Omouse's Strange Internet Ramblings - The Travels

Jenny's Spring Holiday

This is the saga of my life. I hope I brought enough paper with me. Bear with me, it's 5:30pm Monday, April 6 and my alarm went off precisely at 3:00am. If you'd have asked me where I thought I'd be 2 days ago, I wouldn't have had the slightest clue, but that's the way adventures go. I'm on my own, truly and absolutely. I've got a rail pass, traveller's checks, a Barclays' bank card, good at any Royal Bank of Scotland, 2 cameras, a place to stay and the all high and mighty thing called MasterCard… oh and a guide book… those are important too.

As I mentioned we had a 3:00am wakeup call. It was interesting carting all our stuff down 3 flights of stairs… the other half of our being Melissa who had to catch a 11:00a, Gatwick flight to Kansas City. The only buses to run were the 7:00 and the 4:35 so we had to take the earlier one to get to Gatwick on time. We called for a cab which was typically 10 minutes late. We knew we were in trouble as we heard the driver skidding up the hill and squeeling his way over the speed humps. He didn't help us with the luggage and made a very cryptic remark. "You're on the 4:35. Gonna have a long wait." We didn't consider 20 minutes a long wait. We did consider 1 hour and 20 minutes a long wait. Apparently there was an "incident in Dover" I don't think the three Greek guys, one of them carrying a video tape without a cover, found the situation amusing either. We finally left Canterbury at 6 and arrived at Victoria at 8:15. I saw Melissa off on the Gatwick Express. We did a lot of waving and the 2 hands pressed against the window thing. I was sad.

I went to three different information centers before I went to the correct one to get my Britrail Pass validated. Then it was time to be packed into a Tube car. I wanted to drop my bag… my fingers hurt, but I knew if I dropped it, there would be no way to bend over and retrieve it. It's amazing how many people can fit into one of those things. Anyway, I arrived at Kings Cross Station and got in the queue dutifully to reserve my train ticket, only to be told the only reservations to be had were for 1:00pm but I could try to hop one. Yup, and the train at 10:00 was considerably easy to hop. I had to ask a conductor who told me in a very heavy Indian accent, "E! E! You must go that way now!" And so I went. I ended up sitting next to a lady from Ontario who was here to visit her niece and discover her heritage.

Just thought I'd write about now before finishing the Edinburgh part. I'm sitting on a bench, right about 10 yards from the water. I think it may be the North Sea, but it could be another one of those lochs with names I can't pronounce or spell. I think I've got Loch Ness down though. It's a beautiful setting. The Isle of Sky Bridge (up until 3 weeks ago the highest toll bridge) on my left. The mountains that the mist is slowly creeping over from on my right and as I already said, the water in front of me. With a rather large fishing boat trawling back from a long day. I'm not sure it's a fishing boat. It could be a damned ugly tourist boat. It sends a pleasant wake crashing ashore. I'm about to kill the gulls, they are getting on my nerves. I can't feel my fingers and my nose is runny. Otherwise it's a beautiful day in Scotland. It's cold, but as Melissa says, I like to complain… come to think of it, my mom often says the same thing. Well if this is the place for soul searching... maybe not. Got to cold. Went inside. There's a nice little atmospheric fire going, two guys are at the table playing a card game, the couple on the couch are speaking in German, and the others sound like Australians. Didn't have the heart to wander down to one of those smoky pubs and be the only one not drinking. Don't feel like it.

Nope didn't go to the pub. I'm going tonight though. Gotta eat. I'm finally thawing out, sitting in front of the fire in the "Groovy Lounge." Last night we played a game of British Trivial Pursuit, with a French Canadian, 2 Aussies, a guy from Connecticut and myself. It was an interesting game. We finally cheated and said anytime you landed on a question and got it right, you won a pie. We were up till about 1:00am… and I still couldn't get a pink pie. Half of the literary questions were about Dickens. 2 days later and I still haven't talked about Edinburg. Things keep conspiring against me. Yup things… Now where was I? (Jenny speed reads earlier written stuff). Okay, the train trip was fine. I actually managed to read my newly purchased guidebook and a third of the novel Other Lulus that Melissa gave me to read. Got off the train, up a damnable amount of stairs, and at the top my first view of Edinburg. Okay… so I was a little disappointed that the first thing I saw was the Disney Store, but the buildings were really awesome. Of course Jenny the Wonder Navigator had lost all sense of direction so I just started walking, thinking his way looked good. When I pulled out my map I found that, miracle of miracles, I had actually been heading in the right direction.>J

