Saying G’bye to Edinburgh

Europe ~ United Kingdom ~ Scotland ~ Edinburgh

Edinburgh is gearing up for festival season, its amazing. I’ve slowly got used to the idea that I’m living in a tourist town, but now we are in the middle of Edinburgh’s biggest festival – or rather a collection of big festivals. The Fringe Festival, the Military Tatto, the International Festival, the Film Festival, the Literary Festival and a few others are running concurrently, meaning that there are performers and big names all over town. The Royal Mile is a delight to see, clowns and ‘robot people’ everywhere. Of course, its also great watching other tourists getting lost and confused – knowing our way around the city now we’re now able to laugh and point them in the right direction. Bagpipes are everywhere and every now and again you wander past a Highland’s band. On Sunday there was a parade on the High Street to celebrate the beginning of the Fringe Festival, lots of marching bands (mainly military ones, from the Military Tattoo) and floats. So many people lined the streets to watch, I haven’t seen so many people in Edinburgh (except, perhaps, when the protests were happening, but then it was almost all riot police).

Highland Band

One of the boys in our room had a nasty shock last night. Poor guy had just moved into our room, drank too much and passed out on his bed. At 3am the fire alarm went off and the hostel had to be evacuated. Tash and I jumped up and threw on our shoes, then attempted to get Nuffy up. He wasn’t having any of it, we finally rolled him onto the floor (off the top bunk, OUCH), where he continued to snore away. Whilst we were trying to slap him awake, some of the boys came in and just dragged him down the stairs, he woke up about 3 flights down. Luckily it wasn’t a real fire – just someone smoking in the wrong place. It’s the third fire alarm since I’ve been here, they don’t have false alarms, if it goes off the whole building is evacuated, and the fire brigade is automatically called. Interestingly, there is a hostel on the floor below us, and they never evacuate (even though they can clearly hear the alarms). I guess they figure that its just an activity our hostel enjoys, not one for them to join in to. There’s gunna be problems the day it is a real fire…

Apart from dealing with the hoards of people, not much else is new. We went and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other day, very fun. Of course had to get the compulsory hoard of candy before the movie, needless to say the four of us finished the GIGANTIC popcorn before the movie even started. Many of the people at the hostel are starting to move on now, so alot of our original friends are gone. Consequently, the hostel is a lot quieter, people reflecting what they are going to do, and people planning their next leg of their trips. It’s sad to see everyone go, but great to hear their plans and see another persons opinions about the MUST-GO places.

Elysha, gathering her candy

I’m off to Ireland tomorrow, so incredibly excited. I plan on staying in a castle, visiting the various breweries, going to see Giants Causeway and a heap of other things… Thanks to all for the help with all the advice on places to see, sorry to those who requested leprechauns, not sure I’ll be able to fit them in my luggage, but I’ll keep an eye out!

Hugs and Kisses, Bobbi

Riots in Edinburgh & Bombs in London

Europe ~ United Kingdom ~ Scotland ~ Edinburgh

It’s been an interesting week in Edinburgh, I’ve participated in my first big protest (the one that was on Saturday, see the previous post…) and I’ve watched a number of more violent protests – or riots if you will. On Monday, anarchists turned the city into mayhem, causing police to come out in their hundreds. The riot police were particularily worrying – they came out with their sheilds and batons, forming a line to block off protesters. We were blocked in the Princes Street Gardens for several hours, whilst police tried to defuse the situation. Some of the more interesting protesters included a giant bunny rabbit who tried to feed the police horses carrots (I talked to him for a while, ashamed to admit he was Australian), a completely naked guy running around, many many clowns and a heap of anarchists with black bandanas over their mouths and noses. The protesters with their faces covered were by far the scariest, not something you expect to experience, being surrounded by black-bandana’d protesters. The police dogs were impressive, very scary looking. I didn’t see them actually being used, they were just brought out and all the protesters backed off immediently. They had a pretty terrifying bark… Not too many injuries, it was reported that there were 21 people admitted to hospital, and 90 people arrested. Since then there have been several protests, a couple more on Monday, some on Wednesday. Of course I’ve been down there in the middle of it all, with a couple of others from the hostel.

Posing in front of the police

This past week, Tash, Elysha, Mike and I also went on a ghost tour. Very exciting, we were lead down to the underground vaults by our guide. Apparently Edinburgh is full of these underground vaults, in the good days they were used as wine cellers and cobblers basements. Soon after using them as storage rooms, it was discovered that, 3 days after raining in Princes Street, the rain would seep through to the vaults. Consequently, they were used as housing for the poor, as many as 15 families would cram into a room. The vaults that we saw were owned by the tour company, there are many more that have been turned into basements, nightclubs, music rehersal areas and bars. Our guide walked us through the vaults, explaining ‘spirits’ that they know to lurk in the particular rooms. After the vaults we concluded the tour at midnight, in the Cannongate Graveyard. I didn’t get any ‘ghostie’ pictures, but did get some photos that have ‘orbs’ in them. Who knows?

