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well...
took the train up to edinburgh...very pleasant trip...the virgin pendolino trains are awesome! so smooth and turn like a plane turns or thats the way it feels anyway...lifting up one wing...all up probably spent about 11 hours on the trains for the return trip but only one half hour leg to share my seat with another passenger...in the quiet zone so excellent for reading and listening to music (through headphones of course)...NO KIDS! oh and the advance fare only cost me 35 pounds return...bargain
when i first arrived in edinburgh i was disappointed to see how english it felt...could have been walking on a street in a village of greater london...but as i walked down princes street and saw the view of edinburgh castle, the hills and various churches it all felt much better...plus talking to the station master who i could barely understand helped...
stayed in a quaint guesthouse...loved the georgian architecture in the new town...
next day took off to loch ness, glencoe and the highlands on a small bus...beautiful scenery, saw a highland cow (whoop whoop), beautiful valley and mountains of glencoe...onto to loch ness where took a cruise on the deep, deep, dark lake...boat had all sorts of fancy sonar stuff looking at the depth and fish around etc...no sign of nessie mores the pity...back via perth - yay! only 50,000 people apparently...and edinburgh only 500,000! reckon i could live in edinburgh...very pretty town...the bus guide was from the highlands and had a lovely accent which was easy to follow...
following day crammed in some sight seeing of edinburgh...the royal mile is a pretty street in the old town with cobblestones and all...didnt get to holyroodhouse palace mores the pity, i COULD have fitted it in but felt a bit over palaces...had to see edinburgh castle cos everyone said one should...again felt a bit over castles...but saw st margarets chapel (around 1100), the great hall with a medieval ceiling and the "key" to the castle (the queens been up several times), the royal apartments where mary queen of scots gave birth (rudimentary!) and of course the Honours...including the Stone of Destiny which the tour guide the previous day had indicated may in fact be a fake and part of the old sewage system, the real being hidden to protect it...certainly it just looked like a limestone block!
after that went to mary king's close...a little bit eery and stuffy down there...underground site dating back to 1600s...didnt see any ghosts though, damn it...interesting stories about the plague etc...
also took the city sightseeing bus around edinburgh just to get a handle on what was around...its not such a big place really...
must comment that there were very few scots around (where i was anyway)...far too many europeans (like me? ;p)...even some of the guides were at the least english rather than scottish...disappointing...guess thats to be expected in edinburgh...
then back home! a day to recover until europe...egads
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