A trip to the Edinburgh Playhouse last week left me covered in smiles after seeing Chicago (the musical). Sitting in a packed house, we watched as a famous Scottish singer played one of the lead roles. Although he had a beautiful voice, I had to laugh as his thick Scottish accent broke through his attempt to speak w/ a Chicago accent, mixed with New York. As it was a strange combination, his spoken words were a bit difficult to understand. Nevertheless, I had a marvelous time.
I was not able to cross the waters and make it to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, but I found out Scotland really isn’t that far away. The morning trains were dumping out individuals dressed in green, and pubs were already packed at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I began the evening with a stop at the Storytelling Oscars, and stayed to see the actual Oscar (a lawn gnome named Oscar) be passed from last year’s winner to the new one. I look forward to this Friday with another storytelling evening – I only have a few left!
I will admit that I made my way to two Irish pubs last Thursday, along with the rest of Edinburgh, to fully take part in the St. Patty’s experience. People were quite surprised when I knew the words to the Stevie Wonder song as well as a few other hits of the 80’s. I felt so old . . .
Friday evening I attended a dance recital for my flatmates – watching one African dance as well as belly dancing. Afterward, the beautiful weather allowed time for a hearty walk (around midnight) to another side of Edinburgh. It seems as if every week I discover a new location with a beautiful view of the castle!
As a random decision, I ventured north with another flatmate on Saturday to explore the town of Perth. First, the bus stopped at the smallest whisky (notice the spelling) distillery in Scotland: Edradour Distillery. The tour of the distillery was complete with history of the whisky industry, information regarding the distillation process, and most importantly, a free taste of whisky.
(FYI – Ireland writes WHISKEY, and Scotland writes WHISKY – the joke is that Ireland has no clue about making whisky – they don’t even know how to correctly spell the word!)
A continuation of the trip brought us to Perth for the afternoon – long enough for a quick lunch and some ice cream. Perth is a quaint town set on the River Tay, and is filled with many small shops and stores (my mom would love it). Traveling to and from Perth I realized how much further North it was than any of my previous destinations. Perth gave me just a taste of what the Highlands will look like when I do some more exploring above Edinburgh. In a way, the terrain reminded me of driving in Colorado, although with its own special charm.
I honestly don’t know what I was thinking on Sunday when I agreed to walk from my comfortable flat to Leith (the coast). Had I known the round trip was about 8 miles (four of which were definitely uphill), I may have delayed the excursion. The walk would have been much more enjoyable had there not been any fog, or had we walked on a day when stores were open. I must say that I really enjoyed the quality time spent with my friend, even though my feet were a bit sore that evening.
A bit frustrating at the time, but comical now, we found ourselves with a map attempting to figure out exactly where the Firth of Forth was. We should have anticipated the lack of visibility when I walked out my door and Arthur’s Seat (the HUGE volcanic structure in my back yard) was nowhere to be seen. The fog was so thick that when I returned to Leith yesterday (BY BUS), I saw buildings which were completely invisible on Sunday. A sizable body of water, the Firth shouldn’t have been that difficult to find, especially since the map showed we were almost directly on top of it. At one point, we were actually standing in the middle of a parking lot knowing full well that water was near, but couldn’t figure out where it was. Furthermore, the Britannia (the Royal ship) was definitely parked somewhere, but that was invisible as well. We finally turned a random corner and found ourselves at a railing overlooking water – which was good enough for us. Even though we couldn’t see more than a few yards over the shore, we were happy to have reached our destination. (It would have been nice to actually see across the water, but I will save that for another day when I walk down to the water and bring change for the bus ride back).
This week I will finish my last few lectures, and will begin preparing for my first exam. The more I can get organized before my spring break trip the better, as I return only to jump on another bus and venture to Loch Ness!
Cheers!