Speaking of which, I really wonder what some of these people are doing here. I've noticed several spending quite a bit of time in the lounge drinking beer (including Budweiser, of all things), and every time I've been in the reading room I've noticed one guy who's the stereotypical nerd--glasses, 2-liter Coke, a bag of chips, and a rather large laptop--sitting around, surfing the net or watching a movie. Aren't either of these things that they could be doing at home, and save themselves the expense of travel & lodging? Oh well, their loss, not mine. Plus, it means that all the stuff worth seeing is slightly less crowded... always a plus.
Caught a couple more hours of the Archery World Cup this morning, then went to lunch at the Frankenstein Pub, which was just as good as I remembered it. One Franky Burger, some chips, and a pint of Guinness later, I was ready to attempt Arthur's Seat. The Guinness was probably a bad idea, because it meant I had to find some quiet bushes off the side of the trail to empty my bladder in, even after taking a bio break at the pub before leaving. That accomplished, I moved along. I was attempting to take the easy way up, since the hard way up the Crags pretty well ruined me a couple days back, but it ended up being a lot of extra walking for a slightly shorter climb up the back side. From the top, of course, I could see the easiest path--down between the Seat & the Crags to the path that runs by Holyrood Palace--but I had come at it from the wrong side to take it up. I had to stop way more times than I care to admit, and I'm pretty sure an old guy with two walking sticks that I met on the way up was able to make a loop around the top before I got up there, but make it I did. I admired the view & got in a few good pictures before it started raining & I started heading back down before the trails got too slippery. I was still pretty warm from the hike up so I had to leave my jacket in my backpack, and got a little wetter than I would have liked, but I survived. From there it was back to the hostel to shower & rest up, then I grabbed my reservation info & walked down to Waverly Station (which for some reason shows up as Waterloo Station on the map I got from the bus station on the way in) to pick up my tickets for Oban, so I won't have to worry about them in the morning. If I think about it (and if it's possible) I'll try to snag my tickets from there down to Glasgow before heading to the hostel. I love how my ride in only has two legs, but the much shorter one from Oban to the airport in Glasgow has four. Oh well, I guess inefficient public transit is better than the almost nonexistent system we've got in the States.
Train leaves tomorrow a bit after 11:00, but I think I'm going to try getting there about 10:00, to make sure I've got my tickets lined up properly & avoid the last minute rush I had to get here. For now, a bit more reading and then bed.
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