Telling spooky stories at Cannongate Graveyard

Wow, just got woken up this morning to a text message from Laura, saying that bombs had gone off in London and she was just checking that I was ok. I started to write back, saying that she was wrong, nothing had happened or I’d know, when Ryan came racing into our room, yelling at us to get up and come watch the news – 6 bombs have gone off in central London. Since then another bomb has gone off, all have involved the transport system – busses, tubes and stations. Kind of scary. We’re not sure if it’s to do with the Olympics (London has just been named the winner of the 2012 Olympics) or G8, or even something else. A good number of London Police are up in Edinburgh dealing with the G8, I’ve just heard that they’ve headed back to London to help out. I’m still crossing my fingers and hoping that mum will still get through – she has to fly through Heathrow to get here today, not sure how the airports will be affected. We’ve had two bomb scares in Edinburgh since the attacks – one on a bus, where the police did a ‘controlled explosion’, and another suspicious package around the corner from the hostel. Both were reported as just suspicious packages and nothing more, so we should be fine.
Take care everyone xo Bobs

Marching the streets of Edinburgh

Europe ~ United Kingdom ~ Scotland ~ Edinburgh

Well, its been a hell of a week, and its only just beginning! As I’m sure everyone’s aware, the G8 summit is being held in Edinburgh this week, and as a result, the city is FULL of people ready to protest. Everyday more and more people arrive at the hostel with backpacks, looking for a bed. Everywhere is full, it seems many people are just camping out on the sides of the streets. People at our hostel are making money by ‘selling’ their beds, and sleeping in the tv room for a night (not me, I need a good nights sleep in a bed, otherwise WATCH OUT!!!). Elysha, Nick and I joined the protest on Saturday morning, it was great. Really uplifting, everyone was in a good mood, we had bongo drums and guitars accompanying us the whole time. More people than were expected showed up, they think there were about 200,000 people marching. Protesters were asked to wear white, so we could form a giant white band around the city. However, I’m a backpacker, and all good backpackers stay away from white clothing – it gets dirty way too easily. I managed to rustle up a white rain jacket though, so I was set. The march started and ended at the meadows, the sports area. People were everywhere, the crowd marching was generally a younger one, lots and lots of young families with children in tow.

The march went off without a hitch, there was one slight disturbance when some masked teenagers caused some trouble in a bar, police took them in but didn’t charge them. Of the 200,000, only one person was charged, with drug possession. Since Saturday there’s been a few more marches, theres one on right now, sounds like it’s a fair bit more violent – its a protest by an anarchist groups dissent, there have been police riot vans screaming along Princes street all morning, and I can hear about 3 helicopters hanging around outside. Apparently, police have barricaded a large group of protestors on princess street in front of the castle, with helicopters floating low above them, and a heap of police everywhere. Sounds exciting, I might go down soon and see whats happening.

The lead up to the G8 has been fun to watch. Alot of the shops boarded up their windows – Interestingly, McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks didn’t bother – although they do have a heap more security on. And they seem to have their own contingency of police hanging around. We were watching one of the marches yesterday, one of the guys suggested throwing a McD’s drink in amongst the protestors, to see how much trouble it would cause. We are all a bit put out that whilst the newsagent has boarded up his shop, McD’s is getting away without it, we want to see DAMAGE!!!

Boarding up shops in Edinburgh

Apart from the G8, not much has been happening. I’ve been racing around trying to find accommodation for mum, she’s arriving next week. Elysha, Tash and I were discussing the possibility of her hotel having a bathtub, and ended up basically drooling with the prospect of having a bath – the things you miss when you’re traveling! I went to one of the museums in town last week, the People’s Story. Was really interesting, full of quotes from older generations, about what Edinburgh used to be way back when. Good fun. We’re talking about going on a ghost tour tonight, should be fun. Hopefully not too many protesters about. Last night we went out (normal Sunday occurrence). Expected lots of people to be out drinking, considering how many people are in town at the moment, but there was hardly anyone out, everyone’s too scared in case trouble starts…

Happy Canada day and 4th of July all…
xoxo ~*~Bobbi~*~

Marching along The Mound, Edinburgh

Sweating it out in Edinburgh

Europe ~ United Kingdom ~ Scotland ~ Edinburgh

How typical is this? We’re in one of the countries that is renowned for its cold and rainy weather and we are in the middle of a ‘hot spell’. Everyone is complaining about the heat, people are having trouble sleeping at night. This morning I was eating my brekky in the dining room (one of the coldest rooms in the hostel, brrr), one of the longtermers walked in and remarked ‘wow, isn’t it nice and cold in here’. Tomorrow the temperature might get as high as 22 degrees Celsius, I wonder how everyone will deal with the heat and lack of sleep. Despite all this, I did manage to get horribly sunburnt the other day, ouch!

We went out for a couple of hours on Sunday night, ended up coming home early because it was oh so hot in the club. Funny, in Australia, Sunday night/afternoon is spent lazing around, sad that the weekends over, slightly sick from a weekend of partying etc etc. You might have a drink or two, but that’s about it. Over here its one of the biggest nights of the week, 1 pound drinks, so everyone gets really drunk, quite different from home.

