We checked into The York Backpackers Hostel and we decided to stay in the 16-bed dorm room for 13 British pounds a night versus 17 pounds for a triple room. It's not too busy today, so the fellow who checked us in thought there would be only 9 people in the room tonight. The only problem I have is only one of the 3 windows in the dorm room opens, and it is kind of hot in there for me.
We had made sandwiches this morning at Kevin's, so we went to the park to eat lunch and then we walked all around town and up on the wall that surrounds the city. At 4PM we went to the Evensong service at York Minster Cathedral. It was a very nice service with a lot of beautiful organ music and singing by a boys' and mens' choral group. After the service we went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before we went out to join a ghost tour. The tour wasn't very scary, but the tour guide was terrific. He was dressed in black pants, a black cape, a black top hat and a grey silk scarf. He had a wonderful, dramatic voice and he told interesting stories about ghost sightings in various buildings and homes around York. After the talk we went back to the hostel and just went to bed.
6/16: We decided to get a fairly early train (9AM) to Edinburgh because we didn't have anything in particular to do in York. It was another pleasant train ride and we arrived in Edinburgh about 11:30. We decided to look at the hostel closest to the train station and we discovered there were two hostels located in one building. One was very big (200 beds) and the other was much smaller (40 beds). We decided to stay in the smaller one because it was very clean and seemed much quieter than the big one. They are re-doing the small one - The City Center Hostel - and it is freshly painted, new carpets, etc. It doesn't have a common area - only a kitchen with a TV (no separate living room or TV room).
After we settled in we went on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour and then walked around the city for a while. The bus is a good deal because the tickets are good for 24 hours, the tour narration was very interesting, and we get discount tickets for some attractions around the city (e.g., Edinburgh Castle). We went in to see the Lady Stairs Writers Museum (they had a nice exhibit on John Muir, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson), the Museum of Childhood (quite an extensive collection of toys from the 1800s to modern times) and the National Gallery of Scotland.
We went to the grocery store and bought some dinner (pasta and sausages) to cook at the hostel, and I got 2 beers to drink there. We sat in the kitchen and I talked to a young man and woman from Connecticut for a while, and then another young woman came in and joined us. She said to me, "Oh, you've been to New Zealand." I've been wearing the bone carving I did there and she noticed it. It turns out she is from New Zealand and she has been traveling for over a year. Her name is Rachael; she is 23 years old, and she was very interesting to talk with. Rachael is the third person since I got to London who has commented on my bone carving necklace. The first was the tour guide at St. Paul's. He noticed the paua shell in the carving and told me it is found in only one place in the world - a certain section of New Zealand. Then in the Thai restaurant in Bath there was a group of 10 or 12 female students out celebrating the end of exams and one girl's birthday. About 6 of them gave me their cameras to take pictures of the group and one girl said to me, "Oh, were you in New Zealand?" She also knew about the paua shell.
After dinner, Shari, Rachael, and I went to use the internet up the street and Richard went for a walk. The couple from Connecticut had recommended a particular internet cafe because the connections were very fast and it was reasonably priced. They were right on both counts, and the place was big, clean and well lit.
6/17: It looked like rain when we first got up, so we decided to tour Edinburgh Castle in the morning instead of the afternoon. We got there about 10AM and stayed until just after 1PM. Every day since 1861 they have fired a canon up at the castle at 1PM, so we stayed for the ceremony, but it wasn't much of a ceremony. Just one man in uniform who loaded the shell and then fired the canon at 1PM. We had rented audio headsets to use as toured the castle and the commentary at the gun salute said we may wonder why the gun is fired at 1PM versus noon...Scots frugality - 1 shell versus 12 shells.
It started to rain quite a bit just at 1PM, so we decided to get some lunch when we left the castle. We headed down the street called The Royal Mile (it runs between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse) and we went for pizza for lunch. Good timing because the rain had stopped by the time we finished lunch.
We then visited The People's Story - a museum depicting life in Edinburgh over the last couple of hundred years. It was very interesting and it had a 20 minute video at the end, but we were tired and I fell asleep during part of the video. We were going to visit one more museum but decided to go back to the hostel for a nap instead. I slept from 4:30 to 5:30 and then got up to take a walk up to Calton Hill, which has a monument to Admiral Nelson, a couple of other monuments and some big structure with many tall columns that looks like it belongs in Greece. I have no idea what it is because there was no plaque or sign anywhere to say why it was there.
I had run into Shari as I was leaving the hostel (she had gone to the bookstore), so she walked up Calton Hill with me and then we walked along Princes Street. We took pictures of the Sir Walter Scott Memorial, the castle in the distance, the roses on the park and some Scottish country dancers and musicians who were perfoming in one of the parks. Princes Street is the main street in Edinburgh and it separates the Old Town from the New Town.
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