12th March - 16th March

"For As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any condition be brought under English rule. For we fight, not for glory, nor for riches, nor for honour - but for freedom alone, which no good man surrenders but with his life." The Declaration of Arbroath

When I first arrived in Edinburgh (pronouced Edin-braw) at 7pm, Mical (Jerome's friend) greeted me at the train station. As he took me to his apartment (which was 10 minutes away!), he showed me a few buildings, and gave me a brief summary of Scots. Notably, he told me that Scots have Napoleon's syndrome and that their desire to separate from the UK is unfounded and careless siince it would ultimately crash economically if it were an independant country. On our way, we met up with Christos, Mical's Cypriot flatmate that was doing a PhD in Literature.

We settled down in the apartment and talked more about different things from food to politics. Mical was doing his PhD in Engineering. He is one of the very few people that always had an intelligent opinion to everything. I really enjoyed talking to him even though at times we did not always agree. He made supper for the both of us, and later on, I met his brother Roa who does not live that far away, and finally, Constantinos, Mical's other Cypriot flatmate who is doing his working as a doctor.
I had originally wanted to go out, but after sitting in the living room getting to know everyone, and a bottle of wine late, I was knocked out at 11pm.

The next day, I started at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the official residence of the queen when she visits. Right next to it is the Scottish parliament, which has an interesting architectural design: very modern. I took a tour inside, and noticed that there was a protest that was going to take place outside against the Trident nuclear system in Scotland (for more info: banthebomb.org/ne/images/stories/pdfs/nfsfeb10.pdf). They were going to walk down the Royal Mile, which is the long street that links the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle. I walked along the Royal Mile as the protest was going on. I stopped in a souvenir shop, and talked with the vendor a bit. He explained to me about the different Scottish clans as well as their unique tartans, kilts and crests. This was used to identify your friends from your enemies (kind of like the Bloods and the Crips in North America).

I walked all the way to Edinburgh Castle and started a walking tour that was described in my travel book. I went passed a little park where 4000 suspected witches were hanged during the inquisition. I went through these little alley ways called "closes". Everywhere in Edinburgh had these and it was like there was a lot to discover in these passage ways.

I cut my walking tour short to go meet up with Christos, Constantinos and his girlfriend, Camilla. We went to this pub called "Doctors". I really liked these guys, I had never met so many Cypriots at one time (that was not my family). At first, I thought Constantinos was a bit nerdy (sorry Connie, if you are reading this...), but the more I got to know him, the more I thought he was such a cool guy. We started talking about spicy foods when I started explaining to Camilla about why spicy foods irriatate the skin. She told me that she knew that already, which made me curious about what she was studying in. Camilla was a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. I was a bit flustered at first, and then tried to ask myself why I automatically thought that I needed to explain something scientific to her. Was it because she had blond hair? Was it because I was not used to being around smart science-oriented girls? It bothered me a little, but I eventually got over it, and basked in the fact that I could speak about anything and everything scientific with these people.

After lunch, I resumed my walking tour at the National Museum of Scotland. I then walked to Elephant House, where JK Rowling wrote two Harry Potter books from the same seat. From that seat, she was able to look out the window at George Heriot's School which served as an inspiration for Hogwarts school. I planned to go to Edinburgh Castle, however it was a bit too late. Therefore, instead, I went to the Whiskey Experience Museum where I got a chance to try whiskey and see the largest collection of scotch whiskey in the world.

When I got back to the apartment, everyone was eating at the table. I thought it was really great that everyone sat down together to eat. Mical mentionned that it was better than eating alone in front of the TV.

Christos and Constantinos were planning on going out that night and had invited me to go with them. I met up with them a little later, around 10pm.
Constantinos took me out to meet yet another Cypriot who was in medical school named Joseph. He was at a bar with three two Polish girls and one Polish guy. There were more Polish people that met up with us (really weird...it was like a Polish-Cyprus party...). After a beer, we all went out to this Spanish place called "El Barrio". At the club, I met a bunch of French people doing an exchange in Edinburgh to perfect their English. One of the girls, I was talking to for most of the night was Marine who was in Biology (but not Marine Biology...I just realized this play on words while writing the blog...). I loved the music in the place (a lot of old beats), and partied until 3am.

Sunday morning I went to Edinburgh Castle where I got to see the infamous stone of destiny. I got to learn a little about the history of Scotland and how prisoners lived. However, what was probably the highlight of my stay in Edinburgh (in terms of the educational aspect), was the free walking tour organized by this tour company called "Neweurope". These free tours are organized in many of the big cities around Europe. I learned so much in this tour:

-The equestrian statue of King Charles II: the oldest statue in Edinburgh, and one of the oldest lead statues in Britain) that was taken as a joke for so many years because of his Roman attire;
-The Heart of Midlothian: visitors to Edinburgh will often notice people spitting on the Heart. A tolbooth stood on the site, where executions used to take place; some people spit on the Heart for good luck. One popular legend says that by spitting on the heart, one is destined to one day return to Edinburgh;
-The origins of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson;
-Burke and Hare murders;
-Greyfriars Bobby, which inspired Disney to make a movie;
-And last but not least: the tales of the stone of destiny which has a long history of being stolen from the British, then stolen back from some students in the 50s.

When I got back to the apartment, I had offered to make dessert for everyone. Mical had already offered to make a chicken roast (which was delicious). I ended up making crepe suzettes with Grand Marnier. I realized over supper that Mical, Christos and Constantinos are the epitome of all of the pilars of intelligence: Art, Engeneering and Medicine. Their apartment oozed sophistication with good decor (partly due to Constantinos' mother), a top class expresso machine, and a cleaning lady that comes regularly. For the first time, these guys (and their lifestyles) gave me something to look forward to when I move out.

That night I went on a pub crawl organized by the Neweurope tour, but I joined pretty late (they were on their last pub). I left early because everyone was already drunk, and I would found it difficult to catch up.

On Monday, I went to Rosilyn Chapel (the chapel that was made famous by the DaVinci code). I highly recommend the trip to see this chapel; it was amazing. There is so much symbolism as well as teachings on morality including drawings about the seven deadly sins and seven virtues (where avarice was included in the seven virtues and charity in the seven sins...on purpose), the dance of death, and the only written words carved in the chapel: "Kings are strong, wine is stronger, women are stronger still - but, strongest of all, is Truth". Of greater mystery are the musical boxes that are carved out on the ceiling. It is thought that playing the notes of the boxes will make a melody that deciphers all of the mysteries of the chapel...but if only we knew what box represented what note...

When I got back, I climbed up the big mountain next to the city called Arthur's Seat...just in time for the sunset. At the top, I met a Brazilian, Julio, that helped me take pictures. We talked about my travels to Brazil on the way back down until we parted ways (he still wanted to climb another mountain). That evening, I cooked my last supper for the boys. I planned on making my grandma's famous arriabiata sauce with italian sausages...but I did not have italian sausages, instead, in the freezer, there were Cypriot sausages. I never had some before, but Constantinos told me they were really potent and would overpower all other flavours in the sauce. Indeed it did...but it was still good. For the first time, a Half-Italian, Half-Cypriot guy made an authentic Half-Italian, Half-Cypriot dish.

I left Edinburgh the next day to Glasgow (my flight to Dublin was from there). I will truly miss Edinburgh because it is such a fun, charming city, but most of all, I met some really great people there.