Okay, for now, just mostly to Scotland. I wake up early after a terrible night of sleep and have no doubt left, I am getting sick....again. What is it with my luck and going on my longer trips and getting a cold? First in Sweden, now here. Oh well, I guess.
I catch my train, though after a little confusion figuring out which train. All of the trains for this company, which has its own train lines were about an hour late. This is something easy to adjust to and understand for locals, for me, the system to explain this was about as foreign as the French language to me. Through pure luck I get on the right train though.
The airport is simple enough. I hang out for a few hours waiting for my flight. After a one hour flight I land outside of Edinburgh. I hop on a bus for a good 35-minute ride into the city.
Now, I wasn't prepared for Edinburgh. I had heard good things and was excited, but as I drove into the city my jaw dropped and I was blown away. Spoiler alert: Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I have ever seen.
The entire city is built to make you feel like you are in a giant castle/fortress. The architectural style is a neo-classical meets gothic Greece style and almost every building matches in color as if the entire city was quite literally built in a single day by the same group. To top it all off, there is a castle in the very middle of it....on a giant hill, siting on a cliff. You can't get more badass than that. That is the small mountains surrounding the city on one side and the bay/sea on the other.
Quite conveniently for me the bus drops me off 100 meters from my hostel. I go inside, check-in and decide to use my last few remaining hours of sunlight to walk around the city. Sadly, it is very, very cold. Not rainy, but cold and cloudy. My hostel is right in the city center. I walk through the old town, climbing the hill as I go and end up in front of the castle gates. At this point the sun is close to setting.
I am feeling pretty crappy at this point, so I pull out my iPad, get a drink and just relax at the bar in my hostel. After about an hour I hear they are going to do a trivia game in the bar. I guess it is a weekly thing on Mondays. Sounds good to me, I have no team, but better than just sitting around. Most of the groups tend to know each other. Surprising that the hostel bar is a common place for regulars. I later find out that more regulars come to this bar than travelers. Mixed blessing.
I name my group, "The guy in the black coat sitting by himself in the corner - DONT LOOK." Creative? Lame? Don't care! I had fun with it. As he is reading off team names and points I get quite a few chuckles. The whole point is everyone looks for me, sees me and then he reads the don't look. You might think that stupid, but I think that kind of thing is hilarious. That is a good summary of my sense of humor.
Shortly before the second round a group of four people in their early twenties walk into the bar. One of the girls comes over to me and says in a French accent, "Hey it is good to see you again." I run through my head when I have seen her and then realize she has mistaken me for someone else. I get that a lot. I swear I have the most average appearance in the caucasian world. That or am part of a giant government cloning project. Which honestly, I would be okay with, I just want answers government!
Anyhow, I politely inform her I am the wrong guy. She feels pretty embarrassed, but I explain that happens a lot. She is clearly very nice and not shy. I invite her group I join me for trivia. I explain it has only been one round, it's teams and I am going solo. They decide to get a drink and join. I quickly change our name to "Life is an Adventure - Now with friends!"
They story is, two of these girls are from France. They just met in their hostel (different one). One is studying in Ireland and the other is moving to Edinburgh on a whim to find a job. The other two guys, one from Spain and one from the Netherlands are also studying with the first girl in Ireland.
We play the game, get to know each other etc and do pretty good. We manage to come in third, but mostly just have a good time. The three students are going back to Ireland the next day, but the other French girl is obviously staying. Her and I made plans to meet up to go sight-seeing the next day. She hasn't toured the castle or done much and I prefer to not spend the entire time alone. Perfect combination!
Since the sweet mistress that is sleep decided to allude me the night before, after they depart I decide to get some sleep. Unfortunately for me my room is beyond freezing. I get into bed, under the sheet, cover, fully dressed and wearing my coat and am still too cold to sleep. Both heaters in the room seem to be broken....great. I go to the front desk, he can't fix it until the next day and just tells me to take an extra comforter. Which solves the problem well enough for the night. But the cold scores no points for me against my cold.
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