From aab33c16ccae8bfbab2e2de88fc13f76295259c0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brian Picciano Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 15:44:47 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] add edinburgh to mr worldwide --- _drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md | 28 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md index 2ef584a..80b0408 100644 --- a/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md +++ b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md @@ -355,4 +355,30 @@ completely gone, and I slept the whole bus ride back. I left Dublin just as the Beast from the East made landfall. A giant cold wave brought in tons of snow and unseasonably low temperatures, stretching all across -Europe. +Europe. My plane must have been one of the last ones to land in Edinburgh, +because for the next 2 days the entire city was completely snowed in, and most +stores and attractions were closed. + +The tourist industry heavily plays up that Edinburgh is the city where JK +Rowling wrote most of the _Harry Potter_ books, and you can see its influence +clearly. The towering gothic cathedrals, castles on cliffs, old graveyards, +dense cobblestone streets and dark alleys all feel like something right out of +the books (though really it's the other way around). There was a cafe only a few +blocks away from my hostel where JK Rowling apparently first started writing the +books, a piece of trivia which the cafe has not failed to cash in on. + +The city was quite peaceful, probably because everything was closed from the +storm, but it felt like it might always be like that even in good weather. Most +days I'd find a spot to hunker down and draw for a while, then in the afternoon +go explore some sight or another; the castle, the royal mile, Calton Hill... Or +I'd go in search of decent groceries, which were strangely difficult to find. +The city is (said to be) built on seven hills, like Rome, and between the many +steep stairways and narrow alleys navigating them, and packed snow and ice, it +was quite difficult to explore too far. + +While I spent five whole days in Edinburgh, I don't have much to talk about for +it. It's probably one of the most unique cities I visited, with a lot of beauty +and history and things to see, and I absolutely would love to go back. But +despite all that, there was definitely a feeling a depression while I was there, +like I was totally alone. When I got onto a plane and took off, I was more +relieved than anything else.