Travel Day: We flew direct from Seattle to London and then from London to Edinburgh and finally took a bus ride into the city and our hotel. That night I got a bite to eat, walked around the sleepy city, already locked up for the night, and then attempted to retire for the evening as well. All to no avail. Two days of travel and zero hours of sleep. Hope tonight will be better...
Day 2: Today we went on a walking tour of the city in the morning. Our guide led us past Victoria's garden, art museums, many monuments, and finally to a huge stone castle. It is situated high up on a mount of volcanic rock and is paved with cobble stones that were laid by French POWs. There is so much history in this place- you can literally see the layers of it in the architecture and city construction. After our group time ended my friend Bis and I traveled through the streets on our own. We ate lunch at a little cafe, spoke with a friendly little man at the Writer's Museum (featuring Robert Burns & RL Stevenson of course), visited a massive gothic cathedral, got a local paper, and scoped out little events including a storytelling gathering we are planning on attending tomorrow. The people are interesting. At first they seem to be cold and very reserved; locals walk around with stony faces and make no effort to acknowledge your existence. Yet, after making an inital effort to talk to people I have discovered that they are very warm, eager to tell stories and display their rich history. Their stony exteriors melt away to reveal an endearing sense of hospitality. It feels something like being taken in from the cold and seated by the fire to warm your hands and sip a cup of tea.
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