Eurotrip '05: Edinburgh

Fri, July 29, 2005 (Day 59)
Yo… once again, very behind… but that’s ok man, cause I love god (sorry, pearl jam plug... haven't had music in a long time, so I have to resort to singing to myself). I’ve been loving the Scottish Highlands! But first, where we left off – the road to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arrived in Edinburgh around lunchtime Friday (29th). Headed down to the Highlander’s Hostel on Leith Walk in the pissing rain – absolutely freezing! Naturally, we couldn’t check in until later in the afternoon, so we drop the bags, grab the umbrellas, and head for Princess Street and the shopping centers. Grabbed a map at the tourist office, and headed to the food court for a coffee and a kfc snacker. Warmed up, dried off a little and got our bearings on the city. Headed up Calton Hill (?), a big hill in the middle of the city with a bunch of old buildings and Greek-looking ruins – a great view of this beautiful city - particularly the royal mile and Edinburgh Castle. Eventually we were able to check into the hostel. Then we hit the grocery store from some provisions, dropped them off, and hit the town once again. Fortunately it was raining less at this point.
I should note at this juncture that it has essentially been raining since we arrived here in Scotland. Normally that wouldn’t be a huge deal (I mean c’mon, we go to school in St. John’s for god’s sake). However, over the last 9 weeks, we’ve only seen rain twice! And both of those times were very brief. Hell… we just came from a part of Spain where it hasn’t rained in 7 months!! So yeah… being here is a bit of a weather shock. It sucks when you get spoiled by good weather…. you’re cold and wet all the time.
So, we trudged back up that hill with the view to get some choice photos of the city, and then navigated down around the large hills to the start of the royal mile (the road leading to the castle). We had a stroll up through there, and eventually arrived at the top of the hill at the castle. However, admission was 9.80pounds (almost $25) and it was pretty late in the day, so we decided it just wasn’t worth it (I’ve already been there as well).
From the castle we headed south down to the “grassmarket” area, which is like this cool low-lying area directly beneath the castle hill. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my visit to Edinburgh 3 years ago, as we spent a lot of time in this part of town (the bar area). Northcott and I even went into the very same pub that my friends and I hit up back in 2002 – “the Bull” – and had Kronenburg & nachos just like the last time. I think a tradition has been born… I now have to do this every time I’m in Edinburgh.
We left the pub feeling great, but wanting to feel greater :) . We picked up some booze on the walk home, had a few at the hostel in the common room, and then hit up a club up the road… good times. It kinda sucks that we only get to spend one day here in Edinburgh because it’s such a great city … but c’est la vie! Priorities first… we've got limited time here, and the highlands are priority one! Edinburgh really is a great place though. I could live here some day...