though only sometimes and very faintly.
 |
| Could'a sworn there was supposed to be a mountain here... |
 |
| Some random stranger who was too far away and foggy to be able to see me taking a picture. |
It was really pretty. I wish I could have seen the view from up there, but the fog had a kind of mysterious appeal to it, and the yellow flowers stood out in dramatic contrast. Oh! I also found that someone had etched out "Tony USA" in the crag face along the path. I find this mostly entertaining because my brother is named Tony, and he was in Scotland and hiked Arthur's Seat about two years ago. I asked him if he knew anything about this and I have yet to receive an answer. *raises eyebrow suspiciously.*
Upon descending, we found ourselves at the gates of the Palace that had been so illusive the day before. As with the Castle, due to ticket prices we satisfied our curiosity by looking around outside and taking creeper photos from the gates. It's a very nice place (no, duh) and if I was the Queen I'd probably spend a lot of time there. More time there than in London, probably.
By this point we were actually getting quite cold and wet, and went in search of something less, well, outside. So, we thought, what is there to do that's out of the rain. Well, we had heard about these tours, and so we decided to take a one, of some of Edinburgh's "Old City's" vaults. I'm going to preface this entire experience with OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE.
By this point we were actually getting quite cold and wet, and went in search of something less, well, outside. So, we thought, what is there to do that's out of the rain. Well, we had heard about these tours, and so we decided to take a one, of some of Edinburgh's "Old City's" vaults. I'm going to preface this entire experience with OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE.
So, a good chunk of Edinburgh's old town, I'm told, was underground or in these vaults (which are actually called "bridges" and are not, in fact, under the ground) and was forgotten about for the most part for a couple hundred years. The part that we got to see was rediscovered sometime in the last 50 years I think, when some college students accidentally kicked down part of a wall to reveal these old tunnels from the 1700s. I would like to repeat: OH. MY. GOSH.
Our tour guide led us in and I was so outrageously excited I think I probably came off as slightly manic. The thing is you literally step into the world of the 1700s. Except for a couple if lights so we don't kill ourselves, it is the same. I was so excited. There the guide was, telling us about how this is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Britain and how a bunch of people were allegedly murdered here by some guy who sold their bodies to scientists in order to study anatomy (he even made it look natural, outside the bruise on their chin where he'd held their jaws shut.). Meanwhile, while he's explaining all this, I'm grinning like an idiot, my little history major heart doing flips, because you are literally surrounded by history- completely and utterly surrounded and immersed in it.
 |
| *grins madly* |
 |
| I turned off the flash for a picture. It's uber dark in there, and then at one point, our guide turned all the lights off. O_O |
I won't lie, it was quite genuinely creepy, too, and I was infinitely glad we opted for the history tour instead of the ghost tour that took place later in the day. Along with the feeling of "awesome" there was also the feeling of "this is the perfect setting for a horror movie." It didn't help that rain seeped in through the ceiling and periodically dripped on my head or shoulder; the first time it happened I nearly had a heart attack before the guide was like "Oh yeah, rain gets in through the cracks, so don't worry if that happens." Overall, though, I was over the moon with that experience, and even just thinking about it makes my grin like a mad woman. I'm telling you, if you ever go to Edinburgh and have a couple hours to spare, DO IT (there's a couple different ones, but the one we went on was called an Auld Reekie tour).
Not long after this, two of our friends from school, Robyn and Laura, arrived in Edinburgh as well, and we got together to make dinner at our hostel and catch up a little. The girls had a fire festival to go to- something that sounded really cool, but I was happy to forego because of the weather- and Anique and I wandered around to see the city at night. It was chilly, but still quite lovely. We popped into Edinburgh's oldest pub, then, the White Hart Inn, for the tail end of some live Scottish music.
It cae time to leave, then, and after some rest, headed off early the next morning for the little town farther north called Inverness. For those of you who may not know this town (I didn't before this trip), it is situated very close by the infamous "Loch Ness." We had planned two days there- one for the town itself and one for the loch, because according to random travel sights, it looked like a very nice little town.
The town was, in fact, nice. It was just kind of... boring. After taking less than an hour to see the sights, we gave up for the most part and decided to take a chill day in the hostel. we grabbed some frozen dinners from a nearby grocery store and hung around in the common room (they also had a good book exchange- there was some ridiculous book I found that kept me greatly amused for the duration of my free time in the town.). During our hanging around, I had thrown my frozen pizza into an oven whose dials I was unfamiliar with. I sat there waiting the 15 minutes the packaging suggested, but when I checked my food, it was barely even thawed out. Thankfully there was a very kind woman there named Emma, who after showing me the proper way to make my pizza, sat down and ate dinner with me and Anique.
This hostel, after the one later my trip in Bath, was my favorite hostel experience, because sometimes you just meet the coolest people, and here we totally did. Unbeknownst to me, the days we were in Inverness, there was a blues dancing event on there!! Emma was there in attendance and happened to mention that that's why she was in town. I sat there gaping for a minute before asking, "Wait you're here dancing? Blues dancing?" I was so stoked to meet another dancer, and she, along with some other dancers who were just casually hanging around the kitchen as well, were surprised to find that the random American in the room knew what blues dancing was at all. There was instant bonding.
