After lunch I worked my through the Easter weekend crowds, passed the vendors and street performers up the Royal Mile, to the castle. I definitely saved the best for last. While the castle in Stirling has more battle history, Edinburgh is much larger and amazingly well preserved. Upon entering the castle I was treated to sweeping views of the city and beyond to the North Sea.
Following the audio guide I made my way to over twenty stops within the castle walls. Some of the highlights included the British War Museum, St Margaret’s Ancient Chapel, David’s underground tower, which housed the Royal Crown Jewels of Scotland for some time, and a jail used to house both criminals and prisoners of war.
The most impressive of places for me, however, was built in recent times… The War Memorial. Just stepping into this building I did not have to read the sign reminding me to be silent and respectful, as it had already taken my breath from me. Just passed the entrance sits a chamber with a beautifully sculpted sarcophagus as the centerpiece and a giant statue of the arch-angel suspended above it. To both the right and left of the entrance are over 15 archways adorned with inscriptions honoring all of the Uk’s fallen heroes. At the base of each archway is a book with the names of the men and women who have died in service. The entire building is surrounded with stained glass windows that depict the history of war being with the story of Cain and Abel. Exiting the building and returning to its courtyard, I sat for about twenty minutes reflecting on the sacrifice all service men and women make for the honor of their country and what a privilege it was for me to have been in such a special and amazing place.
The castle was getting ready to close and so I spent the remaining thirty minutes wandering the grounds almost completely by myself. As I made the walk back to the hostel I was treated to a beautiful skyline backed by pinks, purples, and blues from the now setting sun.
At the hostel I showered, ate, and relaxed a bit before heading out to see what the nightlife in Edinburgh was like. If the daytime was part of the “ups” this little journey out at night, was definitely one of the “downs”. Almost immediately after I stepped foot outside the hostel doors a bum asked me for change, followed by some wasted guy (who was drooling) asking me for cigarettes or money to buy some. I made my way up the street and watched another drunk step out into the street and literally avoided getting hit by a car by only a few inches. Every pub I tried to go to was packed beyond capacity and people were peeing in the streets everywhere I looked. Frustrated and annoyed I made my way back to the hostel having not even ordered a beer. The walk back to the hostel was no different than the walk away from it. At least three guys asking for money, beer, cigarettes, or any combination of the above. Needless to say, I went to bed not too stoked on Edinburgh. Staring early Easter morning, I grabbed a cup of tea, some fruit, and found a nice bench in Princes St Gardens and watched the city come alive.
Sitting on this bench I had a marvelous view of the Old Town and the castle, and eventually noticed that just to my right was the Scotland National Gallery. I thought to myself, okay, this town is still pretty incredible and decided to forget the frustrations and dismay of the night before and spent the next two hours meandering about the gallery enjoying beautiful artwork from around the world and dating back to the 1300’s. However, most of my favorite pieces were from the Scottish artists. Leaving the gallery it began to rain a bit, and I realized I was also out of money. I walked to the Tourist Information Center to use the ATM which turned out to be out of service. From there I walked the five blocks in the pouring rain, to the nearest ATM which was also out of service. This set me out on another, even longer walk to a third ATM which, after waiting in line for ten minutes (clearly because it was the only ATM in town that worked)it happily dispensed my cash. Making my way back to the hostel, the rain began falling even harder, so I ducked into a local pub to grab a pint and wait out the storm. Frustrated from my search for an ATM and absolutely drenched, I bellied up at the bar next to group of locals. Unlike the locals in Stirling, the people in this pub continued on as if I had never even walked in. Also, there conversation was not one of laughter and cheer, but rather about a friend of theirs that they had not seen for a few days and presumed to be dead. I was beginning to dislike Edinburgh. Needless to say I quickly drank my beer and ran back to my hostel. To make things even worse, my hostel was full so I actually had to book two separate rooms, one for the first night and another, more expensive room for the second night. I was looking forward to the more expensive room though because it was a four bed dorm with a private bath and shower as opposed the fourteen bed dorm with shared facilities I had stayed in the night before. I assumed it was going to be worth the hassle of checking out that morning and checking back in that afternoon. I was dead wrong. The smaller room was in a separate building around the corner and down a small dark walkway that reeked of urine. The building itself had no laundry facilities, common area, or kitchen, which meant I would have to walk to the main hostel to eat and hang out, and that I couldn’t do the much needed laundry I had been planned on doing today. I thought to myself, it’s unfortunate that such an amazing experience in Scotland was now going to be tainted by this unfortunate and ugly last impression. I convinced myself to let it go and thought it could only get better. Again, I was dead wrong. I dropped my bags in the new room and headed out for a nice walk down to the other end of town, checked out the palace and park, and then walked back to the castle to catch the sunset. After the sun had dropped below the horizon I returned to the hostel to make dinner and then back to my room to back my back and prepare my things for my early morning flight to Amsterdam. Returning to the room I walked down the dark, urine filled walkway and was not so pleasantly greeted by a bum who had set up shop directly across from the door of my hostel. He informed me that he, “… was not bumming. I have benefits you don’t even know about!” He then proceeded to ask me if I had any cigarettes or money for him. I think that is pretty much the definition of bumming, but decided not to argue with him. He then informed me that he eats people. Perfect. I politely said have a good night and entered my room. I went to bed shortly after packing my things and taking a shower, only to be woken up at around two in the morning to the same bum sitting directly out the window to my room screaming about something. The yelling continued until my alarm went off at 4:30am to wake me up for my flight, which would have been perfect if I had not already been awake listening to Hannibal Lecter for the past three hours! Tired, I grabbed my bags and left the hostel only to have Hannibal ask me if I made sure to pay my rent. I ignored the question and made my way to the bus stop and eventually reached the Airport. Next stop, Amsterdam.
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