Walk the Earth: A Delaney World Tour: Edinburgh and London

Wanted to report on my non- hiking stops in Great Britain. First a quick geography lesson.

This blog had a woeful lack of Venn diagrams til now.

I would love to, and still might, count Scotland as a separate country visited on this trip, but really the UK is considered all one country. Still, the Scottish people have a distinct culture, national pride, and even different images on their bank notes. They love poking barbs at the English. Yet surprisingly to me, our guide said if the 2014 vote for independence were held today, they'd most likely stay united.

Loved Edinburgh. Yet another place with a vibrant current feel, set amongst thousands of years of history. I took a free walking tour with a hilarious and informative guide, Michael. He opined on the feud with Glasgow, regaled us with tales of "Mel Gibson defeating the English" (though later remarked how horrible a human being William Wallace was), and crushed dreams by poking holes in the Greyfriars Bobby tale of canine loyalty. He also appealed to my considerable toilet humor sensibilities by discussing the practice of "Gardy-Loo". Proper plumbing was not exactly a priority in Edinburgh, so people would basically just open the window and chuck out buckets of fun into the streets, only yelling "gardy-loo" as a warning. They soon enacted a 10am/10pm rule as the only times you could do this (I may have that morning time wrong but who cares) but the 10pm part was especially a problem as that was a time many gents stumbled home from the pubs. This may possibly be the etymology of the phrase "shit-faced". Michael poked plenty of fun at some of Scotland's more rube-like past, but made sure to balance that by stressing the Scottish enlightenment and influential thinkers such as David Hume. These free tours are offered all throughout Europe. We did 3 or 4 of them and Edinburgh's with Michael was by far the best. Also helps that the Edinburgh tours all end at a pub. Good thinking!

Followed some wandering around on my own time with an evening haunted/eerie Edinburgh tour. Seemed like the right choice for Friday the 13th! We passed through stone walls plastered with cement mixed with the ashes of alleged witches. Guide said red hair was something that could get you accused in those days, a bit of a problem in Scotland. We learned about body snatching, vampire suspicions, and even passed by the alleged entrance to the faerie realm. Good fun.

Had only one full day there, so would love to return to Edinburgh. In August, the population apparently doubles if not triples for the International Festival and Fringe Festival. Hope to make it one day!

Yet another statue to rub for good luck. Though that toe ain't as lucky as Joe's Vegas toe.

Had some mildly impressive wings forming.

London

A major conundrum for this trip was how long to spend in London. I of course wanted to see it and in fact had to, as Heathrow is pretty much the sole launching spot for my RTW ticket. As much as I yearned to see the Olympic spectacle, an equal part of me wanted nothing to do with the crowds, prices, and police state brought about by the games. Time and circumstance would only give me two nights regardless.

I count myself lucky to have met Annie, a native Londoner (Londonite? Londonian?), way back in Rome. A few emails exchanged over the following weeks led to getting hooked up with a killer deal at her corporate hotel and a lovely if not overly informative tour guide for a day. A true smart ass, everything I asked her about was "700 years old and had to do with war".

We saw a lot in a relatively short period. She pulled me away from my fascination with the soap-box standers at "Speakers Corner" to use the bike sharing program and peddle through Hyde Park and other parts of London, my eyes constantly darting to remember which way traffic came from on this looney island. We passed the Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, etc. With the Olympics beginning to get into swing, there were chances to stop and watch free concerts, a variety of street performers, and all sorts of people watching all along the Thames. We visited some nice pubs and took the tube to a few different hip neighborhoods. It also helped that the sun was apparently shining for the first time in a month or so! Had a super enjoyable day and the bonus is that everything I missed can be seen when my trip ends back in London.