We would have gone dancing with them, too, except it was a little pricey for our budget, which they did apologize for; as much as I'd have loved to dance, though, I was so excited that I had serendipitously found some UK blues dancing friends in this tiny, quiet town in northern Scotland. Since we were all dressed up with nowhere to go, though, Anique and I did drop by the town's oldest pub, where I thought it might be a good idea to try a wee bit of Scottish whiskey, as a sort of "when in Rome" type deal since I was fairly certain haggis was out of the question. I rediscovered what I already knew, though- I a not a whisky person. No more whisky for Amber.
The next day we left in the morning to go see Loch Ness. It was not exactly what I expected, I have to admit, and I say that in a good way. I expected it to be very touristy, but it wasn't. The castle right down on the lake did cost to go to, so Anique and I just walked down the road with the lake on our left. It was a really lovely day, too, sunny and warm. We didn't see Nessie, though I will admit to spotting some sketchy shadows out in the water ;).
It was at this point in my travels that it became apparent to me that my boots were just done. It made me sad, since they've been my faithful footwear since the beginning of the semester, but there were holes and the sole of one my right boot was peeling off. It was unfortunately time to say goodbye. After returning to town we stopped in a store and I bought some uber cheap tennis shoes that actually were done by the end of my break, too, not having been designed to be used for walking 10+ hours a day for two weeks straight. *sigh* Poor shoes.
That night, we were again joined by Laura and Robyn, and after having dinner, we decided to go find some live music. We were directed to a pub called Hootenany, and it was fantastic! Something called Heather Honey Ale was tasted and enjoyed, and then we were pulled into the shenanigans going on on the dance floor. Not any normal dancing shenanigans, but some Scottish/Irish dancing, that is reminiscent of contra and/or square dancing. It was a total blast, one that I almost missed because I was being a bum. I was so glad I went out, though, because that was incredible. There was a blonde woman there who danced to almost every song, which astounded me, since after one I had some trouble catching my breath. That night was also Laura's birthday, and so we had some treacle(?) tarts in celebration. It was a very, very good night.
Anique and I had one more day in Scotland, then, and we planned to spend as much of the day as we could in Stirling before heading back to Edinburgh to catch a bus for London. Due to some bad direction from our bus driver, we were an hour later getting in than planned and only had about 4 hours. I almost regretted going at all until we made it to the top of the hill where Stirling Castle resides. I had chosen Stirling because my brother Tony had spent time there a couple of years ago, and so it came highly recommended. As soon as I saw that view I knew exactly why my brother loved it there. It. Was. Breathtaking.
Not long after this, two of our friends from school, Robyn and Laura, arrived in Edinburgh as well, and we got together to make dinner at our hostel and catch up a little. The girls had a fire festival to go to- something that sounded really cool, but I was happy to forego because of the weather- and Anique and I wandered around to see the city at night. It was chilly, but still quite lovely. We popped into Edinburgh's oldest pub, then, the White Hart Inn, for the tail end of some live Scottish music.
It cae time to leave, then, and after some rest, headed off early the next morning for the little town farther north called Inverness. For those of you who may not know this town (I didn't before this trip), it is situated very close by the infamous "Loch Ness." We had planned two days there- one for the town itself and one for the loch, because according to random travel sights, it looked like a very nice little town.
The town was, in fact, nice. It was just kind of... boring. After taking less than an hour to see the sights, we gave up for the most part and decided to take a chill day in the hostel. we grabbed some frozen dinners from a nearby grocery store and hung around in the common room (they also had a good book exchange- there was some ridiculous book I found that kept me greatly amused for the duration of my free time in the town.). During our hanging around, I had thrown my frozen pizza into an oven whose dials I was unfamiliar with. I sat there waiting the 15 minutes the packaging suggested, but when I checked my food, it was barely even thawed out. Thankfully there was a very kind woman there named Emma, who after showing me the proper way to make my pizza, sat down and ate dinner with me and Anique.
This hostel, after the one later my trip in Bath, was my favorite hostel experience, because sometimes you just meet the coolest people, and here we totally did. Unbeknownst to me, the days we were in Inverness, there was a blues dancing event on there!! Emma was there in attendance and happened to mention that that's why she was in town. I sat there gaping for a minute before asking, "Wait you're here dancing? Blues dancing?" I was so stoked to meet another dancer, and she, along with some other dancers who were just casually hanging around the kitchen as well, were surprised to find that the random American in the room knew what blues dancing was at all. There was instant bonding.
We would have gone dancing with them, too, except it was a little pricey for our budget, which they did apologize for; as much as I'd have loved to dance, though, I was so excited that I had serendipitously found some UK blues dancing friends in this tiny, quiet town in northern Scotland. Since we were all dressed up with nowhere to go, though, Anique and I did drop by the town's oldest pub, where I thought it might be a good idea to try a wee bit of Scottish whiskey, as a sort of "when in Rome" type deal since I was fairly certain haggis was out of the question. I rediscovered what I already knew, though- I a not a whisky person. No more whisky for Amber.
