I woke up in Glasgow and walked back to the train station, I spent 3 days in Glasgow and did not meet anyone. But Edinburgh was the more interesting city, or so I was told. I bought a train ticket and knowing that the train only takes about 1 hour, I did no planning. I very quickly arrived in Edinburgh Waverley station, the weather had changed completely, instead of the wind and rain from the storm it was hot and sunny. Despite it being Scotland in February I found I had to use sun cream.
The city was busy, I went into the McDonalds right next to the train station. Here you will notice how often I end up in McDonalds, but free WiFi and cheap food are a good choice when travelling. I almost never eat a full meal, sometimes I just get a coffee, other times I will have a wrap or amazingly a salad. I oriented myself in the city and found that I had to get to the other side of the train station, the train tracks felt like a river running through the city.
The hostel was called the Castle Rock Hostel named so as it was opposite from Edinburgh Castle. I walked down towards the castle and crossed the train tracks near the Scottish National Gallery. The other side of the tracks required alot of uphill walking, the buildings were darker this side of the city, the roads were cobbled rather than tarmac. I was surprised at how many international tourists were in the city, only in London had I seen so many. I never see tourists where I live.
I arrived at the hostel, and checked in. It was a very large hostel in an excellent location in the city. Inside it was decorated to look like a castle, with suits of armour and shields. I walked around the hostel for a while, it was like a maze, every corridor looked the same and corridors would branch off in unique, unexpected ways. I found my room dumped my bag and went back outside to go see the National Gallery.
Walking back down I spent the rest of the daylight hours in the National Gallery and The Royal Scottish Academy, both buildings are next to each other. I then walked back to the streets near the hostel, I believe the area is known as the Royal Mile or the Old Town. I walked around until I found a super market and bought some food to cook in the hostel.
On the way back two women walked past me, one with her backpack wide open and all her stuff was hanging out. She clearly had not noticed so I caught up with her. She thanked me and we started talking for about half an hour. I was the same age as the two women, and we noticed how our lives were the total opposite from each other. They had both done nothing but have fun and travel since leaving school 10 years ago, I had done nothing but work. Now they were having to find a way to settle down and make money and I was having to learn how to have fun. We said bye and I went back to cook some food and make coffee.
Back at the hostel an American woman was also cooking in the kitchen, she told me how she was just coming to the end of her 3 month trip around Europe. She spoke about how she had treated herself to a hotel room for her last night but did not want to leave the hostel yet. I look back now and realise she may have been inviting me back to her hotel room, using the hostel to try and meet a man, but at the time I was oblivious.
I also met a Chinese woman who was also travelling long term, but she was in her early 30s. She asked me a curious question, can Europeans recognise which country a person comes from just by the persons face. I did not think so, especially in western Europe, maybe this changes the further you travel. She seemed surprised by my answer, like she thought all Europeans look alike to her but maybe we see each other differently. I read for a while in the common room and went to bed.
The next day I woke up, had hostel breakfast, and then walked to the National Museum of Scotland. It was not far from the hostel, when I got there they were evacuating the museum. I think a fire alarm went off, I waited for about 45 minutes before I was let in. A large queue had haphazardly gathered by the entrance. It was a rush when they eventually opened the doors.
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My Backpacking Memoirs
Non-FictionIn 2017 I embarked on a three month backpacking trip around Europe. Motivated by the many accounts of travel from within religion, I went to learn. But what I experienced was not what I was expecting. This was my first time leaving the UK since I wa...
