Edinburgh @ MindSay

Hey guys just a quickish one.
Edinburgh was amazing, the ghost tour scared the total shit out of me, but it was well worth it. Then yesterday, Darren, Lyndon (the two aussie guys from the back packers), Juels and i hired a car and drove up to Loch Ness (to visit Nessie of course!) and then all around the west coast and central scotland! It was absolutly amazing! We drove through beautiful snow covered mountains and amazing forrests. It was absolutly breathtaking! We played eye-spy and the 'animal game' and all sorts of driving games. An we pretty much just chatted the whole time! It was awesome! in all we drove 400miles yesterday...you work it out in Km's. It was a long day but it was awesome!
Thismorning we dragged ourselves out of bed and began to journey to the picturesque Lake District in Cumbria. We left Edinburgh on an 11am train and headed to Carlisle, and got there at about 12.20. Here's where we encountered our issue! We had no where to stay, we discovered that the youth hostel we were planning on staying at is only open in the summer holidays! Great! So then we had to plan the next bit of our journey, in the cold and freezing rain of course! Just to make things more fun! Eventually we decided that there was a place to stay in Ambleside. So we were off! We caught a train first to a place called Oxen..something, then another train to Windemere, and finally a bus to Ambleside. What cxan i say about this part of England other than WOW! It is absolutly amazing, and soo beautiful! Were staying at a gorgeous backpackers, its really cute and homey and has an amazing view of the mountain range! We are situated on the edge of a lake in a valey surrounded by massive beautiful mountains. Its amazing! Tomorrow were heading up to a place called Ullswater, where i hope to look for an old friend of my parents, Mr Tarry, who was the man who suggested my name to my parents - very personal connection! Then we hope to see the famous Daffodills, there are millions of them. Were talking whole fields of flowers, it must be breathtaking! I cant wait! All i have to do, is find out how the hell to get there! But that comes tomorrow, for now its just rest and peace for me! Then in two days, it's off to Blackpool for some good old fun, drinking and amusement parks!
Hope youre all well! xxx

Theres so much to write I don’t really know where to start.
How’s about…a little town in upstate New York, early in the morning of the 17th of December. I start here because this was the day that it all began. The day that was the beginning of my adventure to the motherland – that’s the United Kingdom, just in case.

I left school early; well it was about midday before we left but after a long night of celebrations for the completion of exams that’s early!! So we got on the road, I managed to find a ride to the city, as I was flying out of JFK. The drive wasn’t long and I was in good company so things started well, but if there is one thing I hate about traveling it would have to be the hours you spend doing absolutely nothing (except maybe reading a trashy magazine) waiting in airports. Oh the things you got to do to travel the world. Such a small price to pay I would say!!

So finally later that night I boarded a plane bound solely for one of the fastest paced cities in the world, London!!
I arrived early the next morning, feeling surprisingly refreshed for having been confined up in a tiny economy class seat for the previous 6 hours. Has anyone ever walked out to the arrivals lounge in Heathrow airport because the feeling I had was like I was a new born puppy being put on display in a large glass cage. Its nuts you walk out and there are people hanging over every inch of space there is to snatch the first sight of the unknowing innocent people getting off their planes. I felt the urge to bust out a dance or something – but you will all be happy to hear I restrained myself and held back!!

