Easter in Edinburgh
I really like Edinburgh. It's a beautiful city and people here seem super friendly... and warm... and seemingly more interested in knowing where I'm from than in London. but i suppose it's just a different context.
the sun is shining, i just bought a few cds, and i am staying here for at least another day (this all depends on a series of factors and formulations that involve train routes, easter holiday scheduling, finding a hostel in Edinburgh with a free bed, and figuring out the best way and best time to get to Amsterdam). I would be pleased to stay here for the main part of the weekend and then head to Amsterdam although it'll put me behind schedule. I can't believe it's already the 14th... i still have three countries to visit and I fly home from Paris on May 3rd! 19 days left... well... 17.5 more like it. I think I am going to take Matt's advice and try to spend more time in fewer places... even though it means that I didn't use up my Eurorail pass or Britrail pass. Quality not quantity... yes, yes.
I am seriously disillusioned (although not disgruntled..it's funny more than anything) by famous tourist sites and activities. I bore witness to the changing of the guard at Buckinham Palace (humourously they were late... they didn't do it until 11:30 am and it was supposed to occur at 11 am). I visited Stone Henge (which, according to the audio tour, are "like enormous teeth hinged into the gums of the earth!" Ha. Ha.) Stone Henge is next to a highway and tourists are everywhere. Very mystical. London is crazy packed with shoppers and business people and tourists. the Underground is amazing and efficient and effective and even I, the most directionally-impaired person I can think of, managed to use it several times without ever getting lost. I have to admit that I did feel an aura surrounding the Thames when I saw it. Just cuz it's such a famous waterway. I thought of Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness. Very cool. Maybe if I had read Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Hardy I would have felt something at StoneHenge too. Who knows.
I visited a friend named Jane (who I met when I was in Tasmania) who lives in Truro, Cornwall. She and her family have a seaside farm there which is quiet and beautiful. She is dating a girl who is a local celebrity of sorts..she apparently won the last or second last British equivalent to American IDol. Weird. She got onto a record label and cut a record and got a great place to live in london but apparently they are trying to turn her into a pop star and change her music so she ended the contract and is moving back to cornwall. bizarre.
I've already bought so much stuff that I had to throw out a pair of jeans to make room in my backpack (they were old anyway). I am now thinking about throwing out my pyjamas and my bath towel. My sister suggested that I could break my toothbrush in half and just save the bristles to brush my teeth.. so i will have more room. she also suggested that I shave frequently so that the hair on my body won't weigh me down. I'm thinking about it. A smug smile creeps onto my face whenever I use up a teaspoon-equivalent of shampoo or whenever I use another squirt of face wash or use the bar of soap which is slowly becoming smaller with each passing day.
Less weight = more room + more stuff = less money = more weight. At least the money won't weight me down. Hmmmmm.
Hey, I'm no mathematician...just a stoopid girl who bought overpriced clothes at an H&M in London...clothes which I'm sure I could have found at home. Globalization rocks. Oh well, at least I bought a garter, in red scottish plaid, to wear on my upper thigh---that'll come in handy... it plays music when you press the button and it's supposed to bring me good luck. Wish me luck with that.
anyway... peace dawgs.
the sun is shining, i just bought a few cds, and i am staying here for at least another day (this all depends on a series of factors and formulations that involve train routes, easter holiday scheduling, finding a hostel in Edinburgh with a free bed, and figuring out the best way and best time to get to Amsterdam). I would be pleased to stay here for the main part of the weekend and then head to Amsterdam although it'll put me behind schedule. I can't believe it's already the 14th... i still have three countries to visit and I fly home from Paris on May 3rd! 19 days left... well... 17.5 more like it. I think I am going to take Matt's advice and try to spend more time in fewer places... even though it means that I didn't use up my Eurorail pass or Britrail pass. Quality not quantity... yes, yes.
I am seriously disillusioned (although not disgruntled..it's funny more than anything) by famous tourist sites and activities. I bore witness to the changing of the guard at Buckinham Palace (humourously they were late... they didn't do it until 11:30 am and it was supposed to occur at 11 am). I visited Stone Henge (which, according to the audio tour, are "like enormous teeth hinged into the gums of the earth!" Ha. Ha.) Stone Henge is next to a highway and tourists are everywhere. Very mystical. London is crazy packed with shoppers and business people and tourists. the Underground is amazing and efficient and effective and even I, the most directionally-impaired person I can think of, managed to use it several times without ever getting lost. I have to admit that I did feel an aura surrounding the Thames when I saw it. Just cuz it's such a famous waterway. I thought of Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness. Very cool. Maybe if I had read Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Hardy I would have felt something at StoneHenge too. Who knows.
I visited a friend named Jane (who I met when I was in Tasmania) who lives in Truro, Cornwall. She and her family have a seaside farm there which is quiet and beautiful. She is dating a girl who is a local celebrity of sorts..she apparently won the last or second last British equivalent to American IDol. Weird. She got onto a record label and cut a record and got a great place to live in london but apparently they are trying to turn her into a pop star and change her music so she ended the contract and is moving back to cornwall. bizarre.
I've already bought so much stuff that I had to throw out a pair of jeans to make room in my backpack (they were old anyway). I am now thinking about throwing out my pyjamas and my bath towel. My sister suggested that I could break my toothbrush in half and just save the bristles to brush my teeth.. so i will have more room. she also suggested that I shave frequently so that the hair on my body won't weigh me down. I'm thinking about it. A smug smile creeps onto my face whenever I use up a teaspoon-equivalent of shampoo or whenever I use another squirt of face wash or use the bar of soap which is slowly becoming smaller with each passing day.
Less weight = more room + more stuff = less money = more weight. At least the money won't weight me down. Hmmmmm.
Hey, I'm no mathematician...just a stoopid girl who bought overpriced clothes at an H&M in London...clothes which I'm sure I could have found at home. Globalization rocks. Oh well, at least I bought a garter, in red scottish plaid, to wear on my upper thigh---that'll come in handy... it plays music when you press the button and it's supposed to bring me good luck. Wish me luck with that.
anyway... peace dawgs.