Dublin To Scotland

We arrived in Edinburgh around eleven at night and there was no information stand open so we tried to figure out a bus route to get to our couchsurfing host`s home not too far away but nothing worked out because of the time of night it was. So Tyson made a phone call to a number that he thought was hers to say that we would be spending the night at the airport and that we would be going to her place the next night. We found out half way through the next day that he had accidentally called my friend in Dublin to leave this confusing message and our host was not sure what had happened to us. We layed out our things and slept on the familiar airport floor. Very early the next morning a security guard woke us up and poilitely suggested that we be on our way. We intended to listen but it did not work out that way and we ended up sleeping about four more hours on the seats nearby. After a good rest, we caught the city bus, paid some pounds and got into the city. We spent the first day exploring the Scottish tourist shops full of fake bag pipes, kilts, plaid products and keychains. We went to the Scottish Parliament building that is fairly new and very innovative in design and ideas. The design was created by a Spanish architect to reflect the images of the nature around the building as well as to incorporate some of the history of the land and its peoples. There was an exhibition on display from worldpress which was the results of their competition for 2011. They had chosen the top three photographs in several different categories from photographers from around the world. It was absolutely amazing. We spent many hours walking around and reading about the different stories and then gazing at the images that prove and reflect the writing. The subjects of some of the photographs were world events such as the tsunami in Japan, the war in Afghanistan, Syria and other poor countries, the economic collapse and the loss of housing for people in the United States, the poaching of innocent and endangered animals for sport or financial gains, the unjust behaiviors of countries such as Iran with their `justice system``, poverty throughout third world countries and mass murders. The photographs that these professionals have managed to capture regardless of danger to their person is remarkable. The pain and hardship caught on the faces of so many individuals was so haunting that I could not look away. These are just a few of the events of merely one year. It was a lot of heavy thinking material but a great exhibition that I will not likely forget.

We also took a one hour tour of the actual building where a knowledgable man took us around and explained everything from the material used, the meaning and hidden concepts of the building to the judicial system of the governing body. Scotland is still a part of the United Kingdom and their official parliament is still in Westmister Abby but there are many people who want independance and there is an upcoming referendom in 2014 to decide this. Thay have a great open system at present where the public can watch debates and visit the parliament with tours when they like. The outdoor area is also very nice with a few small pools of water. One of them was filled with children playing in the water. Tyson was trying to soak his stinky feet when one thing lead to another and we got into a full blown water fight. I believe that I won that fight since I only got a few spots wet, but he was soaked. When Tyson went to try to call our host to set up a meeting spot, he realized that he had dialed the wrong number the last night so he had to explain the situation to her. She was easy going about it and we agreed to meet at an address at eight pm. We head up the Royal Mile which is the famous tourist street from the Edinburgh castle to the Queen`s residence known as Hollyrood House. We visited this house after our time in the parliament building. We passed the Edinburgh castle but it was closed for the day so we only took photos from the outside. We stopped to eat and buy a load of groceries before heading to our meeting spot. When we found the address, there was only a small plain door so we thought we had the wrong place. We got lead to the other end of the street which ended up being wrong as well. We called our host again who told us to just meet her at the National Museam of Scotland so we again walked all the way near to where we were to meet her. We waited nearly an hour before I asked about the old address we had and someone gave us some better directions. I waited at the museam in case she came there, while Tyson went to the restaurant to see if he could find her. As soon as Tyson left a young guy came over to talk to me and was kind of wierd but helped to pass the time. When Tyson came back, he left but when Tyson left again, he came back. Long story-a bit shorter- we both eventually head to the restaurant where a Couchsurfing gathering was taking place and waited there for our host. She did eventually get there and we met a lot of people that night. We met a Ukranian girl who was working in a souvenier shop and offered us a discount at her shop, an American travelling Europe for a year as well as several others. There were quite a few people there and we stayed for quite a while. We left with our host and took the bus back to her place a few miles away.

Our host is a young woman who is working on her PhD in history and is also the leader of the local Green Peace group. She taught us a great deal about peace and war, environmental concerns and the history of the Scottish people. There were posters, quotes, stickers and photos all over her house that pointed out different catastrophes and information that related to her interests and they were all very thought provoking. The group are currently working on many projects including trying to get Shell Oil to stop drilling in the Arctic.

After a big spaghetti and tomato sauce dinner, we slept.