Now someone had failed to mention that Edinburgh was ONE BIG HILL. Up I trudged to the Royal Mile. Up up up…

The next I woke up and cleared out at 8:30 and headed down to meet the mini bus. It was blue… with tons of flying bananas displayed across the side. Well, at least it was easily spotted.. On the first day we trekked up to the Isle of Skye, stopping along the at different castle and fort ruins, hillside views and of course. Loch Ness. Unfortunately the only Loch Ness Monsters we saw were two very unfriendly swans and a fibreglass Nessie outside the tourist center.

Brrr… one thing that I've noticed is the Scottish penchant for keeping windows open even when it happens to be snowing outside. Yup, snow in April. I don't think I could live very long in Scotland. Down south in Canterbury it was starting to get warm enough to go without a jacket. I wish I hadn't lost my scarf in a fire alarm last month.

Anyway, at the end of the first day we came to the hostel on Skye which I already told you about. Oh how it all comes in pieces! Day 2 was definitely the experience of bad Scottish weather… Rain and Wind. We climbed up this hill to get to this castle ruin that basically only had one roofed room left. By the time I was halfway there I was drenched and couldn't feel the right side of my face. Our guide Mike said we were lucky. Last week the gale force winds were so bad they were blowing the waterfall back about 40 feet into the loch. We stopped at two pubs on our way back to the hostel. Still couldn't get dry. I was surprised at how well my shoes kept dry. After changing clothes I went with the group to go have dinner in the pub (most of the time was spent telling jokes.). When I left at 11:00 they were still going strong. I found myself scarily mentally writing my next paper for my language class which just happens to be about on language learning culture. Here were about 5 different English speaking cultures interacting with each other.

We also saw the William Wallace memorial. (too many $*^%$£ steps… you can fill in your own word there.) I think I'm going to bed now while the alcohol is still flushing through my cheeks. G'night.

Anyway, headed up to the castle, paid my ridiculously no student discount admission price and joined a tour with an amusing guide. Those guide people have such an admirably acquired ability to walk backwards. The castle was nice with lots of Victorian Medieval architecture. I saw the Scottish crown jewels and read the stunning story of how they were lost for 111 years and recovered by Sir Walter Scott. I saw the Stone of Destiny which some annoying children (teenagers) were asking what is was. They thought it was decoration. (Yes they needed huge rock to decorate the Crown Jewel case.) Good grief. It reminded me of the girl who asked "who's that?" when were took pictures of Donne in St. Paul's Cathedral. I also went into some of the military museums and the War Memorial Chapel. The chapel had really beautiful stain glass windows and books of name of those who died during WW1 and WW2. After finishing my 2 1/2 hours of the castle, I headed down… way down to the Scottish National Gallery. I perused through the Italian Renaissance then up the stairs to my favorite… the Impressionists. It was amazing to think of how many galleries I'd been to that had Monet, Van Gogh (the Brits pronounce it Van Goff. Dunno why…) Cezanne, Pisarro, etc. I saw 3 Monets that I liked and one Van Gogh. I dutifully went back down stairs and bought several overpriced postcards to go into my postcard book. Next I headed down the street to Burger King. It was 2:30 and I only had a small piece of pizza and a scone for breakfast (ahh leftovers…) Sitting here munching on my fruit shortcake biscuits instead of going out and finding dinner. Got an ample supply. I think I'll be fine. Anyway after Burger King I went off to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. On the ground floor they had an interesting photo portrait exhibition. On the next floor they had a really cool exhibit on the face. Lots of different perception tricks. One of the photos up close was Tony Blair (Prime Minister) but from far away it was Margaret Thatcher.

Someone's alarm in going off… will I have to get up and turn it off? It was quite a search but I found the stupid bugger. Now where was I? Oh yes, the exhibit… By the time I finished that exhibit I have 15 minutes left so I ran upstairs and saw a room full of bland paintings of Scottish people. Didn't have the time to find Sean Connery. Darn. Tomorrow I do some more sightseeing. I'm amazed by how many free museums there are in Edinburg. In the afternoon I leave for York (which hopefully will be a lot warmer.) On Sunday I'll just have to sightsee, considering everything will probably be closed because of Easter. I hear York is lovely. BTW, bought a scarf for £4. Wanted a Campbell, but they were £10. I bought Campbell shortbreads instead. Just decided I want to go to Cardiff (Wales) where they're museum specializes in Impressionist paintings, and Winchester were Jane Austen lived.

