So this is my second try to write about Edinburgh, Scotland. I don’t really know what the problem is, but for some reason I can’t seem to form a clear thought about it. It could be that it was a complete surprise to me when I showed up. Maybe it’s because it really is the city that I’ve been looking for, for the last two years. More than likely it’s a little bit of both, this city has some great architecture, and just as importantly, it has a huge amount of life. Note that I wanted to say that it has a huge amount of culture, but I haven’t figured out if what I’m experiencing is culture or activity. Whatever it is, it’s been a lot of fun hanging out here for the past two days.

If there is one thing that makes Edinburgh so special has got to be the architecture. It’s old mixed with new, but the new doesn’t dwarf or overpowered by the old like in other cities. The focal point of the city is this huge castle perched on a hill overlooking the city. Surrounding the hill is a huge amount of large old buildings that look to have been weathered by centuries of rain. Most of these buildings are being used for shops and restaurants and all the typical things that you’d expect in a modern city.

Another thing that is making my stay here so much fun is that there is a festival going on right now. The festival is called Fringe, and to be honest I’m not really sure what kind of festival it is, but I have kind of figured out that it is a performance-based festival. There are two things going on, one is the pay version of it, and the other consists of street performers. So that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing the last two days, just walking around watching one show, taking some photos, then watching another, repeat until dark.

Oh. Last night I went on a walking tour of Edinburgh. This walking tour was supposed to show the worst part of the city’s history. The reason I bring it up is because I had a great time walking around at about 11pm, going from sewers to places where witches were burned, and getting a look at some of the devices that they used. The guide also tried to scare everyone with the stories that she was telling, and although I thought that it was fun, I think it actually did scare of the people on the tour. Don’t ask me how an adult could be so impressionable that they would get scared from a story, but some of them did.