I was picked up by one of my really good friends from home’s parents, who now live in greater London, which was nice to see a familiar face as opposed to the many unfamiliar. I went from there and spent a few wonderful days catching up with them and a few of my other friends and people that I knew that lived in London, even managed to bump into a couple of unsuspecting on Bond Street as well, small world aye!! Was awesome to hang out for a while and not have to worry about the daily things of school and training, and I really got to relax for the first time in a while. Great feeling. Next on my list of travels was a flight to Edinburgh to see my sister – it had certainly been a while but when I saw her nothing looked much different. She looks great and was so glad to see her. We spent all of that afternoon, night and a large portion of the morning chatting away over a few beverages just catching up.
From there once work was finished (for them not me) and all xmas parties had been attended to we hit the road and drove down to my grandparents place in Southport in Northern England. This was cool, it was the first time I had seen my grandparents since I was much younger and also my brother came up and the three of us kids spent xmas with our English cousins, it was weird but cool, because we are all grown up now and hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
Christmas day was wicked. We had a huge feast, I say feast here instead of just dinner or meal because that’s exactly what it was – a feast of massive proportions I think there were 5 courses in all. I was stuffed full after that, we rounded off the afternoon by playing that game; I never am sure what it is called, where you write names on paper and stick it to their foreheads and then they have to guess who they are by asking questions that can only have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. This was a great way to entertain all the family – a game for all ages. Once the oldies retired to their beds, the younger generation of James’ headed out to the pubs to dance off their xmas dinners, mind you I think we might have burned off more than that as we walked the whole way home after the pubs closed. I think it took us over an hour, though on any given day I’ve been told it takes less than 20minutes!!



On the 26th – Boxing Day to those of us from ‘down under’ – my sister, her boyfriend, one of her friends that has just moved to Edinburgh and I all set off once again in the car, this time however our destination was Newcastle to board the Duke of Scandinavia en route to Holland, Amsterdam in fact. After a extremely rough crossing where many were only just managing to hold down their xmas dinners from the night before, we spent the next three nights in a hostel right in the center of Amsterdam. The country is so beautiful I could hardly believe it. It was so different to what I thought it might be. We spent our days walking the canal-lined streets and window shopping and marveling at the buildings that looked more like they belonged next to the leaning tower of Pisa rather than on a quiet street in Holland. It was amazing how these buildings stood up, apparently we learnt that they were built on very soft soil due to the moisture from the canal water and so gradually the soil is moving and therefore they are moving with them. By night we walked the infamous red light district and saw some sights you would never see in up-state New York.  But like I said the city is amazingly beautiful and the people are so nice and friendly!!


It was back to Edinburgh on New Years Eve, after a much nicer and not so rough return crossing on the Duke. Had an awesome time with my sister and some of her friends that were staying in Edinburgh for a visit. A couple of them had just got engaged and so there was a double celebration to be had!! We headed for the huge street party – hogmany. One of the biggest in the world for New Years Eve I think!! There was so many people, such an awesome experience. I almost got lost but managed to find my way back to the pub we were planning to meet back at and sure enough everyone was there.



After a crazy time after Christmas and during new years I headed south and back into the empire land and to Birmingham, well actually kind of south of Birmingham, a little brand new village type setting called Solihul.
That is where my older brother, Scott works. He got a job from London about 6 months ago and moved north to take the job and its ins quite a cool little place actually. Very different to anything else I have experienced in England, a very new, modern little place where everything looks the same. It seems as though it should be part of the countryside, and kind of is if you go more than 5 minutes out of the center, but has the feeling of a cute little township!! After much good food, and a little tiki touring around the mid section of the motherland I jumped the 9am bus down to London and managed a flight out of Heathrow and before I knew it I was back in NYC jumping yet another train upstate to head back to school.

Looking back I can’t believe how fast time flew by, and how much I managed to jam pack into my little 3 week tour. I loved the time and the experience and more than anything being able to hang out and catch up with my sister and brother again!!

Well I guess this is it for me for the time being, I hope you have all enjoyed the travels with me as I have taken you about the life of a upstate NY liberal arts college student, who spends more of her time submerged in water rather than standing dry on land!!

I wish you all well in your travels as they continue through life and I leave with just one piece of advice….. – just do it! Whatever the cost the benefits will far outweigh it in the long run!!
Travel safe and I look forward to reading the experiences of the new season!!
Kez

I made my first grilled cheese sandwich in England today! I'd been meaning to make one for the past three weeks but was always too lazy but today - after Neighbors - I made one! And all the English people in my flat watched in fascination, insisting they had never seen one before! Or at least, not one made before. It was funny. And tasty. ::pats belly in satisfactions::

So... to Scotland! Saturday, 23 Oct.

