Quick Trip on the Slow Train

Edinburgh.

Wow. So I really only spent an afternoon in London. Just enough time to wonder about and have a coffee. I admit it, I stopped at a Starbucks, but it was raining cats and dogs, the store was right there...

Bloody addict.

Very, very early in the morning I caught the train up to Edinburgh. There is some really lovely countryside on the way up here. Lush farmland, nestled in low, rolling hills. There are quite a few villages, very close, that are dominated by huge, medieval churches. It made for interesting scenery.

As well as sleepy scenery. I only had about six hours of sleep since leaving Minneapolis. I slept the last few hours up to Edinburgh (it was a five hour trip overall). After finding a hostel, which is quite centrally located, and near to the train station, I found some lunch and had a two hour nap.

I wandered about the University area, which is full of some nice parks and greens. I found myself a little lost after that. I generally seem to forget that most cities that grew out of medieval castle towns tend to radiate outward, rather than work in a block system. So often I get a little confused about the cardinal directions.

The whole reason I was wandering around that area to begin with was, well, to look for this tango club. There's not a whole lot of tango here in Edinburgh, but I thought I would check out what's here. It turns out that it is the equivalent of spring break here, so the building was closed. I might have to change the name of this blog.

Today has been full of a cold, thick mist, or maybe it would be called a dense fog. Cold, wet and wanting to at least see some sights, I went up to Edinburgh Castle. While not really terribly architecturally interesting, the exhibits are quite historically informative and interesting. I found that of the building itself, the World War I memorial, built in the twenties was probably the most interesting. Some bits, like the remains of David's tower, seemed to be half closed, or incomplete exhibits. Often I would find myself, after climbing a well lit stair or down a well lit hall, in closed off alcove with no explanation.

St. Giles church, just down the Royal mile from the castle, was excellent. The stained glass there, installed in the 18th century, is beautiful. On one wall it depicts the life of Jesus, on the other it follows the apostles, and early saints, as well as some of the early biblical figures such as King David and Moses. The faces of these figures are excellent.

The problem as I see it right now, is trying to come up with a better plan if tomorrow is a rainy day. I can't very well go traipsing about parks in rainy/foggy/misty/crappy weather.

Wait. Traipsing?