First Day in Edinburgh
We started the day with a trip down the road to the chemist's to get shaving cream and toothpaste as well as get some change for the bus. We also went a few doors down to get a newspaper and buy extra time for our phones.
Once we'd figured out the fare, we waited for the bus. At this point I will digress to write about the currency. The bills of course have color (sorry, colour) and nice artwork. But the coins are different. There are one and two pound coins, as well as coins for 50 pence, 20p, 10p and 5p. I haven't seen a 1 pence piece yet. And the sizes of coins do not alone hint at their denominations. If I reorder the coins I have by size, this is the order from smallest to largest: 5p, 20p, 1 pound, 10p, 2 pounds, 50p. The 20p and 50p coins have flattened edges, making them close to octagons, and the 2 pound coin is more a copper color.
But the other thing I wanted to mention about coins is that while I was walking and trying to understand the new system, I realized I'd only be confused once, and that I should enjoy it. I'll have lots of new systems to learn, and learning them and being confused is part of the fun of traveling.
So back to our bus. Many buses - most that I remember seeing - are double buses. And of course we rode on top on our way downtown.
The main event of the day was a bus tour. There are several available, but Margo picked one that had a live narration. So we climbed aboard one for its route (less than an hour) and saw and learned lots. I enjoyed the tour but would have enjoyed it even more if it weren't for these two annoying Americans sitting in front of me. The little girl would point and shout at things, and the mother would point out things to the little girl, so I couldn't always hear the tour. So I had to keep shushing Sarah and Margo.
I didn't realize until the end of the tour that I hadn't taken any pictures. But I think that might be more of the pattern I follow, because before taking pictures, you have to get to know the area to determine what you want to remember later. So my pictures will probably be better in a few days.
Then it was off to a pub for lunch - pints and an order of fish and chips. Cheers!
Afterward, Margo read the paper while Sarah and I played foosball. To let her win points I had to handicap myself by setting my guys head down so the ball would pass underneath. When it was time to go Sarah broke down saying she wanted to keep playing. We thought it was overtiredness - Sarah hasn't completely overcome jet lag yet.
At this point we split up, since we have phones now and can do that. So I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around. I saw more of the High Street and the Edinburgh Castle. Then I walked over to the New Town area. This shows part of the geography. The "valley" in between has no water, but there are bridges nonetheless. There is also rail going up it. To the right (south) is the High Street shopping - the Royal Mile that has Parliament and a palace at the bottom end and the Edinburgh Castle at the top end. To the left (north) is New Town. This picture only captures a small part of it and doesn't really do it justice.
First, I walked much of Rose Street. The tour mentioned that this street has more pubs than any other in Europe. This picture is from the far end looking back.
The tour also mentioned that the Oxford Bar, the favorite pub of (the fictional) DI (detective inspector) Rebus, actually exists and is on Young Street, so of course I had to have a pint there.
By the way, both pints were dark Scottish beers, but I didn't find them as tasty as the ones that would show up in Portland in wintertime. I even had a tastier one in a Victoria brewpub. These were more on the bitter end than sweet, and I didn't taste any of the heath flavoring I was expecting. Flavouring. I wonder when I'll use those u's and lose my z's without thinking about it.
Another by the way: a few blocks down Young changes to Thistle Street, and since it runs parallel to Rose, now you know how the Rose and Thistle in Portland has its name.
Then I came back via Princes Street, a shopping street with shops on one side and a nice view across the valley on the other.
The street is partially closed to cars, as is much of the Royal Mile and I'm sure elsewhere. In fact, I didn't see a single surface car park. And not one freeway, even coming from the airport. And no billboards! Carchitecture is so ugly, so it is refreshing to see its absence.
I did some shopping; I think all of it had to do with power - a power adaptor from a grounded (3-prong) US plug to UK (we already have a 2-prong adaptor); a battery charger for UK; and a UK power supply for our Nintendo DS.
I considered getting one of the ample Scotland rubgy shirts, but decided not to. Wearing the wrong team's shirt in the wrong place could get me in trouble.
