Traveler's Tales: Great Scot!

How can one do justice in describing a visit to Edinburgh? As I recollect my fond memories of my trip in early May, it seems that I have to tell about many cities. There is the Old City and the New City, cleaved in two by a large valley. There is the daytime Edinburgh of tourists and shops and the nighttime Edinburgh of clubs and hard-partying, drink-downing Scots. The city is at once both young and old.

In a way, I feel as though I visited the city as two different people: there was tourist me, off to visit the castle and hike Arthur's Seat; and there was the student me, the young American me, hoping from bar to bar, scene to scene. Its amazing how much one's experience of a place is dependent upon one's identity in that place.

It is hard to experience a city as a local might without some sort of guide who can tell you what is real or authentic. I was lucky to be staying with my college buddy Nathan Hakimi who has been living in the city for the past four months. His abroad program has placed him in a flat with other Scottish students so he is keyed into the local nightlife already.

Some of the higlights of my trip include the first night I got there, when we sat around and watched election returns (an historic night to be there), went to a club, came back and kept watching election results. It was interesting to see how other culture's relate to their elections. The youth were mostly nonplussed.



The next day, Nathan and I walked up to Edinburgh Castle and spent most of the day wandering arond the castle, which is basically the Tower of London of Edinburgh. Please don't tell any Scots I said that, they would not be pleased. That night, Nathan and I went to a cool venue where there was a concert of alt-acts. The headliner were a pair of American's singing British folk (much better than that description might lead you to believe).

Saturday morning, I woke up early and set out to explore the city on my own, as a tourist. I chose to go on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour as a way to both get around the city and get a bit of a tour. Halfway through the ride, I hopped-off at the foot of Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is a mountain/public park that holds court over the entire city and the North Sea. I popped in my headphones and took a hike to the top. It was tough, but worth it. The views all the way up were incredible. By the time I got back to the bus, I was exhausted. But my day of tourism was not over, I went to the touristy shopping street to get my hands on some cheap Scottish cashmere (check!).

(not Roslin Chapel)

That night, Nathan and I went to go see a play at a local theater (The Goat, by Edward Albee) and then met some of his friends at a club. The next morning we were pretty worn out from the late night but decided to go on a little adventure. About a half hour outside of Edinburgh is Roslin Chapel. Roslin was made famous by its portrayal in The DaVinci Code. Over ten years, the church has seen its visitation risen from a couple thousand a year to around 150,000 a year. Thats a big increase. The chapel is famous for its intricate masonry and mysterious carvings. The chapel was a treat, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an extra afternoon in Edinburgh. That night, I was back in A'dam.

I still have a few more days in Amsterdam and definitely have more posts to write: I have yet to tell you about Istanbul or Budapest. I also want to write a wrap-up about my experience here. I return hom on June 3rd, but might have a few posts out after that. I can't wait to see you all soon.