This morning I went down the hill to the mail center and reserved a seat on a 1:00 train to York. Then I hiked back up the hill and went to the Writer's Museum which is about Walter Scott, Robert Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson. I wish I could say I found it enthralling but it was rather bland. Just what I wanted to see, a pair of R.L. Stevenson's old boots. I then went into St. Giles Cathedral It's one of the prettiest I think I've seen. The stain glass was awesome. When I went off into one of the side chapels there was this lady showing two tourists around. "this is where Prince Charles sits, and this is where the Queen sits, and here's where the Queen Mother sits and next to her is the Duke of Edinburgh… that's Prince Phillip." It was cute. The ladies in the church were busy decking it with daffodils and poppies for Easter the next day. After the cathedral I headed down to the Museum of Childhood, which oddly enough was filled with children. Hehehe… didn't spend too long in there. By that time it was 12:30 and I picked up my bag and went to catch my train. My seat was one of those table seats and the other occupants were a Scottish lady and her two red headed grandchildren. They were cute although the boy couldn't sit still in his seat for more than 5 minutes. After getting off the train I wandered down the main shopping area in search of a bank. It was closed. Damn them all! Won't open until Tuesday. So I exist off of Travellers' Checks and credit card.

Then on to the York Castle Museum which oddly enough is not a castle. The castle which had previously stood on the site had been torn down and a prison had been built on the site... wasn't about a prison either. Instead it was a comprehensive collection of stuff... lots of stuff. The museum just kept going and going. Full Victorian, Georgian rooms, and other rooms and streets were shown in minute detail. It was kinda neat. The next stop on my travels was the York Dungeon. It was more like a house of horrors using regional ghost stories than anything else. It was a little too crowded for me. Spent more of the time just standing in a queue. After that I walked down to the art gallery. I didn't find the art gallery too inspiring either, but it had an interesting exhibit on Greek modern art. I left the museum seeking a place to sit down (my feet were killing me!) And then I remembered the Jorvik Viking Center. It had a sit down ride.

Ya know, most of the British countryside looks the same. Rather peaceful sheep, fields, rows of hedges, and aaahhhh! Trains that come up suddenly and scare you witless... enough view. Where was I, oh yes, it was 8:30 at night when I headed back to the youth hostel along the river (which is called Ouse and pronounced Ooze) which actually looked blue. I get a third of the way there and the street lights end. Needless to say it was not a happy walk home. I was glad for my trusty keychain flashlight (British Translation: torch) that Mom gave me for Xmas. I psyched myself up to yell at any muggers. I'm from LA. Don't mess with me. But no... I think the closest I got to a potential mugger was this guy who approached me this morning on the way to the rail station. He asked me "Are you from York?" I wanted to say, "Yes I'm from York, I just liked to carry around two weeks worth of luggage with me." I just said no. He said, "Well, today in York we're giving free haircuts." I just gave him a blank stare. "Do you want a free haircut?" As much as I need a haircut, this guy set off alarm bells. He wasn't carrying any signs or flyers and didn't look too nice so I politely declined and said I didn't have time. I continued to the rail station where I put my stuff in a locker. Actually they don't call them lockers. They call it left luggage.

So off I went to York Minster which has the wonderful claim of being the longest church in England. Oh and I think I forgot to mention that yesterday when I first headed into town all the churches were ringing their bells for Easter. It was a very pretty noise. If I had been able to drag myself out of bed earlier and if I had something nice to wear besides jeans and a sweatshirt I probably would have gone to service. Otherwise I walked into the Minster and they were offering tours of the bell towers, which they only do every so often. So I climbed the 161 spiraling steps to the bells. Our guide showed us the different ones and even rang the little bells (little being figurative because I doubt two men could have lifted the smallest one.) Then he took us into the other tower and showed us Big Peter, a ten ton bell (or as Dad would say "The Big Whamoo") Our guide showed us how well the bell was constructed by manually swinging the clapper (1.5 tons) and tapping the bell (which we happened to be standing under) The "little tap" vibrated everything for about a minute afterwards. Very pretty sound though.

April 15