Passed all my exams, bags are packed and raring to go. Time is running out fast until I leave for Prestwick Airport for a 6.40am flight to Paris Beauvais. The next time I post I should be in Paris enjoying the city sun!
Au revoir!
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Edinburgh
Just realised it has been nearly two months since my last post. In fairness I have been very busy with exams and the like taking up much of my time. Celebrating Rangers winning the league and Scottish Cup has also been time consuming(yet very enjoyable!). I've also been training for the Glasgow half marathon which takes place in September and have sadly badly injured my wrist, which makes typing quite difficult!
As I have been off work due to my wrist injury I've found myself often bored. So last Friday, knowing I'd have nothing to do, I decided I would go for a day-trip to Edinburgh. I had never been to Edinburgh before, and I thought it's best I check out my own capital city before embarking on a trip visiting several capitals around Europe!
After catching the 7.50am train from Glasgow Central I arrived at around 9am to a very Sunny Edinburgh Waverly station. Almost as soon as I left the station I was taken by the sites around me. The buildings in and around the city centre are quite stunning, putting Glasgow's city centre to shame I must admit!
My first port of call was to visit Edinburgh Castle. On entry I took a guided tour of the castle and heard some funny anecdotes from the tour guide Frank who had that true to Scottish humour in which we take the piss out of ourselves. After a good 2 hours in and around the castle I decided it was time to grab something to eat and enjoy my first pint in Edinburgh. After a short walk down the Royal Mile I stopped off at a pub called The Mitre and ordered up a tuna melt and a pint of Peroni(ooh missus!). Feeling like a tourist and complete outsider in Edinburgh I wolfed down my tuna melt and sipped my pint and had a wee read of 'Not Forgotten' by Neil Oliver. The sun was beating down on my face, and I knew I could not go anymore walking without another first quenching pint. So another pint was ordered and enjoyed before setting off down the other end of the Royal Mile to the new Scottish Parliament building.
The Scottish Parliament building has taken a lot of criticism for how much of the tax payers money was spent on it. After arriving at the odd shaped, and out of place building, I decided to go inside and possibly get a tour. I set off the alarm due to my steel toe-capped boots and after getting frisked by some old codger, who seemed to enjoy it more than I, I headed up to the debating chamber, what would turn out to be a very unimpressive lecture hall. I left the Scottish Parliament building very disappointed. It seems that the criticism for the cost of the building is completely just as it seems extremely out of place, tacky and powerless.
After the parliament building I decided another pint was on the cards and after receiving a text from my dad informing me that Rose Street was 'pub heaven' I made my way up and down Rose Street, failing to find a pub where there was any seats outside available, but as it was very hot they were all occupied so I proceeded to go to pub that seemed nice and traditional, though the name escapes me now. I sat up right in the back and observed the surroundings around me. Rugby jerseys and pictures all around, it really is a Rugby city, not a football top or photography in site! I had a quick pint before nipping off to Princes Street Gardens to have a seat in the sun while I waited for my train. I sat on the grass verge for a good half an hour watchin other folk doing the self same thing as me, and some guys with mullets doing extremely strange acrobatic dancing, before heading off down the Waverly Steps in order to catch the 4pm train.
I left Edinburgh happy after an enjoyable day. It seems a very strange city, very cosmopolitan and very un-Scottish. The buildings are nice and the streets are filled with tourists, who seemed more at home than I did. I'm sure outside the city centre it will be much the same as Glasgow, but certainly the city centre is the most unique place in Scotland I have visited. I've always been biased against Edinburgh due to my pride as a Glasweigan, but maybe now I can finally admit that Edinburgh is maybe worthy of being tagged, 'The Athens of the North'.
As I have been off work due to my wrist injury I've found myself often bored. So last Friday, knowing I'd have nothing to do, I decided I would go for a day-trip to Edinburgh. I had never been to Edinburgh before, and I thought it's best I check out my own capital city before embarking on a trip visiting several capitals around Europe!
After catching the 7.50am train from Glasgow Central I arrived at around 9am to a very Sunny Edinburgh Waverly station. Almost as soon as I left the station I was taken by the sites around me. The buildings in and around the city centre are quite stunning, putting Glasgow's city centre to shame I must admit!
My first port of call was to visit Edinburgh Castle. On entry I took a guided tour of the castle and heard some funny anecdotes from the tour guide Frank who had that true to Scottish humour in which we take the piss out of ourselves. After a good 2 hours in and around the castle I decided it was time to grab something to eat and enjoy my first pint in Edinburgh. After a short walk down the Royal Mile I stopped off at a pub called The Mitre and ordered up a tuna melt and a pint of Peroni(ooh missus!). Feeling like a tourist and complete outsider in Edinburgh I wolfed down my tuna melt and sipped my pint and had a wee read of 'Not Forgotten' by Neil Oliver. The sun was beating down on my face, and I knew I could not go anymore walking without another first quenching pint. So another pint was ordered and enjoyed before setting off down the other end of the Royal Mile to the new Scottish Parliament building.
The Scottish Parliament building has taken a lot of criticism for how much of the tax payers money was spent on it. After arriving at the odd shaped, and out of place building, I decided to go inside and possibly get a tour. I set off the alarm due to my steel toe-capped boots and after getting frisked by some old codger, who seemed to enjoy it more than I, I headed up to the debating chamber, what would turn out to be a very unimpressive lecture hall. I left the Scottish Parliament building very disappointed. It seems that the criticism for the cost of the building is completely just as it seems extremely out of place, tacky and powerless.
After the parliament building I decided another pint was on the cards and after receiving a text from my dad informing me that Rose Street was 'pub heaven' I made my way up and down Rose Street, failing to find a pub where there was any seats outside available, but as it was very hot they were all occupied so I proceeded to go to pub that seemed nice and traditional, though the name escapes me now. I sat up right in the back and observed the surroundings around me. Rugby jerseys and pictures all around, it really is a Rugby city, not a football top or photography in site! I had a quick pint before nipping off to Princes Street Gardens to have a seat in the sun while I waited for my train. I sat on the grass verge for a good half an hour watchin other folk doing the self same thing as me, and some guys with mullets doing extremely strange acrobatic dancing, before heading off down the Waverly Steps in order to catch the 4pm train.
I left Edinburgh happy after an enjoyable day. It seems a very strange city, very cosmopolitan and very un-Scottish. The buildings are nice and the streets are filled with tourists, who seemed more at home than I did. I'm sure outside the city centre it will be much the same as Glasgow, but certainly the city centre is the most unique place in Scotland I have visited. I've always been biased against Edinburgh due to my pride as a Glasweigan, but maybe now I can finally admit that Edinburgh is maybe worthy of being tagged, 'The Athens of the North'.
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