Edinburgh and Belfast. Again
This here is the lovely city of Edinburgh. I went here with Clifton, a friend from San Francisco who is actually British and was here visiting some family. We arrived on Wednesday and although we only spent one night here I think it was enough. Edinburgh is a lovely lovely city. And very small. Not a whole lot to do. We went up to the castle and poked around, looking at the crown jewels while we were there. Also went to St Giles Cathedral that had a crazy lady inside who I am pretty sure worked there but you can never be certain. On Thursday we went to the The Real Mary Kings Close which is the old city literally underneathe the current city. It was easier for the town to build on the old buildings than tear them down so you can walk underneathe ground level and see the old streets and apartments people used to live in. It was pretty crazy. This is also where there are lots and lots of ghosts, although I didn't see any. We also walked around Prince Street, climbed to the top of a spiky monument in the center of town which was quite high (and snowing!) and then went saw the Nelson Monument and the Sir Walter Scott Monument, both of which are on top of a hill on the opposite side of the city. It is here where I took this picture, one of my favorites ever I think...
Thursday night off to Belfast to see Stinky. We had him take us to Giants Causeway which is where a volcano erupted and spewed lava into the sea. What is left is hexegonal formations on the coast and beautiful scenery. I really enjoyed going there and it even stopped raining long enough for us to walk about and take in the sites.
Came home on Saturday and now I am just waiting for school to end so I can go back to Ireland and then France! Stinky and I will go to Dublin while I am there and then when I get back I am off to Paris for a few days. Have I mentioned yet that I love living here???
posted by Amber @ 5:35 AM
4 Comments:
Are you sure that you're actually in school? It seems like you're on a perpetual vacation!
All that traveling sounds fun. We missed you here on Thanksgiving...but there's always next year!
I have always loved Edinburg. I think St. Giles Church is the one with the gorgeous stained glass windows; they were a revelation to me. We went to Sir Walter Scott's home, which is near Edinburg, and enjoyed that very much. I visited the Giants Causeway web site; had never heard of that place and I think it's spectacular; would like to visit it.
Glad you're having such a nice time while "over there".
Mom
When you make it to Glasgow (and I'm sure you will, what with all your free time!), make sure you check out the Charles Renne Mackintosh library (at the university?). It is a temple to the arts-and-crafts movement. Beautiful light fixtures, tables, chairs, windows... the whole shebang. I have heard it's fantastic. Remember the Wiliam Morris exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum? Like that only better.
Ade
Agilent/HP had a big factory in Edinburgh (sure they still do) so I got lots of free trips. I can agree with the "not much to do" comment however after about 10 beers you can finally understand what the Scots are saying :-) Did you eat any haggis? Can you really say you've been to Scotland without eating some?
How is the marathon training going? Not much mention of it - still planning on running? Or have you finally discovered that thing called "winter" - you know the season we really don't have in California :-) And defintely not in Hawaii. Last week I went to the Bay Area where it was literally freezing. When I got back to Hawaii it was cloudy, windy, raining and still 50 degrees warmer. I say if you can't swim in the ocean without a wet suit in February its just time to move.
Glad you like living in Europe. Take more pictures of people, fewer of buildings. That is my big brother advice for the day - that and eat some haggis.
Love
-paul
Post a Comment
<< Home