edinburgh and munro castle
OK, I just typed up a long entry, and then my internet time expired and I lost the whole thing. Fuck.
Here it is shortened, I'll be damned if I write again:
Saturday: Goddamn airport, exorbitant overweight fees since I misread the luggage restrictions--15 kg per PERSON not per bag, with an 8 euro charge for each extra kilo. My grandparents' friends picked me up in Edinburgh and fed me potato leak soup and ovaltine and briefed me on English/Scottish history.
Sunday: Porridge in the morning (read: oatmeal). Took double deckered bus into town. Rearranged travel plans--bought bus tickets to Inverness to see the Munro castle and then train tickets to London, so I don't have to pay those goddamn fees again. Works out that the price of a train ticket is equivalent to the overweight fees (and, contrary to what the woman in Shannon told me, Ryanair does NOT offer refunds. Bastards). Went to the Scottish National History Musuems and then bummed around Edinburgh for a while (walked through an incredible gail to see the back of Edinburgh castle, located on a huge bluff. In fact, the whole area has been gouged out by glaciers, so the city has several different levels, and streets that look like they connect on the map often cross over or under each other). Returned home for more soup and lamb and "pudding" (read: apple tart).
Monday: Looked around Edinburgh a bit more--visited it's Christmas market which is almost entirely dominated by German goods. There was also a stand that sold happy ceramic Indians smoking peace pipes. They'd have been kicked out of the USA soooooo fast. Took a bus to Inverness and checked into my hostel. Walked by the river Ness--huge, fast flowing, slight smell of brine in the air, and black beneath the night sky, the city lights highlighting fercious eddies and the unswerving current.
Tuesday: Went to visit Foulis castle, seat of the Munro clan. Took a bus to Evanton, a small town just two miles north of Foulis and walked the rest of the way (turn right on Drummond, walk 550 yards; turn right on (unknown) walk 1.2 miles; turn right on (unknown) walk 80 yards). I ended up approached the castle from the back, with it's big outerwall, stone, very thick, surrounding a windswept garden and looking out onto a road that's been smashed by a terrible storm, with red trunked trees laying across it at angles. Inside, Mrs Hector Munro (her son is the clan chief) and her daughter Charlotte, and three lively dogs (one of them was called bonus) greeted me. Mrs Hector Munro gave me a long talk about the history of the clan, showed me around the castle (okay okay it's more of a Manor House) and then invited me to stay for lunch, since it was apparently ridiculous to turn me out into the horrible nasty day. She was very sorry I had to see it so black and stormy. We ate potato soup and quiche and apples from the garden, and then Charlotte and the dogs drove me back to Evanton and the bus station. In Inverness, I decided to have some fish and chips, even though I was quite full; I just couldn't see leaving the highlands without trying the fish. It was good and when I opened the container and huge waft of vinegar greeted my nose.
Today, I'm back in Edinburgh with my grandparents' friends. We'll have haggis tonight.
Tomorrow, I got to London to visit Caitlin.
Here it is shortened, I'll be damned if I write again:
Saturday: Goddamn airport, exorbitant overweight fees since I misread the luggage restrictions--15 kg per PERSON not per bag, with an 8 euro charge for each extra kilo. My grandparents' friends picked me up in Edinburgh and fed me potato leak soup and ovaltine and briefed me on English/Scottish history.
Sunday: Porridge in the morning (read: oatmeal). Took double deckered bus into town. Rearranged travel plans--bought bus tickets to Inverness to see the Munro castle and then train tickets to London, so I don't have to pay those goddamn fees again. Works out that the price of a train ticket is equivalent to the overweight fees (and, contrary to what the woman in Shannon told me, Ryanair does NOT offer refunds. Bastards). Went to the Scottish National History Musuems and then bummed around Edinburgh for a while (walked through an incredible gail to see the back of Edinburgh castle, located on a huge bluff. In fact, the whole area has been gouged out by glaciers, so the city has several different levels, and streets that look like they connect on the map often cross over or under each other). Returned home for more soup and lamb and "pudding" (read: apple tart).
Monday: Looked around Edinburgh a bit more--visited it's Christmas market which is almost entirely dominated by German goods. There was also a stand that sold happy ceramic Indians smoking peace pipes. They'd have been kicked out of the USA soooooo fast. Took a bus to Inverness and checked into my hostel. Walked by the river Ness--huge, fast flowing, slight smell of brine in the air, and black beneath the night sky, the city lights highlighting fercious eddies and the unswerving current.
Tuesday: Went to visit Foulis castle, seat of the Munro clan. Took a bus to Evanton, a small town just two miles north of Foulis and walked the rest of the way (turn right on Drummond, walk 550 yards; turn right on (unknown) walk 1.2 miles; turn right on (unknown) walk 80 yards). I ended up approached the castle from the back, with it's big outerwall, stone, very thick, surrounding a windswept garden and looking out onto a road that's been smashed by a terrible storm, with red trunked trees laying across it at angles. Inside, Mrs Hector Munro (her son is the clan chief) and her daughter Charlotte, and three lively dogs (one of them was called bonus) greeted me. Mrs Hector Munro gave me a long talk about the history of the clan, showed me around the castle (okay okay it's more of a Manor House) and then invited me to stay for lunch, since it was apparently ridiculous to turn me out into the horrible nasty day. She was very sorry I had to see it so black and stormy. We ate potato soup and quiche and apples from the garden, and then Charlotte and the dogs drove me back to Evanton and the bus station. In Inverness, I decided to have some fish and chips, even though I was quite full; I just couldn't see leaving the highlands without trying the fish. It was good and when I opened the container and huge waft of vinegar greeted my nose.
Today, I'm back in Edinburgh with my grandparents' friends. We'll have haggis tonight.
Tomorrow, I got to London to visit Caitlin.