Getting Serious About A Heritage Tour of Europe

I have a lot of different kinds of European ancestry, and I realized it would be a lot of fun to try to get to all the countries with which I can claim a connection. I had done Ireland, England, and Northern Ireland, and now Scotland was on the list. Nov 9-13 I didn't have classes (it was "reading week"), and after the 11th I had no commitments - that was when I had an exam in Economics of Less Developed Countries. On the morning of the 12th, I set out to Edinburgh, Scotland. Not only was I going to a new place on my own, but I was trying a new type of lodging arrangement - CouchSurfing. CS is a website where there is a community of people who look for/provide a place to sleep for other members. I joined and found a place to stay with an American student at University of Edinburgh. The system may sound a little sketchy, but is tremendously safe - and it was a great experience for me.

I landed in Edinburgh and immediately felt at home. The bus ride through town from the airport went by some very familiar feeling areas and dropped my off right in the center of the city. I got my bearings and headed for the Royal Mile, which is the main historical street/area in Edinburgh. I window-shopped the pubs to find a place for lunch and settled on the Mitre. Guess what I got. If you can't venture a guess as to what Scottish food I was excited to eat, you should get to know me better. Answer: Haggis. It came with neeps and tatties (mashed sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes) and a Scottish ale, and was delicious!

It was too late in the day - twilight was before 4 - to go to the Edinburgh Castle that day, so I walked down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Palace and Arthur's Seat. There were loads of shops selling kilts, scarves, and shortbread - all of which I enjoy (except kilts). Once I started getting out of the centre of the purely tourist stretch, I saw a really cool building with relief sculpture covering a side wall. As it turns out, this is Scottish Parliament. Yes, Scotland has their own parliament even though they are a part of the United Kingdom. It gets to decide most domestic 'Scottish' issues, as I soon learned. After putting your bag through an x-ray and walking through a metal detector, anyone and everyone is welcome in the Scottish Parliament complex. There is a cafe, gift store, exhibition on Scottish influence in Canada, and the Parliament chambers. Interesting note: Even though it's only been around for 10 years, Scottish Parliament has its own whiskey blend and tartan, and they are ready to sell it to you! I was able to get my hands on a free admission to the chambers to listen to the live debate. That afternoon was dedicated to Question Time, where members asked things like, "What will we do so that people don't throw their fridges away in bogs?" and "Why do you still allow for the inhumane practice of branding semi-feral animals in Scotland?" Interesting, I know, but I'm a pretty nerdy guy when it comes to government. And semi-feral animals.

Across the street from Scottish Parliament is Holyrood Palace. This is where the British King/Queen resides when in Scotland. I snooped around to several minutes trying to figure out if there were tours or anything, but there apparently aren't. I looked at its strange facade of variously-affected-by-smog stained stones and then went towards my next engagement.

Edinburgh's highest point, Arthur's Seat, is in Holyrood Park, next to Holyrood Palace (coincidence?!?!?). It is very close to the city centre, not more than half an hour's walk, and has a great view of the city. I made my way for the path that went up to it and made friends with a student studying in York originally from Hong Kong and walked up with him. Eventually, it started drizzling and he got scared of melting in it, so he left. While only 250 m. high, Arthur's Seat was a work out to scale. There were nice paths all the way up, but I still had all my luggage (a duffel bag with my computer, blankets, and clothing) because I hadn't been able to meet up with my CS host yet. After a few sit-downs, I made it! It was a really wonderful panoramic view of the Firth of Forth (the bay-type thing near Edinburgh), Leith (the city on the Firth), and Edinburgh. The landscape there in Edinburgh was very spectacular. It wasn't quite as green as Ireland, but the vegetation had a warm feeling to it. There was also quite a bit of jagged, dark rock poking up through the vegetation and moss growing on it. Along with the grey skies, the landscape looked very picturesque - not like a pretty and happy picture, but an interesting and moving picture.

After I trekked down the Seat (harder than you might think with a heavy duffel), I walked back through the Royal Mile towards the University of Edinburgh to meet my host. I got to his apartment and settled down for the evening. My host, Gabriel, was a really great guy. I had a great time seeing Edinburgh and hanging out with him for 3 days. A little later in the night, Gabriel, his friend, and I went to a pretty fancy pub where they had friends working. Because of that we got a great deal on dinner and scotch. I settled down in my place for the night and got ready for the next day.