We arrived in Edinburgh, dad and I, late on Friday night, June 14th. But since the only travely thing we did during that day was to sit in a bus, an airplane and a taxi, I don’t count that as really part of the trip. So, my Europe adventure started on Saturday, June 15th.
It was Saturday, so Edinburgh was full of tourists. Like, hordes. Dad and I walked to the old town, walked up to the castle and more or less had to push ourselves through the mass of people in baseball caps and cameras around their necks. We didn’t stay long.
The cathedral in the old town. Not that exciting, really.
There were young men playing the bagpipe everywhere along the touristy street in Old Town. This one is standing next to Hume, the big Scottish philosopher. I don’t really remember what he was about, but I thing he was a serious emiricist. Which is nice. I guess.
The Central Library in Edinburgh. Tiny. Across the street was the National Library of Scotland, with a terribly boring front. An a pretty un-interesting inside too. The libraries in Edinburgh didn’t impress me.
Edinburgh Castle. Seriously, how can there be that many tourists in one place? Edinburgh Castle isn’t even, like, that impressive. Not like Machu Picchu or the view from Empire State Building.
The Princes Park, such a nice place in the middle of everything. Much less crowded than the Castle area too. Calm, meticulously cut lawn. A much more agreeable place in Edinburgh than the Old Town.
The house at Charlotte Square in the New Town that they’ve turned into a museum showing the home of an Edwardian aristocracy family. Pretty little museum, with a lot of gold and silky details on the furniture. A nice time spent, really, during the 25 minutes it took to look through all four floors of the house (including the 8 minute film about the family whose home they’ve tried to replicate.
The street that run parallell to the street where our hotel was. It’s part o New Town, but a very deserted part of New Town. And everything was so grey! Except for the private gardens (with high fences and heavy locks, only to be used by the residents – something that REALLY annoyed dad), there weren’t even any trees.
Edinburgh is a slightly odd place, with all the greyness. But it is also small, and it feels fathomable, like, you could actually get to know the whole city, which is something that I appreciate. And the people are so nice (except the young men sitting in the reception in our hotel – they just stared blankly at us when dad made his jokes and couldn’t even bother to smile. Seriously, is that servicemindedness?). It is a city where you can walk and find new, interesting things to look at, and also it is very different from any kind of city that I’ve been to before. So, all in all, I like Edinburgh.
Katja Malmborg 