The next morning we played with our host`s two cats, ate breakfast and walked into town via a very beautiful hike. Our host had taken a four hour train ride to London for a green peace meeting and would not be home until midnight so we did not see her that day. The hike was called the Seat and it was not too difficult but it still made us pant a bit. At the top there were beautiful views all around of the gorgeous city. It was a crowded day since apparently before we arrived the weather had been a bit crap. We walked back down the other side of the mountain into town. We went to the National Museam of Scotland which is one of the biggest and most detailed museam of all time. Funny enough, we felt very old because very common childhood toys of ours such as the original Nintendo were on display along with Sony Discmans and Walkmans. We spent the rest of the day at the museam but did not even see half of it. It was very interactive with games and films about certain subjects. We played an awful lot of games including competitive ones, video games, trivia games and informative ones. Some of the subjects we learned about were animals, space, history of communication, technology and environmental subjects. We learned that our carbon footprint for this year is astronimical and the only way to pay society back is to sit in a dark hut for the rest of eternity. As I was passing by a steam powered hydrolic machine, I stopped to investigate it further when a repair man inside popped his head out. I jumped and panicked and waved my hands at him to get away. It freaked me out more than I can say and the only reason I did not scream was because the wind got knocked out of me with fright. He was extremely regretful and appologetic but Tyson on the other hand thought it was a free comedy show and nearly died of laughter for a full fifteen minutes following the event in addition to sporadic periods of laughter until now. After we got kicked out of the museam several times because they were closed we stopped to buy more food from the grocery store. It took us a long time to decide what we wanted and we bought a lot of junk food with nothing healthy. We walked to the nearby Starbucks to check our emails when we decided that Tyson should go back and get another bag of chips because we were not fat enough. We walked towards home but stopped at another viewpoint up Calton hill. There were many monuments on top of this hill including one for Scotland, an observatory and so on. When we got to the top we noticed about a dozen photographers taking photos. We looked in the distance to see what was so special other than the beautiful sunset but we saw nothing. So I had to ask but it turns out that it was just a photography course. As we walked back to the house, my precious sandal broke once again. It was devastating but Tyson assures me that it is fixable and I hope that he is right. We watched Beverly Hills Cop and ate the same pasta dinner that night before bed.

The next morning we planned to be up at seven am but the alarm got silenced many times until after nine. We finally got into town just before a walking tour was about to start. We took the same tour as we did in Amsterdam and it was very good. During the three hour walking tour, our guide took us all over the city and shared very wierd, interesting and disgusting stories with us along the way. He taught us that some time ago, a thief or other criminal would be nailed to a monument in the center of town by his ear and people would throw things at them. The only way to get out of it would be to rip one`s ear off while losing a part of it and labelling them a criminal forever which carried great social stigma with it. We learned about some of the famous writers that came from Scotland such as Robbie Burns, the author of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde and JK Rowling. We learned about the public executions including the story of Margaret Dickeins who has a pub named after her. She was convicted of having an illigitimate baby and concealing its death, they publically hung her but it turns out she survived. There was also the story of two men who mass murdered hundreds of people by suffocation to sell the bodies to the local medical school. They made a lot of money before one sold the other out and they got caught. One was hung and the other got six months imprisonment. This created a great underground of stealing bodies from graves and selling them soon after they were burried. People were forced to watch over their loved ones bodies at night and this is where the term `graveyard shift`` comes from. We also heard the story of Greyfriars Bobby which is about a dog that stayed loyal to its master even after death. It is a very popular Scottish story about this dog who sat by its owners grave stone everyday of its life. There are statues and references to this dog everywhere you look in the city. There is also a story of a famous carpenter and locksmith named Deacon Brodie who lived a foul life by night. This is where the story of Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde comes from. He would copy the keys he created for rich families and then sneak into their homes to steal from them at night. Eventually he gets caught in the story but not before he was made the head of the investigating team meant to catch the famous thief.

In the times of the past, Edinburgh was very poor and the living conditions were atrocious. People lived in multi level buildings with the poorest people on the top because it was the most dangerous. The buildings were made of wood and fires, mold and other toxins were not uncommon. People had no bathrooms so they would relieve themselves in cups and throw it out the window. The would shout out a special saying `Gadyloo`and then throw. Apparently the term ``shitfaced`` comes from when people were stumbling home from the bar late at night and someone would shout `gadyloo`and the drunk person would look up to see where the sound came from and...yeah shitfaced. Many great stories were told during the tour including a brief telling of the history of the Royal Family and the role of religion within the country. Both subjects very touchy and powerful. We also stopped at the very popular Elephant Cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote some little books called the Harry Potter series. She could not afford the cost to heat her home during the daytime so it was cheaper for her to buy one cup of coffee for the day and that`s what she did. The cafe now shamelessly flaunts this fact and people love it. The tour was based on tips so we paid the guy some money and took off to the money museam.

