What I've done recently:
9/19, my second day in London, I went to the National Gallery, which was pretty and manageable size-wise. Saw a teeny bit of Van Gogh and Renoir and Monet, and a couple by Raphael, so I went home happy. I've been filling a lot of my UK time with museums because they're free and I expect I won't bother to shell out for any when they're not. Museums are all well and good, but I am above all pinching pennies, and wandering around aimlessly is always free. Of course, if I need a place to stay warm and/or dry, I may go crawling back for more "art" and "culture".
I also went to see Troilus and Cressida at the Globe. I paid £5 for a "groundling" spot. I was off to the side, but right near the stage. My neck and back and legs were quite sore by the end, but it was definitely a cool experience to have once. Also, seeing that particular play might well have been once in a lifetime. :)
9/20 - London to Edinburgh
Spent most of the day on a bus. Made friends with a 44 year old Australian guy named Mark. He is also backpacking and travelling around, and he is totally cool. When I got to Edinburgh, I met up with Splinter Eye's dad (also Mark), and his partner Leticia. She is from Mexico, so I had the very traditional Scottish meal of tostadas my first night there.
9/21 - Edinburgh (a day of WALKING)
Met up with Anna Waymack. We toured Edinburgh castle well and thoroughly. It's a right old thing, up on a hill formed by a dormant volcano. Then we had lunch at The Elephant House, a cool local cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first HP book. I tried my first haggis there (along with "neeps and tatties"). It was actually pretty decent. Kind of rich, creamy, salty, and meaty. Not as disturbing as it sounds, though the texture is a bit odd. Then we looked around a really pretty cathedral, then I walked a mile to the Holyrood Palace, recently vacated by the Royal family. Instead of touring it, I went and climbed a mountain behind it. At the top, it was the windiest it has ever been. I think I walked at least 8 miles that day, much of it uphill. By the end, I was pretty wiped out.
9/22 - St. Andrews
Leticia drove me up to this beautiful small town about an hour and a half from Edinburgh. It's home to the 3rd oldest university in the UK, where two of my UWC friends, Jasper and Chike, happen to go. I went hoping that I would meet up with one or both of them, but in the end it didn't work out. I still had a nice time wandering around as all the "freshers" moved in. I went into a very potent smelling cheese shop where a sexy long-haired man worked in front of a large pirate banner that said "Time flies when you're having rum." Truer words were never spoke. I also toured another castle and another cathedral, these in a more ruined state, but also less recently amended by Queen Victoria. That night, upon returning to Edinburgh, I went out to a Scottish pub quiz game with Mark and Leticia. We didn't do too well, but we won a bottle of wine anyway (for coming in second to last). And it was fun.
9/23 - Off to Glasgow
Took another bus. They're starting to blend together for me now. I think I kind of dozed through this one, and it wasn't that long anyway. I had some trouble navigating the city buses once I got to Glasgow. The woman I was staying with (Sarah, married to Tim, mother of very cute 3 year old Ben, 8 months pregnant with another, daughter of a woman my parents apparently know through their synagogue) told me to take a bus and look for a big McDonald's on Pollokshaws road(they're everywhere, by the way). I asked the bus driver when I got on if he was going to that landmark on Paul Shore road or some such thing (not really being familiar with the words I was hearing). He said yes, and I got on. But I missed it when we passed by, and he noticed I was still there a few minutes later. He said "I thought you knew where you were going!" I was like...um, no, not really. So he insisted that I stay on the bus until he found one going the other way, which he then put me on, and told the other driver to make sure I got off at the right stop. He was very sweet, as was the other driver and a passenger I asked. It seems like everyone in Glasgow is always going where you're going. Or maybe they're so nice they pretend they are so they can show you where it is. It's quite funny. But it was embarrassing. And I ended up getting off before the actual stop anyway, because I'm stubborn and independent like that, and I thought I'd seen the street I was looking for. See, in UK cities they always name streets in an area variations of each other, like Savile Road, Savile Gardens, Savile Drive, will all be near each other. So you've got to be vigilant! Don't let the buggers trick you!
Anyway, I made it to their flat eventually, and I spent yesterday and most of today walking around. Mainly because that's what I do, that's how I like to see a city and get its vibe, and also because buses make me nervous (because I don't know how or when to get off, or how much to pay, or what those nutty scottish drivers are saying to me), and because I prefer not to pay the fare if I can manage on foot. Saw some more museums, and walked to the top of a Necropolis. How badass and Heroes of Might and Magic is that? (I just totally outed myself as a former fantasy gaming nerd;)
9/24 - Glasgow to Aberdeen
See above. And now I'm in Aberdeen. This bus ride kind of sucked because I got to the bus scheduled to leave at 5:40 at 5:37. They gave me stern looks, and threw my backpack into the hold before I could take anything entertaining out of it. No book, no journal, no ipod. And I didn't even make a friend. It was kind of a long and lonely 3 hours.
Finally, a note on Scotland:
Scotland has a reputation of being very beautiful. Once you're actually here though, it has more a reputation of being cold and dark and cloudy and grey and drizzly. All of which it is. The thing is, Scotland is pretty in its greyness. I've never appreciated this sort of weather much. It's dreary, and sunshine makes you smile and want to frolic outside. But there is something very special about the cloudy sky here. It goes on forever, the clouds are absolutely massive, and alive, and complicated. That, coupled with the green landscape, the fields and the mountains, and I kind of know what I was looking for here. Also, I think I could live in Edinburgh or Glasgow, although they're very different. I'm really looking forward to going into the proper countryside in the next few days. For now, I get to see what UK uni. life is like. :)
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