Edinburgh, Day 7 & 8

Thursday, February 3, 2011
Briefly visited two modern art museums, went to a bookstore, ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant (I had fajitas), walked down some fun streets, went to a CD shop, stopped by the tourist bureau and bought tickets for a guided tour on Saturday and a Scottish flag, had tea at Eateaket, walked in the rain to an Oxfam bookstore (and chatted with the workers), watched Girl Who Played with Fire, and ate a frozen pizza for dinner. And now I’m off to bed. It was a fun and productive day.



Friday, February 4, 2011

Though the weather was rainy and blustery, Jean-Jacques and I had an excellent trip to the zoo. Yes, I know, it’s terrible to visit zoos since the animals are kept in captivity. However, in the case of the Edinburgh zoo, the organization tries hard to make a realistic habitat for the “residents” and keep them physically and emotionally stimulated. Many of the inhabitants are unable to survive in the wild. Also, the zoo is working hard to ensure that some animals don’t become extinct. Maybe it’s not the most ethical solution to the problem of keeping “wild” (many were born in captivity) animals caged for our amusement, but it’s the best zoo I’ve visited. 


We saw all sorts of interesting creatures -- rhinos, monkeys, zebras, penguins (they were fun to watch as they swam around and dove out of the water), birds, lions, wildcats, porcupines, etc. The weather was horrible and by the end of the visit, Jean-Jacques and I were both drenched. We kept trying to leave, but as we were on our way out, we continually found interesting animals or exhibits to explore. Our visit ended up lasting about three and a half hours.


Following the trip to the zoo, we took the bus and walked a short distance to a restaurant called Oink, which serves pork sandwiches. As it turned out, we were some of the last customers of the day. The owner of the establishment is a pig farmer who lives out in The Borders, so I imagine he needed to close up shop in time for him to get home for dinner. 


We then visited a tea shop and bought two cups as souvenirs. I haven’t gotten many things here to take home for a couple of reasons: 1) I haven’t seen anything I liked and 2) I don’t want to have to carry unnecessary things back to China and then to France once we’re finished teaching. However, I did want to buy a teacup here and Jean-Jacques and I found a couple of perfect ones that we decided to purchase. The shopkeeper was extremely helpful and took a long time packaging up the cups so we could send them to the States. Hopefully, they’ll arrive in once piece...


A trip to the Elephant House for afternoon tea was our final stop of the day. The English have one tradition that I would like to incorporate into my life and that is the custom of having afternoon tea. I think it is a perfect opportunity to take a breather for a few minutes, regroup, and prepare oneself for the rest of the day. During our time here, I’ve found that a cup (or two) of tea in the late afternoon helps me tackle the rest of the day.


This evening we cooked dinner, watched a bit of a rugby game, and saw The Men Who Stare at Goats. 


Tomorrow we’re heading out on a guided tour of some castles outside of Edinburgh. It will be fun to visit the Highlands!