Edinburgh: What a lovely city, pt 1

Ah, Edinburgh. I now know why I love this city so much. Four days was not enough to see or do even a small portion of what the city has on offer, but it was enough to whet my appetite again and remind me why I love the city so much. This will be an update, a kind of abbreviated one, because I think it will have to be broken into two parts to cover everything. I did learn a few lessons about being a group advisor, even with a small group, and one that takes into account that it is often better to be early than late. Though sometimes being too early can be just as never wracking.

Day 1: Friday
Well everyone was about at noon when they were supposed to be, though the buses were late and the Locurcio's were meeting us at the bus station. Everything was going swimmingly and excitement was high among the seven students who were traveling off on this small adventure. We were waiting for the bus when the first hiccup occured: some of the students got on (all but one it turned out), plus myself when the bus driver said there was no room for more luggage. We had to wait for another bus (which was running about 20 minutes at that point) and we knew we were going to miss the 12:30 bus to Heathrow. Well it turns out, that the student who did not get on, Nina, did not have the right ID (she left her passport in her room, so she ran from the centre of town back to the dorms, then back to the central bus station) and we didn't make the 1 oclock bus either by about 2 minutes. The other students had caught the 12:30 bus with Dr. Locurcio, and we caught the 1:30 bus. We arrived at Heathrow just before 3 and our plane was scheduled to leave around 4:15. It was cutting it close, but it still was within plenty of time to get to the gate and assembled. It was a good thing I had checked in early and online.

One of the students, Cody, who has been sick on and off the trip with an intenstinal infection, had to turn back and came back to Oxford and never made the trip. We were back to six, which was the number originally meant to go. The flight left on time, and arrived on time, and had one small miracle, something you never see on a US airline: a meal. The flight was less than an hour, but they managed to serve a salmon appetizer and drink in that time. I was impressed and the food was quite good.

Anyway, the trip to the hostel in Edinburgh was an interesting experience, and one that was relatively short, about 25 minute or so, even with rush hour. The bus dropped us off on top of the Mound, which still meant a steep walk up the hillside to our hostel. The hostel, Castle Rock Hostel, was actually right by the castle and a pretty nice place for a hostel. (I did stay in a hotel on Sunday night though, which is a whole other story). The students had two rooms, I had what we jokingly called the presidential suite (it had a sink and a tv) and a double bed (egg crate mattress on a wooden frame). It wasn't the largest room or the most spacious, but it was good enough for two nights. Then the group assembled and we went looking for dinner along the Royal Mile (or at least a portion of it) before ending up closer to the top at Deacon Brodie's pub and restaurant. It was good food, not too expensive (we ended up there on Sunday night as well with everyone) and had table service, which is rare in English pubs. After that, almost everyone went back to the hostel and called it a night since it was around 10 and an early day awaited.

Saturday and the rest, including pictures, will come later today or tonight...I have to go run some errands this morning before class.