I got up super early to move my bags and check into my room at my new hotel - The Royal Scots Club. You would think, because of the name, that the hotel would be fabulous but it really wasn't. It was so posh it was poor! As in poor service and poor everything. I've figured the best hotels are the mid-priced ones because they're not so posh as to ignore you and not so poor as to have a reason to ignore you. Anyway.

My first stop was Rosslyn Chapel. If you've read The Da Vinci Code or have an interest in churches, architecture or art history, then you know what I'm talking about. Damnit. I wish I had the cord for my camera to show my pictures! Anyhoo - the place was absolutely gorgeous and yet very small. And it had technical equipment surrounding it because they had just finished filming the Da Vinci Code movie there with Tom Hanks and Audrey Toutou (sp?). Personally I think George Clooney would've been better for the main character but whatever... I spent my time there with a group of old American ladies on a literary tour. (laugh now).

They were wondefully nice ladies, really. They told me about all the places they'd gone (including the bridge from the HP:POA movie! Haha! I had yet another reason to put HP in my tags! It'll be like that for at least the next three weeks, by the way.) So I toured the chapel with them. It only took about a half hour and then we were ready to go. They ended up wanting to go to Edinburgh castle, and I was on my way to Camera Obscura which is, like, right next door to the castle, so we trekked up the Royal Mile together, taking another quick peek inside the Mueseum of Childhood. And I also stopped to buy my ticket to the Edinburgh Dungeon (that story later).

So I went to Camera Obscura. If you don't know what that is, look it up because I don't feel like explaining it and I don't have enough time because I'm going with my flat to see Wallace & Gromit. Anyway. We got to spy on the town. Haha - it was the BEST. Really. And I got a discount off the already cheap price cause it was foggy outside but it still worked and was cool. This is an especially great place to take children, who'll for sure have more fun than the adults, but there's 3 floors dedicated to illusions and tricks of the eye and other visual tricks. It's a very neat place to go.

After that I walked down to the Edinburgh Dungeon but stopped at two art galleries. They're not places you would find in a guide book but they were cozy and lovely with some really nice stuff in them. Then again, I like art. If you don't, I don't suggest going there. Now to the exciting part of my day!

Edinburgh Dungeon

Now, I haven't been to London Dungeon yet so I don't know if they're all the same and if you know me, I've got a liking for the macabre. Yes, it's unbelievable, I know, but it's true. So the first part of the dungeon is a mirrored labyrinth. At first glance, you think you're in a room with a lot of stone arches before you realize "oh no! it's all mirrors!" It really is a frightening feeling because you can't trust your eyes to help you. So, going very slow, I touched my way through the first little bit before realizing, dur, if I see my reflection it's a mirror! Until you get further in and the mirrors go to angles where you don't see yourself. Which is when things like this happen:

So I'm by myself here, okay? And I'm getting a little worried that I won't get out in time so I start going faster. Suddenly, I think I see a long hallway that opens at the end to a new room. So I pick up my pace more. I keep watching out for my reflection but it's not in front of me - it's on either side, supporting my belief that this was a hallway. Until I ran smack into the mirror! I ran into it so hard, I bounced off and fell on my arse. It was reflecting a reflection! I was so mad, and yet, amused at the same time. It was really brilliant. Then I moved slow again and finally made it into the next room: Torture.

The actor in the torture chamber asked for a volunteer and got one and then pulled out a creepy tool and waved it in front of us (you go in groups of about 20) and says "Can anybody tell me what this is for? If none of you know, I shall demostrate on my volunteer and if any of you do know...well, I'll still demonstrate on my volunteer." The adults laughed and the children hid behind the adults. So a couple of people speak up, with the wrong answers, and finally, having seen the device before, I speak up. "It's for pulling peoples' tongues out," I say. The actor runs up to me, shoves the tool in my face and he shouts. "YES YES YES! How did you know that? You use it frequently?" Of course, I nodded.

