Edinburgh, Scotland

My goal for yesterday was to relax after arriving in Edinburgh, but that didn't work so well. As soon as I checked in I got invited to the pub crawl that the hostel leads every Thursday. Since I skipped the one in London I felt like I at least had to give it a try, but it was mostly a waste of time. I only liked two of our five stops, and most of the guys I talked with & got along with left for Glasgow (those poor, poor people) today. I still can't talk to women, but since most of them here are either draped all over guys (not my style) or speak a language I can't understand, I don't think I'm missing too much. I'm sure Rachel would tell me something along the lines of "Just go for it, what do you have to lose!?" Which is true, but still not really me. So, pub crawl = fail. The fish & chips afterwards were pretty good, though.

Sometime during my few hours of sleep I had one of the weirdest dreams I've ever remembered. It started with me in bed, and two people having sex up against the side of the bed; then switched to me in a compromising position with a certain lady of my acquaintance who would never put her self in such a situation; then shifted gears completely. I was in a hostel room (but not in any hostel room I've ever actually seen) with one of the guys from the pub crawl drinking root beer. Some of it spilled, and when I started trying to soak it up with a paper towel a family (man, wife, young daughter) walked in, saw the mess, then complained and left. I kept trying to soak up way more root beer than could possibly have spilled from the bottle, and it was spreading towards a Christmas tree. At that point everybody but me disappeared and the room shifted around & became one of the rooms in my house (but not actually any room in my house), and Elaine was there complimenting the work mom & dad had done on the fireplace. I explained that they had done all of the cutting themselves, and ended up with a very impressive triple mirror over the mantle and a nice wood-framed glass screen that covered most of the hearth. Then she said "Yay, they're here!", and her daycare kids started showing up... and the dream ended. Have fun with that one, Freud.

I finally got up a bit after 9:30 this morning, showered, bummed around a bit, then met some of the guys (David & Kevin) from the pub crawl to go visit the castle. We took the short tour, then spent the next several hours exploring the major areas of the castle: the old great hall & royal apartments, the crown jewels, the war memorial, the old prisons, and the Scottish war museum. (Random aside: Ha! Rachel would appreciate this. Some Spanish guy just wandered into the lounge, and in the course of a conversation said "Estoy nervioso" with that weird Spanish lisp. I had a hard time not cracking up.) From there we went to lunch, and I finally tried haggis. Especially considering what it is (bits and pieces of sheep innards, mixed with oatmeal & spices and stuffed into a sheep stomach to be boiled), it was surprisingly good, and more so when mixed with the potatoes that came with it. The service was surprisingly slow [ed: we were at The Last Drop], but when we were done we headed to the edge of town & climbed up the crags near Arthur's Seat, which I hadn't done last time. Got some good pictures from there, but their schedule & my legs kept us from climbing the Seat as well. I may still go back for it, depends on whether or not I'm able to catch a bus down [ed: up] to Stirling tomorrow... I looked online, but it wasn't promising. I'll be bummed if I miss out on the castle there, but along with the Seat there are a few other things I could do here: the Nelson Memorial, Holyrood Palace, and an archery tournament that's going on this weekend.

Alright, time to go check on my laundry; and regardless of whether or not it's done, it's time for bed.