Edinburgh

Sorry for the long gap since my last post, I've been busy, sociable, and otherwise not blogging. i got half way through a post a while ago, and have just picked it up some time later... (also, I'll try to get some photos on this post tomorrow.., as it's time for bed now)

After a nice relaxing train ride from Birmingham (did I mention it only cost 4 quid) I arrived at Waverly station (after changing trains on the way because the one i was on was running late... surprise surprise), After wandering around the train station and finding the right exit, I walked up the the stairs and heard the sound of bagpipes resonating down the street.On the way down the street, I passed the busker, and heard another one a couple of hundred metres down the road. After the forth bagpiper and a belly dancer, I got to the end of the road, turned left and walked down to find Reg's apartment and met his flatmate, Annalise.

The buildings in Edinburgh have been well made, and since there don't appear to be many earthquakes in this part of the world, there are a lot of relatively old buildings. Reg's is no exception, stairs have worn somewhat, and the front profile of the steps is a rather smiley shape, sloping making it somewhat odd climbing the stairs with a heavy pack.

Since then,I've been wandered around town a bit, (I found that what appeared to be the high density centre of the city actually goes on forever, until the city runs out and you're in the countryside.) From an urban design point of view, this city's wonderful.., you can ride pretty much anywhere in town in 10 minutes, or walk it in 30. Buses seem to work, and the best part is they've managed to achieve this without everyone living in a shoebox. The city may have formed the way it has purely as a result of the cold climate, (and people's unwillingness to travel long distances to visit friends, or the pub) along with the fact that people didn't have cars when the city was established.

On my second day here, I discovered the art gallery and museum, and that evening, Reg took me to the local bouldering crag. quite a nice spot, one I've visited a couple of times since.

About an hour's train journey out of Edinburgh, there's a small coastal town called North Berwick, home of a Puffin colony, and various other excitement, none of which were a priority while i was there. The reason I went was to climb. On North Berwick Law, the only hill in the area, there is an abandoned quarry, with a few routes on it. The easy routes were easy, and the medium routes were fun. The routes I should have been able to do were too hard, and the hard routes looked very cool. Unfortunately, when Reg and I arrived, there was already a small crowd there, around 10 people (which may not sound like many, but when there are only 8 climbs there it makes for slightly crowded climbing and a little waiting for climbs).... then after we started climbing, a few more people showed up, and in the end, it was getting late and i didn't have time to climb the route I particularly wanted to.. one short attempt and failure before we realised we had missed the train left me a little unfulfilled.., (on the plus side, at least we managed to get a lift back with some of the friendly climbing crowd.) A short drive out of town, is Ratho, a small town, with a big wall, In fact the highest indoor climbing wall I've ever seen, 40m in parts. Most of the lead wall leaves you wondering where all that rope went when you reach the ground. (the shortest climbs are about 23m)

I've managed to get out of town a couple of times, once was a trip most of the way to the highlands, but not quite there... for burgers, which, while rather pleasant, weren't anything out of the ordinary.. of course, the location, and scenery were something amazing.

On my first Sunday here, I ended up at Destiny church, (the Edinburgh one, not to be confused with destiny NZ, or any other church by the same name) I met a handfull of interesting people, and discovered that they're in the process of fitting out a new building as a church... so the next day i went along and have spent a fair bit of time there since, hanging Gib board,framing up walls, moving chairs around,

Last Monday was Reg's birthday, so he, Maeghan and I went on a road trip to the isle of Mull.., a little way north, and a long way west. but that can wait for the next exciting and beautiful blog post.., (for those of you who are interested, the photos are already up on facebook)