Edinburgh

 

***Day One***

 

On Saturday morning, I woke up before the alarm sounded which was rather unusual for me. I’d spent the night at my friends’ in their West End flat and hadn’t got much sleep, but anyway, I was up and about early in the morning. I went to the bus stop and waited just a few minutes for the bus to arrive. Having sat down, I thought it wise to let Monika (whom I was going to visit) know that I was coming as planned. After some time, I arrived in the city centre from where I was going to take the coach to Edinburgh but first I wanted to buy some food and something to read. The number of magazines about politics available here is truly depressing. You can browse dozens of titles such as OK!, Hello, Heat, and others for hours but to find something decent like Newsweek or Polityka verges on impossible. After some time, I eventually found one – Times, which was thinner than sanitary towels advertised on tv and cost about £4. I ended up buying The Independent. One cannot complain about the number of different newspapers.

The coach was full. So full that there were still people queuing as the driver drove off. I headed for to the ticket window and got an open return for £8.90, at the same time I was told another coach would be arriving shortly. And it did. I lounged comfortably in the seat, phoned Monika once more to tell her about my departure and began reading the paper. The journey passed quickly (a bit more than one hour). As we reached the city boundaries, I began noticing the architecture. Mind you, I’d been to Edinburgh three times before, but there was either no time for such trifles. The first thing that strikes you is the colour of buildings. While in Glasgow yellowish sandstone prevails, there it looks as if black was in fashion. Not to mention that small castles are the default choice of accommodation for many locals.

I got off the coach, and to my shock realised that no one was waiting for me! It soon turned out that poor Monika was tidying her flat for me! She even washed the windows! Since I knew it would be another 30 minutes before she came to the city centre, I decided to take a walk around and take some photos.The place was busy with tourists and locals, but charming nevertheless. After Monika arrived, we quickly headed for one of the bus stops because we didn’t want to waste any time. A daily ticket cost £3 (cheaper than £3.50 in Glasgow) and it could be bought from a machine! We did some shopping at Lidl and went to her flat. After lovely dinner, we went to a nearby park with a pond in the middle but, obviously, we didn’t want to stay there too long as the plan was to go to the seaside. Another short bus trip and we were there. Me, being a Kashubian, couldn’t miss this opportunity and rolled up my trousers to paddle in the cold water. Funny enough, it was the first time I’d ever been to the seaside in Scotland. There were some seashells, jellyfish and dead crabs, of which I took photos. Monika was staying on the beach, wearing a jacket with a hood and standing at a safe distance from the water.

After we left the beach and sat on a low wall that separated it from the promenade, her friend (whom I’d met two years earlier) came and the three of us went to a pub. I couldn’t have had more than one and a half beers but felt quite drunk anyway. We then went to an amusement arcade to play billiard (or at least that’s what I think it was). I’d not played it since I was kid and the girls were quite good so I lost the first two rounds, but then I won some and the final score was 3-2 for them. We stayed there until we were told the place was closing. Since it was quite late and there wasn’t anything else to do, we decided to walk to the bus stop and part there. On the way home, we bought a pizza and ate some of it in the park.

 

 

 

***Day Two***

 

Sunday was supposed to be the second and the last day of my visit in Edinburgh soon after we’d left the flat, I noticed that I didn’t have my camera with me. So, all the pictures that I have from that day were taken with Monika’s camera. This explains their poor quality :)

Since Edinburgh is such a small place, it wasn’t difficult to get away from civilisation. We went to see the ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel which date back to the 15th century but which is

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

probably even older. The chapel itself (or what remains of it) stands near Arthur’s Seat  (which in turn is an extinct volcano) on which Monika couldn’t be bothered to go. We rested near the ruins for several minutes and went downhill. We soon found ourselves near the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish Parliament and Dynamic Earth – all three being very close to each other. The latter, I will have to visit during my next visit and the parliament was closed so we couldn’t get in. Having taken quite a few pictures in the area, we walked (if I remember correctly) to the city centre. We quickly did the castle, walked down and joined the multitude of people who were watching (and listening to) a jazz festival. I’m not keen on jazz to say the least, but the whole thing looked very nice. The festival was taking place in a park, right at the bottom of the hill in the crowded centre of town. To be honest, I can’t remember much else. I recall having a burger and a milkshake at McDonald’s and going to use the loo in Burger King. We probably went home and spent the evening there.

 

 

 

***Day Three***

 

Day three was also eventful. Monika had to go to a jobcentre and took some time there, so I decided to go for a walk to the nearby Ocean Terminal. I like the seaside so I enjoyed that place. The botanic gardens which I was looking for a bit later were nowhere to be found and, since it started raining, I went back to meet her in front of the office. It was Monday, so the parliament was open to the public and we made our way there. I’m not going to write here anything about its architecture ‘cause I’m no specialist but what I can say is that it looks nice :) The entrance resembled that of an airport, with metal detecting gates (they probably have some name) and scanners through which your rucksack and other things had to go. Once inside, the most interesting place to visit is the Debating Chamber which is famous for its occasional appearances on the telly :)

Towards the end of my visit, we went to the city centre again and bought a deep-fried Mars bar… and then two more. They are good, really tasty and much sweeter and softer than normal ones.

We spent our final moments together sitting on the grass in another park and talking. Overall, it felt great to be able to get away from Glasgow for a few days and enjoy Monika’s company. Edinburgh is a nice place, surrounded by water, full of parks, with many places to visit and a language that is more comprehensible than in here :) I’m already looking forward to going there again or showing Monika that Glasgow isn’t bad either.