Edinburgh Arrival

#arrival

June 10, 2014 

After connections through Houston, Denver, Boston, and Newark my plane landed in Edinburgh, Scotland at 7:55 this morning to a beautiful 65 degree day with intermittent sun and rain. The 35-minute bus ride to my hostel was (in my opinion) too short to take in all the scenery - navigating left side of the road driving, the huge houses (by our standards) and people watching boarding and getting off the bus.

My drop off at Waverly Station was the last on the bus route. Waverly is equivalent to Grand Central Train station in New York and is a hub of non-stop commotion. It is 4:42 a.m my time and my body knows it but I cannot check into the local hostel for another two hours so I proceed to do some limited sight-seeing - limited in the fact that there are several hills I have to walk up and down with a 50 pound suitcase in tow and carry- on luggage.

My initial impression of Scotland is that the research and pictures I've seen and familiarized myself with do not do justice to seeing this place in person. Edinburgh is beyond beautiful. It is filled with stunning, massive, and historical architecture that reminds you of royalty at every turn.

The city itself looks and sounds like a mecca of non-stop activity - stores, trains,

Scott Monument 

tourists, restaurants, taxis, and food everywhere - surrounded by historical architecture. The people surrounding the area I'm in are thus far friendly and inviting striking up conversation because you aren't moving like the flow of walking traffic on the sidewalk. Through all the excitement of FINALLY being here, I realize in hind sight I did everything that my pre-departure classes told me not to do that essentially makes me stand out as a tourist. I stop and take pictures of EVERYTHING, I stand in front of monolithic buildings star struck, and I ask strangers to take my pictures while I leave my luggage with in eye distance. 

I take a breather at the restaurant on the bottom floor of St. Christopher's Hostel* and order a "traditional English breakfast described to me as double eggs, toast, bacon, roasted tomatoes, beans, and toast. It's interesting and different. There is no salt and pepper for my eggs, no butter for my toast, bacon is softly cooked, the sausage has the texture of sausage but not in taste, and the pork-n-beans which I am expecting to be sweet are definitely not. It's a bland tasting breakfast but filling and with my hostel stay, I receive discounts for eating here. 

Traditional English Breakfast 

After

 breakfast and some 


reading in the common 

area, I check in and crash and burn going straight to sleep since my body is still on US time. For the record, going straight to sleep is also another "no, no" as it doesn't allow your body to get used to a new time zone. As a result I was up at 8p.m. with enough energy to take in the local jazz/hip hop festival happening 3 blocks up the road.  As fate would initiate me into Scotland by allowing me to be an adult - aka staying up past 9 p.m., I'm sure I'll reflect on tonight's late night adventure in the morning when I can't stay awake. Happy travels!

Downtown Edinburgh 

Downtown Edinburgh 

*hostel - hostels are establishments that provide lodging for groups of people for travelers such as myself. Typically you are sharing a room with several people (as small as 6, as large as 16) with a common area for gathering, cooking your food, and storing luggage. Hostels are much less in cost - anywhere between £5 to £25 pounds ($8.58 to $42.00 USD) depending on the season and area. Most are co-ed though some tailor to male/female only, college students, even age groups.