Northern UK 2001

1 March 2001 – EDINBURGH – The idea was that Jessi, Ryan, Madeline {all Iowa State students also studying abroad in Swansea} and I were going to leave for Scotland on Wednesday night, but a bad train wreck and “too much snow” changed our plans. After a nice taxi fiasco, we arrived at the Swansea train station around 5:40. Yup, that’s AM. We took the train at 6 to Bristol, then had an hour plus to wait before catching the train to Newcastle. That’s a far as we were told we could go. It was pretty cold – definitely below freezing. The train was quietish but long. The weather past York was really interesting. One minute it would be sunny, then, seriously, two minutes later it would look like a blizzard. On and off. At Newcastle, we did catch a train (ha!) to Edinburgh. Thus, we reached our goal of actually getting to Scotland this weekend. Huzzah! We got off the train and found our hostels – I’m in a different one than the other three – then we met back up to walk around. Edinburgh is pretty. Old stone architecture, hills, a nice kirk (church) and castle. We walked up this hill by the Nelson Monument and city observatory to take some pictures of the city skyline as the sun was setting. We were all getting cold, so we walked around looking for a place to eat. Ended up at a nice restaurant by the station. I got a baked potato and bread. Then we went back to their hostel for hot chocolate and a game of Trivial Pursuit. Called it an early night, so I walked back to my hotel (High St Hostel – they’re staying at the Royal Mile) and read a bit before bed.

2 March – Woke relatively early and got ready. Checked out, because we were going to leave tonight. Did a little souvenir shopping. Met up with Ryan, Madeline and Jessi at 10 here in the hostel for a free walking tour. Our tour was led by a 20-something Highlander by the nickname of Spud. Not bad on the eyes, and he had a brilliant accent. Unfortunately, it was frickin’ freezing out, so we got instantly chilled when we went outside. Spud took us down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace and up to the Castle. It was a great tour. He gave us lots of information, and genuinely seemed interested in the history. It was also interesting to see/hear how much he dislikes the English, the Queen and the Campbells. The whole tour took just over three hours. Since we were pretty well chilled to the bone by that point, we went to get some lunch. After lunch, we took a tour of the Castle. At £7.50, it definitely wasn’t worth the price of admission, but it was still neat to see, especially the views. They had some displays and we did get to see the Scottish crown jewels, still pretty neat. Ryan and I got split up from Madeline and Jessi, and when we left the castle, I went off on my own. I walked down to the Greyfriars Church to see the grave of Greyfriars Bobby, a little dog who visited his master’s grave for 14 years. I saw the story on the Travel Channel before I came. Then I did a little more shopping. I got some little Scotch whisky bottles for gifts and a tartan wool scarf for myself. I also picked up a little Scottie dog and highlander coo made out of wood and wool. I found Madeline and Jessie at their hostel, and then went back to mine. We met here for dinner before going on a pub crawl. Well, not exactly. Instead we went to a bar called the Filling Station. I must have left all my good sense back in Swansea and proceeded to drink like a fish. After a few drinks there with two guys from their hostel, we walked down to The Three Sisters. I pretty much collapsed when I got back.

 

Edinburgh Castle

View of Edinburgh from the Castle

Ryan, Cara, Jessi, Madeline

3 March – GLASGOW – Felt a little queasy this morning, but not too bad. We walked to the train station and took the 9:00 to Glasgow. Got in ~10, started walking to our hostel. We didn’t have the greatest idea of where we were going, and it turned out to be quite a hike. Spent about an hour walking. We finally found our hotel – Bunkum Backpackers – located in the West End of the city, not too far from the University. Dropped our stuff and just sat for a bit. Our hotel’s pretty nice – it’ a residential house, with curving staircases, large rooms (only 6 people in this room!) and it’s super clean and quiet. We took a walk down the street and got a cheap lunch (sandwiches) and some dessert. Then we walked to Kelvingrove Museum and looked at the art and exhibits there, then over to the Museum of Transport and looked at a lot of cars, trains, bikes and ships. Exciting. From there, we went up by the University, then bought some groceries on the way back. Had a little quiet time after an aborted attempt to find an internet café. We made pasta and sauce for dinner. Really cheap. And really good. We didn’t feel like going out, but Jessi, Ryan and I went out and bought some groceries and dessert. We ate Vienetta and watched Popstars (oh, so lame) before reading a bit before bed.

4 March – YORK – I struck out on my own this morning to head to York. Thought I would take the underground, but it opened too late. Instead, walked the 2+ miles to the station. I’m glad I bought souvenirs in Edinburgh. Glasgow really doesn’t cater to tourists like that. It’s definitely much more of a working, university town. I kind of liked that. But that walk was still long. Got my train to take me out. Pretty empty to begin with but got a lot fuller past Edinburgh. Finally got to York @ 3:30 (left Glasgow at 10:50). I’m just happy to be here! 14th Century York is the setting for one of my favorite murder mystery series – The Owen Archer series by Candace Robb. Her writing truly made me want to visit. I found my hostel (York Backpackers), housed in an 18th century mansion. Spiffy. I quickly dropped my gear in my bed, then headed for the York Minster. Since it was a nice, albeit chilly, day, I wanted to climb the tour. For £3, I got to go up the 275 circular steps and get a nice view of York. Since it was chilly and windy, I didn’t stay up there too long. I wanted to find the tourist info place before it closed, but alas, it already had. I bought some milk and bread to go with my dinner, then walked back to the Minster. The first time I was in there, evensong was going on, and I couldn’t get down to see all of the church. This time, I took my time looking at all the stained glass (roughly half of all medieval stained glass is in there), the huge columns holding up the decorated vaulted ceiling, and all the decoration. I was specifically interested in the Lady Chapel (and also the title of the Robb book I’m reading right now) and the tomb of Archbishop John Thoresby. I’m sure I saw it if it was there, but I couldn’t tell for certain. I walked back by way of the city wall. I stopped in the Museum Gardens to look around the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, and get a picture of it at sunset. I went back to the hostel and cooked and ate dinner, before retiring to my dorm room to read. I’m still not sure what time I’m going to leave, but since I’ll probably be in York this once, I ought to see as much as possible.

York street

York Minster

Flying buttresses!

St Mary's Abbey at sunset

5 March – This morning, I got up early and headed to the York Castle Museum, where they had collections of stuff from everyday life. Pretty interesting. Didn’t stick around too long. Collected my stuff, then caught the 11:37 train to Manchester, then the 1:33 to Swansea. Too much time on trains!

{transcribed 2/10/2020}