Lowlands

One of the things I was most excited about when doing the tourist thing was to see the Scottish highlands. Marc and I had planned to take a Hairy Coo tour that goes into the start of the highlands up to Loch Katrine. This was simply not to be...the first day we tried, there was an online booking error and there was no room for us on the trip. The next...bus broke down. Then snow.

So we gave up today, and went to the lowlands instead. We went to Kirkcaldy by train on a mission to see the scenery but also to get Marc a VCR for his masters project. They are very tricky to find here. Kirkcaldy is in the fife lowlands, right on the coast. The water was beautiful, and the train traveled right up next to the water. I saw my first wild seal to! It was a challenge...but with Marc in his happy place on a train, and stuck in one spot, I finally got him to sit still to take a nice photo to. Well, maybe not still, and it did take almost 40 shots with the camera...but we got a photo :)

Panto Theatre

A very popular thing here is panto theatre productions - pantomime theatre which is a brittish traditional holiday christmas musical. Marc and I went to see Jack and the Beanstalk at the king's theatre, with famous comedians Grant Stott, Andy Gray, and Allan Stewart starring. It was great fun; the leads frequently improvised, giggled and broke character which made it more fun for the audience. The set was beautiful, with very fancy tech like a robotic giant. They dedicated entire numbers to making fun of Glee or the prime minister.

Marc of course enjoyed the more techinical aspects of the theatre...I guess they did some cool stuff with the scrim, and marc was doubtful of there fly system (though it seemed to pull off well). From the tech-y side of things, Marc seemed impressed to.

Ghost tour - City of the Dead

Marc and I went on a haunted tour in city centre. It took us through vaults hidden under one of the main bridges in Scotland, through grey friar's graveyard, and into the covenanters prison and black mausoleum. Interestingly, where we started out was just a parking lot that turned out to be a plague pit. They are all over city centre.

The vaults provided refuge for large populations of the poor during a time when being homeless was outlawed in Edinburgh. They lived in cold, damp, crowded conditions with lots of violent crime. The police at the time refused to pursue anyone in the vaults because of its reputation for disease and violence. The life expectancy within the vaults at that time was 18 months. They say that the ghost of children, a women in a yellow dress, and a dark being referred to as the entity have been spotted there.

We then went to Grey friar's graveyard. It is a large open space, with about 500 tombstones scattered around. But there are over a half million people buried there. It was the main graveyard of Edinburgh for years, and many plague victims reside there. Anywhere you step you are standing on dozens of bodies, and with all the rain erosion is starting to reveal the bodies. In the far corner is the covenanters prison, where religous rebels where inhumanely kept during the revolt. The most infamous poltergeist there is Bloody Mackenzie, one of the scots who tortured the covenanters, haunts the area as he is in a mausolem nearby.

The tour says it is common for people to get unexplainable scratches and bruises during the tour, attributed to the entity and bloody mackenzie. We did not experience anything supernatural...though many people have odd body sensations, and Marc did have a violently itchy elbow when we were in the mausoleum.

Deep Sea World Aquarium

I finally tried a full Scottish breakfast, complete with veggie haggis ^_^ I have Marc beat on that...he has not tried any form of haggis yet.

After breakfast, Marc, Camille, and I went to North Queensferry, about a 20 minute train ride from Edinburg to go to the aquarium. It was very small, but had nice staff with lots of talks. Instead of a normal touch tank, they had a suited up staff member in the tank bringing up animals to talk about. The better parts of the aquarium were a nice little conveyor belt ride through their shark tank, and a seal rehab hospital. We saw the feeding for two of the resident grey seals, which was an educational talk that showed off their well trained for husbandry behaviours.

Scottish Parks

The parks over here are wayyyyy more fun than those in the US....though a bit more dangerous. Most of the items within the park are meant to send you flying. Instead of a teeter totter, you have handals on two sides of a metal beam, which swings in circles. So two people grab hold, you run in a circle, and then you both go up. We saw a great playground in the zoo as well, which looked like the fancier play equipment given to great apes. And it is lifted off the ground. Kids need to be tethered in to play on that!

Hogmanay

Scots take there holidays very seriously, especially hogmanay. Hogmanay is the last day of the year, aka new years around here. It is a several day holiday, with many government businesses closed from New years eve through the 4th or 5th.

Marc and I had dinner with friends (one of the friends is vegan, so we had a delicious vegan friendly feast of curry, roasted potatoes made by her irish roomie :), humus and dip, and stuffed mushrooms.) After, we hiked up the craigs (adjacent to arthurs seat, but a little less steep) and watched the fireworks. There was a display over the castle, and another big one over city centre (I think maybe in St. Andrews square?)

Several paper lanterns were also set loose. We watched a family set them off, they had a bit of trouble, but the lanterns burn really bright and did well with all the wind that night. Absolutely beautiful.

Butterfly and Insect World at Dobbie's

Marc and I went to a wonderful shopping centre for gardening and home care called Dobbies. It is huge, and is fun to wander through. It also has a garden restaurant and deli with delicious fresh grown foods, as well as visitor attractions like a seasonal ice rink and a butterfly and insect world. The butterfly and insect world has a large butterfly garden, with painted quails and iguanas running around. In a separate room they have reptiles, amphibians, insects, a bee colony (though it is a bit cold for them), and a nocturnal room. It was fun, and the standards for animal care overhere seem to be much higher than in the US. Even pets for sale like hamsters and rabbits have healthier looking coats, and are curious and approach people. They have varied diets, enrichment, and all around just seem better.