The Queen's Own MacKamikaze Highlanders

(A Monty Python reference in the title)
Today, I’m just more tired.
I began the morning by trying to find any internet café- any at all. I went to each of the locations on the map that I hadn’t yet checked, starting on one side of the city. I got to that location, but there was nothing there. I went to the next location, and it had gone out of business. I went to a tourist info center, and they said the only close internet café was at the location I tried to find first. I was despondent, but when I got to that location- it was bright, orange, open, and ready. I had walked by that location just 24 hours earlier, and did not notice it. I felt really silly.
Now I got in there, a little flustered, but I paid for my hour- two pounds- and pulled out my list. Yes, I knew I had to make every minute count that I was online, and so I got cracking. I looked up all of the relevant information for tomorrow’s train ride, which leaves at 10 AM to points south. I also had a few other things that I wanted to look up. Satisfied, I tried to post to the blog, but the USB slot didn’t work (I type in the entries in Word and copy and paste them into the blog). Denied again, I left. I started my day and returned to the hotel.
I showered up and prepped for my new day; the start of my day was the centerpiece of the city, Edinburgh Castle. It’s quite dramatic, it’s visible from most parks in the city and sits atop a mountain of black- and I mean black- stone. Not obsidian, but deep black. It’s hardcore.
I really am not going to say much about the castle. The Scottish has a phrase over it’s coat of arms that says (roughly translated) “Offend me and I’m gonna mess you up.” It makes perfect sense if you think about the Scots. There are two statues at the main gate of the castle; one of Wallace, and one of Bruce. They don’t look anything like what you’d think; they actually looked quite like crusaders.
Little fact: Edinburgh Castle was lain siege to a total of 14 times in its history. It was never breached- the castle, in its 700 year history, had never been taken by force. It had changed hands for different reasons, but did not have a breached wall.
Little fact: The Scots thought that the English treatment of the colonies that would eventually become America was distasteful. In the Prisoner of War exhibit, you learn that the castle was used to house America’s pirates (not Continental Navy), but that so many other countries were interested in America’s separation (France, Spain, Prussia, and the Netherlands), that they had pirate ships of their own or were crewing American vessels. Also remember that John Paul Jones attacked the British Navy off the British coast. He gets mad props for his “I have not yet begun to fight,” and destroying the mast of a ship with musketfire from the Scots.
Anyway, I’ll post the pictures here soon.
I then strolled down the Royal Mile, poking my head in a place or two, and then when my legs were weary and I grew tired, I did something I have never done in all my trips to England- I had afternoon tea. I had tea at the Elephant Bar. Nothing spectacular about that, except that it just so happens to be where Harry Potter was brought into the world. It’s a very unassuming place, and I had a small pot of tea (2-3 cups) and a cookie for four pounds. Oh yeah- in that was an “Irn-Bru.” To explain in full detail would take too long, but suffice to say it’s iron soda. Yes. Iron. Swear to the Highest Holy.
(Brief interrupt: There’s a guy on the news, a elderly Scot, who attacked a younger man who was holding up a pair of elderly women as I type this. “Ah saw im, and ah run oop an poonchd im and nokd im oovar, an ee grabbd a bottl, er, aa white wyne bottl, and ee broat it oop like so, an ah blokd im, an poonchd im again…” Freakin’ classic. “Ye kenna be sceered a younguns like tha…”)
I walked home, taking pictures along the way, and crashed at the room. Tonight I was going to the Sheep’s Heid, so I wanted to leave plenty of time. I proceeded to pack my bags, then quickly realized I needed more time to concentrate on the bags. So I read the newspapers I had in my room. They say the same stuff here as they do in the States, it’s just… a little different. They have three parties here (actually, they can have more, but it’s Labour (our centrist Democrats), Tories (our Republicans and conservatives), and the Libera Democratic party (the San Francisco values far-left)). They are lamenting that they are losing seats in the parliament, and have been through four party heads in the last 18 months. Something about radical left policy not being economically feasible and, well, the pathway to communism- something that, unlike in the States, they freely admit. Say something like “You know communism failed, right?” and they’ll reply “They did it wrong.”
I left and took a cab out to the Sheep’s Heid. It’s quaint, but nothing terribly spectacular- except that it was established in 1360. Yes, it was established roughly 647 years ago. Let that twist your mind. It was in this tiny backstreet, in a tiny section of a tiny town a few miles outside of Edinburgh (the town was called Duddington). It was very unassuming, the prices were great compared to in town, the food was decent, and it was just a fabulous place; it would be even better with multiple people. It was decorated like an Appleby’s, y’know, with antiques all over the wall… except the antiques are a little older. The problem was when I finished, I had to walk back (no cabs, and I didn’t have enough cash to afford one if there was one). It was a long walk, nearly an hour, but I made it back safely. It’s really a safe city. Women walking alone everywhere, that’s a pretty good sign there’s little crime.
Anyway, I’m ready to crash. I do wish I could stay longer, and I’m very happy that I’ll get to return with Jenny, but I need to leave here and move onto the next portion of my journey. Tomorrow I have a few more pics to take, then I am to get on a train heading south… roughly 7 hours on the train, so plenty of time to sit and let my legs heal.