I walked into tourist hell…
…and it’s called Edinburgh Castle! Dear Lord!
I think perhaps I picked the wrong thing to start with in Edinburgh, a seemingly lovely city, because the castle was exactly what I never, ever, want to be party to again…
The castle
I’m staying in the Castle Rock Hostel, literally in the shadow of the Castle. It’s a massive place, 250 beds, with lounges, kitchen facilities, a movie each night, and all sorts of other neato traveler oriented stuff. I still think 14£ ($25) for a bed is a bit much….in a room with 14 people! eek! But the place is cool enough…and totally central. 🙂
So I got up this morning bright and early…it’s not easy to sleep with enough people to form a football team rustling about. So out of bed, I thought I’d get a jump start and head to the caste before it even opened properly.
Ha! Laughable! There were hundreds of people there: families with kids running around, pensioners with walking sticks, entire busloads with cameras and little sense of space. (Why do herded tourists feel the need to knock you over or round you up into their group?! …sheep.)
Reluctantly I joined the line, not quite eager to buy a ticket…and less so when I saw the price! Good grief! 9.80£! (I won’t even tell you what that is in dollars…it’s too alarming.) And no student discount…sigh. I almost turned round and walked away…but felt that I really should see the place, so I poneyed up and started elbowing my way about in the crowd.
To be honest, I was underwhelmed. I mean…it’s a pretty spectacular castle, perched high above the city on a bit of volcanic rock…but most of the buildings seem to be used as shops to sell tacky souveniers. I found it really depressing. In 100 years new flocks of tourists will come through and see preserved stores where tourists of old bought tartan bookmarks, shortbread cookies and replicas of military medals. Ooooh….aaaahhhh!
I was determined to get my money’s worth, so I dutifully went to each building, all the military museum displays, each tower, rampart and so forth. I even wound myself through the maze of passageways that lead to the crown jewels…the effect of which is severely diminished by the fact that by the time you get there you’ve seen 100 pictures and replicas of them…and the loud mouth from middle america who’s behind you pushing a video camera almost up your nose so that he can get his 10 second clip…before the guy behind him does the same thing to him.
Forgive me…I sound just a tad bitter. I realize that I am a tourist myself…I know. But I’d like to think I’m a slightly different breed…and it was proved to me today that I am. If I see someone taking a picture, I wait till they’re done to cross their path. If I bump into someone, I say excuse me. If I see an older gentleman struggling with the stairs I wait patiently, giving him some space, or ask if he’d like help…instead of nearly knocking him over. If I’m reading a sign or plaqe, I stand to the side so that other people can read it to, not have to wait till I’m done. If I have a piece of garbage I find a waste basket to throw it in, instead of on the ground. If I’m waiting to see something, the 1 O’Clock gun for example…more on that in a minute, and there is a child who can’t see…I let them go in front of me. It’s not much…but it was all sadly lacking in the masssssssive crowd today.
But…I did enjoy the 1 O’Clock gun. Everyday, except Sundays and Christmas, a gun is fired from the castle to give ships and workers the exact tim of day. A guy in a fancy uniform, the head gunner, comes out and with all the pomp and circumstance one guy can muster, he lines up the gun, checks his watch, and fires away. It’s really not much…but I enjoyed it. This is partially because, waiting in the crowd I could barely see the gun and was trying to get a shot without blocking anyone else’s. Well…when the gun went off, despite the fact that Id been waiting and expecting it, I jumped…and simultaneously hit my camera button…and got a rather amusing shot…over the heads of the crowd, with all the smoke billowing about the fancy man. That and the collective shreek that went up from the crowd….it is pretty loud.
There have been times in the past 3 months when I’ve felt guilty that I’m not seeing or doing enough. I sometimes spend afternoons enjoying a coffee in a cafe, while I read or write, or I take long walks, but I avoid a lot of the tourist attractions…like Loch Ness for example. Well, guilt be gone! I now know for sure what I’m missing…and there’s no love lost.
Yes, of course, there will be times when I visit the ‘Must See’ sights…but I needn’t feel bad if I skip them. I’ve seen and done so much on this trip…despite saving money on too expensive ‘attractions’ that test my nerves.
There’s nothing better then a walk in a foreign city. Perhaps it’s past all the big, important places…maybe it’s lost in the back alleys. The point is…entrence fees be damned.
Okay…so all that being said…it seems I’ll soon have oppurtunity to post some photos..finally! I’ve found a cafe with USB hookups (though I forgot the cable, lol) and I’ve even picked up a few spotty wireless connections. It’s nice to be back in a city for a few days. So enough of all there words…the pictures are the best part, I know. I can’t wait to get some up because I’ve got spectacular shots of this country, and ya’ll need to see them! (Yes, I did just say ya’ll…get over it.)
Tags: Scotland
LizG