Calton Hill in Edinburgh......the picture everyone gets....i took it too...but it is pretty darn amazing....loved this town.....June 15th, 2011-
hey there folks....this is probably my last update from croatia before i hit the road for the summer....in the next update i will include some shots from the croatian coast, an amazing winery we visited here in croatia and some CERN pictures from the trip i took with the kids....then montenegro and wherever else i make it during these last two weeks here in croatia....but that won't happen until i get to the states or maybe even china.....yep....china....here i come....
things here have officially ended...my stuff has been packed out of my house, my last grades and comments have been written, the last big, messy goodbye parties have been had (people let loose and tell you what they have thought of you for the past three years for better or for worse....that's what i mean by messy)....and i will be having my last trip here in europe starting tomorrow....this is the end of an era....five years on this continent and i wouldn't trade any of them.....especially because of the people i met along the way and the places i got to visit and experience....
but onto my spring break trip that i took to scotland, edinburgh to be specific....and if you have not been to this part of the world, you just don't know what you are missing....green, green, green....both in landscape and in mentality.....i was there over easter and they sure did everything to make my visit a fun one.....easter was rather traditional, in the sense that all men and boys were wearing kilts....but after breakfast with families, the scots went out on the town....fun, fun, fun......anyway....pictures of this beautiful city and countryside are below....enjoy....
this first shot is on princes street....mainly a shopping street, but it had this cool monument to sir walter scott....very cool, gothic structure that you can climb....but i felt i climbed enough of the seven hills to climb this too.....did you know that edinburgh is another city of the world built on seven hills....something i did not know....
this is the famous calton hill....the place i was staying was just on the other side of it... i liked this shot because of everything in it...nothing like a greek ruin + an egyptian obelisk and a scottish castle time keeper to make your view a pretty one.....very cool....
this shot above is some public art, outside a large church in downtown edinburgh....if you look closely at the hand, you will see its not just a hand....i love it....there was a foot too, but some kids were kissing on it and i just didn't have the heart to interrupt them for a picture i wanted....ha....
the cathedral above is the st. giles cathedral on the royal mile in the old part of edinburgh...i tried to see inside, but they were getting ready for the easter mass and would not let me in unless i was worshiping....not really my scene....but its a stunning building on the outside....actually, all the buildings on the royal mile are pretty amazing....i love the old stone architecture....beautiful to look at....
and of course this is the edinburgh castle....up on one of the hills overlooking the city....regal and royal and a very imposing structure....you can see it from pretty much everywhere in the city.....you just look up....i wandered through it on easter, figuring it wouldn't be that crowded....nope....so i spent a good deal of time outside watching the birds of prey....they had about 20 animals with them....all beautiful animals....
i did like wandering around the different towers of the castle and of course had to take one shot looking out where the cannons were located....just a good shot of the old part of edinburgh...
on my way back down the royal mile, after wandering the castle, i saw some pretty cool buskers...my favorite was this one....he had a little girl enchanted because she couldn't figure out how the glasses were moving....very creative in my opinion....
after walking all over the royal mile, i decided i needed to get a lower shot of the castle...like i said....it's just so imposing and visible everywhere....i loved it...and how amazing is it that they built it on top of this rock....who knew there had been so much volcanic activity in this part of the world....another thing i learned....
one of the days i was here i got out of town and did a tour...on this tour we went to one of scotlands lochs (lakes to non-scots)....it was a great stop and had castles along the edge, a nudist camp in an island in the middle (although as you can see it was quite chilly, so no people were seen), an amazing mountain in the distance and lots of water birds to look at....and green, green, green, as far as the eye could see....simply stunning part of the world....
this is one of the castles, turned hotels on the side of the loch....i guess its either a hotel or very expensive apartments....one of the favorite stops of the scotsman sean connery....unfortunately i did not see him getting into his car or anything.....that would have been amazing....
we also made a stop to see some scottish cattle.....this guy was shacked up with his lady and they had recently given birth to a baby....don't you love his horns....but of course, i wouldn't want to mess with him....even if he is a tourist attraction and has his hair in his eyes....he's a big hunk of cow.....
we also made a stop in a wool town....scotland is known for wool and scotch, it's everywhere....and this sheep freaked me out....yep....it has four horns....sometimes this variety can have eight horns ( i did not see that)....holy sheep.....the scotch was sort of tasty, but very expensive....they tax it like crazy in scotland and therefore its actually cheaper to buy it outside of the country....i did have a sip or two, but scotch is not my drink of choice.....
my last day in town i made it a point to go see the parliament building in edinburgh and the holyrood castle of the queen when she comes to town....obviously she was not stopping by, as this was the week before the big royal wedding....but scotland was all dressed up for the royal wedding and warm wishes for kate and william were everywhere you turned....i went through london airport on my way back to croatia, it as well was all dressed up for the wedding.....the building above is parliament.....such an amazing structure
these are actually the windows of all of the offices in the parliament building....the structure is incredible and simply crazy....there are no 90 degree corners from what i could see and the wood is gorgeous...its just really different and if you are in edinburgh, you have to go visit it....
the shot above was taken at sunset from the window of my room....on the fourth floor of this brownstone...i didn't enjoy the stairs much, but the managers were friendly and helpful...and you couldn't beat breakfast (no i did not have the haggis or blood sausage....no thanks)
i also went out to the grounds of stirling castle, but did not go inside as much of it was under renovation....i did like the statue of robert the bruce and he is actually looking out towards the monument of william wallace (the story braveheart was about)....simply beautiful countryside, with quaint pubs and fun people....i loved it....
and speaking of pubs...i have returned again to my traditional picture.....this was a tasty cider, taken with some new friends i made and shared a beer with....yummy....cheers scotland....so there you have the shots from scotland, just like most pictures i have....they simply do not do this town or country justice....it is simply stunning and i am glad i made it before i left this part of the world....which is what is happening soon.....the next update will come from either the states or the place i will live in the for at least the next two years, shanghai, china.....what a list of travel i have for asia....as this will be the fifth continent i will live on....two more to go....
i may not get a chance to blog over the summer and this blog may not work in china, but i promise to get something set up and will still be sending out updates....thanks to those of you who have written and wished me good luck and i am glad so many people are still enjoying the updates and my adventures....i sure am....
i will be in the states for one month - july - so if you wish to get in touch, please do so....i hope to have the same cell phone number and my folks are still in the same place....so call and say hi if you get the chance and live there or are visiting....i hope you all have terrific summer and have lots of adventures of your own....more stories and travel excursions are coming, but until you hear from me again....peace out and have fun :)
