Back from the Highlands

We're back!

Russell and I took to train to Edinburgh, Scotland for the bank holiday here and it was a fabulous trip. I'm planning to spread this post out over the next day or two, though, since there's so much to tell and my camera is in Hungerford with Russell at the moment.

First of all, while the excitement of an adventure will get you pretty far, it abandons you somewhere around the fourth hour of a train ride. The scenery was beautiful - especially when we caught a glimpse of the sea late in the journey, but both Russell and I were very happy to escape the train after the 6 hour ride to Edinburgh.

In the interest of frugality, we chose a Bed and Breakfast a ways from the heart of the city. I had looked into backpacking hostels, but Russell and I would have to sleep in separate dorm rooms and in the end, it was actually cheaper to go to the bed and breakfast. We were worried about finding the place, but our hostess' directions were very clear and precise, so we found the place with no problem. It was about 20 minutes from the city center by bus, but there was lots to see on the way.

We were staying in the downstairs apartment the couple had originally set up for their mother. Now, they usually rent the downstairs apartment out during the week and only the two upstairs guest rooms on the weekend, but since it was a long weekend and no one else was using the downstairs apartment, they made an exception for us. The apartment was laid out in a straight line: Kitchen, Bathroom (off a narrow hallway), sitting room, bedroom. It was very clean and bright and the couple were quite friendly hosts. The husband seemed absolutely frightened of anything having to do with the business side of the B&B (something I learned early on when making the reservation - he passed the phone to his wife while she was in the shower rather than book the room himself). His wife, on the other hand, was so full of energy that she could barely finish telling us about one thing before rushing on to the next. As I'm writing this, it sounds like I'm criticizing them, but I really don't mean to. They were both very welcoming and put a lot of effort into making sure we were very comfortable.

We arrived at the Bed and Breakfast around 4:00, so most of the sights in the city were closed, but we ventured back in to find dinner and explore a bit anyway. Even though many of the stores were closed, the pubs and restaurants were brimming with people and the streets were still full. We were getting very hungry by the time we arrived in the center of the city, and after walking uphill to the top of the Royal Mile (just outside the castle entrance) we were both very ready to find food. Somehow, however, we couldn't seem to get excited about any of the food available. There were plenty of places to eat, but they were stuffed with people and a bit intimidating. Some seemed a bit seedy, others too expensive, and all of them standing room only. We meandered down the mile (its all downhill from the castle) pulled towards one pub or restaurant and then deciding against it. If any of you have had the "pleasure" of watching Russell and I try to make a decision under our own power, you will have a sense of what this endeavor looked like. We got about 3/4 down the mile, probably passing 30-40 pubs, and then just both seemed drawn to one in particular. Who knows why. I had spotted it and thought it looked interesting just as Russell started walking towards it. There was nothing special to set it apart from the other pubs, but when we went in, there was a fairly empty restaurant nook separated from the lively bar and we were seated right away.

Off our feet and pleased at the prospect of having finally decided something before wasting away in the streets, we took in our surroundings. The pub was called "Worlds End" and the back of the menu explained why:

The castle was originally built on the top of the cliffs because it was easy to defend. Drawn to the strength of the castle, people quickly started building a city next to it on the land that sloped up to in on one side. At some point a wall was built around the city and connected with the castle walls to add protection. In 1513, however, James IV (the king of Scotland at the time) decided to help the French (who were attacking England from the South) and attacked from the north. He was quickly defeated and Edinburgh (which was at the southern border of Scotland) realized two things: 1. Everyone who might otherwise protect them had just be slaughtered, and 2. the English had the firepower to annihilate the old wall around the city. Not to mention, a number of wealthy people had ventured beyond the wall to settle further into the valley, and there wasn't even a thin wall between them and any invading army England may now choose to send. A new, bigger, larger wall was now built (and quite quickly). Out of fear of invasion. No one dared build outside the new wall and for 250 years it staid that way (you can imagine how cramped Edinburgh got - I'll try to post more on this topic soon, as I've been reading up on the subject). In any case, everything beyond the new gate became known as the World's End, and very few people of Edinburgh ever ventured beyond it. The pub we were eating at was located just inside where the wall used to stand, next to the site of one of the gates. The wall is largely gone today (though remnants remain here and there).

Getting back to the pub, it was a lucky find. The food was the best I've had in the UK. I ordered fish and chips in spite of the fact that I had every intelligence to the effect that this would be regretted. I was fully expecting the greasy fare I had been warned of, but these fish and chips couldn't have been better. They weren't greasy at all. We also tried a sampler of Haggis. I had some vague memory of being repulsed by the contents of Haggis, but I couldn't remember exactly what they were, so I held firmly to my ignorance and dove in. It was absolutely delicious. It reminded me very strongly of the Polish breakfast sausages my grandfather used to make. I remember being told I didn't want to know what was in those sausages either. The Haggis was accompanied by "Tatties" and "Neeps." This was harder to unravel. Tatties were clearly mashed potatos, but what were Neeps? A day or two later, we read that they were pureed Turnips. We were both pleased with our culinary adventure.

More to come!