World Wanderings

I don't think I ever want to take an over night bus again. But alas I have signed myself up for yet another one tomorrow night, in my crazy journey to get down to Dublin. I took one last night from Bath to get to were I am now in Edinburgh. I have really enjoyed the Scottish terrain, the only terrains that it looks remotely like is the western half of south Dakota. At least that I know of. Except this land is green, full of hills and sheep everywhere. It's great.

Update (the part that got deleted)

So I'll start with Sunday. I was enjoyed a nice relaxing day in Bath. Seeing how it was Sunday, I went out to find a church to attend. After searching around for a little while I found a winner. They were serving coffee beofre the service. It was nice to relax for a while with a cup of 'filter' coffee and chat with the locals. It was so nice to walk into a place and be welcomed by everyone that was there as I passed them. It was like a bit of home far far away from it.

After the service I took a small walk out into the firms around the city. This Skyline walk was something I wished I had found a few days earlier, since it offered an amazing view of the city and the surrounding hills. If I had known about it earlier I would have loved to catch a sunset from up there. I did have a nice relaxing picnic under shade while watching the city below. It was about as picturesque as you could get.

After that I headed back into town for the evensong at the Bath Abbey cathedral. It was another great part of the day. I love how even a small chior of 12 or so people can easily fill an cathedral with sound. That combined with the organ just manges to evelipe you in a rich sound you really don't get anywhere else. I enjoyed the service (first evensong I've ever been to).

Then I wondered around for a while until my bus left. Didn't get any sleep but arrived in Edinburgh with enough energy to last the day. I started by finding a pretty awesome hostel, which I'm still chilling at as I write this. I would like to find more like this one. Not expensive, great facilities and staff, as well as comfortable beds. Anyways after getting myself situated I went on a walking tour of the city. We had a fun entertaining guide, and all in all got a great overview to a bit of the city and Scotlands history.

Later on I found the best view ever from ontop a large hill (extinct volcano) called Authors seat. It offered an amazing 360 view of the city as well as the surrounding landscape of Scotland. I could easily see for fifty miles or more in all directons. Combine that with the ocean and nearby mountians, it created a breathtaking view. Well worth the hefty trek up the hill. I have a feeling that if I lived in a city like this that I would be up there all the time.

After the hike down I found myself some haggis. Which was quite delicious. It would be something that I could see myself eating more of. I finished off the day hanging out with a kid from Hong Kong, as a random (didn't make sense) movie in the background. It was entertaining to chat about life and travel plans.

This morning i had another good coversation with a traveler from Ireland (my next destination). We spent breakfast talking about Ireland and America. There have been planty of great conversations so far and I can only wonder who else I will meet along the way. was filled with more awesome views, the Edinburgh Castle, and the National history museum. It was quite the day. Well I'm off to catch my bus.