27 May 2004

Order seems to be breaking down. Up at 07:15 again, only to find out that there was no actual plan for the day. The Scottish National Gallery was optional (thank goodness), so Alyssa & Jeanna did a morning walk/jog to Arthur's Seat, Emily & I went to the Royal Museum, and as far as I know, everybody else ended up at the gallery.

We found the museum, and our luck held: it didn't open for another 40 minutes. We decided to wander for awhile, and actually ended up finding a really cool place to eat, the Frankenstein Pub. Stopped by a few of the shops that were actually open (darn those early mornings!), but nothing really looked appealing, so as soon as the museum opened, we made our way to it.

I actually liked it better than the British Museum. There wasn't as much cool stuff, but it was less intimidating than the British Museum, and far less crowded. My favorite thing there, apart from a few old weapons, would have to be the skeleton of a blue whale. Its skull was big enough to serve as a small boat, and all of its feeding bristle things were still in the mouth.

After the museum, it was time for lunch, so back to the Frankenstein we went. We got there just in time for the show, which was quite surprising. All of a sudden, we heard a loud boom, and the lights went down. We were both pretty startled--Emily must've jumped a foot or so. The movie started playing on the big screens behind the bar, and an animatronic monster lowered from the ceiling, sat up, looked around, then lay back down and returned to his "home" in the ceiling.

We both ordered Frankenstein burgers, which were, I must say, quite good. They used a standard beef-burger for the base, then added bacon, caramelized onions, and mozzarella and cheddar cheeses [and BBQ sauce]. It was excellent.

After lunch, more wandering for a bit, then back to the B&B to journal for awhile before dinner. We headed out about 17:00, looking for a grocery store or something. Ran into Alyssa & Jeanna, who recommended a place called Peckhams, so we went there. Got a ham & focaccia sandwich, orange juice, and a Smirnoff Ice (good stuff), then went back and joined Alyssa & Jeanna.

After dinner, it was time for the hike up to Arthur's Seat. Unfortunately, it had absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur, and we were unable to find out where the name came from. The hike up verged on "arduous," but it was well worth the walk. The view was incredible. Most of it was just of Edinburgh, but the landscape around the city was amazing. Between us all, we took somewhere around 100 million pictures, then started heading back down. Unfortunately, we managed to pick the worst possible route, all loose rocks & spiky bushes. About half way down, the girls decided to turn back & find another way down; I saw some nice footholds in the cliff and decided to take that way up. It was a pretty beastly workout, but I never felt like I was in any danger. The girls, on the other hand, were convinced that I was going to fall down and break something, and that I was just doing it to be macho. When I got to the top and met them along the other side, they told me that I had lost my important-decision-making privileges ; and so, without even making an attempt on the nearby crags, we returned to the hotel.