The National Bank of Scotland was the first bank to print actual notes in the world, prior to that there were only coins. The money here is actually quite funny because each of the three major banks print off their own currencies which are all different from the one printed in London and Northern Ireland. Although all are accepted at all the stores and worth the same amount, some trouble can arise. Inside the museam we saw a million pounds in notes, we also saw how coins are made, we got to practise building a bank as well as breaking into a vault. Tyson broke the combination and we both got chocolate coins so we were happy. Inside the museam, we looked out the window and saw that it was raining cats and dogs, by the time we left, it was clear and sunny again. This happened a few times throughout our four days in the country. After the museam we went back to the Edinburgh castle and took some photos before going back to the National museam for the second time. We explored some more, watching films about natural disasters and looking at exhibits about poaching. It was very interactive and informative. Again, we got kicked out a second time due to time but we still did not get a chance to see everything. I would need a full week just for the museam to get a good look at everything.

After picking up some more groceries for the night, we walked back to the apartment and cooked another pasta dinner. We spent a few hours chatting with our host about the history of family tartans and crests and she told us that less than half a percent of Scottish families have actual crests or tartans handed to them from the Royal family due to heroic actions or wealth. The other vast majority of people never got them but the marketting companies created crests and tartans for people so that they could sell them products more easily. It was hilarious because many of the family names advertising crests were not even Scottish names but tourists were buying the stuff like crazy, convinced that the stories they were told were true whereas most of the families were ordinary people. She has studied history for a very long time so she shared some very interesting things.

The next day we slept in a bit and walked back into town. Part of the way, our host accompanied us but she was on her way to a Shell gas station to protest in a polar bear costume so she left us soon afterwards. We walked past several monuments and signs for the olympics in the United Kingdom. The olympic fever was not as high as we expected it to be but there is a bit of tension between the Scots and the English so they do not feel the same connection as there might be in other countries. We started off our day at the Edinburgh museum which was more history about the city. Much of the stories were the same as the stories we were told about in the tour so it did not take us long to walk through. We also stopped at the People`s Museam where first hand stories of the lives of ordinary folk in the country were told. All aspects of life were covered such as work, home life and leisure, there were very creepy wax figures to portray people doing the activities. We also stopped at The Children`s museam which was very small and had toys on display from throughout different times inn history. Unfortunately we recognized and owned many of the toys on display as historical items. We stopped to watch several street shows such as knife jugglers, comedians, people who could get out of straight jackets, floating people and also the most pierced woman on earth. This middle aged woman holds the Guiness World Record for the most piercings with nearly 10,000! Her whole face and tongue were covered in silver studs as well as most of the rest of her body that was not visible. She was offering herself up for the night if anyone wanted to pay. She has also auctioned herself off to be married and was once paid $30,000 for her services. Once you see her picture posted on my facebook wall, you may be even more surprised than you are now. Before I took a photo of this lady however, I could not find my camera and thought it had gone missing so I sent Tyson off to look for it. Moments after he had left I found it in the bag but he was gone. I waited about twenty minutes until he came back in a panic which turned to frustration and relief after finding out that it was okay.

We walked to the bus station stopping briefly at the busiest McDonalds of all time for free fries. We took the three pm bus to Birmingham which was meant to take eight hours. We stopped for about twenty minutes in Glasgow which looks like a mildly interesting place. We also stopped in Manchester for about the same time and got a good tour of the city from the bus. Since it was raining the whole city looked a bit drab. The scenery along the way was very beautiful though with green hills, huge fields, random ruins and a whole lot of rainbows. We played hangman, ate like crazy, bugged each other and laughed until about eleven when we reached our destination where two beautiful people were waiting for us with smiley faces. My friend and her husband picked us up from the stop and I talked non stop the whole way home until nothing was left of my voice but a raspy mess. When we got back to their lovely two storey home just outside the city, we sat and chatted until the middle of the night. We ate brownies and caught up on the last year of life with big changes and experiences had by all of us. We will be here for a couple of days and we are looking forward to our time very much.





"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"