Once we'd figured out the fare, we waited for the bus. At this point I will digress to write about the currency. The bills of course have color (sorry, colour) and nice artwork. But the coins are different. There are one and two pound coins, as well as coins for 50 pence, 20p, 10p and 5p. I haven't seen a 1 pence piece yet. And the sizes of coins do not alone hint at their denominations. If I reorder the coins I have by size, this is the order from smallest to largest: 5p, 20p, 1 pound, 10p, 2 pounds, 50p. The 20p and 50p coins have flattened edges, making them close to octagons, and the 2 pound coin is more a copper color.
But the other thing I wanted to mention about coins is that while I was walking and trying to understand the new system, I realized I'd only be confused once, and that I should enjoy it. I'll have lots of new systems to learn, and learning them and being confused is part of the fun of traveling.
So back to our bus. Many buses - most that I remember seeing - are double buses. And of course we rode on top on our way downtown.
The main event of the day was a bus tour. There are several available, but Margo picked one that had a live narration. So we climbed aboard one for its route (less than an hour) and saw and learned lots. I enjoyed the tour but would have enjoyed it even more if it weren't for these two annoying Americans sitting in front of me. The little girl would point and shout at things, and the mother would point out things to the little girl, so I couldn't always hear the tour. So I had to keep shushing Sarah and Margo.
I didn't realize until the end of the tour that I hadn't taken any pictures. But I think that might be more of the pattern I follow, because before taking pictures, you have to get to know the area to determine what you want to remember later. So my pictures will probably be better in a few days.
Then it was off to a pub for lunch - pints and an order of fish and chips. Cheers!
Afterward, Margo read the paper while Sarah and I played foosball. To let her win points I had to handicap myself by setting my guys head down so the ball would pass underneath. When it was time to go Sarah broke down saying she wanted to keep playing. We thought it was overtiredness - Sarah hasn't completely overcome jet lag yet.
At this point we split up, since we have phones now and can do that. So I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around. I saw more of the High Street and the Edinburgh Castle. Then I walked over to the New Town area. This shows part of the geography. The "valley" in between has no water, but there are bridges nonetheless. There is also rail going up it. To the right (south) is the High Street shopping - the Royal Mile that has Parliament and a palace at the bottom end and the Edinburgh Castle at the top end. To the left (north) is New Town. This picture only captures a small part of it and doesn't really do it justice.
First, I walked much of Rose Street. The tour mentioned that this street has more pubs than any other in Europe. This picture is from the far end looking back.
The tour also mentioned that the Oxford Bar, the favorite pub of (the fictional) DI (detective inspector) Rebus, actually exists and is on Young Street, so of course I had to have a pint there.
By the way, both pints were dark Scottish beers, but I didn't find them as tasty as the ones that would show up in Portland in wintertime. I even had a tastier one in a Victoria brewpub. These were more on the bitter end than sweet, and I didn't taste any of the heath flavoring I was expecting. Flavouring. I wonder when I'll use those u's and lose my z's without thinking about it.
Another by the way: a few blocks down Young changes to Thistle Street, and since it runs parallel to Rose, now you know how the Rose and Thistle in Portland has its name.
Then I came back via Princes Street, a shopping street with shops on one side and a nice view across the valley on the other.
The street is partially closed to cars, as is much of the Royal Mile and I'm sure elsewhere. In fact, I didn't see a single surface car park. And not one freeway, even coming from the airport. And no billboards! Carchitecture is so ugly, so it is refreshing to see its absence.
I did some shopping; I think all of it had to do with power - a power adaptor from a grounded (3-prong) US plug to UK (we already have a 2-prong adaptor); a battery charger for UK; and a UK power supply for our Nintendo DS.
I considered getting one of the ample Scotland rubgy shirts, but decided not to. Wearing the wrong team's shirt in the wrong place could get me in trouble.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:45 pm
3 Comments:
Thanks for the Rose and Thistle tidbit, that's interesting.
It is nice to be able to keep abreast of your where and whatabouts. Your room looks great.
/ed
Hi Nelson Family: Glad to hear that you've made it across the pond and seem to be enjoying the change of scene! I haven't checked in on your travels since last e-mailing Margo in JUNE - post graduation - so it was a nice (and pleasant) way to catch up with you while sipping a nice cup of joe! Keep up the good work...best, Liisa
You know, I was wrong about the Rose and Thistle thing. It's not just about the two streets in Edinburgh - it's much older than that. The rose symbolizes England, the thistle Scotland, and I'm guessing the shamrock symbolizes Ireland.
Post a Comment
<< Home