Next was something I can't remember. Then the medical lab (a la Knox - look him up in Edinburgh history to understand this). Now, the new actor is on stage with a fake cadaver and starts wildly going on about how exciting human dissection is. Then all of sudden he says "All I need know is my lovely assistant! Now where did she go?" and he starts looking around and then stops, looking in my general direction. "Elspeth! There you are! Come on, come on, we haven't got all day now!" And we're all looking around, thinking there's another actor, and I'm twisted in my seat when I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around and HE'S THERE. I screamed a little. You have to understand, these actors are scarily enthusiastic and wearing creepy makeup.

So the man hauls me up on stage, pretending I'm his assistant Elspeth. So I go along because everyone knows I delight in entertaining and being the center of attention. Anyway. He starts going through the inside of the body, shouting things like "Where's the liver at? Elspeth do you know where the liver is? Oh, wait! I got it! Get a hold of that Elspeth and yank as hard as you can!" So, I only see a brown thing and so I yank and it flies out of the cadaver and across the room! So I ran to go get it and then I got a good look at it and it was a sandwich. So the doctor pretends to take a bite and then moves on. We did a bit more on stage, but nothing as exciting as sending a sandwich found inside a dead guy flying across the room.

The rest of the dungeon was exciting and fun and entertaining as well. I had a great time, really.

And then I went back to my hotel and went to sleep so that I could wake up super early the next day to catch my train out of Edinburgh and back to London!

The End. (haha)

Hey, I managed to have another entry with Harry Potter being a legitimate tag. :P More on that later. And this will be a long entry, entirely devoted to my trip to Scotland.

So, how did I get to Edinburgh? Took a train from Colchester to London (1 hour), take the underground (bus on the way back) from Liverpool Station to King's Cross station (which looks almost nothing like it does in the HP movies, I was so disappointed! But it did have the clock and the cooly ceiling and was very nice) and then take the train from King's Cross to Waverly in the center of Edinburgh (5-6 hours, depending on the number of stops).

I arrived mid-afternoon on Thursday and, after hitching a cab to my hotel (the Murrayfield Hotel - very lovely, if you plan on going to Edinburgh, I suggest you check it out, it's high quality for average pricing, but the Royal Scots Club was horrible and expensive so don't ever stay there - I had to stay there Saturday night because of booking mistakes). Where was I? Oh, after going to my hotel, I collected about a half-dozen maps of Edinburgh and made my way out to explore the city. Lucky for me there was a bus stop right in front of my hotel and the buses in Scotland go everywhere. Really.

Later that night, I made plans for what I was to do the next day since the trip to Scotland was very sudden. As in the decision was made the night before I left. Talk about a spontaneous vacation, right?

Friday:
I got up early and went to Edinburgh Castle first, not only because it's at the top of the Royal Mile (and pretty much all the attractions are on or very close to the Royal Mile) but also because it the first touristy thing to open, at 9:30. Everything else didn't open till 10:30 - and by the way all the touristy places are closed by 5pm, except for the graveyard/catacomb tours (more on that later). The Castle was nice and everybody should see it at least once even though it was ridiculously expensive. I met a group of Kiwis (4 of them plus one Aussie, hehe) there, from Dunedin (so, naturally I told them about you Jon) and they seemed to think we had this sudden connection and were instant buddies because they followed me around for the rest of the day. 0_o

They were rather rowdy, though, and so I admit, while I did like them, I did try to ditch them a couple of times but it proved to be impossible. I still managed to see what I wanted to see because they were all following me. So, me and my Kiwis went to the Museum of Scotland (very cool, with a lot of neat old stuff if you like that kinda thing - which I do - and the museums here are free so you should go anyway!). Then we went to the Museum of Childhood (a fast trip b/c it's small but it's free and cute so I suggest you go). We also checked out St. Giles, the Tron Kirk, and another cathedral whose name I can't remember right now. The only cathedral still used for worship is St. Giles (right? or is the one whose name I can't remember? Oh, I suck at guide thingys, don't I?)

