Giles Cathedral

I went to Giles Cathedral today. It's on the royal mile. Sadly, I did not have my camera with me, as this was an unplanned visit. The cathedral was a real beaut. I was struck, however, by the number of war memorial "tablets" on the walls. It seemed as though the entire north wall was covered with them, and much of the stained glass depicted battle scenes that commemorated particularly dead individuals and groups. Seeing all of these images made me consider the extent of British involvement in international (and domestic, for that matter) fighting. There were tablets commemorating fallen soldiers from the Boer Wars in S. Africa, the Great War, India, the "international occupation of Crete", and many others. What a list.

One problem that I've been having is that almost everything I do outside of my flat I do by myself. It doesn't bother me to do certain things alone. I enjoyed being in the Cathedral very much, despite my lack of companionship. But, it does become a problem when I am walking around and see a nice place to stop for a drink, perhaps some carrot cake, not a panini, and I find that I don't always have the will to go it alone. This is really too bad because I think one of Edinburgh's strengths is its pub and cafe-type places.

My flatmates, who I like very much (probably the most out of the people I've met here), are not interested in going out for lunch or coffee. Maybe I should make friends with some old ladies who have a consistent schedule for tea or some old men who go out to the pub regularly. Or maybe I should always have a crossword puzzle with me so that I can look studious if I go into a place solo.

I bought two books from the oxfam store yesterday. "Twelve Modern Scottish Poets" and a gruesome mystery called "Quite Ugly one Morning". I don't think I'll continue the mystery. It's too gross for me. Plus, I've got relevant, quality literature from the Christmas season that I can turn to. The poetry is really nice, from what I can tell. It seems more real than a lot of poetry I've seen (and disliked).

Last night, I was feeling like I had wasted the day. So, mindful of Uncle Jack's enjoyment of "just walking around", I decided to go for a walk. I started down the royal mile and stopped at the Oxfam there. Once I had my books, I kept going west until I ran into some street that curved north and then west again. Then, since I had no idea where that was going, I went up an alley of stairs that must have constituted a 2,000-ft elevation gain and was back on the royal mile. I kept going that way until I found Victoria St. This street contains many restaurants that I had noticed in my guidebooks and so I went by to check them out. Sure enough, the Indian place that had sounded really good HAD burned down in December of 2008. I had read something to that effect, but was hoping that it wasn't true. Anyway, I went by the cheesemonger shop right at 6:00 PM as the woman was shutting the place down for the night. I could smell it from about 4 shops down. A return trip is imminent. But who will go with me? perhaps... JIM.

At this point, I continued along Victoria St. until I hit the grassmarket. It was cool, but then I got all turned around and didn't know which way I wanted to go, exactly. So, I just followed the biggest flow of pedestrians wherever they went. It was mostly business people getting off work, and I figured they would be going somewhere central. It's impossible to use landmarks as reference points on some streets because the buildings are high on either side. Otherwise I could have just found the castle and gone from there. So, I walked and walked with the flow of pedestrians until the castle and princes st. came into view. In the end, I had walked all the way around the west end of the castle. Then, I got to walk ALL the way down Princes St. In fact, I passed 3 Carphone Warehouses and 2 Gap stores along that street. I went into stores and looked at stuff along the way. Mostly, I was thinking about gifts that I could get people back home. You'll all be pleased to know that I bought nothing. I am crippled sometimes by an inability to make decisions. So, I'll keep thinking about who should get what. Maybe I'll make a list to ensure that I don't make any mistakes. Everyone's getting plaid.

Wait. I did buy myself a t-shirt and a scottish flag. I put the flag on my wall to add some flavor to the room. It's pretty bland otherwise.

Jim and I went to the store last night. We both got every flavor of instant noodles (top ramen) so that we can eat them together and decide which are the best. So far, curry is my favorite, but beef and shrimp haven't had their chance yet.