Next week the G8 is coming to Edinburgh, expected to be pretty big. Not only will we have all the world ‘leaders’, we will have all the protesters that come with them. Bob Geldof is calling for over 1 million people to flood the streets and ‘make poverty history’. The whole of Edinburgh is shaking in their kilts… Everyone has made all sorts of plans – they are closing down the main street (the one that runs past the front of the hostel) and are advising most shops to close for the day, if not the whole week. Pubs are replacing pint glasses with plastic cups and removing all chairs in anticipation of riots. The council is advising people to stock up on groceries and not to venture into town unless ‘absolutely necessary’. Despite all this, some of the shops are staying open – one of my friends shop is staying open, however they have put aside extra funds so they can whisk staff out the back, into taxis and away to safety in the event of riots. Should be fantastic, we’re gunna be right down there in the middle of it all…

Apart from gossiping about what’s going to happen next week, we haven’t been up to much. Just more roaming of the city, yesterday we went for a nice long walk up the mountains. Walked past Holyrood, the Queen’s residence when she’s in town (pretty impressive, she has her very own church in the backyard). Climb up the mountain wasn’t too bad, very impressive seeing the view over the city. The difference between the ‘old town’ and the ‘new town’ is astounding.

Hugs and kisses all [and a special hug to my new 2nd cousin, Phoenix]
xoxo bobs

Tash, Elysha and Mike, on their way up the mountain

Howing into the haggis

Europe ~ United Kingdom ~ Scotland ~ Edinburgh

Back in Europe once again, enjoying the life of the traveling backpacker. Well, not quite, as we have now settled down in Edinburgh to organise some funds until we head over to Europe to travel our last stint. We’re staying in a hostel in the central part of Edinburgh, the hostel is confusing to say the least. It’s just like one of those cruel mazes your parents take you to when you’re a kid, just so they can sit on a terrace above drinking coffee and laughing when you can’t find your way out… Every time I try to find my room (I’m in room ‘E’, bed ‘E=mc squared’, all the rooms have letters and beds have names to match, my first night I was in room ‘J’, bed ‘Joker’), I end up in another part of the hostel, if you’re not careful I’m sure that you could end up in another country altogether. Luckily, the doors back to reception are marked, and I always take a stash of breadcrumbs, so I don’t get lost that much anymore… Once again we’re in a predominantly male room – at least the door doesn’t say ‘MEN’ on the door this time. Tash was here all on her own, but now that I’m here, we’re starting to take over… The guys seemed quite horrified when they came in the other night to find us sitting in the middle of the room with another chick, sorting out my clothing, figuring out what to wear and other general girly stuff. I keep teasing them that I’m going to start putting posters of half naked men on the walls… We’ll see…

Edinburgh is a gorgeous city, everywhere you look there are old buildings, from wherever you are you can see the castle on the hill. I watched Harry Potter the other day, then went for a walk in the Scottish mist… It’s easy to imagine Harry Potter and all his friends lurking around every corner. Waking up after a night of heavy partying to the sound of bagpipes is an experience I never expected and will never forget. Walking along Princes Street, its not uncommon to see a man decked out in the kilt and all, standing on the side of the road playing his pipes. Even better is the guys my age wandering around the clubs in their kilts after a formal event, puts a completely different spin on things.

I went for a day trip to Glasgow the other day, didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy Edinburgh. From what I saw, Glasgow seems to be a more industrial town, without as many interesting buildings. At least, not in the middle of the town. Wandered along the main shopping drag for a while, the highlight of the day was going into a pub to get haggis, mmm yum. Nah, not really, it was an interesting dish, kind of like mince meat with more spices, and bit of a ‘bloody’ taste. It was ok, not my most favourite though. Still waiting to find a traditional fish ‘n chips shop, YUM!

As Tash already has a job, and I’m not all that keen to actually look for one, I’ve spent a lot of my time just wandering around the streets of Edinburgh, exploring on my own. I’ve been to Greyfriars Kirkyard a couple of times, I keep getting drawn back, its a really ‘nice’ graveyard, if that can be called a fitting word for a cemetery. If you’ve read my previous post, you’d know about our ‘supernatural’ encounter in the cemetery, it was really weird. We took the photos, and didn’t really look at them. A couple of days later, when I was uploading them onto the computer, I noticed the blue streak. I pulled out the camera and lo and behold, it was on the camera as well. The kirkyard is probably most famous for ‘Greyfriars Bobby’, the little Skye terrier that supposedly sat by his dead master for 14 years. He is commemorated by a statue out the front of the kirk, said to be the most photographed statue in all of the United Kingdom. Despite all the ghosty activity that is known to happen around the cemetery, many people visit and just sit around, reading books or having picnics.

Statue of Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh, Scotland

Will be visiting the castle sometime soon, also planning on taking some more day trips around the area, I just have to motivate myself enough to get out of the hostel – its oh so cold outside! Hope everyone did well with exams, and are getting ready to party!

xoxo Bobs