The place is simply amazing. I am known for my lack of adjectives in describing places at times but when i say it is AMAZING, it means nothing else but amazing.
Sadly though, i didn't manage to go up to the Loch Ness lake and the Rosslyn Chapel where they filmed Da Vinci Code (a place that is supposedly holding on to the Holy Grail). It is alright though. I'll try to go over there with Fiona during the Easter break. Hopefully, it is less cold because the weather there was too cold for comfort.
We reached West End Hostel near the city at 2 a.m. (GMT). I managed to catch three hours of sleep although i did wake up at every hour because it was cold and i wasn't comfortable sleeping on the bunk bed. It creaked a lot and i find myself restricting my tossing and turning in the middle of the night. Like as if the bus ride wasn't enough to cause this aching body. Anyway, enough complaints. The room and toilet was rather clean (although the toilet was a mixed one and we had to shower fast because there aren't many shower places). There were sixteen of us in each room.
I woke up in the morning all geared up to walk all over town. We had breakfast and left the hostel at 9 a.m. First stop was the Edinburgh Castle. Rich in historical elements, we managed to tour around the whole castle. Although pretty from the outside, i was quite disappointed that the interior has been pretty much modified and heavily sanitized for tourists. Very commodified too. I was looking forward to seeing big bedrooms with the beds and other furnitures intact. What we saw was more of exhibitions as shown in the pictures below. The interior was heavily commodified and i would say that most of the exhibits were staged to suit its purpose for tourists viewing. I wasn't satisfied at the end of the visit. The entrance price was 11 pounds (yes mum, i paid S$33+ to enter castle).
"I'm going up there!" Aida said.
However, the view from the castle was exhilarating. Wind blew too strongly that i couldn't hold on to my camera that tightly. I saw a sword as long as me vertically (not horizontally ok!). Scotland is a very historical place and some of the things i learnt would be that there were many clans in the past. Over one hundred of them with names like McIntyre, Scott, McClean, etc. Scotland initially were not in good terms with England until later on. They then joined forces and people were recruited to join the army. Many people were hesitant to join the army for obvious reasons. Perhaps, there were more battles to fight in the past as compared to now. That made the Scottish army developed a system of recruiting people albeit a lil illegally. Whoever picked up the king's coins held on by the senior army officers, will automatically be in the army. This was done to replenish the number of men in preparation for any attacks. In the 1900s though, propaganda penetrated the media. I don't think they have modern media like television then. Even if they do, it probably wasn't as rampant as it is today. They put up a lot of posters 'glamourizing' the work in the military. Although there were very cute posters (in coloured drawing form), it only served to remind me that we (Singapore) was once part of Britain... a colony to be precise.
They actually republished these posters into postcards form. How not to buy? It is so nice. I got a few others where the government highlighted the crucial roles of women then. Feminists around the world will surely have a lot to say. I particularly like the one with a picture of a woman posing on the postcard with the postcard reading "Keep mum. She's not so dumb! -Careless talk costs lives". Another one would be "For a healthy, happy job, Join the Women's Land Army". Guess what the Women's Land Army was all about? Farming. So Total Defence Day.
I saw a 1742 map of the world in the castle itself. It is a lil different from the modern one... perhaps the labelling and all. But that imperial invention obviously permeated to the rest of the world and is not much different from what we have today.
Another interesting thing i saw in the castle would be the Dog's cemetery. So cute.
The small garden has been used since Queen Victoria's reign (1837 -1901) as a burial place for regimental mascots and officers' dogs. Wicked. :)
We left the castle at about 1.30 p.m. and walked in town to get our lunch before heading to the palace. We didn't enter the palace though because it was already 3 plus when we got there and the entry fee was another 9 pounds. We then decided to climb Arthur's Seed to get a good view of sunset. On the way up, we saw a real nice rainbow that plunges into the distant Scotland waters. It is not reflected in my pictures though. It really is hard to capture rainbows on cameras. No idea why. Must read up on that.
We didn't climb up to the peak but we amused ourselves silly with pictures that are not the least intelligent and are epitome of bimbotic-ness. I was wondering what that landform would be and decided that it must be basalt. Yingzhi made another guess - Clay. I am still thinking about it up to date. If you look at the Edinburgh castle, the steepness of that cliff where the castle is on illustrated a real strong type of rock and it is no different from the one at Arthur's Seed. Based on that observation, i conclude that the whole area is made from the same formation. Take a look:
See how the nature and humans interact? We use the sun to create shadowy effects to our own advantage! Oh..and see how steep the rocks are? Use Aida as scale. We're so tiny in this huge world.
That would be it i guess. I love Edinburgh. Oh.. some stuff to amuse friends in Singapore :)
I found you Amirul... all chopped up.
And the cheesy "Stairs to my heart" picture...
There there... don't die of laughter. Haha.
Oh by the way, i received my parcel on Friday. Pretty fast i must add... considering how Amirul sent it on Tuesday. I love technology. Thanks Mama & Papa... now i can live comfortably for the next one week. And lose weight too because THE running shoes are here! yippy.
Have a good March everyone! *grin*
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