Day 20: Sunday October 30th, 2011.
I got up, forgot about daylight savings time, but gained an hour of sleep, even if it didn’t feel that way. Not a ton happens this day, at least not much good, so I’ll try and make it quick.
I walked the Water of Leith as recommended by Lynn, walking up this river that flows through Edinburgh into the town of Stockbridge. The trail is a fun, picturesque Northwest-y oasis in a bustling city. I stumble upon an awesome little farmer’s market and buy three different meat pies (LOVE meat pies): one is a venison pie, the other is a mixed game pie (pheasant, quail, etc.) and the cream of the crop is…
squabbit pie. Yeah, I ate squirrel and rabbit pie. It wasn’t very good, but the other two pies were and basically was my nutrition, or lack thereof, for that day. I walk around Stockbridge, then back to Edinburgh. The walk made me homesick, but also made me appreciate Edinburgh even more. In a couple days it’s vaulted to the top of my favorite cities I’ve travelled thus far (stay tuned for city/town rankings). It’s the first city I could see living in, though there are others I wouldn’t have minded either. It has a great sense of history, Scotsmen and kilts (I would’ve bought one if I had room and if I had never met Foster), is a good size, has a lot to do, and is near breathtaking scenery. Of course, later that night Edinburgh would reward me by fucking me over.
From there I walked to Arthur’s Seat and the Holyrood Palace (an fucking ornate palace for the Queen of England, who actually doesn’t even stay there when she comes to Scotland). I was too exhausted to actually walk up the seat, but it’s this massive hill overlooking Edinburgh. Arthur’s Seat is mentioned as one of the possible locations of Camelot, but that’s probably horseshit.
At a random mini mart, I get a blast in the past in the form of FIVE ALIVE, a five juice medley drink that I had discovered in Ithaca on orientation. The one I got tasted like shit. It wasn’t quite the Brahma moment, but still sad.
I check out the free ghost tour at 5, but only four people show on the day before Halloween (it must blow), so it’s cancelled. The guy tells me this twice and I didn’t understand him, even in English. The scottish accent rules. I decide to go on a literary pub crawl, but not enough people show again, so it’s also cancelled. I take it as an omen and go back to my hostel in preparation for my 3 day Highland tour that starts bright and early.
Next: MacBackpackers 3-Day Isle of Sky tour!