Sunday, July 15, 2007

Edinburgh in ten hours

I had a semi-surprise visit today from Johanny, one of my Davenport friends. As it turned out, she arrived in town at 11:15 this morning, having flown into Glasgow from Paris last night, and was leaving at 9:30 tonight on a grueling 10-hour bus trip to London. In the interim, there was Edinburgh to be seen.

Fortunately, the day felt like cooperating, so we had a quick lunch at Chocolate Soup, followed by a walk up and down the Royal Mile, taking in the castle (complete with Blondie bleachers), Parliament, and a bit of Holyrood Park before heading back to the National Museum. I hadn't yet been, but the museum's pretty neat, rather like a compressed version of the Smithsonian with a huge section on Scottish history tacked on for good measure, a couple of koi ponds in the lobby, and the freakish "Millennium Clock", which somehow manages to incorporate Death, the months, a pieta, and Hitler. And as if that weren't enough, it chimes every few hours, too. Huh.

After the museum, we were both pretty tuckered out, so we came back to my place and Johanny grabbed a pick-me-up nap before dinner. I had wanted to take her to Frankenstein's, but the bar level was packed, so we settled for Favorit nachos - which, I suppose, isn't really "settling", per se. We had a little time left to head back to the Royal Mile to track down souvenirs and whisky fudge, and then, sadly, her whirlwind trip was over and it was time to say goodbye. I do hope she has a chance to sleep between here and London...

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