Edinburgh
Edinburgh has a rather stony appearance, but is fortunate that its geography works with this to make it grand rather than oppressive: the Old and New Towns are built on ridgelines more or less, so that the sloping ground shows off the building facades to maximum effect. (The flatter parts out of the historical areas are more reminiscent of Coronation Street.) There are many statues.
Princes St is being dug up, in one vast construction site stretching from one side of town to the other for a new tram project. Yay, public transport! The National Gallery was interesting, and appeared to be a clone of the art gallery in Adelaide. I may be mistaking cause and effect here. I should say more about it later.
Following advice here, I trotted off to traipse the Royal Mile, where I:
Tron Close amused me with a sign saying "No Ball Games", and an Unidentified Object.
I failed to eat Indian food while in the UK.
There is more, but I'm tired and in a hurry. Thanks to all who made suggestions.
Princes St is being dug up, in one vast construction site stretching from one side of town to the other for a new tram project. Yay, public transport! The National Gallery was interesting, and appeared to be a clone of the art gallery in Adelaide. I may be mistaking cause and effect here. I should say more about it later.
Following advice here, I trotted off to traipse the Royal Mile, where I:
- Dropped into St Giles Cathedral, home of the Order of the Thistle. The various Colours, graves and memorials exuded religio-military authority--not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's startling after a few years living in peacenik Germany.
- Spat at the Heart of Midlothian, wondering whether I was promoting good luck or just the spread of typhus, cholera, or H1N1.
- Looked carefully around the giftshop at Mary King's Close, I found out that I'd need to book a tour, and decided that UKP 10.50 and 1 hour was both too expensive and too long for what I was interested in at the end of a sunny Sunday.
- Faced with the choice of uphill or downhill, chose downhill, to see Holyroodhouse Palace and the Scottish Parliament, instead of uphill to see the castle. Probably this was the wrong choice, as the most interesting sight was the hill in the distance, tantalisingly walkable in appearance, but too far off to get to during the conference.
Tron Close amused me with a sign saying "No Ball Games", and an Unidentified Object.
I failed to eat Indian food while in the UK.
There is more, but I'm tired and in a hurry. Thanks to all who made suggestions.