... It's Crap

For today's post, I'm going to get everyone caught up on my the remainder of my trip to Edinburgh, as well as all the excitement (earnings season, cough, cough) that has transpired since then. But first, read this and make a mental note to yourself.
 
In Edinburgh, I had precious little time to take in the city, so I went immediately to Edinburgh Castle, the highest point and easily the most frequented landmark there. It's really interesting -- the castle has been used for a variety of purposes, has been laid siege to by the English back before they were so chummy with the Scots. It's pretty elaborate, and I can't really do it justice, but my favorite odd part of it was the little walled-in dog graveyard that was apparently reserved for the canine companions of officers of a certain rank. I have a picture of that somewhere, though I can't find it right now, so you're going to have to do with the ones I'm providing.
 
To get to the castle, I walked up High Street, aka "The Royal Mile" because it is roughly a mile-long stretch that runs between the Castle and the Palace where the Queen stays when she's in Scotland. At the top of High Street, after waiting in line for about 30 minutes to pay my admission fee -- tip to future Edinburgh visitors, there is a bus that will take you up this hill for about £2 that will also sell you a ticket to get into the Castle. This will save you time if you are there in the summer. I imagine it's busy year round, but it was like being at a Ticketmaster outlet in the 80s when Sting or Peter Gabriel tickets went on sale. Anyway, after finally getting my ticket, and almost falling for about 14 different women with delightful Scottish accents, I walked through the entrance gate and toured the castle.
 
After touring the various parts of the castle and seeing the Scottish Crown Jewels, I paused for a few minutes to take in the fantastic views the castle's high perch provide, particularly of the Firth of Forth, which is the body of water you can see beyond the city in the picture here. It really was pretty spectacular, and provides one of the best views of an entire city I can remember seeing in a long time. Then again, I lived in Toronto for the better part of 14 years and have yet to be to the top of the CN Tower, so what do I know?
 
After finishing off the castle visit, I walked about the Old Town, which is full of gothic architecture, and actually in certain respects reminded me a bit of Barcelona. (Narrow streets, strange seafood, couldn't understand a word the locals were saying, etc.) High Street really forms the backbone of this part of the city, with a seemingly endless series of "closes" -- narrow paths that are like roads but far too narrow for any auto traffic in most cases, a good thing in my book -- that spread off it in either direction. I spent probably a good two hours wandering in and around here, before finding myself at the World's End pub, which aside from being favorably reviewed in my guidebook, is also the former workplace of my friend Steve Smith (Stephen Gordon Foster Smith to those that know him well. Steve is my friend who you may or may not have heard me reference as half a duo, along with our other friend Doug Cameron, that used to busk on Blvd St. Laurent in Montreal, playing -- perhaps exclusively, I can't recall -- Guns 'n Roses songs on accordion and tin whistle. let me tell you, Steve's whistle solo on 'Sweet Child O' Mine" was kickass.) The pub is so named because it is built on top of the remnants of the old wall around the city, and when that wall was there, Edinburgh's people never went beyond that wall, so for all intents and purposes, that was the end of the world. I had a fine meal and a pint there, and then continued on to see the rest of the city, including the spectacular architecture of the New Town.
 
I also finally broke down and went into a record store, the first time I'd done that since I got to Europe. (I looked through the window of one in Ghent to see how much the new Wilco album was and was scared off by the price tag: €18.50!) But, as fate would have it, Fopp, a chain of stores in the U.K. that were recommended to me by my neighbor (and renowned anglophile) Judith, turned out to be a pretty good store. A seller of books, CDs and DVDs, it also features a cafe. Sounds familiar, right? Well, this cafe sells beers. Why hasn't Barnes & Noble thought of this??? Who isn't more likely to buy CDs they don't really want when they have a beer in hand? Why not turn the record store into a quasi-nightclub. This could be HUGE in Williamsburg! I felt fairly good about walking away having only spent £22 for four discs, which for the record were:
the debut album from Scottish rock band Idlewild (very hard to find in the U.S.)
'I Should Coco' by Supergrass (also somewhat rare in the U.S.)
'Crocodiles' by Echo and the Bunnymen
'Aladdin Sane' by David Bowie
 
Anyway, this is getting somewhat long, so I'm going to end it here. On Sunday I visited the Palace, and looked around for trinkets and souvenirs, but decided they were mostly crap and didn't buy anything. (I was also out of pounds and didn't really want to visit the ATM again. The U.K. really needs to adopt the euro.)
 
This afternoon I head to Amsterdam for my final weekend in Europe. I remind you all, as my mother did me, that Amsterdam "is the drug capital!" Yes, Mom, it is.