The next day we left in the morning to go see Loch Ness. It was not exactly what I expected, I have to admit, and I say that in a good way. I expected it to be very touristy, but it wasn't. The castle right down on the lake did cost to go to, so Anique and I just walked down the road with the lake on our left. It was a really lovely day, too, sunny and warm. We didn't see Nessie, though I will admit to spotting some sketchy shadows out in the water ;).
 |
| Yours truly next to the pretty. |
 |
| It's so unfair that this isn't in my backyard. |
It was at this point in my travels that it became apparent to me that my boots were just done. It made me sad, since they've been my faithful footwear since the beginning of the semester, but there were holes and the sole of one my right boot was peeling off. It was unfortunately time to say goodbye. After returning to town we stopped in a store and I bought some uber cheap tennis shoes that actually were done by the end of my break, too, not having been designed to be used for walking 10+ hours a day for two weeks straight. *sigh* Poor shoes.
 |
| I gave my babies a proper send off. R.I.P. Boots. You shall be greatly missed. |
 |
| Mah girls. |
Anique and I had one more day in Scotland, then, and we planned to spend as much of the day as we could in Stirling before heading back to Edinburgh to catch a bus for London. Due to some bad direction from our bus driver, we were an hour later getting in than planned and only had about 4 hours. I almost regretted going at all until we made it to the top of the hill where Stirling Castle resides. I had chosen Stirling because my brother Tony had spent time there a couple of years ago, and so it came highly recommended. As soon as I saw that view I knew exactly why my brother loved it there. It. Was. Breathtaking.
 |
| You know, U.K., I'm getting really freaking tired of these stunts you keep puling. Butseriouslyohmygoshitwassopretty |
 |
| Wallace Monument with the most epic background basically ever. |
 |
| AAKDJSFHKAJDHFKASJDFLAJKBKASDJADLADKSJL. I'm so sorry I need a minute. |
UGH IT WAS SO PRETTY GUYS. Other than the hike up to there and a little visit to the town's museum/gallery, all we had time for is to grab some ice cream and head back to the bus station. But I am so wildly glad that we stopped over. It was absolutely worth it, just for that view.
Then we were in Edinburgh, again, too late in the day to really do anything but try to kill time. We did that by grabbing dinner, loitering in the shops, sitting outside and eating pastries, waiting around in Waverly Station, loitering in 2 different McDonalds, and finally waiting outside like homeless people because literally nothing is open between 3 AM and 4:30 AM, which is when the bus station opened. By quarter to six, I was so ready to just pass out on the bus it was ridiculous.
It wasn't really a bad experience, though, because 1) hello, it's Edinburgh, 2)there were a surprising amount of bachelor/bachelorette parties going on and apparently it's common here for everyone to dress up when that happens, 3)lots of amusedly drunk U.K. people out at those hours, and really that kept up perfectly entertained until the last hour and a half, 4) I really like Scottish people. They're right up there with Irish people.
Oh, shoutout, though, to those two wonderful Tesco workers- to the brunette with long hair and pretty brown eyes, I'm really sorry I'm stupid when it comes to self-checkout; and to the cute customer assistance guy, I really appreciate the adorable little map you drew me when I asked for directions, even though I literally just had to go straight- I'm totally saving it. You guys are awesome and deserve cookies.
We also met a friendly, if inebriated Irishman who was excited to hear we were traveling to Galway and told us lots of stuff to do(none of which happened, but he looked so pleased we kind of just smiled and nodded). Bonus points, when explaining to him and his Canadian (I don't know) companions what we were doing, I unzipped my raincoat to reveal my University of Ulster insignia on my hoodie, and they all gasped like I was Superman uncovering his "S". It was hilarious.
 |
| I'm almost positive the guy in a Santa suit was in one of the aforementioned parties. |
Oh, shoutout, though, to those two wonderful Tesco workers- to the brunette with long hair and pretty brown eyes, I'm really sorry I'm stupid when it comes to self-checkout; and to the cute customer assistance guy, I really appreciate the adorable little map you drew me when I asked for directions, even though I literally just had to go straight- I'm totally saving it. You guys are awesome and deserve cookies.
We also met a friendly, if inebriated Irishman who was excited to hear we were traveling to Galway and told us lots of stuff to do(none of which happened, but he looked so pleased we kind of just smiled and nodded). Bonus points, when explaining to him and his Canadian (I don't know) companions what we were doing, I unzipped my raincoat to reveal my University of Ulster insignia on my hoodie, and they all gasped like I was Superman uncovering his "S". It was hilarious.
And with that exciting evening over, we embarked on our journey down to London. *Sigh* Scotland, though. It's a completely gorgeous country and I could not have asked for a better time there. It's been real, Scotland. I'll miss you.
NEXT UP: AMBER'S ENGLAND ESCAPADES. COMING SOON TO YOUR COMPUTER
Comments
Post a Comment