Exhibits Are Creepy
Saturday April 22, 2006
Hmmm Saturday… let us dive back into my memory. I got up pretty early on this day. There were people in the room that got up at 5 and everyone was up by 7 so that woke me up and I got an earlier start to my day then I had originally planned. I had breakfast at the hostel again and then checked out. I didn’t think that the castle opened until 10 so I was going to wonder in some shops, but then one of the girls that was on the Haggis tour found me. We talked for a bit and then we both headed to the castle together because we were both going there anyways. Dang that castle was expensive. They didn’t have a student discount so I ended up paying 10.30. Hey remember that’s like 20 American dollars. But its Edinburgh castle so I forked it over. We headed inside. They had audio tour guides but they were 3 pounds. 3 pounds? Oh come on! So we didn’t do that but they did offer a free walking tour and we took them up on that. First off I’d like to say how beautiful the castle looks from the outside. It is just jutting up out of jagged rocks at the bottom and makes quite a sight to see. Inside it seems pretty small though. We went through and the guide pointed out some of the buildings. There is a small church there that seats only 25 people but anyone can get married in it. Isn’t that cool? The majority of the buildings though are military related. One building you can’t go into and it is an army barracks. There is another one that is a war memorial and it has about 50 books I’d say in it that list every single Scotsman that has died in wars starting from WWI. Next to that building they have a prisoners of war exhibit. Edinburgh castle used to hold POWs here and they recreated the scene. All in all though it was really strange. Heck all their exhibits were strange. They have these like crappy wax mannequins everywhere telling the story of whatever it is.
It was really weird. They had yet another war related building, but we just breezed through that one because really I’m not a war history buff. Although if anyone was big on military history I bet they would be in heaven there. What I really came to see though was in another building that was for royalty- the stone of destiny or the stone of scone. I’ve been wanting to see that for some time now and things have been leading up to it. Like when I saw where it used to be in Westminister Abbey until they mean ole English decided to give it back to the Scotts. Then the Blarney Stone claimed to be a part of it (although I kinda doubt that). Before actually seeing the stone though we went through a big ole Scottish history and their Kings and Queens exhibit. That was pretty cool except for the creepy maniqueens that is. : ) Finally we got to “the honours”. That is all the stuff they use when they crowned a King or Queen. So they had the crown, the scepter, and… the stone of destiny! Ooooo! Yep, pretty cool. Afterwards, we sat and had lunch in a café that was in the castle in another building. We should have hurried up though because when we came out it was almost one o’clock. Did ya know that at one o’clock at Edinburgh they fire a cannon? We didn’t get to see it go off though because we were too far back. But we did hear it and I did jump a bit cause that thing is scary! :P Now why the one o’clock cannon you ask? Why not 12? Well the guide said they would rather only fire one shot than 12 shots cause the Scots are cheap. Hehehe. I left the castle after that and was meaning to go to the National Gallery. I didn’t end up finding it though. Instead, since it was my last day in Edinburgh I decided hey why not get lost one more time? Ok Ok the getting lost part wasn’t a conscious decision. :P But never the less there I was- completely lost. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again though- I view it not as getting lost but rather as having a mildly distressing adventure! : ) I worked my way back into the heart of the city again and decided I would just go back to the museum. That place totally rocks. I know I went on about it before but seriously. Its sooo cool! I did a brief wandering around the Scottish Museum. It has everything you ever wanted to know about Scottish history back from the Picts to the present day. 5 full floors of stuff and a 7th floor that is a roof top terrace looking over the city. The sixth floor was closed though. Well after wandering that part I crossed over to the other side which is called the Royal Museum. I did a walking tour of that part. The building is quite pretty as well. It’s not all new and fancy like the Scottish Museum but it is beautiful. The walking tour wasn’t that great. I would have spent more time walking around after it but I left early. They had a floor on Egyptian stuff I wanted to check out but I didn’t. I did look at the floor where the tour ended though. It was a big ole taxidermy place. That place was beyond creepy. She was like oh Dolly the sheep is over there. Well it wasn’t Dolly, it was actually another sheep that was cloned I think. They did have Dolly’s fleece though. Ok how creepy is that? They stuffed Dolly and ship her off places? Am I the only one who is wiered out with the practice of taxidermy here? I looked at the other animals they had. One of them was a little house cat playing with a ball of yarn. That made me almost burst out in tears! It was so creepy dang it! Then they had all sorts of animals like tigers and lions and things like that. People! Go to a zoo!! That is just messed up! Edinburgh even has like a super nice zoo. Well I finally left… with a look of ‘what the hell was that?’ on my face of course. I headed back to the hostel and picked up my stuff. Then I went to the bus station to wait a few hours till my bus arrived. I eventually had to pee so bad that I forked over the 20p to use the toilets there. Man I feel sorry for a person who doesn’t have the correct change on them but has to pee. Mwah ha ha ha- hold it! :P Wow long blog- sorry guys. I know mum was complaining about having to read these so I really am sorry that I ramble so!! Just so much to say ya know?
