09.25.04 | Edinburgh

For our second day in Scotland, we took a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I didn't realize how close together the two cities are. The train ride is about 50 minutes and the trains depart about every 15 minutes.

Edinburgh is quite attractive. The best-looking city I've seen so far in the U.K. I don't think it took any damage in WWII, which is no doubt a bonus.

We mostly did touristy things during the day. We took a tour of some supposedly haunted underground caverns and later went to Edinburgh Castle. The castle sits atop a hill that, as our tour book says, is the most defendable hilltop on the invasion route from England to central Scotland. And as the English and Scots were fighting each other quite a bit back in the day, this location has seen plenty of action. The castle itself is pretty interesting and there are a few things worth checking out inside, including a war memorial and recreation of the military prison. However, admittance is pricy - about 10 pounds for an adult ticket.

August is a month of festivals in Edinburgh. There's the Fringe Festival, the Military Tattoo, the International Festival, the Book Festival, the Film Festival and the Tighty-Whitey Festival. The Royal Mile, a street that leads from the castle, was packed full of Fringe street performers when we walked along it. Other people were constantly handing out flyers meant to entice people to see comedy or shows.

After an enjoyable dinner at an all-vegetarian Indian restaurant, we went to Edinburgh University to see a musical performance of the Jock Tamson's Bairns. This is the unusual name of a Scottish folk music band consisting of five guys - a guitarist, two fiddlers, a percussionist and a squeezebox(ist?). Claudine thought quite highly of the performance. We even bought the group's latest album.

On the train ride back to Glagow, Claudine fell asleep. A friendly middle-aged woman tourist from Italy took this pic. << REWIND