The long trip to Edinburgh began on a train from Maastricht, Netherlands to Charleroi, Belgium. I must say that I do love the trains, but I wish I spoke fluent French or Flemish. Yet again, I found myself on a train misadventure. This time it was due to the train changes. I had learned from previous experiences that it was a very good idea to print the train schedule and itinerary and bring it with me on my trips. Unfortunately, the train schedules and changes are not necessarily the same from hour to hour. For example, at 3pm you might be able to take a train from Maastricht to Liege-Guillemins and from Liege-Guillemins to Charleroi. But... an hour later you might have to make two changes. If you only have the schedule for the first trip, you won't end up in the right place at the right time. This was my problem. I did eventually make it to Charleroi, but with about 3 extra changes and a lot of hand gesturing with the conductor as we tried to communicate about my predicament. When I finally arrived at the Charleroi Sud station, I hopped on the train to the airport just as I had planned and only about 2 hours late. Then came the next unfortunate learning experience (or as they would say at work"opportunity"). I arrived at the airport expecting to find my hotel located nearby. I had reserved a room at the IBIS Hotel - Charleroi Airport. Well, as you might be guessing, when I arrived at the airport, the IBIS Hotel - Charleroi Airport was nowhere to be found. I had to take a taxi to the hotel which was located way out in the middle of a farm field. Shadows of crops and cows were all that I could see in the darkness.
The next morning, bright and early, I took a cab back to the airport at 5AM for my 7:30 flight. I checked in and found a place to rest before boarding began. Even though it is an international airport, Charleroi has the feel of Flying Cloud Airport in Minnesota. I found myself reminiscing about the field trip I took once to Flying Cloud with my aviation class as I sat and waited for my plane to arrive.
It was a nice flight, very smooth, but even so I remained anxious because I knew that I still had more traveling ahead of me once I arrived in Glasgow, Scotland. The trip from Glasgow to Edinburgh was about an hour and was pretty inexpensive because they offer a deal (half off tickets) to travelers to arrive at Glasgow airport. So I arrived in Edinburgh at about 9:30am and began my exploration of the city.
The weather was rather icky. It was overcast and raining off and on, so I made my way up to Edinburgh Castle first.
Edinburgh Castle
The castle was one of my favorites that I had the opportunity to tour. It has been well preserved and there is a great audio tour that I rented. They also offer a free guided tour, but I decided against it as the timing was inconvenient for me. I made my way through the castle soaking up the history and imagining what it would have been like to live back at its glory. It's so easy to romanticize about the times of Kings and Queens, but you are knocked back into reality as you hear about the battles and the dangerous times in which they lived. A highlight was viewing The Honours, the Scottish Crown Jewels and reading about their history. They are the second oldest set of crown jewels in Europe and were once thought lost. In reality were actually hidden by Scottish Loyals to prevent them from being broken at the order of Oliver Cromwell and many many years later, when the time was right, they were brought out of hiding to the people of Scotland.
Cannongate Kirk
Cannongate Kirk is a pretty simple church, by European standards. It's nothing like the St. Paul's Cathedral in London or the cathedrals I saw in Belgium. But it has a simple elegance to it.
The Royal Mile
I made my way down the Royal Mile with the men in kilts and all the other tourists. I stopped to warm up with a cup of tea and shortbread, then I moved on the Hollyrood Park and the long hike up to Arthur's Seat.
Holyrood Park
Holyrood Park is quite a big park which feels like a beautiful respite just at the edge of the city. It's quite the hike up to Arthur's Seat, but fortunately the weather cooperated and the sun came out as I started my climb.
Arthur's Seat (Height of Arrows)
Arthur's Seat is probably not the place of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but grew out of the corruption of the Gaelic word ard-na-said, meaning Height of Arrows. From the top the old inactive volcano, I could see the whole city. It was a beautiful sight. Unfortunately, the winds were blowing and my hat and scarf were not sufficient to keep me warm.
Carlton Old Burial Ground
Before I had to catch my train back to Glasgow, I walked through the Carlton Old Burial Ground where I encountered graves and memorials of David Hume, Thomas Hamilton, Robert Burns and a statue of Abraham Lincoln.
I stayed the night at at youth hostel in Glasgow by Kelvingrove Park. This was probably one of my favorite hostels. It reminded me of an old victorian-style home. I stayed on the top floor in a big room with an attached bathroom. It was nice and clean and I would definitely recommend this hostel to my friends and family. The next morning I grabbed my last cup of Scottish tea and headed back to the airport.
My trip to Glasgow and Edinburgh was a nice way to cap off my travels as a "single" woman before Eric was able to join me in Europe.
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