Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Savanna: I arrived in Edinburgh this morning at 7 am, having slept no more than 2 hours on the plane. In other words a gratuitous amount of coffee seemed in order.

I caught a tram and made it to The Castle Rock Hostel without issue. Anyone who knows me at all knows my sense of direction is severely lacking, so it was a nice surprise not to get lost. Turns out it’s literally right next to Edinburgh Castle! They were hardly ready for me at 8 am though- so I left my bag behind, grabbed an espresso and eggs benny, and set out in no particular direction.

I roamed the old town streets, weaving around in a lot of circles- not because I was lost but because I wanted to check out every tiny little nook and cranny. The side-streets all have weird names like Advocates Close and Fleshmarket Close, which seem to indicate what they used to lead to. I found a little house called The Writers Museum, which is skinny but very tall and is dedicated to the lives of the Scottish writers Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.

I went into St. Giles Cathedral, a central point in the old gothic town with beautiful stained glass. I sat in there for awhile, a few old people thought I was praying but really I was almost falling asleep! Second coffee time!

I got a panini and a double espresso at a place called Pep and Fodder. I don’t really drink caffeine anymore so 3 shots of espresso in a day was quite a bit for me, and I felt WIRED. But also kind of like I was dreaming.

Feeling like you’re dreaming, while being wired is something of a state to be in when you’re also getting more exercise than you’ve gotten in 6 months- this place is hilly! Needless to say my body and my brain were equally confused.

I walked up Calton Hill towards the Nelson Monument and the City Observatory. The view was incredible! On one side you could see the old town, and the green hills rolling behind it with King Arthur’s Throne (think ‘Pride Rock’ from The Lion King) visible just South of the viewpoint. On the other side the city was more industrial, but the sea was gorgeous- even for such a grey day.

With another espresso in hand, I stumbled upon the Surgeon’s Hall Museum- literally a history of surgery. On our last trip Meaghan and I made a rule that anything that cost 4€ or less we had to do. Well. What do you know the surgery museum was 4£. In I went. There was an old-timey lecture hall and a fake body on a table in the middle. A video explained the autopsy of it and the process of bloodletting. There were glass cases filled with of all kinds of horrifying looking tools and jars filled with diseased and preserved organs and body parts. It’s crazy to look back on medicine and think that they pretty much had no idea what they were doing. I figured that Meaghan wouldn’t mind missing this one as it was a little creepy (and I’ve already informed her we’re doing a ghost tour. Somehow I think one scary activity is all I could convince her to do).

I made my way back to the hostel, intent on checking in and heading out again. Well. As soon as I sat on the bed, I laid on the bed. And that was that. I woke up 3 hours later starving and somehow still sleepy. It was getting dusky out so I went for another walk about town towards the college, and found a Thai place on the way back to stop at, where I’m writing this blog post from. I had a lovely day, and I’m looking forward to coming back to Edinburgh later this trip with Meags. As for tomorrow? It’s on to Perth to join up with team Canada for the IMCF World Championships!

S (&M)

#YXYGirlsgohereandthere