Walking down the Royal Mile, we checked out a lot of cute shops (lots of kilt shops and whiskey shops). We walked all the way down to Holyroodhouse Palace (where the queen stays during... July and August, I believe.), which wasn't expensive and definitely worth the look. It was gorgeous. And it had the most wonderful view of King Arthur's Seat (a mountain to the right of it) and Calton hill (to the left). The only bad thing was the front view which was of the Scottish Parliament house, which is an ugly piece of modern architecture which doesn't fit in with the town at all. It was horrible.

Then we walked up to Prince's Mall, because it had began to rain more heavily and decided to see a movie. We went to Serenity and it was awesome! I LOVE SERENITY. It's my favorite new movie. Anyway, the theater we were in was a special one I guess because it had a bar so we all got drinks (I got one Bacardi Breeze while the Kiwis and Aussie had about 20 beers between them all and so they got trashed and even more rowdy). After the movie, I finally successfully abandoned the crazy Kiwis :P It was late anyway so I picked up some carry-out from an Indian place and went back to my hotel to eat and get ready for the cemetary tour I bought tickets for for later that night.

The Cemetary of the Dead cemetary tour. It was voted by Fox News as one of the scariest places on earth. I'm not sure I entirely agree. Wait - let me start at the beginned because you're not going to believe this. I arrived, bundled up nicely because I was in Scotland and it's cold there (haha) and who do I see? THE KIWIS. And their Aussie friend. Wearing flip-flops and bermuda shorts nonetheless! I told you they were crazy. Anyway, I must've mentioned the tour to them eariler because they met me there and greeted me by lifting me off the ground in a bone-crushing hug. How lovely. At least if I ever visit New Zealand, I'll have people to stay with. Back to the topic (I always seem to go off tangent, don't I?)

The cemetary tour was decent. The Kiwis and a group of drunk old women made it interesting and fun and even scary at times. The guide was plenty entertaining (if possible - ask for the only non-Scottish guide - she's hilarious!) and even managed to make us feel a bit creeped out when we reached the cemetary. Now - the part of the graveyard with a poltergeist - it's locked off. So she unlocked it, let us in, and locked the gate behind us. It's very loud - remember this later.

As we walked into the haunted part, there were tombs and stuff everywhere and the guide told us to stick together because the poltergeist was violent and might try to split us up. After prying one of the drunk Kiwis off my arm, I lagged behind to see what would happen. Nothing did. I did get a good look inside all the tombs, looking for actors and stuff and didn't see any. Remember this later as well.

Then the guide packed us all into a tiny tomb and began to tell the tale of why the poltegeist was here and some of the things it had done. I was by the door to the tomb and so when the guide suddenly stepped out of the doorway and into the tomb, I got a little nervous. Why? This is why: an actor jumped in and shouted "BOO!" How lame, right? Right, but it was still scary as hell because 1) there was no place in that part of the graveyard he could have hid without us noticing and 2) we didn't hear the gate screech open. And so I screamed my head off and jumped backwards.

I suggest the Mary King's Close tour instead. This was sorta lame but you're welcome to try it out.

Tomorrow I'll type what I did Saturday just to keep this from being too long and because I'm tired of typing.

Oh, and after the tour I went back to my hotel and went to sleep. Nothing exciting there :)

I'm taking a train out of King's Cross (HARRY POTTER! sorry, I'm preparing for the big event in two weeks, hehe) in London tomorrow and heading off to Edinburgh. I don't want to get into it but my trip to Dublin has been pushed to mid-November and Scotland moved up to now. Oh, well, I still wanted to see Edinburgh anyway.

The point of this entry, anyway, is to tell those of you who keep up with it (and those I respond to regularly, lol) that I'll be gone from tomorrow (Thursday! Already!) until Sunday. I think my train comes in at about 2pm Sunday but there's stuff I'm doing then anyway. I still have to finish Moby Dick, which is one of my least favorite books. McTeague is my absolute least favorite, by the way.

I'm dead tired and everything I'm typing is probably pointless. Meh.

PS: I have "Harry Potter" in my tags again. Buwahaha.