| SCOTLAND VACATION 2004 May 18 - May 30, 2004 JOURNAL ENTRY 13 entry begun on May 27th, 2004 at 09:05 Kelso Time Woke up at six or so, before the others, and came downstairs to rest and work on the journal a while. An hour or so later the rest of the gang came down to join me. We sat and relaxed, eating breakfast and catching up with what was happening in the world via the BBC World channel. At around ten, we started out for Edinburgh. We had called at 9:30 to reserve our spots for the Haunted Underground Tour of Edinburgh that night at 18:30, and we wanted to get to Edinburgh much earlier than that to see some of the other highlights of the area and get our seats reserved on the train back to London the following Saturday. The drive in took a bit more than an hour. We drove around old town a bit, and ended up parking under a mall near Waverly Station. I had a huge order of fish and chips for lunch, then we went up and across to Waverly. Went into the reservation center to get our seats set on the 10:30 train bound for London King's Cross, and found where Mick would park when dropping us off that morning. We also went by the First Class Lounge, so as to get our bearings as to where it was. Mick had forgotten something in the car, so he went back to get it and said he'd meet us either in the big Waterstone Bookstore across the street, or in Jenners Department Store. Waterstone's turned out to be a Barnes and Noble clone and had no toilets, so went to Jenners. Looked around the gifts area, and ran into a girl from Kansas who seemed quite pleased and relieved to have heard other Americans. Mick found us eventually, and we went into the food store at Jenners where I found one of my goals for the trip; Turkish Delight (in mint, rose, and lemon flavors). Oh, and the Legos! There was quite a selection of Lego sets, many of which cannot be found in the states. Amongst it there was also a bin collection that was similar to the Brach's candy Pick-A-Mix things in grocery stores in the states. You could get as many Legos as you could fit into a bag (and have the bag actually seal) for a set price, depending on which bag you chose. I picked the smallest, a £3.49 bag, and started tossing Legos in. Then I realized that to maximize the potential of the space I had available, I needed to instead stack the Legos into a shape that would slide perfectly into the bag, just short enough so the bag could seal. Once I had done that, I took smaller, flatter pieces and sprinkled them in so they filled in the slight gaps on the sides. All in all I ended up with over 200 Legos for the equivalent of around $7, which is not bad at all as Lego prices go. After Jenners, we walked back across Princes Street to the park, which has amongst many other attractions the Scott Monument, in tribute of Sir Walter Scott. Ginger opted to climb the hundreds of spiraling (and narrowing) stairs inside it, while Mick and I sat on a park bench and chatted, taking in the day. Mick explained the history behind many of the nearby buildings. Ginger got a horde of great pictures from her travels in the monument, and was exhausted but triumphant upon her return to the ground. From the Scott Monument we headed along Princes Street to a little ice cream stand for our fulfillment of our recommended daily allowance of butter pecan. Then it was up the street, along side the National Gallery of Scotland from Princes Street to the Royal Mile, at one end of which lays Edinburgh Castle. In the parking area at Edinburgh Castle they were preparing bleachers and setting up security for a parade that will not take place until August. Talk about your type "A" personalities! Anyway, we took a good amount of shots of the surrounding areas outside the castle as well as of the castle itself. From the castle we walked down the Royal Mile a bit to a huge shop that makes tartans, complete with a tartan museum and a floor where you can actually watch the giant weaving machines work in tandem with the people running them to put together the plaid materials. After the tartan shop, it was time to have a bite to eat and a cup of tea before the main event of the evening, the Haunted Underground Tour (cue eerie music). Many of the coffee shops close at five along that street, and it was just past five as we went past them. There were a few still open, but they all looked, well, a bit dodgy, or didn't have exactly what we wanted. Then, as hope was dimming, like a corporate beacon in the night, we came upon perhaps the only place to get iced anything in all of Scotland, Starbucks! It is rare that they have as good an assortment of pastries and sweets that late in the day as well, so we had ourselves a rare treat of a snack. A nice sit at Starbucks later, we went up to Mercat Cross, where we were to meet our guide for the haunted tour. Mercat Cross is apparently where they announce to Scotland that a king or queen has died and a new ruler is proclaimed. Our guide showed up and gathered us around, then began thje tour with a spoooooky warning or two. We walked a bit to the entrance into the vaults. I was singled out to be the one to close the vault door behind the tour as we all entered. As she phrased it, "The last one in is usually the first to vanish." She then shook my hand and said it had been nice to have known me. Good fun. Well, I managed to get the door closed without major incident, and joined up with the rest of the tour. We wandered through many rooms and hallways underneath the city, and she explained which ghosts were seen where, as well as told some stories from others who have toured and some of her own eerie experiences. From their website: "The Haunted Underground Experience visits what has been called "possibly the most haunted place in Britain" - the South Bridge Vaults. These historic vaults have been hidden for nearly two centuries and it is only now that the true extent of supernatural activity is being realised. The Vaults were the focus of the Edinburgh Ghost Project during the 2001 International Science Festival. So extensive was their study that it made the Guinness Book of Records. The Project confirmed what our visitors had known for some time…….. Since we first ventured into the dark chambers hidden within the South Bridge, many visitors and guides have experienced for themselves the residents of the vaults whose spirits still linger, like the little boy or the dreaded malevolent male presence who watches the groups as they pass through the chambers….waiting for them to come to his territory. Some would rather forget what they saw, others have shared with us what it is like to see, hear and feel a ghost. Our accounts come from hundreds of authenticated eyewitness statements given by those who have come on the tours since 1996. Their accounts range from the eerie to terrifying, strange to the inexplicable. During your Experience, you will hear the most spine chilling and mysterious of these accounts, corroborated by accounts from psychics and the results of the Ghost Project. You may or may not believe that the vaults are haunted after hearing our strange accounts. You may have your own explanations for the more mysterious experiences. Whatever your thoughts, there is no doubt that many people - whether they be guides or customers, psychics or sceptics - have had strange and sometimes terrifying experiences in these chambers since they opened. An experience could be waiting for you in the vaults……..dare you find out?" After the tour we chatted with the guide for a bit, then walked back to the car to make our way home to Kelso. It was after eight at night and we still had not eaten dinner. The mall the car had been parked in was closed, so we had to walk around back and in through another way. The food places all closed before we made it back to Kelso, the pubs having closed their kitchens around nine, so we ate dinner fixed by Chef Mick. Macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, Worchester sauce, and nice fresh bread to dip in it all. It was absolutely delicious. After the meal I took a couple of Tylenol PMs and soon proceeded to pass out for the evening. IMAGES FROM JOURNAL ENTRY 13 ---> |