One of the hard truths about traveling is making new friends. Not everyone can converse with people and make friends easily and it’s a very common problem for a lot of travelers. Even worse is eating meals alone or staying in a dorm where everyone else seems to know each other. I’ve chatted with several of my roommates and had very nice conversations so far, but I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them friends. Last night I met my first travel friend!!
(I’m going to call her A) She and I are almost the same person, and I know they say you meet yourself when you travel but this is ridiculous. A and I have almost the same circumstances and very similar travel goals. The two of us have been fairly inseparable all day, we had dinner last night and went on a walking tour this morning before wandering around the Fringe festival in the afternoon. It’s wonderful to have someone to share meals with and to talk to while wandering around town!
On that note, Little Fish Tours! We met up in the morning with our guide Luca and I was very impressed with his knowledge of the history and buildings in Edinburgh. Not only did he lead us around the Old Town but he gave us so much knowledge of the buildings and history and people that have shaped the city into what it is today. And it wasn’t simply the facts that he had stored away, he had fun stories to share about local spots we passed by and yes, even a Harry Potter tale or two.
After the tour A and I wandered around the outside of the Edinburgh Castle, it’s a bit pricy to get into and we decided to hold off and see if it’s worth it later on. But Luca did tell us a bit about the Castle during our tour. The large stone it sits on is solid basalt formed when the continents split ages ago and glaciers eroded away the mountain that hid the solid rock and left the cliffs on three sides and the naturally occurring ramp that later became the Royal Mile.
After some time spent exploring the Fringe pop up shops and getting lunch, it started to rain so into St Giles Cathedral we went. (Which isn’t a cathedral but a Kirk if you happen to know the difference) They have a photo pass that you have to buy, so I only snuck in one picture before putting it all away so I wouldn’t get caught. Now don’t get me in trouble by telling anyone that!