Hmmm Saturday… let us dive back into my memory. I got up pretty early on this day. There were people in the room that got up at 5 and everyone was up by 7 so that woke me up and I got an earlier start to my day then I had originally planned. I had breakfast at the hostel again and then checked out. I didn’t think that the castle opened until 10 so I was going to wonder in some shops, but then one of the girls that was on the Haggis tour found me. We talked for a bit and then we both headed to the castle together because we were both going there anyways. Dang that castle was expensive. They didn’t have a student discount so I ended up paying 10.30. Hey remember that’s like 20 American dollars. But its Edinburgh castle so I forked it over. We headed inside. They had audio tour guides but they were 3 pounds. 3 pounds? Oh come on! So we didn’t do that but they did offer a free walking tour and we took them up on that. First off I’d like to say how beautiful the castle looks from the outside. It is just jutting up out of jagged rocks at the bottom and makes quite a sight to see. Inside it seems pretty small though. We went through and the guide pointed out some of the buildings. There is a small church there that seats only 25 people but anyone can get married in it. Isn’t that cool? The majority of the buildings though are military related. One building you can’t go into and it is an army barracks. There is another one that is a war memorial and it has about 50 books I’d say in it that list every single Scotsman that has died in wars starting from WWI. Next to that building they have a prisoners of war exhibit. Edinburgh castle used to hold POWs here and they recreated the scene. All in all though it was really strange. Heck all their exhibits were strange. They have these like crappy wax mannequins everywhere telling the story of whatever it is.
It was really weird. They had yet another war related building, but we just breezed through that one because really I’m not a war history buff. Although if anyone was big on military history I bet they would be in heaven there. What I really came to see though was in another building that was for royalty- the stone of destiny or the stone of scone. I’ve been wanting to see that for some time now and things have been leading up to it. Like when I saw where it used to be in Westminister Abbey until they mean ole English decided to give it back to the Scotts. Then the Blarney Stone claimed to be a part of it (although I kinda doubt that). Before actually seeing the stone though we went through a big ole Scottish history and their Kings and Queens exhibit. That was pretty cool except for the creepy maniqueens that is. : ) Finally we got to “the honours”. That is all the stuff they use when they crowned a King or Queen. So they had the crown, the scepter, and… the stone of destiny! Ooooo! Yep, pretty cool. Afterwards, we sat and had lunch in a café that was in the castle in another building. We should have hurried up though because when we came out it was almost one o’clock. Did ya know that at one o’clock at Edinburgh they fire a cannon? We didn’t get to see it go off though because we were too far back. But we did hear it and I did jump a bit cause that thing is scary! :P Now why the one o’clock cannon you ask? Why not 12? Well the guide said they would rather only fire one shot than 12 shots cause the Scots are cheap. Hehehe. I left the castle after that and was meaning to go to the National Gallery. I didn’t end up finding it though. Instead, since it was my last day in Edinburgh I decided hey why not get lost one more time? Ok Ok the getting lost part wasn’t a conscious decision. :P But never the less there I was- completely lost. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again though- I view it not as getting lost but rather as having a mildly distressing adventure! : ) I worked my way back into the heart of the city again and decided I would just go back to the museum. That place totally rocks. I know I went on about it before but seriously. Its sooo cool! I did a brief wandering around the Scottish Museum. It has everything you ever wanted to know about Scottish history back from the Picts to the present day. 5 full floors of stuff and a 7th floor that is a roof top terrace looking over the city. The sixth floor was closed though. Well after wandering that part I crossed over to the other side which is called the Royal Museum. I did a walking tour of that part. The building is quite pretty as well. It’s not all new and fancy like the Scottish Museum but it is beautiful. The walking tour wasn’t that great. I would have spent more time walking around after it but I left early. They had a floor on Egyptian stuff I wanted to check out but I didn’t. I did look at the floor where the tour ended though. It was a big ole taxidermy place. That place was beyond creepy. She was like oh Dolly the sheep is over there. Well it wasn’t Dolly, it was actually another sheep that was cloned I think. They did have Dolly’s fleece though. Ok how creepy is that? They stuffed Dolly and ship her off places? Am I the only one who is wiered out with the practice of taxidermy here? I looked at the other animals they had. One of them was a little house cat playing with a ball of yarn. That made me almost burst out in tears! It was so creepy dang it! Then they had all sorts of animals like tigers and lions and things like that. People! Go to a zoo!! That is just messed up! Edinburgh even has like a super nice zoo. Well I finally left… with a look of ‘what the hell was that?’ on my face of course. I headed back to the hostel and picked up my stuff. Then I went to the bus station to wait a few hours till my bus arrived. I eventually had to pee so bad that I forked over the 20p to use the toilets there. Man I feel sorry for a person who doesn’t have the correct change on them but has to pee. Mwah ha ha ha- hold it! :P Wow long blog- sorry guys. I know mum was complaining about having to read these so I really am sorry that I ramble so!! Just so much to say ya know?
posted by Ashley | 11:01 PM
2 Comments:
ROFL! OMG! That by far has been the funniest blog I've read. It's a good think I'm at work and my boss isn't here.
The taxadermy thing is creepy. The birds here creep me out so I can't imagine how creepy an entire museum would be filled with that stuff. Ooo the people at PETA would have a field day. Poor Dolly the sheep though.
Yikes...creepy wax statues and taxedery. At least you had a historical journey. Good thing you didn't have to pee too often:)
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